Are modern bikes rubbish?
- Thread starter Ming the Merciless
- Start date
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PaulSB
Squire
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
No.
OP
OP
Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
bonzobanana
Guru
Certification is certainly tighter than it used to be but then I suppose many would say that is only necessary as more bikes now are designed to be light weight so are more likely to be compromised in strength and durability.
The brakes have certainly improved and that has to be a good thing.
I personally don't see value in high end bikes but then I'm not a competitive cyclist. Generally I can see value in most bikes old and new overall though. I bought an actual walmart bike here in the UK from someone who used to live in the US and bought it with him when he returned to the UK. It's so unbelievably awful compared to even Halford's entry level bikes. Despite being a heavy mountain bike type frame it has basic side caliper brakes and the crank is a one piece bent thick wire affair more typical of children's bikes or maybe cheap BMX bikes. I just think there are good and bad bikes of every age.
Sometimes older stuff is better engineered though. Folding bikes for me are better with hub gears like the old Raleigh Twenty and Dawes Kingpin. I see folding bikes with derailleurs and they are practically dragging along the ground and collecting all sorts of dirt and crap from the road. Much more easy to damage especially when folding the bike. Seems a retro step in design compared to older folding bikes. Aluminium frames also seem to have more issues when used with folding bikes as aluminium seems to fail more quickly at the hinge. Also they don't ride as well with a more rigid aluminium frame and small wheels they seem to deal worse with potholes. It feels like many folding bikes have gone backwards except for brakes.
The brakes have certainly improved and that has to be a good thing.
I personally don't see value in high end bikes but then I'm not a competitive cyclist. Generally I can see value in most bikes old and new overall though. I bought an actual walmart bike here in the UK from someone who used to live in the US and bought it with him when he returned to the UK. It's so unbelievably awful compared to even Halford's entry level bikes. Despite being a heavy mountain bike type frame it has basic side caliper brakes and the crank is a one piece bent thick wire affair more typical of children's bikes or maybe cheap BMX bikes. I just think there are good and bad bikes of every age.
Sometimes older stuff is better engineered though. Folding bikes for me are better with hub gears like the old Raleigh Twenty and Dawes Kingpin. I see folding bikes with derailleurs and they are practically dragging along the ground and collecting all sorts of dirt and crap from the road. Much more easy to damage especially when folding the bike. Seems a retro step in design compared to older folding bikes. Aluminium frames also seem to have more issues when used with folding bikes as aluminium seems to fail more quickly at the hinge. Also they don't ride as well with a more rigid aluminium frame and small wheels they seem to deal worse with potholes. It feels like many folding bikes have gone backwards except for brakes.
As I said functional yes but not more comfortable. It attracts more people into cycling. No arguments that there are low end modern crap as well. 2 different arguments. It's the same with nearly every object and equipment both at home and in the workplace.
DCBassman
Guru
- Location
- The lumpy far South West
The most modern bikes I have ridden were a 2012 Raleigh Urban 2 hybrid, owned for a year or two, and @iateyoubutler's Merida Big Nine 40Disk MTB. The Raleigh was quite nice, comfortable on 32c tyres, and reasonable all-round gearing. But nothing too modern, really.
The Merida was ny first experience of a 'modern' MTB, with suspension forks. Well-made and screwed together, but, for me, hopelessly heavy and unwieldy, and I'm comparing this to an old steel rigid MTB. The hydraulic disks seemed no snappier than the V-brakes on the Trek or the dual-pivots on the Scott, though doubtless would have utterly outclassed both in the wet. I rode it seven miles, then, in the same spirit I got it from @iateyoubutler, I gave it away.
The Merida was ny first experience of a 'modern' MTB, with suspension forks. Well-made and screwed together, but, for me, hopelessly heavy and unwieldy, and I'm comparing this to an old steel rigid MTB. The hydraulic disks seemed no snappier than the V-brakes on the Trek or the dual-pivots on the Scott, though doubtless would have utterly outclassed both in the wet. I rode it seven miles, then, in the same spirit I got it from @iateyoubutler, I gave it away.
FishFright
More wheels than sense
Get a recumbent trike and be treated like royalty on the roads .
PaulSB
Squire
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
Accy cyclist
Legendary Member
- Location
- The hills of Accrington
Just a bit.Don't worry, frame looks to big for your little legs anyway
matticus
Guru
White Van Man shouting Paedo at you?
