What are your 3 biggest cycle related purchase regrets?

[Saluki]

A BSO God awful pile of shite hybrid from halfords. Weighs a ton and I hated/hate it.

A turbo trainer. Waste of money, and boring as hell

My pile o shite from Halfords was an Apollo XC26 and it was free (via my gym membership) and I still overpaid for it. It did get me riding again though and determined to save for my Defy.

Turbo, I rarely use, totally boring @welsh dragon is bob on there.

Cheap shorts

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Ah yes the Turbo trainer. Mine served to convert a road bike into a clothes hanger for only 140 pounds.

 

[Alan O]

EBay's just the auctioneer. Still need to look at who's selling. Some good, some poor.

Indeed. In fact, eBay sellers can be among the best (and sometimes perhaps only) sources of vintage parts, and there are many reputable ones - I've got most of the parts for my last two rebuilds from eBay sellers, and the same will be true for my current one.

 

[Alan O]

My only real purchase-related regret came when I bought my Orbit Gold Medal in the 80s. I gave away my previous Falcon bike, but as it was 250 miles from me at the time I neglected to swap saddles and keep my old worn-in Brooks B17. I came to rue that mistake many times at the end of long rides on my inferior "gel" saddle.

 

[Ian H]

An old tandem frame, bought with the idea of doing it up. It was old enough to have obsolete headset and bottom brackets, so ended up too much trouble. I can't remember what happened to it.
Mavic OpenSport rim. Yes, it was cheap.
Not actually bought, but acquired: a home-made 60t chainring for the racing tandem. My stoker told me it would be fine. We folded it in half on a hill.

 

[TheJDog]

A Canyon Urban that you can't get a rack and mudguards for.

Wheels. So many wheels.

Turbo.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Ah yes the Turbo trainer. Mine served to convert a road bike into a clothes hanger for only 140 pounds.

Mine is used for gear adjustments. How anyone can spend more than five minutes on them without losing the will to live beats me.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Turdo trainer

Rollers

Clip on aero bars

 

[MiK1138]

Specialized Sirrus X 2
Specialized crosstrail X 1

What was the problem with the Sirrus' ?, I am looking to buy a new hybrid and this is on my list

 

[vickster]

What was the problem with the Sirrus' ?, I am looking to buy a new hybrid and this is on my list

Dull as dishwater to ride and super common. Ymmv

Much prefer the Whyte R7 range

 

[gbb]

Trek 7100fx. I went looking for a budget road bike and at that time they were very thin on the ground...so I compromised...grudgingly. I realised soon after I'd done the wrong thing and rarely rode it for 2 years. I still have it...well the frame and forks are about all that's left. It's a utility bike now,

Nothing much else really.

 

[mjr]

My only real purchase-related regret came when I bought my Orbit Gold Medal in the 80s. I gave away my previous Falcon bike, but as it was 250 miles from me at the time I neglected to swap saddles and keep my old worn-in Brooks B17. I came to rue that mistake many times at the end of long rides on my inferior "gel" saddle.

I echo that but differently... I gave away a lovely old-style gel saddle with my old road bike when I only had space for one bike and bought more of a workhorse. Until that point, I had no idea how awful an ill-fitting saddle can be and spent the next few years hunting for a new saddle similar to that one which I never even looked at carefully enough to remember its name. I suspect it was a SR Contour but I'll never know!

 

[postman]

Bar ends
A dare2b second layer jacket,my fault it was in the sale,but far too large.Use it for gardening in.

 

[marshmella]

1) sports direct cycling jacket. Boil-in-the -bag just doesn't describe it
2) A ridiculously bad hi viz gilet with a back pocket so high up you would need to be a contortionist to access it.
3)Worst of all a pair of dhb cycling shoes from wiggle which started falling apart after a few months. I lost count how many times i glued the sole back on.

 

[Lee_M]

Another one for the turbo trainer, gave it away in the end
29er MTB, should have bought a traditional sized one, never got on with it
cannondale synapse, for that money I could have got a good winter bike