Bikes you have loathed

Quoted message said:

This follows on from the 'A little piece of history' thread, where myself and Dr Chequer were
discussing old horrific bikes. It also popped up when discussing the old Manitou frame.

Conditions: Bikes must have been appalling through design, looks or performance. You don't
necessarily have to have owned the bike, but merely avoided it like the plague. You can't just
write, 'Cannondale'. Links to pics of the offending articles are appreciated.

To start off:

Iron Horse / Sintesi Verlicchi. [censored]. And anodised purple: teamcow.caironOpen ↗

GT RTS. Surprising for GT to invent a proprietary rear suspension system that didn't really work. I
owned one of these, and it wasn't that great, even at the time. Hardly any travel, lots of side
slop and the shock topped out when you got out of the saddle. Plus mine snapped in two places. This
fetching one is also in anodised purple: netjoy.ne.jprts3 2.jpgOpen ↗

Orange UFO (URT). One of my mates bought a UFO when it first came out. Can't say I was ever really
jealous. Tragically, the fact that hardly anyone bought them, and those that did broke or got
binned, means that there doesn't appear to be a photo on the 'net.

The first generation Trek suspension bikes - with the straight swingarm, the stack-of-rubber-donuts
rear shock (with no damping - yikes), and the flexy, leaky, wickedly overdamped showa-built
trek-branded forks. Hard to imagine a worse riding POS, but hey, it only retailed for $2k.

-Andrew

Andrew Thorne said:

The first generation Trek suspension bikes - with the straight swingarm, the
stack-of-rubber-donuts rear shock (with no damping - yikes), and the flexy, leaky, wickedly
overdamped showa-built trek-branded forks. Hard to imagine a worse riding POS, but hey, it only
retailed for $2k.

I did think about that, but in fairness, they were pretty much the first large scale production FS
bikes. Didn't they also have purple ano?

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THe venerable Ross Snapper.

A piece of garbage, unrideable. As for mtn. bikes, the low end Giants and most Cannondales are
atrocious.

bomba said:

This follows on from the 'A little piece of history' thread, where myself and Dr Chequer were
discussing old horrific bikes. It also popped up when discussing the old Manitou frame.

Conditions: Bikes must have been appalling through design, looks or performance. You don't
necessarily have to have owned the bike, but merely avoided it like the plague. You can't just
write, 'Cannondale'. Links to pics of the offending articles are appreciated.

Proflex! How could I forget Proflex? All rubbish (although I'm sure there'll be those who disagree),
especially the ones with the bits of yellow sponge.
novaspot.free.frproflex.jpgOpen ↗

Pace DH bike: My brother got to ride the prototypes and they were that good, he left the team. And
so did everyone else.
freetownsports.co.ukBike downhill.jpgOpen ↗

--
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"Andrew Thorne" <[email hidden]> wrote

| The first generation Trek suspension bikes - with the straight swingarm,
the
| stack-of-rubber-donuts rear shock (with no damping - yikes), and the
flexy,
| leaky, wickedly overdamped showa-built trek-branded forks. Hard to imagine
a
| worse riding POS, but hey, it only retailed for $2k.

I'll go one better. The first Cannondale FS bike. High mounted hinge point and a Girvin Flexstem in
the front. Dang thing rode slightly better than a 50 lb huffy with flat tires. The only good that
came out of it was getting my hands on a 1 inch Girvin stem somebody yanked off to put on an Mag 21.
The Girvin ended up in a place that made sense - on a commuter bike.

---
__o _`\(,_ Cycling is life, (_)/ (_) all the rest, just details. Nelson Binch =^o.o^=
intergalax.comintergalax.comOpen ↗

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (grisoft.comgrisoft.comOpen ↗). Version: 6.0.449 / Virus Database: 251 -
Release Date: 1/27/2003

"Ground Control©" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Andrew Thorne" <[email hidden]> wrote

| The first generation Trek suspension bikes - with the straight swingarm,
the
| stack-of-rubber-donuts rear shock (with no damping - yikes), and the
flexy,
| leaky, wickedly overdamped showa-built trek-branded forks. Hard to

imagine

Quoted message said:

a
| worse riding POS, but hey, it only retailed for $2k.

I'll go one better. The first Cannondale FS bike. High mounted hinge

point

Quoted message said:

and a Girvin Flexstem in the front. Dang thing rode slightly better than

a

Quoted message said:

50 lb huffy with flat tires. The only good that came out of it was

getting

Quoted message said:

my hands on a 1 inch Girvin stem somebody yanked off to put on an Mag 21. The Girvin ended up in a
place that made sense - on a commuter bike.

I remember test riding one of those at a NORBA race in Steamboat in about '93. The thing had so much
tail wag it felt like one of those Green Machine big wheels. I decided to stick with my rigid Trek
950 for a little while longer.

--

Matt

"Gravity. It's not just a good idea, it's the law!"

Andrew Thorne wrote in message
<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'll go one better. The first Cannondale FS bike. High mounted hinge

point

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

and a Girvin Flexstem in the front. Dang thing rode slightly better than

a

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

50 lb huffy with flat tires. The only good that came out of it was

getting

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

my hands on a 1 inch Girvin stem somebody yanked off to put on an Mag 21. The Girvin ended up in a
place that made sense - on a commuter bike.

Good one. But don't forget the Mongoose Amplifier. Imagine an early AMP,

built

Quoted message said:

under licence to sub-huffy standards. Right down to the linkage fork,

bushing

Quoted message said:

that would last about thirty miles (less in the rain). And a twin downtube design that proved too
flexy for Colnago to use on a roadbike. Lovely.

I'll defend that bike. Okay so the manufacturing wasn't great but the design principles are still
used today, what other frames from that period can say that?

You're right about the forks though, they used to top out on the bottom of he headset every time
they hit a bump.

Steve E.

"bomba" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

This follows on from the 'A little piece of history' thread, where myself and Dr Chequer were
discussing old horrific bikes. It also popped up when discussing the old Manitou frame.

Conditions: Bikes must have been appalling through design, looks or performance. You don't
necessarily have to have owned the bike, but merely avoided it like the plague. You can't just
write, 'Cannondale'. Links to pics of the offending articles are appreciated.

To start off:

Iron Horse / Sintesi Verlicchi. [censored]. And anodised purple: teamcow.caironOpen ↗

GT RTS. Surprising for GT to invent a proprietary rear suspension system that didn't really work.
I owned one of these, and it wasn't that great, even at the time. Hardly any travel, lots of side
slop and the shock topped out when you got out of the saddle. Plus mine snapped in two places.
This fetching one is also in anodised purple: netjoy.ne.jprts3 2.jpgOpen ↗

Orange UFO (URT). One of my mates bought a UFO when it first came out. Can't say I was ever really
jealous. Tragically, the fact that hardly anyone bought them, and those that did broke or got
binned, means that there doesn't appear to be a photo on the 'net.

--
a.m-b FAQ: t-online.deambfaq.htmOpen ↗

a.bmx FAQ: t-online.debmx faq.htmOpen ↗

My first was a German made Fischer. I knew zero about mtb'ing and the frame looked cool, so i bought
it. FS, but I think it was really just for looks, and talk about heavy! I believe it was a hollow
steel frame. I rode it about a year before I came across some real MTB's and kicked it to the curb.
I occasionally jump back on it for [censored] and giggles but normally it just sits in the garage with
year old mud covering it....Mike

"bomba" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

. Didn't they also have purple ano?

Quoted message said:

--

Is there something you're not telling us?

Klein Mantra URT.

A friend of mine _used to_ own one. The steep head angle made it an endo machine. The handlebar was
actually in front of the front axle. The last time I saw him with it was in a race. It pitched him
over the bars for the last time and he picked it up and threw it as far as he could into the woods.
I kept going but I guess he took it and got rid of it. The next time I saw him he was on a
Specialized M4 FSR.

Mike

The same design is still being used. The elevated front pivot assists with locking out the
suspension while pedaling. Although, not very well. I thought it was pretty decent for its day.
There are still suspension designs out there that are worse than some of the originals. One pioneer
about 8 years ago said we would be riding motorcycles without motors downhill. Was this guy that far
off the mark?

TJ

"bomba" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

bomba said:

This follows on from the 'A little piece of history' thread, where myself and Dr Chequer were
discussing old horrific bikes. It also popped up when discussing the old Manitou frame.

Conditions: Bikes must have been appalling through design, looks or performance. You don't
necessarily have to have owned the bike, but merely avoided it like the plague. You can't just
write, 'Cannondale'. Links to pics of the offending articles are appreciated.

Proflex! How could I forget Proflex? All rubbish (although I'm sure there'll be those who
disagree), especially the ones with the bits of yellow sponge.
novaspot.free.frproflex.jpgOpen ↗

Pace DH bike: My brother got to ride the prototypes and they were that good, he left the team. And
so did everyone else.

freetownsports.co.ukBike downhillOpen ↗. jpg

Quoted message said:

--
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a.bmx FAQ: t-online.debmx faq.htmOpen ↗

bomba <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

This follows on from the 'A little piece of history' thread, where myself and Dr Chequer were
discussing old horrific bikes. It also popped up when discussing the old Manitou frame.

Conditions: Bikes must have been appalling through design, looks or performance. You don't
necessarily have to have owned the bike, but merely avoided it like the plague. You can't just
write, 'Cannondale'. Links to pics of the offending articles are appreciated.

To start off:

Iron Horse / Sintesi Verlicchi. [censored]. And anodised purple: teamcow.caironOpen ↗

GT RTS. Surprising for GT to invent a proprietary rear suspension system that didn't really work.
I owned one of these, and it wasn't that great, even at the time. Hardly any travel, lots of side
slop and the shock topped out when you got out of the saddle. Plus mine snapped in two places.
This fetching one is also in anodised purple: netjoy.ne.jprts3 2.jpgOpen ↗

Orange UFO (URT). One of my mates bought a UFO when it first came out. Can't say I was ever really
jealous. Tragically, the fact that hardly anyone bought them, and those that did broke or got
binned, means that there doesn't appear to be a photo on the 'net.

There are a couple of abominations I've thrown a leg over. Two especially stand out, both
double squish:

A Cannondale Super-V sumthingoruther. A buddy took it as a loaner, and I rode it a few miles.
What a joke.

Gary Fisher Joshua. Heavy, ponderous, dangerous. Another joke, with nobody laughing. Paladin

"Paladin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

bomba <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

This follows on from the 'A little piece of history' thread, where myself and Dr Chequer were
discussing old horrific bikes. It also popped up when discussing the old Manitou frame.

Conditions: Bikes must have been appalling through design, looks or performance. You don't
necessarily have to have owned the bike, but merely avoided it like the plague. You can't just
write, 'Cannondale'. Links to pics of the offending articles are appreciated.

To start off:

Iron Horse / Sintesi Verlicchi. [censored]. And anodised purple: teamcow.caironOpen ↗

GT RTS. Surprising for GT to invent a proprietary rear suspension system that didn't really
work. I owned one of these, and it wasn't that great, even at the time. Hardly any travel, lots
of side slop and the shock topped out when you got out of the saddle. Plus mine snapped in two
places. This fetching one is also in anodised purple:
netjoy.ne.jprts3 2.jpgOpen ↗

Orange UFO (URT). One of my mates bought a UFO when it first came out. Can't say I was ever
really jealous. Tragically, the fact that hardly anyone bought them, and those that did broke or
got binned, means that there doesn't appear to be a photo on the 'net.

There are a couple of abominations I've thrown a leg over. Two especially stand out, both
double squish:

A Cannondale Super-V sumthingoruther. A buddy took it as a loaner, and I rode it a few miles.
What a joke.

Ah! My brother rode one for years, with the bars chopped as skinny as possible. Got a deal on it
when he broke an old Red Shred. It seemed like it would throw him just about every time we went out.
He finally got rid of it and got an Ibis soft tail. A much better choice for his XTerra racing, IMO
(although he did pretty well on the old beast when he wasn't crashing).

Quoted message said:

Gary Fisher Joshua. Heavy, ponderous, dangerous. Another joke, with nobody laughing.

A coworker of mine got one of these from our shop (when I worked on the mountain). They were old
rental stock and he loved the idea of getting "such a deal on a FS bike". I tried and tried to talk
him out of it and into a more sensible (for the money) Mt. Tam. I think he still has it (moved to MN
and never rides anymore) so I think it's actually well suited to it's role.

Quoted message said:

Paladin

Dave said:

. Didn't they also have purple ano?

Is there something you're not telling us?

I'm not a fan of purple ano (?)

bomba <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Conditions: Bikes must have been appalling through design, looks or performance. You don't
necessarily have to have owned the bike, but merely avoided it like the plague. You can't just
write, 'Cannondale'.

Yes I can and will, Cannondale.

Howzabout anything by Kona as well?

Then there's the rat [censored] that killed Schwinn's good name, gt's infamous idontdrive. May they rot
in wallyworld.

Let's add the Slingshot to the list, just because anyone of real physical stature would break
the cable.

Of course, we have to add any trek oclv bike, especially the dreaded y bike. (why? bike)

Another one of gt's lame designs would be the "triple triangle" harshinator design. That had to be
the most harsh ride of any steel MTB (before they switched to cheapo aluminium, then it got worse).

JD

"JD" <[email hidden]> wrote in message <snip>

Quoted message said:

Let's add the Slingshot to the list, just because anyone of real physical stature would break
the cable.

So you think I'd probably be OK on one then ? ;-)

Quoted message said:

Of course, we have to add any trek oclv bike, especially the dreaded y bike. (why? bike)

My buddy Steve seems to like his OCLV soft tail pretty well. I've ridden it and I don't like the
geometry much, but the frame seems to be holding up well, and Steve has got what you might call real
physical stature.

Quoted message said:

Another one of gt's lame designs would be the "triple triangle" harshinator design. That had
to be the most harsh ride of any steel MTB (before they switched to cheapo aluminium, then it
got worse).

JD

JD said:

Quoted message said:

Conditions: Bikes must have been appalling through design, looks or performance. You don't
necessarily have to have owned the bike, but merely avoided it like the plague. You can't just
write, 'Cannondale'.

Yes I can and will, Cannondale.

Furry muff.

Quoted message said:

Howzabout anything by Kona as well?

I never asked before, but what's your beef with Kona? All the other bike co.s you list have their
detractors in some form or another, but you seem to be the only one who beats on Kona.

Quoted message said:

Then there's the rat [censored] that killed Schwinn's good name, gt's infamous idontdrive. May they
rot in wallyworld.

Let's add the Slingshot to the list, just because anyone of real physical stature would break
the cable.

Slingshots - he he...

Anyone thrown in the ultimate loathsome bike yet? Aka the Raleigh Mustang, Was my 1st MTB as a kid
came either in grey and white or the one I had " mottled pink" Made almost entierly out of scaffold
tube and weighed more than most family cars. Had to try dam hard to break it to upgrade as no-one
was ever going to steal it. Howard

"Dave Westmoreland" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"bomba" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

. Didn't they also have purple ano?

Quoted message said:

--

Is there something you're not telling us?

There's nothing but broken record BS you have been spewing on us over the less than two years you
have been poisoning this NG, doof. How about your false claim that you have been humping my leg for
"three years". You need to smoke some more magic dust and drink another bottle of crown royal, you
uncouth boor. Have a cigarette while you're at it, jellyroll.

frightpig's first AM-B post:

From: haywood Jablome' ([email hidden]) Subject: Re: Opinion on Schwinn Mesa, Walo-Mart
Mongoose? Original Format Newsgroups: alt.mountain-bike Date: 2001-03-30 17:40:03 PST

I say B.S. I just bought the higher end Mongoose from Wally World, and it is name brand equipped
(Shimano cranks, detailers, MOO MT 30 Front Shock, Blaze rear shock., etc.) While I realize that
they are probably the lower end of these name brands, but they are still name brand, and easily
upgradable. I'm 6'0, 200#'s, and have already taken this bike through some pretty tough paces
already this season....(already warming up here in GA) The frame, rims etc have all held up
well...so far. It ain't no $1000 or more bike, but for 200 bucks, you can't beat it!! The bike is as
light as my Fuji road bike, but with all the bell's and whistles. (I.E....FS!) It's all aluminum,
seat stem, bars, bar ends. There was a problem with it not being indexed properly, but easily
adjustable. I've had no issues yet, nor do I expect any. But the season is young...I'll keep ya'
posted on it's durability as it progresses.

freightGOD!