“How do you like that mountain bike?”
“I hate it,” said no one on the trail ever.
Still, some buyers occasionally find they regret a mountain bike purchase due to a bad fit, changed financial circumstances, an injury, or some other reason. We want to know if it’s happened to you, and why you regretted your purchase.
23 Comments
Jun 1, 2022
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May 30, 2022
It has been a good lesson though and I've been more careful buying bikes since then
May 31, 2022
Of course, once I had a yellow and red frame, I had to have yellow grips, a yellow Judy fork, yellow Race Face cranks and stem, a very uncomfortable yellow and red saddle, yellow Giro helmet, yellow and red anodized crank bolts, headset spacers, valve caps ... I hit rock bottom when I was drooling at a yellow blackburn hand pump which would be in my pack, so nobody would see it (but I'd know it matched).
I stood back and took a hard look at what I had done... an abomination that my girlfriend referred to as "circus bike". Mistakes had been made. To atone for my sins, my next bike was a flat black single speed without a hint of embellishment or color.
Many bikes later, the only thing I still have from that era is that bright yellow pump (yes, I did buy it), which has proved to be an unbreakable workhorse after almost (does some math) 25 years of use. It serves as a reminder to not fall prey to the color-matching demon.
May 30, 2022
If you are trying to build a showy, “mall-crawler” bike, then these wheels are great. But if you ask them to blast a rock garden or take any square hit, they will ultimately disappoint.
Jun 1, 2022
Jun 6, 2022
The claim at the time was that no sealant was needed, although it was.
There was also an issue with the nipple/spoke interface. I had many spokes come loose during rides, the dealer used Loctite to secure the nipples and that helped. Still, a rough introduction to the world of tubeless.
Got a later iteration of that wheel (Crossmax ST) and it was flawless btw!
May 29, 2022
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Jun 2, 2022
May 31, 2022
After having a similar experience (not the busted frame yet, thankfully) with a lower-end Surly, and having ridden dead-bottom-tier mountain bikes from Giant, Specialized, and even Fuji that took years of abuse without a problem, I'm wondering if it's a known phenomenon that smaller makers can't do cheap bikes well. Personally if I'm ever again in the market for a sub-$2k bike, it'll definitely be a Trek or something.
May 30, 2022
May 30, 2022
May 30, 2022
I did plenty of research & though that the Crush would be about perfect... I had it delivered, put it together and realised it was way, way too heavy for what I wanted.
It was built like a tank & must've weighed about 32 to 34 lbs. It was wieldy and slow to accelerate. Climbing hills was purgatory.
I sent it back, waited a bit & bought a Giant XTC SLR 1. The Giant is superb, great ergonomics, fast to accelerate and agile.
May 29, 2022
May 31, 2022