Has anyone bought a new bike and been disappointed?

[Krztaco]

I'll start....I purchased a (2 month old) used 2005 Specialized Enduro 130mm travel F&R. I rode it for 2 weeks and sold it. I lost like $50 on the deal but who cares. It was the most inefficient bike ever on the climbs...but bombed downhill.

KRZ

[DISCO]

Iron horse porter, rode it twice and my knees couldn't hang with the 14 inch size. Lost a few bucks on Ebay but made my Dawg that much more accessible.

[reflux]

Rode a Giant AC for about 2 or 3 months. Hated it. Sold it to a friend. He subsequently resold it after about 3 or 4 months of riding.

[Zippy]

Beach cruiser for commuting to school. Gearing too tall to ride up steep hills and too heavy to turn into a SS with a coaster brake.

Track bike for commuting to school and for pedal development. Cranks are too short, frame doesn't have bottle braze-ons, toe-clips suck, also geared too tall for riding to school.

I'm about to buy a SS 29'er for giggles and school commuting. We'll see how that goes.

[hoovermd]

Mine came missing all the gears

[ODB]

Red Line Monocog 29er. SSing and rigid weren't good matches for me--aggravated old injuries. Didn't think the larger hoops were any big deal either. Every time I'd ride it, I would wish I were on one of my geared FSes instead. Sold it after a month and a half at a hundred-dollar loss.

[DeeZee]

Back in 2004 there were not a lot of 29’er FS bikes (three if I recall). Purchased a BRAND NEW. Fisher Sugar 29’er.

No matter what I tried the bike never performed well. Installed a different linkage to raise the BB and steepen the HA. Changed stems, seat positions, lightened the bike up with new wheels etc. After all that it was still a slow steering / crappy climber.

Finally sold the frame and transferred the parts over to a HT.

It took me three more years before I would even consider a FS bike again.

Then I became a HOMER and purchased a Sultan. Bike does everything great. Climbs like a goat, carves up single track and bombs DH. Still prefer my SS HT but for a FS bike me likey.

Dishonorable mention.

Kona A FS SS 26’er. My gawd what a mistake. FS, little wheels and single speed.

Replaced it with my first 29’er ( a SS) and never looked back.

[BFloFoxRider.]

Originally Posted by reflux

Rode a Giant AC for about 2 or 3 months. Hated it. Sold it to a friend. He subsequently resold it after about 3 or 4 months of riding.

Dood as much as i say i hate my AC, i really do love it, that bike is solid
Ive raced xc, and downhill on it, and riddene verything in between. The stock components, rear shock and manitou splice fork, suck in my opinion, and once i changed to a fox vanilla 32 RLC, major difference. that bike is a good all around bike, but will not it as a race bike

[Abui]

I've never been disappointed! It's like Christmas all over again.

[strobelite]

2001 cannondale f1000.

rode it 6 times an it broke.

c'dale wouldn't warrantee it, even though i worked for one of their top so-cal dealers.

[Au575]

1994 Gary Fisher ProCaliber LTD - I wanted so very much to love that bike. It was extremely light, it was dead sexy and it was all very top end kit. The problem was, I didn't want to buy it - I was forced into it. My earlier ProCaliber (XTR on the Nivachrome steel frame) had been stolen from in front of the chem labs at UCSD and the insurance company offered to buy the new, top-of-the-line OCLV bike as my replacement. How could a starving college student (who had scraped for the $1500 deal on the original ProCal) refuse someone buying him a nearly $5000 bike???

But I never bonded with the new bike in the same way. The geo was different (and felt wrong), the Onza pedals were complete crap, I hated the grip shifters, the chain suck was too frequent, and the frame didn't have the cool rasta three-color fade, although at least the Judy SL was the right color. It even felt "too light."

I still have it - demoted to a SS so that I could jettison the stupid grip shifters - but I'd pay good money to get my original ProCaliber back.

[dstepper]

2005 Kona Unit, not because it was a single speed but because it was to flexy for my weight. 2003 GT I-drive, my first bike, I thought it was great when I first bought it then I bought a 5-Spot...what a eye opener.

Dean

[jonathan_sykes81]

Recently bought a Turner RFX, and I am very dissappointed that I didn't purchase it earlier!

[northshore]

Turner

[thebush]

My first Kona from some time ago. Was a combination of the bike and the worst ever wrenching and bike fitting I've ever experienced from a shop (Atomic Bikes). Nothing made that bike perform they way I wanted it to. Since then I've purchased a few more Konas and love `em. One of my favorite bikes was a Kona that I bought in June `07 and sold in November `07

[allison]

I've never been disappointed in a bike I purchased. I was disappointed that I couldn't use my 1x1, but wasn't the bike's fault.

[Kid A]

never really became one with my trek fuel..when others asked me on the trail how i liked it usually stated i wouldn't buy it again

[Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by DeeZee

Back in 2004 there were not a lot of 29’er FS bikes (three if I recall). Purchased a BRAND NEW. Fisher Sugar 29’er.

No matter what I tried the bike never performed well. Installed a different linkage to raise the BB and steepen the HA. Changed stems, seat positions, lightened the bike up with new wheels etc. After all that it was still a slow steering / crappy climber.

Finally sold the frame and transferred the parts over to a HT.

It took me three more years before I would even consider a FS bike again.

Then I became a HOMER and purchased a Sultan. Bike does everything great. Climbs like a goat, carves up single track and bombs DH. Still prefer my SS HT but for a FS bike me likey.

Dishonorable mention.

Kona A FS SS 26’er. My gawd what a mistake. FS, little wheels and single speed.

Replaced it with my first 29’er ( a SS) and never looked back.

I had the same problem with that Fisher 29er...sold it after 6 months to a friend and he got rid of it too...I had some of my worst crashes on it..I could never get it to handle right..now have a Gary Fisher hardtail 29er and love it...and I have a Felt Virtue 1 for my squish...love it!

[FyrFytrRyn]

ive never bought a new bike, its all been pre owned. i did buy a new frame and make a SS/full rigid 26'er. fun but killed me. i believe ride4RAAM owns it now. (forgive me if i botched your username.)

[OMR]

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

I had the same problem with that Fisher 29er...sold it after 6 months to a friend and he got rid of it too...I had some of my worst crashes on it..I could never get it to handle right..now have a Gary Fisher hardtail 29er and love it...and I have a Felt Virtue 1 for my squish...love it!

You're supposed to be cracking the whip over there... not behind the counter on the STR board!

PS: they say you'll go blind if you don't stop!