Mods; Regrets, Mistakes, Why Did I? Duh!

D'Oh

D'Oh

Member
First of all, thanks to everyone who posts their experiences both good and bad in this forum. The amount of knowledge shared here has helped so many of us out.

Please share with us things you would have done differently if you could go back in time and do it over,... so we don't make the same mistake. Things like unique mods that didn't really work or that now you know you would do it another way, a better solution.
Possibly products you bought that are just junk.
Things I did twice (or more) because I thought I was saving a buck, or time, or face...

This thread should be about bicycles not marriage or relationships.
 
Good: My SMP Saddle: I can go for miles and miles on this. I bought my first one and did not like the price. I now own 3 of them all Gliders. My big ass loves it.

Toss up: Continental Mountain King Tire, Love this tire and even though I have there protective side walls I wreck the side walls twice.
 
I would have never married my first wife.... Does this apply? ..sorry. :rolleyes:

I have no regrets with anything regarding bikes other than I wish I had a time machine and could have sent my first 29er back to 1992 so I could tear it the fuck up!
 
i had a 2002 f/s stumpjumper. i'm pretty sure it was a 2002. either way, i swapped out the stock rear link for a BETD link to give it some extra travel (with a new fancy-pants shock) and then picked up a longer travel all mountain fork to offset the extra travel in the back.

i sold it short after screwing with it. it was really plush after the mods which felt cool at first, but it was like a pogo stick. the mods put my BB super high and made it a real endo-prone bike. i'll never mod a bike like that again. i'll buy an all mountain bike vs try to make an x/c bike into one. sold it to someone in CO and he loved it, but after a year and a half he asked me if i happened to have the serial number somewhere because it was stolen. boo!
 
Shoulda kept the 29er hardtail instead of selling it when I bought my new FS 29er. Love the new bike but it's in the shop and I have no backup ride...duh....point is, always have at least 2 bikes!
 
Rusty said:
Shoulda kept the 29er hardtail instead of selling it when I bought my new FS 29er. Love the new bike but it's in the shop and I have no backup ride...duh....point is, always have at least 2 bikes!
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Me thinks you need to re-read the rules...

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules/

Specifically
Rule #12
// The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.

While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.
 
I'd say my biggest mistakes would be trying to make a good deal work, even if I know better.

Example, I have a spare 11-32 cassette which I got on a deal, but ended up needing a 11-34 as I was running 1x9. So the 11-32 sits on a shelf. Also have a set of nearly new lower end Shimano brakes, which worked just kinda ok so I took them off. When I did the Paradox build, I knew it'd be XT brakes, and that's that.

I'm all kinds of into shopping for a good price. But buying something twice because I was shortsighted is just a waste.
 
Good: carbon seatpost, SMP saddle, swissstop brake pads, ergon grips

Bad: cut my handlebars too short...hate them...been meaning to replace it.
 
Good thread idea, Gabe!

:) Stuff:

Buying more bike than I think I will ever need or want, going tubeless the right way, Selle SMP saddle, Shimano brakes, KMC chains, insulated MTB boots, Sidi road shoes, ODI Rogue grips.

:( Stuff:

Hardtails, ghetto tubeless, Avid Juicys and Elixirs, and rollers. Thankfully, a short list as I usually ask people on this forum for advice.
 
+1 on avid brakes.


And I'll add trying to mount Geax tnt tires on stans rims.
 
Good:

Riding a rigid single speed exclusively for a number of years

THEN, getting a second bike with gears and suspension :)

Bad: No regrets I can think of. I am sure there are some things I woulda done sooner if I had known better at the time but you know what they say about hindsight
 
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Good:
Converting to tubeless.
Getting a nice hand pump and not dinking around with co2 cartridges. When you ride with others who aren't as prepared letting them use up your cartridges can get expensive. also you only have a finite number of them, while there is plenty of free air that you can use with your pump.
Throwing a foldable handsaw in my pack in case I run across a fresh small tree across the trails.
Bad:
Throwing my hydra pack in the microwave to try to quickly unfreeze the water after leaving it in the car for a few days in the middle of winter. Little water droplets in the hose began to boil way before the ice in the main reservoir began to melt and poked multiple holes in the hose.....
Not heeding the warning signs that my fork needed service when it would spew funky residue on the stansions. With early prevention I could have saved the stansions from heavy scoring that later became apparent.
 
regrets: honestly really not in love with my Top Fuel 8, I thought I wanted a FS bike when I got rid on my Cannondale Killer V. I got the Misfit, and now the Top Fuel bike is basically a back up bike.

There's a few sections of trail that I've cut that I wish I can do over....eventually I'll go back and redo them.
 
FFT said:
I regret spending more time on MTBNJ than my MTB.
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:hysterica

cant think of any small good/bad buy purchases at the moment, but for big things:

worst :( : buying a bike from a shop that did not insist on "fitting" the bike

Best :D : buying a bike from a shop who insisted on fitting the bike
 
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