Mountain Biking - Worst bike you ever owned/rode

Let's hear the horror stories! My worst was a Wally World bike my wife and I inherited from a friend. The bike was a "Mountain Bike" style fully rigid and about one size too large for me. When I sat on the bike the front fork visibly flexed outward as if it was going to snap off (I weighed 140lbs at the time). I rode down a small downhill, not wanting to go fast for fear of structural failure. I applied the brakes (which I had just adjusted) and after a breif moment of funtion they gave up entirely. I luckily coasted to a stop and looked at the brakes. The calipers were made of flat stamped metal and when I had applied the brakes the calipers simply bent. Shifters were down tube but would not hold a gear and continually shifted back to the lowest tension gear available. Got off the bike and threw it in the garbage.

Who else has a bike horror story?

I have always owned 'tanks' But every bike I have ever owned, besides my trek, never shifted correctly, and getting the brakes to work was always a challenge.

Y'know, my last Wal Mart bike was the worst bike I've ever had and the best bike I've ever had all at once. Sure it weighed a ton and wasn't real great, but I loved riding it and it got me into riding.

no horror stories but when you borrow a wal-mart bike from a friend to go on a ride when you dont have your bike with you, and that bike was still a "wal mart bike" 15 years ago it doesnt get any better with age. :(

Worst MTB, a Magna dual suspension that I purchased to flip. After riding it, I decided to strip it instead of selling to some other poor schlump. The crank was loose, the brakes wouldn't work and the rims were way out of true.
Worst road bike, a mid 80's Murray. The original owner hardly used it. After riding it once, I found out why. It simply would not shift correctly and the chain slipped and skipped in every gear but the granny gear.

Worst bike: 1999 Oryx that I built in 2006, that thing tried killing me every chance it got. Only bike I have ever thrown in frustration to this day.

no horror stories but when you borrow a wal-mart bike from a friend to go on a ride when you dont have your bike with you, and that bike was still a "wal mart bike" 15 years ago it doesnt get any better with age. :(

Walmart bikes rock........

The worst bike I ever owned was a Specialized...they suck.:thumb:

this thing....Kmart womens dual sus mountain bike...it held up but i flatted about 12 tires in 8 months, and i didn't ride all that much. It is now owned by my younger brother

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41FDBB2Y33L._SS500_.jpg

Norco Wolverine, late 90's model. Everything on it sucked from the derauleur to wheels to front fork. The bike was a beast at almost 40 pounds and was very fragile with crap cranks and wheels. It cost my fiance some good coin but she would have been better off buying a wally world bike.

1996 Murray Bio-Tech; stealth-gray paint job (best thing about it!), 18 speeds, rigid, foam grips. My soon-to-be bro-in-law at the time called it "the handicapped bike" -- then he bought it from me for $30 six months later....

That turd was SOOOOO bad, you couldn't ride no-hands on it, you'd pitch into a bush...even on a wide-open road!

There's a lot of bad stuff out there, but one of the most disappointing rides I ever had was aboard a Rocky Mountain Element Team. Now that was an amazingly crappy ride. It wasn't plush, yet it wallowed. It bobbed unless the shock pressure was so high you would loose fillings. I imagine the new bikes all have platform shocks, but back in tha day - yikes.

Worst bike I ever had (by practical standards) was probably one of my best (for what it gave me) - - it launched my obsession for going dowbhill very fast: a Mongoose MGX from Costco:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t162/dminorwa/Doug_49Deg_2.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t162/dminorwa/Doug_49Deg.jpg

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t162/dminorwa/Doug_Waterville.jpg

Worst bike I ever had (by practical standards) was probably one of my best (for what it gave me) - - it launched my obsession for going dowbhill very fast: a Mongoose MGX from Costco:
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t162/dminorwa/Doug_Waterville.jpg

:eek: Dude, how are you not dead?

I think that's the first ive seen of a department store bike being fitted with a dual crown fork.

An old Ross ten speed from the early 80's...if memory serves me correctly the chain fell off while I was riding and I flipped over the handlebars. It was my cousins bike I remember going over the handlebars as if in slow motion. Head hit the pavement (no helmet) and to add insult to injury the bike landed on my head. I walked the damn thing back to his house with a bloody scalp and knees.

:eek: Dude, how are you not dead?Haha! Actually, the frame was quite sound - - large downtube/headtube juncture reinforced with a top tube. The URT rear triangle was (at best) high-tensile steel or even mild steel (think high amount of yielding before actual breakage), so it held up to a lot of abuse. At least at the hands of a beginner-going-on-Sport.


I think that's the first ive seen of a department store bike being fitted with a dual crown fork.. . . and a Fox Alps 5 rear shock ;).

I think that's the first ive seen of a department store bike being fitted with a dual crown fork.

Ah, but there are some that come stock with dual crown....

http://images.canadiantire.ca/media/images/products/images/SportsRecreation/BicyclesAccessories/BikesAdult/0711673_450_CC_64ec5.jpg

Probably this old raggedy blue town bike that I demolished.

When I was in 5th grade, my dad tried to jazz up an old bike by spray painting it blue. It looked like such crap, I left it in an alley, only to have a neighbor say "hey, we found your bike... did someone steel it?"

More recently, I had a Gary Fisher whose frame was too small for my 6'3 personage.

Haha! Actually, the frame was quite sound - - large downtube/headtube juncture reinforced with a top tube.

It had a top tube? Wow! :p

When I was in 5th grade, my dad tried to jazz up an old bike by spray painting it blue. It looked like such crap, I left it in an alley, only to have a neighbor say "hey, we found your bike... did someone steel it?"I was wondering where mtnbiker66 got his blue Bullit . . . now I know :D

I saw a weird one yesterday. Some guy in a VW pulled up with a Thule bike rack on the roof (I'm guessing these things cost maybe $500 or so, right?) On the bike rack? A NEXT full suspension. Nothin' quite like a $100 bike on a $500 bike rack. Dude's got his priorities in a slightly different order than mine I guess...

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i41/FlatFender_2006/conniescamera016.jpg

sucked giant balls anywhere that wasn't down hill.