I'm a shameless tinkerer and have an interest in doing things in the spirit of experimentation. Sometimes this produces "so wrong, it's right" results, and sometimes it just goes wrong. Here's an example of the latter outcome:
It looks pretty innocuous - a mountain bike with cruiser bars and questionable taste in components, but it all goes wrong when ridden in anything other than a leisurely cruiser manner. Maybe you're rolling your eyes because this looks like a trainwreck to you, but it came as a complete surprise to me because I had just finished a similar build that was a great ride (but the frame was a bit too small, so I traded it away last week.) Here's the successful build:
I've always liked the way the Rockhopper rides, and I expected the nimble geometry to be toned down only slightly by the VO Left Bank bars, but I didn't anticipate the ultra-sluggish handling - it feels like the bike actually resists steering input, and I had to get off and check that I hadn't over tightened the headset. It feels exactly like I'm struggling against a gummed-up and notchy headset, but it's freshly lubed and with the wheel off the ground, turns as well as it did when I last rode the bike a few years ago. I didn't even attempt to ride it no-hands, I'm sure it would have been a disaster.
I expected the brakes to perform better with a set of proper (if ancient) MTB levers, but that was a disappointment also. The cantilevers are Tektro copies of WTB Speedmasters, and not exactly known to be good performers, but they're even worse on the Rockhopper. Looking at the top photo, I think I have too much housing in the equation, and maybe replacing the housing with some modern stuff would dial out some of the "squish" also. Here are the brakes when they were on the Lotus, tons of adjustability and good looks, crappy performance.
I took it out for a blast around the trails this afternoon, and discovered another issue: slide-on grips will slide off just as easily when it's least convenient (such as when I'm attempting a wheelie off of a plank.) Fortunately, the ground was pretty forgiving so I didn't break any bones this time, and I didn't even notice the new holes in the top of my foot from the chainring until I got home. I crawled around in the dirt like Velma from Scooby Doo looking for my glasses laughing hysterically the entire time, but sadly, I don't think there were any witnesses. Note missing grip, I found it and the end plug eventually:
Have you ever built a bike that just didn't live up to your expectations?