Preamble: For me, one of life’s contests is to get the best deal on the best thing, at the right time. As a result, I tend to deliberate for a long time before I spend money on expensive bike toys (also because I’m cheap). I notice folks here tend to talk about their successful purchases and/or the qualities they liked less in the alternatives.

Question for the forum: what is a memorable bike purchase that turned out to be one you regret?

For me, I bought an Infinito after testing every endurance bike model I could. I love it, but after I had it about two or three weeks I saw an Oltre xr4 on the road and realized I wished I’d considered, tried it, because clearly the grass looks greener over there. I’ve never stopped regretting the oversight.

The regret I had after my most recent purchase was not having made it sooner.

I bought what were supposed to be a topline set of pedals and they turned out to be worse than the ones I already had in my bin of salvaged parts. Now they're in the bin.

I've regretted the 15 saddles that I bought so far...and counting

No, I always buy deals. So no regrets.

!!

Back in '90 I bought a Schwinn 754. Total piece of crap. The rear wheel had to be warrantied. Even broke spokes on the front wheel.. The seatpost had an internal quill that was not up to the task, at least for someone of my weight at the time (6' 2", about 180). The post would slide down a bit. Was in law school at the time. Took the bike home for the summer and brought it back to school on Amtrak. Went back later to ride it home from the train station. I can still visualize me climbing a long hill in Pittsburgh heading for my apartment and hearing intermittent pings. Discovered later that those pings were bearings falling out of the freewheel and hitting the aluminum frame. Seriously?

Trek offered me a Lemond titanium frame as warranty replacement for a Klein Quantum with a cracked seat tube/downtube junction. I thought "Cool, Titanium, I always wanted to try Titanium". I got a "deal" and paid $850. This was at the point where Trek had just purchased both Lemond and Klein and was in the process of putting both companies out of business.

Big Mistake for me.

The frame was a noodle and suffered bad F derailer rub when in the small ring from too soft a bottom bracket. I had to switch to Campy shifting in order to get some front derailer trim capability to prevent the rub. Campy 9 spd on a Shimano wheel and cassette.

Then the paint started flaking off in the the first year. Trek accepted a warranty and re-painted. That paint lasted about 8 mos and started to peal off. Trek refused to warranty a 2nd time so I had the frame re-painted locally.

Then a crack developed alongside the cable stop on the downtube. Trek refused to warranty as I had had the frame painted.

I think I had this bike for 3 maybe 4 years and finally thru the frame out.

FU Trek.

Too much Trek anyway.

Based upon your own words you are cheap and you have difficulty making decisions. You could never possibly be completely satisfied with a big purchase.
That’s not an oversight. That’s a condition.

Allow me to recommend a book that might help you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice

Not a purchase, but a gift. My Mom got me a cell phone holder that clamps on the handlebar. I tried using Google maps while riding on a business trip away from home, but (a) the battery drained down very quickly; and (b) the display was too small and dim to be useful. Looking at a map and writing down some basic directions in case memory fails is still better. I normally carry my cell in a baggie in my jersey pocket, after one ride I went back to the old way. Sorry, Mom, thanks for the thoughtful gift, but that was a waste of money.

(There's nothing wrong with getting lost, anyway.)

I do self-contained tours. The longer ones (1-2 weeks) are away from home. Prior to each trip I map each day's route using Ride With GPS, but on the road I use PGS--Paper Guidance System, a/k/a cue sheets. The phone is for backup navigation assistance only. Cue sheets also come in handy when you want to start a campfire.

20 years ago I spent nearly four months on the road, covering about 6,000 miles from Seattle to Ocean City, NJ, via Bar Harbor, ME, and Philadelphia. Had nothing but ACA maps with cues. I think I got lost maybe 3-4 times.

Bought a brick of a road saddle once, might as well have been a brick, most uncomfortable saddle I ever owned. Still have it, tried to sell several times. I'd give it to Goodwill, but wouldn't wish it on anyone! I really need to clear out my old parts container (which is buried in the garage).

My regret is not a bike purchase but it was when I sold my 1974 Raleigh Pro, I never should have sold that bike.

I gave a lot of my parts and a few bikes to the co-op. One vintage campy equipped bike I gave to my nephew, he is about my size and likes biking, so it didn't get wasted. He may also get my vintage stumpjumper.

When I was young I bought a bike from a sleezeball who resold & chopped stolen bikes near a college town.

The Raleigh Competition was fine but I came to regret the purchase.


More recently, bought two sets of Tufo S33 tires- cheap but ride like bricks.

Like you, I would have regretted buying an Infinito over an XR4 every moment after purchase. That is why I ride an XR4 instead

Bought a nice CO2 inflation kit on the recommendation of someone. That was two years ago. Still haven't used it.

Things I've regretted:
- Most every OEM wheelset that I've ever had come on a bike. Unless you spend a fairly serious amount of money, you're going to get surprisingly crappy wheels with most bikes. Cheap OEM hubs are unreliable complete garbage that you can't rebuild, cheap rims are heavy and problematic with tubeless. Also, OEM wheels are assembled like crap, they often lose tension immediately. Unless You're spending (something like) $5k on a bike, plan on replacing the wheels sooner than you think.
- Chinese open mold carbon stem. Flat out dangerous, the threads pulled right out with 20 miles of riding despite careful torquing. This convinced me to stay away from unbranded stuff.
- Almost every saddle bag I've ever purchased. I finally found a good solution but too many sway around, look like crap, scratch up your seatpost etc.
- Cheap tires. Never worth it. Life is too short, spend the extra $20 and get something decent.
- Shoes that even slightly off. I can use basically any saddle. Most helmets fit me just fine. Very few pieces of cycling clothing I've purchased over the years haven't worked out. Etc. The one exception is shoes. I am extremely picky about shoes and socks.

1st world problems, but if I was getting a nice aero bike.........not going Di2. Recabling a mechanical aero bike can be a royal PIFA.

Second regret has been not converting my 10spd cross bike to 11spd to free up another wheelset of mine to move between all my bikes with ease.

Third regret was saving coin by using older tubular disc and trispoke on my TT bike. Fine for a race, too damn rough on that size tire to ever ride for "fun".

In what way does a cell phone holder affect your battery life or screen size? You are just changing the manner in which you choose to use your phone which in the end is a regret in your own behavior.

I regret buying a trek. One Trek was "too much trek"

Well, I was gonna say saddles, but as I type this I'm thinking that even a poor saddle choice isn't a complete waste as it still serves as an example of what doesn't work. I have a clear understanding of the size, shape, level of padding, etc, only because of my earlier investments in poor choices.

I do, however, regret all of the time, energy and money I spent on lighting solutions before finally embracing dynamos. I have an embarrassingly large collection of battery powered headlights and taillights and an even more embarrassing legacy of dead batteries which all could have been avoided had I made the move to dynamo lighting much sooner. First it was alkalines, then rechargeables, then USBs. Batteries die. They become unrechargeable. Sooner or later it happens to every battery ever made, so if I'd have figured it out sooner... oh well.


-Kedosto

I will say IRC Firestorm tires.

I was looking for a new inexpensive brand of tires that would work well. One local forum member suggested IRC FS tires. Said they were great on fast downhills and fast cornering. I was riding up local mountain roads fairly often while training for a timed event up in the mountains. So I was descending switchbacks at 30 MPH and fast straights at 40 MPH. 20 mile descents so I needed a decent tire.

I bought 2 after his recommendation (thank goodness for spellcheck as I can never spell that word off the top of my head ).

First tire installed on front. 8 miles up the mountain road, something felt strange. Looked down at my tire and it was snaked. I believe caused by heat blisters, factory defects. I turned and rolled down the mountain slowly, very slowly. Got home, contacted the internet source and sent pics for a refund. Good guys, exchanged for a better tire and told me to keep the second and find out if it too was defective.

I installed the second tire on the front again and planned a long flat ride hoping to survive if the tire was junk. About 20 miles in, it also snaked. JUNK!!!! I reported that to the source as well. Hopefully they didn't sell anymore of those junk tires.

I also mentioned it to the local forum member. We live in the same area and thought we rode the same roads. Turns out I ride the local mountain roads and he living in the same 5 mile radius does whatever he can to avoid any type of climbing. OK, so WTH! If you are going to recommend tires to a guy who descends mountain roads at 40 MPH, don't base your recommendation off your fast cornering at 15 MPH while riding around the block ha ha!