Bad Idea...Good Idea
 

I am not sure if this has been done before, but even if so maybe it's worth repeating.

What cycling-related product did you initially think was a really BAD idea but upon further reflection (or just trying it) did you think after all, it's a really GOOD idea/product??

My nominee: Podium Water Bottle (by Camelback). I initially figured, what's wrong with good old fashioned water bottles?? But I finally relented and got one a few months ago and I really like the no-leak valve. The bottle itself is just a bottle but the valve is really a good idea and works amazingly well. No more wearing my drink!

Runner-up: Shimano Di-2 - not that I have tried it yet, but from my reading it sounds like a pretty good product (although maybe it's just a solution in search of a problem).

Second runner up - This thread.

Feel free to add your own Bad Idea/Good Idea nominee.

Gu

Men's forum - so glad BF allowed it.....

spandex/lycra

A nationwide reclamation site for all the punctured inner tubes so we won't have to do that awful batch patching thing again.

clipless pedals. STI shifters.

Spinacci clip-ons
CO2
Quick link chain links
Full zip jerseys
Bib shorts

Podium bottles are hands-down the best water bottle on earth. Why would bottles be "old fashioned", like 99% of cyclists use them

Bibs. Swore I would never wear those dorky things...until I got a pair. My wife still thinks they are rediculous looking (which they are), but I refuse to wear shorts anymore.

Side entry botle cages
Quick release skewers until they put that stoopid lawyer tabs
Carbon fiber...who woulda thunk?!?
Bamboo frames

road bikes. i used to think they were ridiculous (and the people who rode them even more ridiculous) until i test rode a friend's bike and fell in love. now i just can't stop riding.

You really WANT the lawyer tabs? Quick releases worked just fine for decades until the ultra-litigious among us started suing manufacturers for the users' negligence.

I like the quick release skewers UNTIL they started making them with lawyer tabs. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of the "quick release". Now, it's the "quick to loosen but you have to mess with the nut a bit more to actually remove the wheel" skewers.

Sorry, English is not my first language...I'm hard to comprehend sometimes.

Pro cycling clothing.

I always thought it looked ridiculous and was only intended for aerodynamics.
It was only after I got myself some that I realised on the first ride that the body temperature and sweat regulating ability of it was just wonderfull.

Clean Bottle
http://cleanbottle.com/

Brilliantly simple. Used to like the Camelback Podium until an ecosystem sprung up in the bite valve and found out how hard it is to clean.

J.

Wool.

rear view mirror

Depends.



As in the adult diaper.

SO important for women, that's if one is wearing bibs.

Compact crank. How often do I really go over 45 on a ride.

Bleach

Bulk-pack denture cleaner works great too.

bibs- love 'em put don't put them on in front of my wife

Specialized Purist water bottle (nothing can grow in these). Seemed like an overpriced water bottle (as they all are). Now that I've used it, it's still overpriced, but works better than the Camelback Podium.

Compact Crank. Didn't get it, now I do.