Bad stuff that bike "progress" has left behind

[Fab Foodie]

I thought they worked OK in the dry.  In the wet, you might as well put your feet down.

Leather brake pads were supposed to be the solution IIRC. 

[Mr Larrington]

I thought they worked OK in the dry.  In the wet, you might as well put your feet down.

Leather brake pads were supposed to be the solution IIRC. 

With the accent on "supposed"...

[Jacomus]

Alu rims are the actual solution.

[Notsototalnewbie]

I thought they worked OK in the dry.  In the wet, you might as well put your feet down.

Leather brake pads were supposed to be the solution IIRC. 

With the accent on "supposed"...

Yes; I have these on my sit-up-and-beg Peugeot. I actually commuted in central London on this for around three months when my other bike was stolen; in the rain you always had to put a foot down.

I sourced and fitted leather brake pads, they made very little difference if at all.

The Peugeot is nonetheless very elegant and now lives in my mum's garage in Bognor for genteel jaunts into town to save the boring half-hour walk. Only when it's dry, naturally.

[andygates]

Radial drive wheels.  Solid forks.  Front-wheel drive.  Direct drive.  Bushed bearings. 

aka, "pennyfarthings" 

[clarion]

I have steel rims on my Carlton.  It goes & stops OK, but I can't lock the front wheel to lift the rear if I have a saddlebag on.  I'm not a fan of steel rims.

[Mr Larrington]

Front-wheel drive.

Nowt wrong with FWD:



for example

[PhilO]

My MTB runs Octalink 1, and I've never had any trouble.

The trick is to re-torque the screw before it works loose*. So, fit your cranks, ride for half an hour, re-torque*. Re-torque again at the end of the first ride. I've had more trouble with square tapers coming loose than Octalinks.

* Ie. Follow the instructions. 

[Zoidburg]

A cassete runs with full length splines, why did shimano decide to depart from this idea with crank arms?

[rogerzilla]

The trouble with Octalink 1 is that it's not a taper fit and is tightened until it bottoms out, so it's quite prone to self-loosening.  Usually just the LH crank loosens.   Jobst Brandt has written a load of stuff on it:

The Shimano splined bottom bracket (Jobst Brandt)

The BBs last no longer than before, either - I've still found no cartridge BB that I can't wreck within 2000 miles.

[rogerzilla]

Radial drive wheels.

Never went away.  Check out some BMX bikes and low-riders.  When you have 40 spokes in a 20" wheel, or 144 spokes in a 26" wheel, spoke wind-up is negligible.

[clarion]

Gosh.  I thought the Centaur was the first MTB gruppo.  That's pretty hideous.  If I were Campag, I'd have thought twice about putting the crest on such a lump of blergh.

[clarion]

I remember one of the mags - Bicycle Action? - trying very hard to be polite in its review, which it had been trailing as a big splash event which turned out to be a whole lot of hot air for not much...

[rogerzilla]

Is that frame pebbledashed?

[Greenbank]

Front-wheel drive.

Nowt wrong with FWD:



for example

404-complaint Mr L.

[clarion]

Ah - and badly-matched cable outers...

[Mr Larrington]

404-complaint Mr L.

Eh and, moreover, wot

[Greenbank]

www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk no worky.

[Mr Larrington]

Legs Larry's Unorthodox Bicycle Region no worky.

Odd.  It's hosted by the same people as...

...yacf.co.uk

Anyway, the picture is of Fast Freddy Markham in a Varna.

[Mr Larrington]

1995 Ritchey Lite Beam

That has to be one of the most ill thought out bikes I've ever seen.

[clarion]

OK.  There's something that's not quite been left behind, but was terrible at the time, and we should be immensely pleased to be rid of.

I'm talking about tubulars.

[tiermat]

Can only imagine how it would handle a crash!

Probably has the same problem that the Marin full sus bikes do, at least for me.  The top tube, being so shaped, is perfectly placed to give you an almighty whack on the thigh, just above the knee, in the case of a crash.  This causes you to:
a) swear loudly
b) lie on your side, bike out in the track, unable to move your leg or your bike (especially bad if during a race)
c) swear loudly
d) Think you have broken your leg
e) swear loudly
f) have a huge bruise from the unbelieveably bad dead-leg the top tube has given you
g) swear loudly.....

[clarion]

OK.  There's something that's not quite been left behind, but was terrible at the time, and we should be immensely pleased to be rid of.

I'm talking about tubulars.

Now there's a bold statement! 
Not that I'm a huge fan but I think they are superior to clinchers in many way's.

They're a heap of useless crap when they puncture, or just roll off the rim, as they have a wont to do.