bruce19

Probably this one....circa 1956.

Kedosto

Resuscitating a necro thread, are we?

Mid 90's Cannondale. Gawd, what a buzzy, harsh, POS. The chain stays were slightly off so the rear wheel didn't center. I gave it away because I couldn't bring myself to take money from anyone for that POS.


-Kedosto

canklecat

Stingray, 1969 or '70. I really thought I wanted one, but it wasn't satisfactory to ride. The novelty wore out quickly. I much preferred my next bike a year later, a conventional 3-speed city bike.

Since then I can make just about any decent bike work. It's just a matter of fit -- getting the right saddle, handlebar, stem, reach, etc.

Well, almost any bike. I still can't get along with a recumbent a friend loaned me a year ago. I think I did one lap around the parking lot, hated it, never took it out again.

cthenn

It was some forgettable Performance house branded road bike, my first one. From the first ride to the last, the thing was a noise machine. Something was always creaking or popping or clicking or whatever else. I was practically afraid to really hammer on it, or descend fast on it. I'm also a noise stickler, so I'm already predisposed to hating any noise coming from my bike. I don't even remember what I did with it, I may have returned it, but it was so forgettable.

Terex

My first couple of bikes in the '70's. Friction shifters, hubs that needed repacking all the time, heavy wheels and tires unless you used sew-ups, and then you had to deal with flats. Don't let old guys tell you that their bikes were great - they weren't. Started riding a road bike again years later when integrated shifters were in use - what a huge difference! Most decent quality modern road and mountain bikes are amazing as long as you get the size right.

alcjphil

My first bike was my worst bike. I had already learned how to ride using my aunt's full sized adult bike, so my father was forced into buying me a bike. The one he bought was as cheap as he could find, we didn't have very much money. The bike he bought was awful. It was a fixed gear with no brakes. It was so poorly made that I broke the chain several times. He had to take it back and he bought me what was possibly the best bike I have ever had. My dad came through for me. He bought me a great bike

FlashBazbo

It pains me to say this because I loved the bike. It was my first "racing" bike -- my first 10-speed (when 10-speed meant 10 TOTAL speeds -- 2 in front, 5 in back). It was probably a '72 aluminum-framed Mossberg. Amazing bike. Incredible bike. Beautiful paint. Very fast. But with one flaw. The frame didn't hold together very well. The head tube / top tube junction would crack and separate every couple months. I would have it brazed. It would crack and separate again. Brazed again. Cracked again. Within 18 months, it wasn't repairable or sellable. It went to the dump.

I miss the old Mossberg. But its aluminum frame wasn't ready for public consumption.

Rollfast

Next Sierra Key. Was a surprise from my mom, yes, it was.

thehammerdog

Unknown name brand or what ever but as a child the bike with metal fenders cut my legs so badly i wear two long scars on my right leg from being cut up after a ride. Multiple stitches 🧵

JonnyV

2009ish Fuji SL1. I've had several Fuji road bikes but that SL1 was the only one I hated. It was a hair too big and had this awesome front end wobble at 30mph, every descent sucked.

Digger Goreman

Long before joining BF and having not dealt/ridden bikes for almost 40 years: wife wanted that purple bike in the Goodwill.... Turned out to be a newish Roadmaster that fell apart quickly. Replaced with a Trek and stripped what little was salvageable.... That company and it's distributors should be locked up for fraud... those are not bikes!

Kimmo 

BSOs sure are crappy these days.

BITD, the cheap stuff generally wasn't utter junk, except most of the design was pretty shabby.

My first bike was my worst; a Peugot folder. What a piece of ****.

As a mechanic, I've come across another class of terrible bike; a mid-range machine that should be half decent, but instead just has problem after problem. Saw a few like that, and it just seemed to be like a random curse.

nak45z

After a car ran us over, I replaced it with a '08 Giant TCR C2, and I too fell for the Carbon hype. I rode it for 4 months, and I went out to find a Ti bike. I ended up riding that Lynskey Ti bike for years.

dmanthree

Worst ever was a long time ago. Schwinn Sting Ray with the 5 speed stick shift on the top tube. Banana seat, horrible pedaling position, it was for really short rides, at best. I outgrew it pretty quick. Yes, I was pretty young at the time.

merlinextraligh

this thread is equivalent to asking " what was the worst sex you ever had?"

Some are better than others but none are worse than no bike (or no sex) at all.

merlinextraligh

and if you still had that bike in pristine condition, it would sell for 10 times what you paid for it.

Horrible bike to ride a century on

Great bike to tool around with your pre teen friends

merlinextraligh

So, I'll take a Reynolds 531 double butted frame (or Columbus SLS) with Campy Nuevo Record Group, with (horrors) hubs that need to be repacked occasionally and down tube friction shifters.

You get your Parlee F5, and any modern group set and wheel set.

Any course any time.

dmanthree

And that's all I did with it. Mid-sixties, I think. We lived, during the summer, on the coast in Seabrook NH where all the rides were short on flat roads. Great for that, but anything over a few miles and it was horrible.

I also had a Schwinn Corvette that I recently sold. But I liked that bike. It was a tank.

ussprinceton

I forgot the brand, but it was bought at Wal-Mart

roccobike

I had a 1970s Raleigh Record with a Huret Alvit rear derailleur. I thought it was the greatest bike ever when I first bought it. Over time, the rear derailleur began to fail and not shift correctly. I mistakenly thought that all road bikes shifted like crap and gave up cycling. Many years later, I returned to cycling via mountain biking. I dug out the old Raleigh and realized the problem was the rear derailleur was a POS design.

Terex

And you're about 10 years too late. In my late 50's when I was riding with Cat I's and some women pros it would have been great fun. However fast your are currently, you'd be faster on a modern top end bike. And you know that.

merlinextraligh

Marginally. Flat crit, the extra 3-4lbs would cost a few seconds. Less aero wheels would cost you a little top end speed sprinting, but almost nothing sitting in the draft.

The weight would matter on hilly road course, but it would still be a small difference.

There's enough difference that it would matter at an elite level where every one is extremely talented, and hyper fit. Recreational riding, and even most levels of amateur racing, fitness and ability of the rider is still way more important than the marginal tech advances.

Kimmo 

Brifters weren't a marginal advance; they were the final design element of the road bike that was too long coming.

Can't change gear while standing? You're getting dropped.

grizzly907la

The worst bike I ever rode was a 1989 Huffy that I bought at Target. I rode it for a short amount of time, and had to get rid of it because the frame cracked. Just say no to Huffy!

Clyde1820

Worst bike? A Nishiki cruiser that weighed a ton, complete with a banana seat, high-rise bars, monstrously-tall gearing, and a flexi fork that folded on me. Those were the early '70s for you.