Bike stuff that bugs you more than it bugs most people
#126
Crawlin' up, flyin' down
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Colored socks are acceptable if (1) they are multi-colored with four or more different hues and (2) worn by Kabuki12. You've been rocking those socks pretty much forever, Joe, so you're grandfathered in.
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#127
Crawlin' up, flyin' down
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Bikes: 1967 Paramount; 1982-ish Ron Cooper; 1978 Eisentraut "A"; two mid-1960s Cinelli Speciale Corsas; and others in various stages of non-rideability.
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#128
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#129
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And while mechanically more clunky, the front derailleur is simpler mechanically, and a better option if you want a simple 3 speed commuter bike. Triples with a normal rear cassette has all the gearing you could want.
#130
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#131
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Electronic ******** Shifting
We are turning our bikes into mini motorcycles. The beauty of bikes was the mechanical simplicity. And between this, and now people riding e-bikes on bike paths, cycling is turning more and more into something I do not recognize. And the worst part? The industry is going to sour people to the sport because most people are not dedicated bikers, and the more difficult you make it to just get on a bike and ride, the less people will ride. Batteries have limited lives, and, by the way, are toxic for the environment.
Disc Brakes:
There is NO need for disc brakes, and all the people saying so are lying to themselves. I have never once ever felt under braked, even heading down roads such as the road on Mt. Evans.
E-Bikes
I get it, for older folks who need some assistance. But for everyone else, they are buying glorified scooters. They should not be allowed on MUPs, and there is nothing more annoying than seeing some overweight middle aged dude soft pedaling up a hill when what he really needs, is to actually exercise.
Lack of Velodromes
It would be nice for municipalities to invest in velodromes, as they are a great place for kids to learn to ride, ride in a pack, and develop some bike skills without having to be out in traffic. Rather than another stupid baseball field, can we please see communities invest in velodromes.
Brooks B17 Saddles
I am sorry....unpopular but B17 saddles aesthetically make bikes look like the bike needs to drop a deuce.
Ill Fitting Bike Clothing
Bulky, ill-fitting bike clothing. Someone above complained about tight clothing....I am the opposite. Wear clothes that actually fit, and not burlap sacks.
People Who Do Not Support Local Bike Shops
Especially the ones who will use the LBS to get assistance on what they need, and then go buy it online.
We are turning our bikes into mini motorcycles. The beauty of bikes was the mechanical simplicity. And between this, and now people riding e-bikes on bike paths, cycling is turning more and more into something I do not recognize. And the worst part? The industry is going to sour people to the sport because most people are not dedicated bikers, and the more difficult you make it to just get on a bike and ride, the less people will ride. Batteries have limited lives, and, by the way, are toxic for the environment.
Disc Brakes:
There is NO need for disc brakes, and all the people saying so are lying to themselves. I have never once ever felt under braked, even heading down roads such as the road on Mt. Evans.
E-Bikes
I get it, for older folks who need some assistance. But for everyone else, they are buying glorified scooters. They should not be allowed on MUPs, and there is nothing more annoying than seeing some overweight middle aged dude soft pedaling up a hill when what he really needs, is to actually exercise.
Lack of Velodromes
It would be nice for municipalities to invest in velodromes, as they are a great place for kids to learn to ride, ride in a pack, and develop some bike skills without having to be out in traffic. Rather than another stupid baseball field, can we please see communities invest in velodromes.
Brooks B17 Saddles
I am sorry....unpopular but B17 saddles aesthetically make bikes look like the bike needs to drop a deuce.
Ill Fitting Bike Clothing
Bulky, ill-fitting bike clothing. Someone above complained about tight clothing....I am the opposite. Wear clothes that actually fit, and not burlap sacks.
People Who Do Not Support Local Bike Shops
Especially the ones who will use the LBS to get assistance on what they need, and then go buy it online.
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#132
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I looked at a nice Faema jersey a few years ago... but the sleeve and collar had the Eddy World Champ banding.
Could no bring myself to buy it.
I would have considered the "domestique" version.
#133
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#134
Veteran, Pacifist
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Bikes: Bikes??? Thought this was social media?!?
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Right. Well then.... Don't be alarmed, ...that's only my wife laughing... i hope.
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Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
Vintage, modern, e-road. It is a big cycling universe.
Last edited by Wildwood; 12-30-20 at 01:42 PM.
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#135
señor miembro
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I've gotten so much flack for installing the front skewer lever on the ds. But that's where I like to see it, so that's where it goes. It upsets some folks so damn much, I wonder if I do it a little out of spite...
Last edited by SurferRosa; 12-30-20 at 03:18 PM.
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#136
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It bugs me to see children riding bikes that are way too big for them. I realize that bike may have been given to them or may be the only bike available for them to ride, but it bugs me because I see it as a safety issue. I see kids riding bikes they can’t straddle, can’t grab the brake levers with their small hands, and peddling with their tippy toes. I also have friends who bought their kids larger bikes so they could grow into it, and not have to get another larger bike later. Theses things bug me!
#137
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The fact that I don’t have a cozy lounge chair in my bikes and drums room to enjoy a beverage and take in the scenery from. Yeah, I bet that bugs me more than it does most others.
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#139
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funny you say that. I was at my favorite bike shop that has been around since the seventies getting a new set of lights. I noticed while I was waiting for the guy to ring it up that all but one or two bikes in this shop had the lever on the right(front wheel of course). I was going to say something because for a moment I let it get to me. Then I thought what if it were an intentional move to irritate us. I said nothing and looked at something else, like the light set I went in to purchase. It’s your bike if you like it on the right, so be it!
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#140
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#141
Passista
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I don't understand why all the anger with wearing team kit (I have none of them). Nobody would think one was a real pro, right? I see them as an homage - in soccer it's quite common for amateurs to wear famous teams jerseys, sometimes even with the player's name and number on them.
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#142
I’m a little Surly
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I don't understand why all the anger with wearing team kit (I have none of them). Nobody would think one was a real pro, right? I see them as an homage - in soccer it's quite common for amateurs to wear famous teams jerseys, sometimes even with the player's name and number on them.
#143
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Front brake on the left side. Who's crazy idea was that? When did that become popular because back in the day, 1960's early 70's, I remember having bikes with the brake lever on the right for the front. Dave Moulton always mounts his on the right too. Aligns with the placement on motorcycles.
I can understand if you are dominantly a south paw, otherwise it doesn't make sense. The first side pull I remember having the cable on the right was Campagnolo. All the others, and they were probably lower-end, were on the left. Of course BIMD center pulls were the brake configuration of choice with the design of dual pivots.
We also wrapped top down. Never made sense to me either with the curling of the edges.
Comment about the strap being on the inside on the bike above. I bet they put the straps on before putting the pedal on the crank. Too lazy to fix it after some ones 10 year old assembled it.
I think this doesn't qualify but I really dislike thread less stems ILO quills with one exception.
Preferring sew-ups, I too hate the longer stems and you really don't have much choice with them. I suppose it isn't as bad if you are running 20 spoke wheel as it looks like another spoke.
OK another popular bug is the wear pattern around spokes on many Mavic rims. Not a style feature I prefer.
I can understand if you are dominantly a south paw, otherwise it doesn't make sense. The first side pull I remember having the cable on the right was Campagnolo. All the others, and they were probably lower-end, were on the left. Of course BIMD center pulls were the brake configuration of choice with the design of dual pivots.
We also wrapped top down. Never made sense to me either with the curling of the edges.
Comment about the strap being on the inside on the bike above. I bet they put the straps on before putting the pedal on the crank. Too lazy to fix it after some ones 10 year old assembled it.
I think this doesn't qualify but I really dislike thread less stems ILO quills with one exception.
Preferring sew-ups, I too hate the longer stems and you really don't have much choice with them. I suppose it isn't as bad if you are running 20 spoke wheel as it looks like another spoke.
OK another popular bug is the wear pattern around spokes on many Mavic rims. Not a style feature I prefer.
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Bikes don't stand alone. They are two tired.
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#144
Senior Member
My first geared bike was a really cool purple 5-speed with a banana seat and a really high sissy bar, which that other family had outgrown. I had to wait on that one for a couple years before I was big enough to ride it!
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#146
Senior Member
Definitely.
Closely related to this subject is spark plug wires. I go to a lot of classic car shows and nothing bugs me more than a beautifully restored classic car or muscle car and whoever installed the spark plug wires routed them so some have little to no slack in them, and some are so long they droop down past the exhaust manifolds. Either they put the wrong ones in the wrong places, or they just didn't take their time measuring them correctly in the case of the custom-cut build-your-own kits. Use some care, make them all the same amount of "droop" and they look 1000% better!
Closely related to this subject is spark plug wires. I go to a lot of classic car shows and nothing bugs me more than a beautifully restored classic car or muscle car and whoever installed the spark plug wires routed them so some have little to no slack in them, and some are so long they droop down past the exhaust manifolds. Either they put the wrong ones in the wrong places, or they just didn't take their time measuring them correctly in the case of the custom-cut build-your-own kits. Use some care, make them all the same amount of "droop" and they look 1000% better!
#147
Senior Member
Aluminum bikes. They are not allowed in my house. I have owned an aluminum road bike and an aluminum mountain bike. Couldn't get rid of them fast enough.
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#148
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Campagnolo. I’ll never understand all of the love for such mediocre performance.
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#149
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#150
The dropped
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If we're talking C&V related pet peeves, I'll omit some bike stuff that bugs me but is unrelated to classic and vintage bikes. As far as non-C&V bikes, for commuting, errands or whatever, anything goes.
Stuff that doesn't bother me - which even surprises me:
- Chainring guards on any style road bike. Might as well just fit an entire chain guard and make it really functional as a rain bike.
- Unicorn forks. Yeah, all my bikes have 'em. And they're functional. Probably a bit more aero too. But they just don't look right.
- Ditto, most of the stuff gugie and others mentioned, in terms of functionality including rear wheel removal for flat repairs.
- Straight forks. They just don't look right on a pre-1980s steel bike. But I'm still a sucker for those seductively curvy swoopy French forks.
- Flipped North Roads or swept bars on anything other than a path racer. I tried that on my early 1990s Univega, flopping the albatross bars. Then I saw a photo a friend took of me on a group ride and was kinda horrified. So I flopped the bar back to the upright swept position as the bicycle gods intended.
- Upward-angled stems. Yeah, I know, they're practical. And okay with flat or arced bars for rigid mountain bikes. But combined with a flipped swept bar, that upward angled stem on my Univega looked atrocious, like an Escher optical illusion gone awry. Besides returning the albatross bar to upright position, I switched to a longer horizontal stem from a road bike to get the bar a bit lower and to look "right" (to me).
Stuff that doesn't bother me - which even surprises me:
- Turkey lever/suicide lever brake extension levers. Honestly I never had any quarrel with those on my 1976 Motobecane, other than interfering with the fit of my Kirtland Tour Pack handlebar bag. Those worked fine for slowing the bike and seemed appropriate even for casual group rides and commuting. The only real issue was the original steel rims, not the braking power.
- Stem shifters. Yeah, I swapped to downtube shifters. But that was mostly due to peer pressure. I entered a few crits and time trials in the 1970s and didn't want to look too dorky on my 30 lb hi-ten steel frame bike that was obviously unsuited to racing anyway.