cyccommute 

Thanks to AdventureManCO, we got to highlight our (C&V) favorite rides. How about your least favorite ride. The one the languishes in the back of the garage. Fully functional (no frames or project bikes) but the one that you just pass over whenever you are going for a ride. If you can, tell us how many years you’ve had it and how many miles. I’ll start

Very oldest bike I have: Burley Samba tandem. Years owned: 27. Miles: 994. Purchased new in 1991. I’ve only ridden it 6 of those 21 years. Most of the time it has been on loan to a niece. Now on loan to friends with kids. I did ride it for 15 miles in 2021 before buying another tandem for my wife and I.




Second oldest bike: Schwinn Montague BiFrame. Years owned: 16. Miles: 420. Ridden 5 years, languished the other 11. Purchased new in 1990. Awful bike. Ran it into the back of a Dodge Horizon in front of the White House while on travel for a chemical conference in DC. Big dent in the Horizon but nothing wrong with the bike. Donated it in 2005.





Last one: 2003 Specialized S Works Epic (purchased frame in 2010) Years owned: 13. Miles: 675. It’s a great bike but I just pass over it when looking for something to ride. At least I’ve ridden it a few times each year I’ve owned it.



What neglected bikes have you got?

Andy_K 

Generally, my "neglected" bikes tend to revert back to being bare frames. As new projects come in, I repurpose components from bikes that I don't ride much. So that naturally excludes the bikes in my garage that are really my least favorites.

Apart from that, I took a purely numeric approach using the suggested criteria -- fewest miles, longest time languishing in the garage. The results are kind of embarrassing, but they definitely reflect my taste in components much more than my view of these bikes themselves. My taste in components is also the thing that has kept these bikes from reverting to bare frames. The issue is that I like vintage frames, but I don't so much care for vintage components. And yet, the two bikes that fall into my neglect category are of such a nature that I don't think it's appropriate to build them up with anything other than vintage components. I've ridden both at Eroica California and, sadly, not much beyond that.

My most neglected bike, with a meager 169 miles in the 4 and a half years that I've owned it is my 1983 Gios Professional.



That barely edged out my 1973 De Rosa, which has seen 222 miles in a bit over five years.



The thing is, I really love both of these bikes. I even enjoy riding them, in spite of the vintage components. I just enjoy riding bikes with newer components more. I should probably pass these on to someone who would ride them.

As instructed, I excluded bare frames from consideration. Otherwise, there are several bikes that would have surpassed these, and I am seeking new homes for the nicest of those. I also excluded my zero bike, which resides in my sister's shed and only gets ridden once or twice a year when I'm visiting the east coast. I also excluded bikes that I haven't owned very long. Otherwise, my absolute most neglected bike, which will certainly stay that way given its extremely limited purpose, is the Citizen Tokyo which I bought last fall and have ridden a whopping 8 miles.



That one is genuinely my least favorite bike.

bwilli88 

My least favorite bikes tend to be given away. Right now it probably is a toss up between my 83 Centurion Pro-tour and a Pure Fix Cleveland. I have ridden both a bunch but now that I have my 81 Pro-tour in the States the 83 has become redundant and sits. The Cleveland is a nice SS/fixed bike it just does not fit right. I recently changed it back to drop bars and will try again.

tiger1964 

Right now my Masi languishes unridden. But that's because I cannot yet diagnose/fix a squeak that I suspect is from the left-hand crank where it mates to the crank.

Inusuit

Would be this old Diamondback Ascent. Haven't ridden it in several years. I keep it because it cost $7.50 from a thrift shop and I rode it for five years before moving on to better bikes. Also not worth much if sold or for a trade-in. So some sentimental value. Not a bad bike. I have others that fit my current needs.

Mr. 66

This trek does not do it for me.
Built it a a couple of different ways, just feels like riding a wheel barrow.

jamesdak 

Hmmm.....tough one to answer. Usually if I don't connect with a bike and catch myself not riding it I move it on. I guess of my current bikes the least favorite may be a surprise. It's the second Giordan XL Super and not because it's a bad bike at all. As everyone knows my other Giordana XL is my favorite bike and has been for years. Nothing feels better under me on the road than this one. So, a couple of years ago I picked up the second XL Super frameset with the plan to build it up with superior, lighter parts to see if it would feel even better on the road than the other one. Well.....it doesn't. So even though it's a great ride in and of itself I always pass it up for the original one when I go to ride one. They are both hanging on the wall together and that's just how it works out. In fact I have this one listed locally for sale since I just never ride it.

Break down on the build from the ad. This bike only has 255 miles since I had it built up. Used a mix of brand new and excellent shape used parts.

Parts cost:

Super Record FD -$127

Super Record BB and Bearing-$57

Campagnolo Cassette 11-23 10 speed-$185

Campagnolo Chain-$52

Vittoria Pave CG 700 x 27 Tubulars - $180

Campagnolo Record Crankset 53/39- $310

Campagnolo Record 10 speed Shifters -$275

Campagnolo Record Titanium RD - $265

Campagnolo Super Record Brakes-$181

Soma HWY One 42cm bars-$51

Cinelli Quill Stem - $76

Campagnolo Aero Seat Post-$150

Jagwire Cable Set-$62

Bottle Cages (x2) $20

Reynold 40mm Carbon Fiber Wheelset-$450

Reynolds Carbon Fiber Brake Pads-$30

Vittoria Corsa Graphene 2.0 700 x 28 (2)-$125

Cable stops - $15

Frameset $1000

Total cost of parts: $3611


This is how it currently sits. I've only had it about 4 years.

Now out of all the bikes I've had two other new builds were true disappointments. One was the NOS Vitus Argal 90's frameset I built up with Ultegra 11 speed. Beautiful bike that was brilliant on flat rides. But on even minor downhills one the speed hit the high 20, low 30 mph range the bike got scary unstable. Tried sorting it out, different wheels etc but it seemed inherent to the bike. It was like the front fork would loose all stability and bike felt out of control at the mid range speeds downhill. So I passed it on.



The other was a "custom" Lynskey. Just too flexy for me. Here again on the roads I ride you get a lot of uneven surfaces. On one route with a mild but long downhill the road surface wallows a lot. Oh the Lynskey the bike felt extremely soft over this route in the back section and I would get a bucking feel over this area of the road. In contrast something like the Kirk Terrraplane with that active rear end just glides over the same section of road. Anyway, the Lynskey went at a great loss too.

delbiker1 

I did have 8 bikes, I now have 5, having given away 3 of them. One went to a friend that did me an unexpected, un-asked for favor, that I never forgot. The other 2 went to nephews. I liked them well enough, but just did not ride them much. Now, I guess it is my Orbea Avant. I like the bike a lot, I like to ride the bike, but it just does not have the same feel as my steel or titanium bikes, it does not "speak to me" the same way. Also, I like a really quiet bike, the carbon fiber frame set is not conducive to that. It is not bad, just nosier. Honestly, after being on it for a while, I no longer notice it much.

USAZorro

I don't think I have a picture of it, but about 15 years back I picked up a Trek Tri-series. It was in great condition and my size. The $150 I spent was a bit more than my usual budget, but hey. Why not? I adjusted everything and brought it along to a race day at Rodale park in support of some members of the bike club I had joined. After all the racing, I took it out on the course. Everything worked, but I just felt slow on it, and it felt "dead". I checked it over again, found nothing amiss, and tried it again... had the same impression.

I passed it along at a small loss to another fellow in the area, and he evidently had the same impression as I, since within a week, he had it up for sale.

retswerb

delbiker1 

I had to look at my post a couple of times to get it. Then I laughed at my wording.

nlerner

I don't have enough space in the basement to hold on to least-favorite bikes--plenty down there I don't ride enough already! Burt if I had to choose a previous bike that I used fairly extensively but never bonded with, it would have to be this Specialized Hard Rock:


As you can see from this pic, I used it for winter commuting duty for several seasons, as well as a generally hauler/bike pick-up truck. For several years, it lived in the backyard under a tarp all year round (which is a great way to find out which bits are not made from stainless steel). Eventually, I gave it to a neighborhood friend who had his bike stolen. He pretty much never gave it back, but I also never asked for it back. I think he might have given it away. Pedaling it was always a slog, no matter the components or tires.

Barrettscv 

My least favorite bike was also my most collectable bike and certainly had plenty of prestige. It was a Colnago Nuovo Mexico from about 1984. It was the first Colnago to feature fluted tubes. I however was too big and heavy for the bike. It was much less satisfying to ride than My De Rosa Professional from the same period. So, like Eddy Merckx, I abandoned Colnago for a De Rosa.

delivery.

jdawginsc 

Any of the many projects in the queue that exist only in my imagination...

As for built ones, probably the Peugeot SLimestone I used for the Clunker Challenge a few years ago.

In fairness, I like it, but it deserves to be rebuilt (I used it as is).

jjames1452 

This bike has moved on. Why was it my least favorite bike? Because it was perfect...........and just a scosche too tall! 😞

arex

'74 Raleigh Sports. I put a lot of time and money into building up the bare frame, but the frame flexes alarmingly under my weight. I doubt I've put more than 2 miles on it since I built it.

3speedslow

This… truthfully I hauled it home just for the Hunt Wild Moto grips. Ride it on rainy days to save my nice bikes.

From Sears!

SoCaled 

"One of these kids is doing there own thing, the rest of these kids are kind of the same"

I had spent a few days going down the early mountain bike rabbit hole and stumbled my way to the stories of the early days of Ibis on their site (great stuff). A couple of days later this popped up on craigslist and I grabbed it on a whim. Cool piece of history but doesn't have a real place in my fleet, finally came to the truth and put this one up for sale, thought I had it sold a few days ago but it was a little big for the buyer. Hoping to pass this one along to someone who will appreciate it but is my least used, least favorite, however cool it may be.