What are your cycling gear pet peeves?

[zircon]

Brought to you by one of my entries in the "best kit" thread... What are minor annoyances you have about your bike or your stuff that don't rise to the level of dealbreaker but enrages you off more than they should?

Today's annoyance: A few months ago I bit the bullet and put an S-works Phenom on my road bike, which solved all my saddle discomfort woes basically overnight. Except, the usable length of the rail is positioned 3cm forward of the saddle it replaced. So I'm stuck having it slammed forward on a zero offset (okay, 5mm but w/e) post to get the same fit and it Just Looks Wrong and it makes me angry every time I see it So, all the time. Because the bike lives in my home office and I'm looking at it right now while I work.

So what about you all's cycling kit irrationally annoy you?

 

[tch]

Thread detour: what kind of fit do you have on your bike that ANY saddle would require slamming it forward on a zero-offset post???

Is this a TT or triathlon bike? First over-the-internet-reaction: the bike is too big for you.

 

[zircon]

what kind of fit do you have on your bike that ANY saddle would require slamming it forward on a zero-offset post???

Long tibia, short torso, tiny frame size race bike problems. My saddle height is a bit more than the manufacturer envisioned for the average owner of this bike in this size, cockpit setup is stock. And a fitter who likes steeper effective seat angles. I trust him. He's a bit of a weirdo, but he knows what he's doing.

And the usable area of the rails on this particular saddle is 100% under the narrow part. It's clamped with maybe 4mm wiggle room to the back. Maybe it's because it's intended as a MTB saddle. If I put my old saddle on this seatpost, the clamp would be in the middle-to-front.

Edit: this is a cautionary tale of never buying a bike with a proprietary seat post unless you're a very averagely proportioned person. This is a 50cm (I'm 164cm tall with a 79cm cycling inseam) Trek Emonda and if I sized down, I'd be maxing out the longer seatmast option. This could also be sorted with a 165mm crank—which a lot of manufacturers are speccing on this size frame these days—but a seatpost is cheaper than a new crank and power meter.

 

[zircon]

Okay, I just measured because I'm bored and this configuration puts the saddle nose ~75mm behind the bottom bracket. So well within UCI's fairly conservative specs. Not that I'm in danger of riding a UCI race, well, ever.

[end detour]

 

[Ross Biff]

The demise of separate crank and b/b options provided by the use of a threaded b/b shell peeves me. I chose my gravel frame for it's threaded b/b shell which let's me chose any square taper crank and use an appropriate length b/b axle to get the chain line dialled. This is probably less of any issue since the advent of gravel specific crank and b/b set ups like GRX for press fit shells but it still grates a little.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Not gear, but literally a pet peeve...I've been riding and hiking a lot in the Salt Lake Valley this spring. This complaint applies nationwide. I see it in Utah and back home near Wash DC. It really bugs me when I see old plastic bags of dog crap on the side of trails. Lots of bags and these are not left there momentarily for quick pick up same day. They are old bags that have been laying around for a long time. I would much rather the owners let their dogs crap in the middle of the trail and have it biodegrade in a few days, then for them to carefully pick the crap up in a bag and then leave the bag to sit on the side of the trail for the next 300 years.

 

[scott43]

The demise of separate crank and b/b options provided by the use of a threaded b/b shell peeves me. I chose my gravel frame for it's threaded b/b shell which let's me chose any square taper crank and use an appropriate length b/b axle to get the chain line dialled. This is probably less of any issue since the advent of gravel specific crank and b/b set ups like GRX for press fit shells but it still grates a little.

One thing I do NOT miss is the square taper...

 

[Ross Biff]

One thing I do NOT miss is the square taper...

I agree it wasn't the most technically advanced way of clamping load bearing surfaces together but I only ever had retention issues once in many years of riding this set up. I've never ridden like I'm driving a bulldozer and don't break equipment but I do realize there are limitations on most set ups that will raise their ugly heads under some riders.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Internal cable routing. What a pain. Sure it looks nice, but it's not worth it to me.

 

[scott43]

I agree it wasn't the most technically advanced way of clamping load bearing surfaces together but I only ever had retention issues once in many years of riding this set up. I've never ridden like I'm driving a bulldozer and don't break equipment but I do realize there are limitations on most set ups that will raise their ugly heads under some riders.

I mean..I may be jaded..I worked for years with square tapers and I hated the bejeeszus out of them. It's better now I suppose but still..the random permutations of length, shell width..the tolerances..the amount the crank arm moves based on torque and wear..the utter lack of standardization of widths for rings and chain stays. I can't tell you how often I was exasperated trying to find parts that actually fit stuff.... I would like more standards..we're getting better. To be fair, I like the BB68 threaded shell with the spline cranks..and have some standards for offsets for different rings and chainstay widths. I loved looking like a donkey while trying to find BB parts that fit some wreck that someone had Frankensteined..when parts took 2 weeks to get... People of my vintage remember the Sutherlands Bible... Sheldon Brown is nodding in his grave right now I bet..

 

[bbinder]

My biggest pet peeve is that I have to take my bike apart to carry it in my convertible.

 

[markojp]

I have almost no complaints with my bike. Got it on closeout 4 years ago. I do find the yawl adjustment on the front derailleur is finicky, but that's about it.

Clothing though... I'm very careful about washing... always delicate in a wash bag, always hang dried... seems the light weight aero fabrics aren't as durable.

 

[wooglin]

My pet peeve is that my bike is not as fast as it used to be and does not climb as well.

 

[scott43]

My biggest pet peeve is that I have to take my bike apart to carry it in my convertible.

Back seat??

True story..back in the day we sold some bikes to the sons of a wealthy developer here in Toronto. And he beat us down on the price like he was a pauper. Anyway, his wife shows up in her Lincoln Town Car with leather interior (it was the early 90's..), gives us $500 cash (her cheap husband beat us down to $390..), no change, and when we ask where to put them, she said just throw them in the back seat...we said, do you want us to put some cardboard down or something to protect the interior from the chains etc... She was on her way to her cottage in Muskoka and didn't have time to wait. That's when I realized that rich people were the cheapest people..

 

[zircon]

My biggest pet peeve is that I have to take my bike apart to carry it in my convertible.

I feel your pain. I drive a Mini. Gave up and just got a roof rack. Garage door opener goes in the hatch so I don't shed grams off parts of the bike I can't afford to.

Then I went to a race last Fall and saw a guy at least 6" taller than me tetris his bike out of the back of his Mini with the rear wheel still on Witchcraft.

 

[zircon]

And guys, I think we can find enough spite in our hearts to hate both square taper and press fit bottom brackets equally...

 

[Delicious]

Clothing though... I'm very careful about washing... always delicate in a wash bag, always hang dried... seems the light weight aero fabrics aren't as durable.

Well done. It's good to know that I can trust at least one of you with my laundry. Woolite instead of Tide also, please.

 

[Delicious]

My peeve is modern road geometry. Specifically the "square" 55cm frame, which is very much an endangered species at this point.

 

[zircon]

My peeve is modern road geometry. Specifically the "square" 55cm frame, which is very much an endangered species at this point.

RIP. Like half the reason I settled on an Emonda is the classic frame geometry even down to the smaller sizes. The dramatic slope and dropped seatstays just don’t look the same. Thought Cannondale at least was going to be a last holdout, but...

 

[RobSN]

People thinking that the Pinion 18 speed gearbox (look at the bottom bracket in the picture) on my touring bike means that it is an e-bike. No, I have only one engine and it is my often seriously quivering thighs.