Not 5 Star Products....Things That Have Failed

After reading through the 5-Star Products thread....I see a lot of personal choice products. Everybody thinks the product they use is the best.

So let's see a list of products that have been "not so great". I don't want to call it "1-Star Products" because to be honest, it could actually be a good product, but you just got a lemon.

I was going through and thinking of the products that have failed on me lately.

So here we go:

SC Highball....I have actually broken 2 this year, and now on my 3rd frame. Still a great bike.






Just before last weeks HJ/San Juan Death March Epic w/ Faust and Cougar, I noticed a crack in my chainring. Renthal SS Ring. This was the 3rd ring I have had from them, and the 1st one that failed.
33t ring with a 2 cracks, 180* from each other.




Used to run 9 speed chains on the SS....but even they failed from time to time. SRAM 971...granted it was near the end of it's lifespan...but it still hurt like a mofo when it snapped.


Even the KMC 10 Speed chain was not immune to it. Fortunately I caught it before it completely let go.




Had a ride last year where the rear end was creaking horrendously and began feeling a bit loose. Went to adjust the dropouts and noticed this on my original Highball.




I have had 3 issues with my Tallboy over the years.... 1st issue was a cracked lower AL link. Second time was a crack at the upper shock mount.


6 months later, I noticed a sloppy rear end, and found this.....


All were warrantied, and it is still a great bike.

Some other parts I can't find pics of:

2 axles on Crank Bros. Iodine 29 wheels
1 axle on Crank Bros. Cobalt 11 29 wheels
8 spokes on Crank Bros Cobalt 11 29 wheels(only has 24 spoke)
Sunline XC-1 Stem Crack on faceplate
4-6 pairs of Shimano 959/540 pedals...broken spindles
Gary Fisher Paragon frame/crack at seatube/top tube
Stan Arch 29er Rims cracked spoke holes
Maxxis Ignitor EXO 29 bead seperated from tire
Crank Bros. Sage DH Bar bent in crash

I am sure there are more....but they have slipped my mind.

What'cha got???

 

Bruiser.

 

Hah!
"J" could have his own private Forum for his destroyed product!

 

wow you are rough on your stuff...

 

Sometimes a "sloppy rear end" is a good thing ...

 

What years were these wheels??

 

Both sets were pre-production samples.

The Cobalts were the 2nd Generation Carbon wheels.
The Iodines were the 1st Generation 29 they made.

 

Compressed air cans, all of them. They weigh a ton and don't have enough air. What happened to the 40g thin aluminum ones? They were the nazz and used to be available everywhere.

Andeson Valley Brewing, anything in cans. That shite foams up every damn time. WTF?

2013 Fox _____________ <--- any product

 

interesting about AVB, a buddy and I once had to sink a couple of bombers of their IPAs as well.

 

That is a list!
You'll never be able to sell anything on here.

 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha hah!

 

At the top of my list is the Crank Bros. Kronolog dropper seat post. My first one didn't make it through 3 rides before it started sagging. Luckily Crank Bros. has good warranty/customer service. I think I've had it replaced 3 or 4 times now for free. The best thing is it was on sale for $135, so I've gotten my money's worth out of it. It was my first dropper and really showed me how much better technical riding is with one.

 

I had a Chumba XCL and it was a great bike but I would break pivot bolts all the time. It was a great bike when I wasn't breaking bolts. Chumba just went out of business so I could not get a warranty or replacement rear end.

 

I had the 2nd generation cobalts, 26" aluminum. Rear axle problem very early. Sent it to CB and they fixed it in a day. They said the issue was rare, replaced the axle and the wheels were great for 2 yrs , very tough, stayed true. Sold them only to upgrade to carbon wheels (easton haven).

 

xfusion strate seatpost. Got one for xmas last year, immediately had to send it back cuz it was leaking oil/sagging. Then again, a month later. And again, yesterday! I havent even been hittting the trails in a few months, just a mile to work and back daily. (although I did pedal up san juan wed afternoon
Might sell it and go back to the old-school "self-adjusting "post! haha.

 

Yeah, all 3 that I broke were the 142x12 axles....they told me they had never seen one break...and that was when I took the 3rd broken one in. Same thing, they fixed it on the spot each time. Since I didn't pay for them, it didn't bother me too much.

 

so after the fix did they perform well??

 

I have about 5000 miles on the Iodines, and they are fine.

I have about 13000 miles on the Cobalts....after i broke the axle, I put them on my wife's bike, so they are still running fine.

 

I love all of the Stan's wheels that I've owned, but the 3.30 Type 2 freehub sucks. I've been running the Salsa as a 1x9, because the freehub is too chewed up at the end to run the little cog. I'm debating between the $100 to replace it, or bite the bullet and go with a different hub.

 

XTR Trail pedals. 2x fail. Now XT Trail pedal. 1 fail. They replace them, but I hate not having confidence in a product. And I love the clip in and clip out feel and sound of the Shimanos, so CBs and Times aren't an option for me. Boo hoo...

 

Stans 3.30 HD hub. I sheared off 2 axles before replacing with Hope Pro 2 Evo's.
@Faust29
I have both a steel and an aluminum free hub you're welcome to if they'll work for you.

 

Avid Elixer R brakes. Worst brakes I've ever used. Sometimes they worked, sometimes not. Was kind of a flip the coin and hope!
Even worse than my original Hope Micro Mini's that needed 2-3 fingers to even attempt to slow down! And after a few miles of descent, give it up!

Now the Stans 3.30 you guys mention, I have those hubs and no problem yet.... so "yet" may be the key word?

 

Thanks for the offer, @UPSed! I think the HDs are different than the type 2, though?

 

Worst product I've tried: Orange seal tubeless sealant. You get some valves, some tape, and some liquid. Not one piece did it's job.
The tape would not stick to my rims. It wouldn't even stick to a piece of paper! Fail!
The valve's rubber plugs cracked when I tightened the nuts.
Fail!
I replaced the tape with Gorilla tape. I replaced the valves with some that I had used before. Then I put in the "sealant ".
Would not seal. Didn't do anything except create a mess. At least Caffè latex made bubbles when it wouldn't seal.
Fail!
I poured the crap out and put in some Stan's and all was good. Except,
I was working as a shop mech at the time and their customer service said I must be installing it wrong. I asked for a replacement as there certainly must be something wrong. They said sure, "What's your credit card number ?"
Ha!
Fail!

 

Formula 2 piece rotor. Bought this new. After 3 rides the 6 tiny rivets that hold it together became loose and started to rattle. Got rid of it before catastrophic failure.

 

Didn't think of that. Couldn't find anything on Type 2? Give me a part number and I'll figure it out.

 

Are you sure they are not floating rotors? The rotor "floats" on the carrier to better dissipate heat.

 

I had some of those rotors, never had a problem. I would call Formula, they have an office in Petaluma. Usualy have great service.
Here is the number to them:
803.620.1800

 

Me...

Repeatedly.

And the warranty and customer service sucks!!!!! But I'll keep dealing with it until it completely gives out on me...

 

Not a floating rotor. It sunk . I have another one in the 160mm size and no issues with rattling. I think the 203mm pictured above is just bad.

Sweet, thanks for the info. I really want this rotor to work.