Should I sell my Mercian?

[Cyril Haearn]

One could spend thousands on a machine weighing 6 kg

Or one could have several bikes for a few hundred each
Tandem
Fixie
City
RSW
Mountainbike
Trike
Unicycle
Vintage
Fatbike
..
It is a no-brainer

[Brucey]

the 'one bike only' advocates forget one or two things;

a) there is no such thing as a bike that is so versatile that it will do everything and
b) if you have just one bike you will be able to do two things in your spare time; fix it or ride it. The thing is, you (unlike those with more than one bike) don't always get to decide which activity is possible....

If you break the frame (as JB did on numerous occasions) or have other kinds of problem, then 'one bike' becomes 'no bike'....

cheers

[botty]

I think point a) above only applies if you qualify by saying "does well". 250 off road touring miles on a 2 speed sit up a and beg town bike anyone?

Most bikes are able to do most things but some bikes do some things better than others. I do have 4 bikes to choose from though.

[bigjim]

the 'one bike only' advocates forget one or two things;

a) there is no such thing as a bike that is so versatile that it will do everything and
b) if you have just one bike you will be able to do two things in your spare time; fix it or ride it. The thing is, you (unlike those with more than one bike) don't always get to decide which activity is possible....

If you break the frame (as JB did on numerous occasions) or have other kinds of problem, then 'one bike' becomes 'no bike'....

cheers

JBs best buddy was bike builder. He probably got it repaired in an hour.

[amediasatex]

Not everyone is so lucky though, there are numerous times where I’d have been bikeless if I didn’t have spares, it’s not THE reason I have multiple but it is a genuine benefit

[bigjim]

I read JB had his frame fail just before he hit 100,000 miles on it. I think I'm pretty safe.

[JohnW]

Not everyone is so lucky though, there are numerous times where I’d have been bikeless if I didn’t have spares, it’s not THE reason I have multiple but it is a genuine benefit

Oh yes, quite, I believe that we do need two bikes at least - and possibly a spare frame just in case.

[amediasatex]

I read JB had his frame fail just before he hit 100,000 miles on it. I think I'm pretty safe.

And I’ve been through more than a dozen frames in roughly the same time, 2 this year sadly, spare bikes are almost a necessity for me

[bigjim]

I've been cycling 55 years. I've never had a steel frame failure. I've had a few crashes and I'm a heavy powerful rider. None of my club mates have mentioned steel frame failures.
I've never come across it, off anybody I've spoken to. I've only ever heard of it on the net. Carbon or Ali either, but they are fairly recent additions to cycling IMO. The only frame failure I personally hear about are TI. A few riding acquaintances have experienced this. Jobst Brandt damaged his by riding into a ditch. He says it wrinkled. I've had two frames written off. One by Royal mail and the other by baggage handlers.

[Brucey]

touch wood, but I have not broken a frame in the last year or so. First time I have been able to say that for a while, but probably that is because it hasn't been a good year for actually riding the bike much, for me, anyway.

cheers

[amediasatex]

I've been cycling 55 years. I've never had a steel frame failure. I've had a few crashes and I'm a heavy powerful rider. None of my club mates have mentioned steel frame failures.
I've never come across it, off anybody I've spoken to. I've only ever heard of it on the net. Carbon or Ali either, but they are fairly recent additions to cycling IMO. The only frame failure I personally hear about are TI. A few riding acquaintances have experienced this. Jobst Brandt damaged his by riding into a ditch. He says it wrinkled. I've had two frames written off. One by Royal mail and the other by baggage handlers.

Well if I ever meet you in person I’ll be happy to relay my experiences first hand instead of via the Internet if it’ll help you believe them

Several of my friends have broken a few over the years too, and it’s not uncommon to hear of a breakage through other club members either first or second hand.

Similar to Brucey above, it’s a good year if I make it through without breaking a frame, and just a normal year if I do. I’m not heavy (75kg), reasonably strong but no powerhouse, and these days only average about 10,000km a year. I don’t mistreat my bikes either and only two have broken through crash damage, the rest have all been fatigue and across steel, Alu and Carbon. I’ve not yet broken a Ti frame but I’ve owned far fewer Ti frames so not surprising.

[pwa]

In more than fifty years of cycling I've never broken a frame. I'm feeling a bit inadequate.

[meic]

I've rusted through a couple.
I wont manage to do that to my titanium one though.

[bigjim]

In more than fifty years of cycling I've never broken a frame. I'm feeling a bit inadequate.

Starting to feel the same. Or maybe we are both lucky?
Breaking a frame every year seems a bit strange to me. I've got club mates riding the same frame for thirty years. Good strong riders as well. Are some of you riding through salt water all the time?

[amediasatex]

Starting to feel the same. Or maybe we are both lucky?

Go with lucky, I get quite attached to my bikes (if I like them) and it makes me quite grumpy when they break, I would much prefer they didn't.

Breaking a frame every year seems a bit strange to me. I've got club mates riding the same frame for thirty years.

I've got some that are that old, and older, and some I've had myself for 10-15 years and still in one piece, so it's not like it's a new frame breaking after a year of use each time, just on average I seem to suffer a breakage in 'a' frame every 12-18 months or so.