one bicycle

[cc1085]

Has anyone on here found the one bicycle that does everything?
I'll rephrase that a little bit, only one bicycle for everything. just one , not N+1, or spare wheels/2nd wheelsets/tyres or any other combination of excuses for more than 1,one, eins, uno. ONE.

[fatmac]

Nearly all of my bikes could cope with just about anything, so yes....

P.S. My one bike now is a Brompton 12 speed C-Line.

[hamster]

Some do everything OK and nothing badly - for me that's a 26" wheel tourer. That errs a little on the chunky side, otherwise it would be a 700C tourer / gravel bike, for example a Dawes Galaxy, SPA Audax, Kona Rove, Surly LHT etc.

[scottg]

Has anyone on here found the one bicycle that does everything?

I had one bicycle for a while, but two sets of wheels & assorted bags and a rack.
Eventually it was easier to store the extra wheels and
luggage & rack on another bike.

[PH]

Article by Dan Joyce in Cycle a few years ago, I think the conclusion is you can, but given the choice you probably wouldn't. Though of course it starts with both the bike and your notion of everything.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/bike- ... everything

[freiston]

I suppose a lot depends on what "everything" includes, and how low the bar is before "does" becomes "doesn't".

For many years, I only ever owned one bike (different ones over time) and it had to do everything that I used a bike for. Most of those one bikes were drop-bar touring styled even if not sold new as tourers. For some time the one bike was a 90s rigid MTB with road tyres (original Marathons) and ESGE (or was it SKS by then?) mudguards with a rear rack. I had lots of issues with that bike (I suspect it was a "Friday afternoon" bike but, that aside, it was a contender.

If "everything" is mostly road or good surface off-road, then I'd still say a 40mm+ tyred drop-bar touring bike. If there's more serious off-road stuff, then I'd say something more of the ilk of a straight/alt bar adventure tourer with 2"+ tyres. An out-and-out lightweight roadie would probably be horrified at those suggestions.

But I reckon it depends a lot on the nuances and the type of "everything". So to sum up, I think there are different do-everything bikes for different people and they're probably not that hard to find for most people, as long as they keep their expectations realistic and their requirements not too diverse.

Personally now, I'm with the adventure style tourer (mine's a Shand Tam) but I still need my 12 speed C-line Brompton for the commute and I would leave both of them at home and take the bus if I was meeting friends in town for the pub or a gig. So (to answer your question), no

[Nearholmer]

As said, it depends upon the range of “everything”.

I had one bike, the same one, for 25 years, a steel-framed, 3x7sp, flat-bar hybrid, which took 40mm tyres with guards, and that is an incredibly versatile format. I used it for commuting to the station, errands, family rides, and day rides, the latter with a high percentage off-road. I didn’t have time for touring then, but it could have served for that too.

My current flat-bar tourer has much the same versatility, but is noticeably heavier as a result of being built a bit like a tank in comparison with a c1990 bike, so is a bit less fun.

If I had unlimited budget, but could only have one bike, it would be a sort of rough-stuff light tourer, with Rohloff, hydraulic disc brakes, clearance for 50mm tyres, and would probably have gravel-drop bars. That I reckon could cover all needs, but I would fret about leaving it unattended in some places, so I’d rather I was allowed another, less fancy, bike too.

[Pendodave]

I have a gravel bike which does everything I need, from shopping to brisk road rides to touring to light off-road.
However... it's a bit too nice to leave out in public, so I've an old mountain bike that doesn't really do anything as well as the GB except repel covetousness.

[ymfb]

If I could only have one bike, I have four, it would be my gravel bike and two sets of wheels.

[Cugel]

As said, it depends upon the range of “everything”.

Just so.

The notion of an all-road bike is probably that with the widest range of capabilities. It might even claim to do a couple of them as best they can be done (say audax and gravel, even touring) but its not going to be the best at more specialist kinds of cycling such as road racing, time trialing or mountain bike track-trekking, even though it might manage those to a degree.

And even the all-road bike is improvable for a particular role by fitting particular components: different tyres or even wheels; different gear ranges; fittings for touring; or none of them for a road or gravel race. Since component swapping can get a bit ..... involved .... I find I want at least two bikes (fast/summer and more versatile winter/tourer). If I was still a sporty cyclist I'd probably want a dedicated road racer and perhaps a cyclo-crosser too.

[freiston]

As said, it depends upon the range of “everything”.

I had one bike, the same one, for 25 years, a steel-framed, 3x7sp, flat-bar hybrid, which took 40mm tyres with guards, and that is an incredibly versatile format. I used it for commuting to the station, errands, family rides, and day rides, the latter with a high percentage off-road. I didn’t have time for touring then, but it could have served for that too.

My current flat-bar tourer has much the same versatility, but is noticeably heavier as a result of being built a bit like a tank in comparison with a c1990 bike, so is a bit less fun.

If I had unlimited budget, but could only have one bike, it would be a sort of rough-stuff light tourer, with Rohloff, hydraulic disc brakes, clearance for 50mm tyres, and would probably have gravel-drop bars. That I reckon could cover all needs, but I would fret about leaving it unattended in some places, so I’d rather I was allowed another, less fancy, bike too.

Another post that makes me wish this forum had a "like" reaction function. If you ever get that unlimited budget, then I'm sure Shand would have just the bike.

Due to some very unfortunate circumstances, I did get an effective unlimited budget for a new bike. I wanted a Rohloff and wanted an upright off-road touring-capable bike (but not an all-out off-roader - it needed to be good for on-road too). I started looking online for suitable candidates and soon realised that this was going to be a bit more involved than an off-the-shelf solution. Some options were good value but logistically difficult - one of my shortlisted brands (Tumbleweed) is based in the USA and I would not only have to collaborate on the build, but arrange the import and sort out the duties myself. This made me revise my budget ceiling and opened up more UK based options. Then I discovered that Shand are no longer based in Scotland but in Coventry, about 2 miles from where I live (same side of town, same outward code postcode [CV6]), so I made an appointment to visit and get a bike specced and ordered. It was so nice being able to do all this so locally (but, believe it or not, I still needed my Garmin to navigate me through the backstreets).

A couple of years before my change in circumstances, I did pay £60 for a turn-of-the-millenium hybrid bike that I could leave locked up in town and at the railway station without worrying about it. I spent a lot more money on it changing the gearing, saddle, tyres, rack, etc. etc. and also adding hub dynamo and lights. Just before my change in circumstances, my good lady bought me a 12 speed C-line Brompton for my commute to the railway station (and beyond). A month later and my beautiful partner passed away (less than a year ago). I won't go into the details but over a very short space of time, we went from having next to no savings (and not a lot else), to having some financial security, due to bequests and pensions etc.. I'm not rich, but I had the opportunity to buy myself a dream bike so I did.

Sorry for going on and getting maudlin an derailing this thread but i'd like to post a picture of me and my lovely lady - this one is from 21 years ago

[mig]

Has anyone on here found the one bicycle that does everything?

that would be forum ending stuff

moderators....!!

[peetee]

If I could only have one bike, I have four, it would be my gravel bike and two sets of wheels.

This just about clinches it for me, but…..
Because I am obsessed with quality frames and specification and my entire collection of suchlike will have disappeared the bike would have to be rather special. I’d design the frame and have a custom builder construct it or go on a course and do it myself.

[Carlton green]

Has anyone on here found the one bicycle that does everything?

Yes, lots of us have . Mind, as respondents have said, it depends what everything includes.

As a young man I rode a wide ratio five speed bike on which, iirc, I even did some 100 mile day rides . These days, if I still had that bike, I’d fit it with slightly wider rims and tyres to make it more capable of doing ‘rough stuff’ - it was a good bike but that simple change would have helped to keep my wheels running true and absorb more shock. Short of silly priced ones you can’t get wide ratio five speed blocks any more , which is a pity because I found that they could give great utility.

My current daily rider is a mixte with 700 x 35C tyres, drop bars, and a three speed SA AW hub. Its side pull brakes aren’t as effective as I’d like - eventually I’ll find a way to improve matters further - but I just ride according to their limits. The three speed gets me about, more speeds and ratios would be nice but mostly they’d be unused and lack of them isn’t a problem. In truth that bike is the outcome - a loved and surprisingly good outcome - of a series of thoughtful compromises which matched what I could do with what I either had or could readily obtain. A decade back I’d have never have thought it, but that bike could take me anywhere I chose to go: it does ‘everything’.

One might say that I’ve a decades long history of riding simple bikes. In mechanical efficiency terms simple bikes don’t maximise what the rider can achieve , but I find them efficient enough (enough is enough) . I take my lead and inspiration from the old timers who took simple and maybe quite ordinary bikes over great distances and all types of routes. Though they might have tweaked their steeds a bit they clearly demonstrated that it’s what you do with what you’ve got that matters.

One bike can do it all, indeed a variety of one bikes can do it all, and ‘all’ can include quite a lot of stuff.

[mattsccm]

Of course one bike could do it all. My 531 Raleigh did in the 80s, roughstuff, time trialling, commuting. Come forward a but to 2011 and my Cotic X was a good all rounder with disc brakes and 38mm tyre clearance. Hefty with its proprietary fancy steel. Good gravel bike and tourer but crap at time trials. The carbon CX bike was better at gravel being lighter and nicer on the road, being better at TTs. Not as good laden. My newer alloy gravel bikes are great all rounders although not as light as the above carbon.
The answer? Lots of bikes A new frame arrived yesterday with track ends for my Affix hub. 17 rideable as we speak with the Moulton, and old full suss MTB and 3 trikes on going. I feel a niche that needs to be filled.
So, one bike will do it all but not perfectly.