How many bikes have you got?

[ukdodger]

And why do you keep them?

I just wonder if everyone is like me and cant get rid of them. I've got six.

[cycle cat]

When I met my husband I had 5 bicycles.
We now have two each and a tandem.
They are kept in a variety of sheds.
We have the roadified touring bikes and a hard tail Rockhopper each.
All our bikes take luggage.


I have had my touring bike for twelve years, in various forms.
I wouldn't part with it.It is very comfortable for long rides.
It fits me and its red.
It's like an old friend. Why would I sell a very useful bike?

[John_the_cyclist]

Same here, six. Touring, mtb, sportive and folding bikes. I keep them all because I enjoy the different riding experience you get from each one.

I'm a trendy consumer. Just look at my GT-I9100 using hovercraft full of eels. 2

[yakdiver]

I have a touring bike and a MTB



sent from two empty bakebeans tins and some string

[ukdodger]

When I met my husband I had 5 bicycles.
We now have two each and a tandem.
They are kept in a variety of sheds.
We have the roadified touring bikes and a hard tail Rockhopper each.
All our bikes take luggage.


I have had my touring bike for twelve years, in various forms.
I wouldn't part with it.It is very comfortable for long rides.
It fits me and its red.
It's like an old friend. Why would I sell a very useful bike?

That's amazing. I dont feel so odd now. You're right about comfort. Gets you further than speed. 'various forms'??

Oh and I talk to mine.

[ukdodger]

I have a touring bike and a MTB



sent from two empty bakebeans tins and some string

As kids we used them as telephones. The tighter the string the clearer the speech.

[tatanab]

Having sold three I am now down to six. The oldest is from 1986, the newest is about three months old, all are steel, used for different things so some might not turn a pedal in any given year. Some I feel attached to because they have been around a lot with me, four of them are fully custom frames built for me with oddities/features specified by me.

[ukdodger]

Having sold three I am now down to six. The oldest is from 1986, the newest is about three months old, all are steel, used for different things so some might not turn a pedal in any given year. Some I feel attached to because they have been around a lot with me, four of them are fully custom frames built for me with oddities/features specified by me.

Nine gadzooks! But do you really have a use for them or like me cant you bear to part with them. Because lets face it bikes dont wear out like cars etc. What 'oddities'?

[xpc316e]

I have quite a few, but not as many as some. The glorious thing about having loads of bikes is that they eat nothing when not used, if stored well they do not deteriorate much, and they incur no costs such as VED. When you need to recommission one after a lengthy period of non-use, it's usually merely a matter of pumping up tyres. One needs only to adhere to the n+1 and d-1 rules and you can enjoy them all.

[tatanab]

Because lets face it bikes dont wear out like cars etc.

Of course they wear out, except possibly the frame. Other than consumables - derailleur mechs get sloppy in the pivots, brake springs get simply too soft, aluminium corrodes so cranks/seat pins etc might be discarded. I have thrown away handlebars because they have holes caused by cloth handlebar tape staying wet for a long time and corroding the aluminium. Bikes are a bit like Trigger's broom.

I do not buy a bike of the peg, I assemble machines to do what I want or need. It is very easy to amass a large number when you think in terms of track/road/touring then onto various types of MTB, small wheeler etc, then you get into machines with a greater number of wheels and/or saddles. Very easy to get so many that some are barely used. I have one machine which I know has done only 100 miles in the last 6 years, but one day it will needed where none of the others will do the job.

[reohn2]

......sent from two empty bakebeans tins and some string

[gentlegreen]

I only have the one - a roadified MTB - I use it to commute 9 miles a day, shopping, 40 mile hilly Sunday rides, cycle camping ( so far only two day trips, but I intend to progress to longer trips), and even for sprinting up the nearby railway path for exercise.

The usual thing is to have one bike for commuting and another for recreational riding, but I prefer to ride it all week so I spot any problems. I also adapt very poorly to any changes of riding position or gearing.

I definitely need to organise an emergency bike. I have a comfort hybrid I bought by mistake about 15 years ago that I could fix up, and since I've got into longer rides I think about "touring" bikes from time to time, but I suspect I may well end up just getting another MTB ..

[Trigger]

Two and a half!

That half will be number three when I get everything together to build it up.

[swansonj]

I am unusual in these circles in aspiring to one bike - not n+1 but n=1. I would love to have a single bike that can do everything I want, then I only have to store, maintain, clean, expend emotional energy over possible upgrades, and adjust one bike. I'm close - I have a Thorn Raven Tour on which I can commute, shop, do hundred mile day rides, tour fully laden and most things in between. But I'm not quite there because my wife and I share a Brompton, and we have two tandems as well (the second only because we also have two children).

[jezer]

We have a member in the club who claims to have "about 30" bikes. He can only ride a few as the majority are in bits stored in the loft. As far as I know they are all old and collectable. Certainly the ones he rides are quite classic.