… on the other hand, I have always suspected that a superlight 29er XC hardtail is the best all-round bike going. I like that Cannondale, and the Canyon on the homepage, which seems like very good value for money too…

It’s one I don’t want to think about.
Pure road bike – could probably do without.
Two SS MTBs – old geometry – great fun but if push came to shove, they’re not general purpose. Newer bike with two wheelsets is coming closer to a do-it-all (OK maybe not long road rides). And the other touring / gravel bike – with another wheelset – could come close too.

but that doesn’t help you jonathan as that’s still 2 bikes!

For me, the balance of compromises favours a rigid 29er or even HT with lockout. I’d always trade a bit of road speed for good off road capability, rather than off road capability for road speed. Drop bar 29ers create annoying compromises for drop lever compatibility with transmission/brakes. (Road 11spd freehubs, mtb/road cable pull ratio incompatibilities, cable pull disc or expensive hydro to name a few).

EDIT – But I don’t have 1 bike either!

I took my cx bike offroad for the first time the other day. It wasn’t slightly technical and I was easily twice as slow as on a proper mtb.

Aye, now totally confused! ;-D Appreciate the ideas and a lot of what I’ve been toying with.

I think i’ll be taking the mtb from the old man when needed, get rid of the road bikes and go for a CX/gravel with decent clearance and maybe 2 sets of wheels. Could just get something special that I really shouldn’t but want to ride all the time…

If only one bike…

Something like a Stooge with rack and guard mounts, gears, and option of a + front wheel plus some c. 40mm file treaded/all round tyres for road to towpath stuff. I think it would have Jones or some other weird shaped bars too. It would i suspect be a compromise for road/sedate stuff but plenty capable enough for 90% of what I do.

That and something with drops would be better = two bikes.

I still wonder if I should have bought a Stooge instead of my FS bike. Something very appealing about them.