I’ve got my 50th coming up next year, and wondering what to treat myself to. I’ve got a great set of bikes, but pretty much everything has been bought secondhand and I like the idea of having a new mountain bike at some stage before I’m too old to enjoy it. Most of my riding is just on local trails here in Oxford. I’m certainly not made of money, but prepared to make other sacrifices and spend what it takes to get something that will keep me happy for as long as I continue biking. I’m broadly thinking along two different lines:

1) replace my Superlight (which I bought as a used frame off here for my 40th) and Heckler with something that is a compromise between the two – if so, what might it be?,
or
2) replace my Tinbred with a custom steel (or conceivably stainless steel or Ti) hardtail frame. I have a custom Roberts Roughstuff that I still use regularly on the road after more than 15 years, and I just love the way it feels.

My inclination is to go with option 2 as I mostly just potter around on gentle cross country stuff, and it really would be a bike for life. But given that my Superlight is well over a decade old and still going strong, and that would take me well past 60 with a new equivalent, perhaps I’m being daft…

Any suggestions?

Don’t end up like Kryton57, lumbered with a bike you’re not convinced you want, but forced to keep it because it was a birthday present!

Personally I wouldn’t get a mountain bike.

A special bike is just like any other bike.
The bike you keep for life is your next bike.

There are some nice bikes in the 130mm space that are nippy like a superlight but forgiving like a heckler. Forget a lot of what people suggest (their own bike normally) and pick some demo days, get out there and see whats around and have some fun riding other peoples bikes for a bit.

My experiences have been a bit different! I still love the used Superlight I bought myself for my 40th after almost 10 years, and my made to measure Roberts (road/touring) still puts a smile on my face after more than 15.

But I’m aware it’s a bit of a risk!

thanks mikewsmith – that kind of bike is just what I’m after under option (1). I’ve never done a demo day – I’ll see what I can find. Still not sure if I want to go down that route, or opt for something custom (or even just a really nice hardtail) but that sounds like a good way to start deciding…

you already have it

I have a custom Roberts Roughstuff that I still use regularly on the road after more than 15 years, and I just love the way it feels.

What do you want from a “special bike” other than that. Upgrade the parts, and continue to enjoy it.

My special 40th bike (Ti road) was stolen, the one that replaced it was better on every level except Ti-ness 😉

You’re right, TIRed, as far as riding on the roads goes, but I’m looking for something off-road – even on the non-hills round Oxford rigid forks and Schwalbe Marathons don’t really cut it 🙂

I was ll set to drop a considerable sum on a custom steel road bike this year for my 40th, in the end I put it off, partly because of the cost but also what would it really do that my current bike couldn’t. In the end I had a great surprise when my wife bought be a CX bike and it’s a fraction of the cost of what the road bike would have cost but smiles per mile it’s brilliant.

@lorax firstly best wishes (had mine last year). I have moved to building bikes up rather than off the shelf so why not get a Frame you like and some new parts, move bits over from the other bikes ? I can see why a complete new bike appeals though. I also think an am style FS and a HT is a better combination but the Superlight/Heckler is a good combo too. As for one new bike suggestion I’d say Transition Bandit.

PS I suggest you pit some signature rides/weekends in the diary to celebrate your 50th year. I made a list of 50 things and am still working through it (my excuse is a knee injury skiing for 1 of my 50 things held me back)

At the risk of stating the obvious I think that I would start by deciding what bike would be best for your local offroad

Which do you prefercSuperlight or Ti Inbred

My opinion is that you might like a light short travel bike like a Anthem for local stuff

there was a thread on here a while ago about a place running build-your-own-frame courses (rummages through bookmarks list – here we go ) and something like that would appeal to me for a landmark birthday treat.

Not really so I could make “the dream bike” as i’d probably just try to copy the geo of a frame I like, but so I’d be riding something I’d made, even if it did turn out ****. Plus a week’s course somewhere would combine present, holiday, manly tool use and some learning – that’s my kind of doing-it-for-the-memories jolly.

I’d get someone build me a Surly ECR in Columbus xCr stsinless.

Or buy a shand.

Thanks guys. I like the framebuilding idea spud-face but I travel so much for work I don’t think I’d want to spend a week away from the family for that.

ampthill – you are of course right about working out what it is I want for the majority of my riding, but there are pros and cons to both the Tinbred and the Superlight, and I don’t prefer one over the other.

I love your idea of 50 things to do during the year jambalaya – I’d like to see the list (or at least the non-intimate parts of it 😀 ). I may end up building something up myself, but (a) I’ve never had a new mountain bike and would quite like to at some point in my life and (b) standards have moved on since I built up my bikes so I’d probably need new wheels, forks, bars etc anyway.

I guess the real point is that I like the idea of buying a new bike (and probably won’t get another excuse to get one past the financial controller), but I’m also trying to overlay some sort of birthday-related significance onto it. Perhaps that’s a mistake and I should just buy the bike that makes most sense for me, probably something with 120-130mm travel that sits between Superlight and Heckler, as mikewsmith suggested. However, although I’m not going to splash out on a Jones, something in me does think a custom hardtail would be great. I lusted after a Roberts White Spider back in the 80s so perhaps I should get a dogsbolx, or something similar from another custom builder…

thanks takisawa2 – I like the look of a Shand 😀