Right, so this question is entirely hypothetical right now, seeing as Mrs SR would probably kill me if she knew I was even thinking about it. BUT…

If you were interested in a few different types of cycling that looked like they could be combined into one sort of bike, what would you get?

What I am thinking is this:

When I was young, I had one bike. For a while, it was a ‘ten-speed’, which means that it was a racing-style bike with heavier tyres that I could have used (and did use to some extent) for pretty much every type of riding conceivable. Hell, we even tried to jump it at a local dirt hill. [It didn’t work very well.]

Now, on top of my road bike and my mountain bike, I have a commuter bike, and it seems to me that the commuter has the most potential for being an ‘everything’ bike. Indeed, it is already called a ‘hybrid’.

If I was to replace it though, I would quite fancy doing so with something that could do a credible job of handling dirt trails as per cyclocross, and possibly some touring duties, on top of commuting (which combines road with a bit of dirt path).

On that basis, what sort of bike could do the job?

What would a steel road bike with more substantial tyres be like? Or would it be better to go for an explicit tourer? I know nothing about them (because I haven’t yet had the pleasure), but what would a cyclocross bike be like? Could it do all of those things? To use Trek as an example, would a bike like this do it all?

In my dreams, I’d love to have something with drop bars that I could push on the roads, but also run the dirt trails at the weekend, and even carry me some distance in the event of a free few days.

Possible? If so, what sort of bike?

Which bike would you be happy to be burried with in a shallow grave, when your wife finds out. That Trek does look very lush 8)

I have an old Kona Lavadome that is set up as a tourer with drop bars. Did a one month tour in Canada on it then swapped road tyres for some cheap knobblies and rode DH trails in Vermont on it albeit slowly.

Currently it has schwalbe land cruisers on it. Last summer I rode on the road to Ullapool then off road across to Bonar Bridge on it and it felt OK on both surfaces.

Having one bike for everything is more about your mindset than the bike though.

So to answer your question, a steel MTB frame with rack mounts and drops. The extra clearance to run fat tyres makes a massive difference to versatility.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/andy-wilkinsons-dolan-time-trial-bike-29431

Having ridden at the weekend on dire churned up and underwater bridleways, me on my 29er H/T my mate on his new Cannondake CX bike (running semi slicks!) he ride almost everything that I mAnaged to clean the only bits he failed were where his tall gearing was just too much (think it had a 11-28 and pretty big front rings). He actually cleaned done sections where I was sliding in the slop and he cut through to the firmer ground beneath. So to me as a one bike do it all probably got to be a CX bike equipped with disc brakes and gearing that your legs can turn in all conditions.

shiiiiit…. they’ve hit the sweet spot with the styling on that trek!

What red blooded would-be pseudo tough guy could resist the purposeful lines and military colourscheme..

want 😳

I like that trek. The front rack looks huge.

What about a Van Dessel WTF? It can be set up geared, singlespeed, with racks, with skinny tyres, mtb tyres and much more.

IMO the concept of what makes a good touring bike is changing with the advent of bike packing kit and variations of CX/gravel/adventure bikes – no need for a front rack if you use a bar roll and fork-mounted cages. Likewise a framebag and seatpack. Frame-wise I’d want something that accepts 2″ tyres and the curved, twin toptube of the VanDessel is better for supporting a framebag. Dynamo hub up front and 2×10 transmission.

Salsa Fargo?

That Andy Wilkinson/Dolan bike is just mental! I would say that time trialing and mountain biking wee about as polar opposite as you can get. Impressive!

My Boardman CX does all of these things. I rode it on 28mm slicks for the Dunwich Dynamo. I toured from Calais to Bruges and back and I ride it off road but mainly in summer…
You’d need a couple of sets of tyres though for fast road riding.

Salsa Fargo or cutthroat, the cutthroat would be lightest therefore easier on the road, but its a fortune so the Fargo with 2 sets of wheels and a sus fork you can fit.