I see many people on here with lots of bikes and quite a few riders I know have a number of bikes (As do I, well 3), but I keep on finding that although I would like lots of different bikes, that I would find it even more difficult to choose which one to ride?
Trying to pigeonhole bikes for specific uses may help, but I don't really race, don't ride road, cyclocross, DH, FR, BMX, 4X, dirt-jump so can't use those
Big Hills/chunkier trail centre riding usually results in taking the full-suss (130/120mm), but I'm not sure how I'd choose if I were to get a 6"ish full-suss?
for normal XC MTBing with the odd silly bit thrown in leaves me a bit stumped as to which bike to ride? I usually feel that I'm wasting the full-suss and can make the (not-so) techincal bits a bit dull. I like to be able to leave chunkier tyres on it too, but its slower that way. If I don't ride it, I feel as if its money wasted
The HT is quite uncomfortable (a 6011/6061 giant) and I fret about mashing the rear wheel on drops.
The (V-braked) rigid bike can be VERY fun to ride (last time it went to the peak), but really limits the ride when theres stairs/drops on offer. Also usually has the slicks/full guards/upside down long stem/narrow bars on
I'd sort of like a CX bike too, but would just cause more confusion on what to ride
It was much easier with jsut one bike, without the want/need to ride the nastier stuff
Is it just me?
Also have 3
But the full sus XC bike is currently getting rested at least until it's slightly less muddy everywhere.
And the DH bike is in the process of being split to sell as I don't really use it.
Only my hardtail is getting ridden at the moment, but then it's very very muddy everywhere right now, and I'd rather ride the bike that needs the least maintenance in those conditions (or is it just cos it's the newest bike? 😉 )
Ride both all the time.
God, life's tough eh? What a nightmare.
Got a 6" FS that I am beginning to think is a bit too much (weight and rear travel) for my normal rides and a small jumpy HT. I normally pick the FS as the HT isnt totally built yet but is still ridable. I think I might start taking the HT out a little more. But then the FS is a larger bike and is much better for longer rides.
I have 4 bikes built up but 2 others that are in various bits at the mo.
The bikes I have built up are,
Dialled Bikes UK Flow - Dirt Jump/Street bike, doesn't get ridden much these days.
Dialled Bikes Holeshot - Designed as a 4X bikes but I use it for 'hooning about' in the woods.
'05 Specialized Enduro - Built up as my 'Alps Bike'. As the name suggests, it gets brought out for riding the fast, steep and jumpy stuff.
Giant Trance - This is the bike I ride the most as its my favorite and also the one most suitable for the riding I generally do.
The 2 bikes in bits are,
Cannondale SM500 - My first proper MTB. I'll get around to rebuilding it one day.
Specialized Big Hit - Superseded by the Enduro as my big and bouncy bike.
I can't see any point getting rid of any. I have plenty of space to store my bikes and they aren't costing me anything sitting there.
It's terrible isn't it, I know just what you mean. I sometimes decide to go for a ride then spend so long trying to decide which bike to ride that the moment has passed and I end up catching a few minutes of tv instead...
😉
All of them. Horses for courses though.
I'm currently riding 3 out 5 of my bikes at the mo. The only ones not being used are my light xc and my single speed rigid because I'm not fir enough yet after a long time off the bike.
Riding 4 out of 5 bikes at the moment, two of them get a lot more action that the others though.
3 bikes.
ride 3 bikes
One of one for me...will have two or maybe three by the summer though...
Ride 3 out of 3 but there's literally no overlap in them.
Orange 5
Genesis iO SS
Cervelo Soloist (roadie content sorry)
I was umming and ahhing over a bigger travel bike, maybe 7" like a Patriot but having spent most of Jan on the iO, doing CwmCarn this weekend reminded me how much bike the 5 really is and if I can be bothered to drop the saddle a bit (I'm always arse in air being quite short but with long legs) it's amazing how fast you can huck it down stuff...
I have a rule that if a bike doesn't get used in 3 months then it gets sold. Apart from the road bike which tends to get used only in the winter on days when the ride:clean ratio is 1:1 🙂
Ride my three regularly, until recently they were XC / Trail / AM - although recently I sold the Anthem and bought a Trance.
So now I've put a 110-140mm Rev on the Trance it fulfils pretty much the same function as my Cove HJ - as a light-ish, fast-ish MTB that can do most things.
So which I take out depends on which I fancy, and it's a nice dilemma to have.
I have 5 and ride them all. The 4x bike and bmx get ridden mostly at the moment for local street, urban freeriding and trips to the shops ( bmx ).
The retro xc bike is getting quite a lot of use too. XC commuter that hasn't been in use for 2 years got used last weekend and proved invaluable when my car stopped working. Not used my fs for a while though.
have 10 at the moment most get used at least once a month apart from my road bike and orange vit t , they can wait till the summer.
as for which one for which ride normaly just pick theone with the least wrong with it
Got between 3 and 4. Just trashed the roadbike so that can't be used, bummer! But it was used regularly.
Short travel HT is the bike of choice, light and fast.
Long travel (135mm) HT doesn't get used that often...
In the process of building a rigid SS for use in the city and that'll be used most days.
Different bikes for different needs, I can see room for more purchases in there, Yay!
I have three, all get ridden.
In January I only did about 50 miles on the HT - just a couple of Sunday mornings riding with mates. We tend to ride more on road when it is axle deep mud, and night rides have just not happened mid week.
The Ribble did about 200 miles commuting and a couple of wet road rides.
The Roubaix did about 100 miles road riding on drier days.
This time last year there was a Blur as well, but that hardly ever got ridden and was reluctantly sold - I couldn't afford the divorce that owning 4 bikes would have caused.
Don't know how you guys get so much time to ride or can put so much money into it 🙁
I have one bike, so no decisions on which one to use, and as it is the only choice, it is the best choice for everything. SC Blur LT2 built reasonably light to just under 30lbs.
My rides are all 1hr - 3hrs and all feature a reasonable climb along with some technical descents
4 bikes and ride them all or there's no point having them
3 Hardtails, all get ridden.
I have 2.5 bikes (2 built and ridable, one missing a pair of wheels). I ride the FS on long rides, the SS on short local rides and the other I'll ride for fun local jaunts as its a trials bike.
5" hardtail for everything, but loads of fun
4" hardtail for everything, but hopefully a little faster
Road bike, for those days when you cant be arse cleaning
2nd road bike, for transport (bull horn bars)
3rd road bike, for transport in reading (so bad you can leave it unlocked in the town center)
cheep BMX, pretty useless, but its only cost me a fiver
expensive BMX, I'm pretty useless, but it is near indestructable
I have 4 and yes, all of them. I love having the ability to ride quite (well, sort of) different bikes, it shows up the plusses and minuses across them and makes the same ride, well, different.
Orange 5 (tends to come out for trips north/rocky places)
Orange P7 (Gets used the most at present)
OnOne Ti 456 (still got a list of things to sort out owing to my mechanical ineptitude, mostly hubs, brakes and gears)
OnOne Inbred singlespeed made up of all sorts of spare bits
Used the s/s yesterday and had forgotten just how good it can be.
14 at the moment
just ride whatever ones working
1 road bike
1 hardtail
Can't see the point in having anymore.
1 big 6" bike that gets ridden for a good nine months of the year, anything with decent downhills, but gets put away for the winter.
130mm hardtail that gets used all year round depending on where I'm going to try and keep me from getting lazy on the fs.
A singlespeed used all year for getting to work.
So 3 bikes and all used, all i really need.
I have 3 bikes; 2 mtbs and 1 road bike. A bit excessive I know, but they all evolved from previous buying mistakes. I do have lame justification however: Mine are gradually being adapted to be handed down to my two growing kids. The good bits get moved to my latest frame, they'll get the older bits. Buying and selling on eBay makes it all possible.
Hoping to splash mega bucks on an all new bike and "out" one of the cheap kids bikes which they have outgrown later in the year, or perhaps I shall build a top end XC ride if the bits appear. Ultimately I would settle for the MTB if I could only keep one. I'd possibly get a spare set of wheels with slicks on for road rides when offroad is too quagged out.
Too much money = too much choice!
I've got 6 bikes at the moment. They're all very different and they all get ridden, although whether they get used to their full potential is another matter.
none
Now I'm down to:
42lb Nicolai DH bike - only used for dh and most of the year only gets ridden a few times a month. However as I try to spend alot of time doing uplift or in the alps it gets the most dh miles and abuse.
Holeshot 4x Race bike - Until a recent injury it was my most used bike, atleast once a week/8hrs and enough/hard use to blow pike seals every 3-4 months riding.
New Trance yet to be built - probably will use this a few times a month as a 'short dh' track bike and xc rides.
Race BMX - only used about 10 times so selling now.
4 bikes - Full susser, SS mtb, CX, road.
All get ridden regularly except the road bike which only comes out if the roads are dry - I ride the CX with road tyres if it's damp.
2, Road bike which needs some fettling and a cotic which may develop a hub gear for really long rides
3 bikes, used the Xc saturday, the Roadie friday and the DH midweek.
Unicycle if doing the Lakes
Tandem if in the peaks
Trike if commuting to work, or if it's really rough with a pothole in the tarmac I'll take my 6" full susser
Big Dummy - most days.
Brompton - for train and meeting days.
Racer - for fine days, most weekends in summer
trainer - for rainy days, most weekends in winter.
Mountain bike - not much, ought to get shot of it really. 😉
Singlespeed - not working at the mo'
So yes, I have several too many bikes.
3 bikes, a Soul for most MTBing, a crosser for when I'm in the mood, and a single speed currently set up for family riding, riding to town and wet weather rides - might stick some mud tyres on and venture into....the woods.
1st Hardtail - Used for messing about in the woods and local singletrack which is what I do most weekends 🙂
2nd - Roadbike - Gets used when I need to get somewhere quick (weekly shopping, visiting friends)
3rd - Full-sus - Over the top for anything around here, but use it for the trails in wales / scotland. Don't tend to get out to those places so much, so it's gathering dust.
I've got 6 in total and use 4 regularly at the moment.
93 Zaskar/Commuter, 853 PA, Heckler and Sunday dh bike all get used regularly. All 4 used in last 9 days.
Commencal road and jump bikes get used a bit. Jump bike gets more use in summer on the local bmx tracks but very little use over winter. Road bike hasn't been used yet this year but will do 300-500 miles over the year. Use of the road bike is a bit sporadic.
I have 2 built bikes.
DH bikes gets ridden for DH. Hasn't been used for a while though due to a lack of uplifts & no race season currently. That will be coming out to play in the next couple of months again, and thats what goes to the Alps in the summer too.
Everything else bike, gets used all the other time. Trail centres, 4X, even local DH etc.
Patriot - for rides that are focused around a big mountain descent; trail centres with jumps and black runs and the like; or when I feel like it or the others are dirty
Orange 5 - for nipping around the woods OR when there's a big long ride in the offing where I'll need to cover the ground faster, or when I'll have to keep up with faster partners.
Kona Heihei - pretty much only a race bike, largely because it has some silly bling kit on it like an XTR ti cassette that I don't want to wear out in South Wales grit, and it also has a pretty lean saddle and short travel forks. It's great for the woods tho so it does come out sometimes when it's dry.
Kona Zing road bike - for training, gets lots of miles
Kona Dew - commuter.
So yeah they all get used. The reason I have these different bikes isn't cos they're nice, but because they enable me to do different things. It's the styles of riding I appreciate.
4 bikes, 4 ridden
Intense 5.5 and Titus Racer X: seem to ride each of these with 2 different groups of people, usuually alternate days at the weekend. Titus for XC purposes and the more xc orientated group (with the intention of racing some xc this year). The 5.5 for all other mtb'ing purposes.
Roadie: Cannnondale Six-13 for the road, the occasional weekend day gets replaced from one of above days, until the clearer evenings.
Steel hardtail (Gary Fisher, from mid 90s): now in commuting mode. But when longer evenings come back, the road bike takes over sometimes, with a longer route home.
4 plus one in bits
HT MTB
FS MTB
Nice road bike for summer only
Tatty road bike with full guards and rack for commuting, touring etc
TT bike in bits - not ridden for 3 or 4 years - probably get sold soon (if anyone here wants to try their hand)
Both MTBs and the tatty road one ridden this year
I have 4 and they all get ridden regularly.
The DH bike every other weekend,
6" 'enduro' bike at trail centres on the 'other' weekends
Hardtail on a wednesday nightride
and Brompton folder when I'm on the train to London most weeks :o)
Trance is my primary bike, ride all day, quickly (for me at least)
street/dirt bike for playing on the streets and in the dirt
Hartail XtC, 32:18 and mud tyres or 42:16 and road slicks for commuting, a generaly low maintenence, very reliable. and good to ride 🙂 (was a fantastic primary bike back in the day before the trance)
all get ridden equally.
quite fancy a solid flair for doing weekend DHing on, but cant say i miss not having it, it would only take time away from the others.
quite fancy a lot of things, but wouldnt use anymore that much i dont think.
If i had one bike, it would be a soul with revs.
no doubt
SS MTB (3" to 5") gets used mostly for the commute with the occasional offroad blasts.
Enduro gets used every couple of weeks or so, it's difficult as I don't store it at my house so have to arrange uplift of it when I need it.
I can still justify another bike, perhaps make the SS rigid and get a smaller chuckable bike or a heavy hardtail. I just can't afford it at the moment.
One.
At a time.
This thread is more about the danger of having - or thinking you have - overlapping "types" of bikes, whereas they're all really just bikes for riding.
And what the OP is really saying is that, like s*x, he thinks other people are having more fun than he is.
Have 3, ride 2 of them.
GT Zaskar gets used for most stuff, xc and generally mountain biking if there is such a thing these days.
Commencal MaxMax, gets used for taking the kids to school, arsing about in the skate park and trying to keep up with my son on the BMX track. It'll be good for play days on the DH track when summer comes too.
87' Muddy Fox explorer was bought to build as a commuter but is still in bits waiting for me to get round to putting it together.
3 bikes 2 of which get ridden:
Evil Sov' used for anything and everything
Marin Quake 7.3 used for anything and everything (rides a lot lighter than it is)
Titus Supermoto that's not getting ridden and is for sale
Just sold my Bmx because I only raced twice last year
Just sold my Bmx because I only raced twice last year
that and you couldnt bare the thought of "coming out" to your parents?
I'm down to two now:
Carbon Focus Race HT - used for XC racing and winter commuting.
Carbon Junker Roadbike - used for road-racing and summer commuting.
Neither are particularly practical commuters, but I only have space for two bikes, so at least I don't have to compromise; and at work, the bikes live in the building, so they shouldn't be pinched (touch wood).
2 bikes built, MC Rumble and retro Marin + 2 frames waiting for parts to be hung on them and I have barely ridden any of them for a year + 🙁 😳
The chaps with, was it 10 and 14 bikes? Are you joking? Where do you keep them ??
Summer season with pikes and a Nomad. Rode them both for 10 miles each yesterday. Tend to only take the Nomad out for Golspie, Laggan, Carn Ban Mor type rides. Got the Summer Season to be a "winter" bike but it gets most of the riding now as the nomad is too much for most of my rides. Having said that it has been so dry this winter I have had to get it out for some fun on the gnarlier routes as they are in such great condition.
Summary. Got 2 ride both. One a bit more than the other.
One for on-road.
One for off-road.
Both get ridden.
one 170 mm travel bike built up main bike 4 to 5 hrs rides
one xc full suss 90 mm to 125mm awaiting to be built
one ti hardtail, in bits at the mo, was my main ride till last sept but back too sore at the moment
guessing I will ride all three in the summer
heckler '07
456
epic
stinky
heckler is now redundant as is too much bike for my local stuff and prefer my HT 456 and so will be sold soon
456 gets most use razzing in the woods
epic FS is for races and long moor rides
got the stinky in the post this morning but is for DH fun.
have five that get ridden regularly old hack on the turbo,one for xc racing,one for sunday hurls,one for wednesday night rides all hard tails,one full susser for all day rides if it is dry or frosty,wouldnt keep em if Ididn,t use em
Just sold my 575 as was ridden around 3 times in 6 months, now have just a Ti HT but I am thinking maybe a 5" full sus would be a better do it all bike than the HT.
1x Orange Subzero - gets ridden for everything
thinking about buying this:
[img] 
[/img]
2008 Wilier Mortirolo Cross, Large
Ex-Photo Shoot (Discontinued)
Colour - Carbon/Red
Crank - Ritchey 170mm
Front Mech - Campag Veloce
Rear Mech - Campag Veloce
Rims - Fulcrum R7
Tyres - Michelin Cyclo Cross Jet
Handlebars - ITM Racer 44cm
Stem - ITM Racer 120mm
Seat Post - Ritchey Carbon Pro
Saddle - Selle Italia C2
2008 SRP was £1699
Larger Image
Price: £1,099.00 (Including VAT at 15%)
Carriage - £18
...if only I could convince myself to wear lycra!! 😆