You wake up in the morning, all of your bike(s) are gone, you have a pot of cash, you need to buy something new..... but you can only buy one bike. It needs to be used for all your cycling needs. Be it commuting to work, Surrey Hills on a Sunday and/or a week in Whistler.
What are you buying and why?
As per title, totally hypothetical, i am just curious.
Bird Forge in stainless
A fork that's easy to adjust travel and two sets of tyres (maybe wheels)
...I contemplated your exact scenario and the one I'd repurchase is the Forge
SC Tallboy.
I've not ridden anything more versatile, so although it'd be overkill on the commute and undergunned in Whistler it's still versatile enough to cope with it all.
Does not compute.
My Pipedream Moxie would be my last bike to go and the one I'd never sell.
Not quite as fast and comfortable as my FS trail bike, but realistically can do all the same stuff. At the other end of the scale, I've got a lighter, smaller hardtail on XC tyres, but those tyres are the biggest dividing factor, so two sets of wheels and tyres on the Moxie would cover a huge range.
Occasionally, I don't ride it enough between my other two bikes, but whenever I get back on it, it's such a good time. It doesn't hurt that I've built it up just how I want it and it fits me perfectly, but beyond that, it's just got something magic about it I love.
20-24 Rocky Mountain Instinct/Altitude! change the front shock mount , shock & fork to go from 140/150 trail bike or 160/170 enduro bike. Ride 9 & chainstay adjustment mean its super versatile,
My Bird Zero 29 does it all. Enduro trails and long xc rides, all it needs are a change of tyres.
but you can only buy one bike. It needs to be used for all your cycling needs.
Nope, just not a thing. It's like asking a joiner who has had all their tools stolen to replace the lot with one.
Horizons would have to be narrowed. A better question would be....what style of riding would you sacrifice if you could only have one bike.
I currently:-
- Ride trails on a MTB
- Ride trails on a fat bike
- Ride snow on a fat bike
- Ride beaches on a fat bike
- Ride gravel on a gravel bike
- Ride road on a road bike
- Ride in the winter roads on a winter road bike
- Commute on a winter road bike
- Fast road tour on a winter road bike
- Slow road and a bit of path on a flat bar frankenklbike
- Bike pack mostly off road on a gravel bike
- Bikepack on rough off road on a fat bike
- Bikepack mostly on road on a summer road bike.
No bike could do all of that. I'd ditch the snow, beach, rough off road bikepacking, heavily loaded road touring and controversially the proper trails mountain bike riding.
I'd have a gravel bike, with guard and rack mounts with two pairs of wheels. It would be a compromise but it would adequately do the rest.
Lot of Bird love here.
For me it would be a long travel(ish) hardtail. So another vote for the Bird zero 29 as that's what I have. But could equally be a Cotic Solaris, stiff Squatch anything in that vein really.
The new S-Works Turbo Levo R with both batteries and the range extender.
Specialized should just give me one anyway as I think I'm the only person that likes it 😀
full fat ebike as the motor blurs the lines between xc capable and enduro, dh and commuting without ever thinking i'm under biked or too over biked. just does it all. Assuming everything is within battery range!
Possibly this
Non e-bike then it would be some sort of hardcore hardtail with ~ 130-140mm fork.
E-bike then it would be something like the Turbo Levo.
If self powered a Starling of whatever wheel size takes your fancy/matches your height and a spare set of wheels/tyres for the commute/gravel stuff. A new swingarm can swap between travel and many different riding styles.
Fairlight Secan, what off road riding I do these days could most likely be managed on one of these.
If people are having a super posh bike I'd have 3 cheap second hand bikes
Road/ commuter full mudguards and rear rack
160/140mm bike with lightish wheels
170/170mm bike with heavy build kit.
I don't want to ride 120miles on road on anything other than a reload bike.
I don't want to do a 60 mile trial bike ride in the peaks on a road bike or a heavy weight bike
I don't want to ride super steep tech or bike parks on light weight bits.
I did do most of that on a cove stiffee back in the day with a choice of semi slicks or continental verticals. The 100 miles on gravel roads loaded touring was probably it's longest day out. It also managed Fort William DH track.
But is not my choice now 😃 
My Pipedream Moxie would be my last bike to go and the one I'd never sell.
Me too! You're right, there's something magic about it, and currently, it's the bike I reach for most of the time. I don't think it would be my only bike though, I like it SS and - whilst I've never tried mine with gears - think SS is where some of the magic comes from, and adding gears would maybe just detract a little from it ...
FS (Bird Aeris AM) would be a contender. 2 sets of wheels, one with fast XC/Trail tyres, the other with sticky chunky Trail/Enduro tyres, and it would cover most of my MTB-ing.
I used to think my Ti gravel bike - it's very versatile, and whilst I love long easy mixed surface rides, it's far too compromised on anything remotely chunky or spicy. So, not the gravel bike.
Which leaves my On One Vandal. Before the Moxie, the Vandal was the bike I rode the most. It's light and nippy, even in 'trail' mode. In it's current rigid, fast XC tyres set up, it's a rocket, so will cover all my bike-packing, commuting and gravel riding needs. Add a 150mm Pike and chunkier tyres, it'll do most of the interesting MTB riding I do. So, yeah. The Vandal (probably) with 2 forks and 2 sets of wheels/tyres.
140mm FS in the budget that suits, e-bike if that’s your thing. Don’t bother with the Whistler/holiday trip element, rent one when you are there.
I can't imagine that any bike I'd like to commute on would be fun to ride on mountain bike trails and vice-versa, so I'd probably go with some sort of full suspension trail bike and a bus pass. Or I'd try and learn something about gravel bikes but I'm not sure they'd cover enough of what I want to get from offroad riding while still being less good for on-road commuting to work for me.
MK1 Solaris
I can ride to work in the road on it and it's not too bad, come the interesting way home over the moors. I can ride trail centres on it, I've bike packed with it. I've raced an endruo on it and a 24hr XC race.
It's not the best bike for any of these things but it can do them all well.
My Pipedream Moxie would be my last bike to go...
I've not owned one but a Moxie ticks all my boxes currently for a HT, My Mulleted Ragley has convinced me I don't 'need' a full bouncy bike anymore, but I like the idea of a robust frame with modern Geometry that I can run in "MX" configuration.
But that's if my 'one bike' was an MTB and if I'm being honest I think I'd probably chose a Gravel bike. Right now I like the look of a Ritchey outback or a Fairlight Secan (and 2 wheelsets if we're allowed that). Call me a wrongun but year round I just do more Road and Gravel riding than MTBing now, especially MTBing that absolutely requires suspension and bigger tyres, and I'm hardly getting younger or more gnarr, so it's got to be the bike that would see the most use.
If I'm allowed two bikes then #2 is a Moxie or similar with a 140mm fork and MX wheels.
I think I’d go for a bike that is going to be the best at the type of riding I enjoy the most and then make do with it for the rest of the riding rather than have a bike that is a bit rubbish for everything. So for that it’d be a 130-140mm trail bike. Maybe something like the new stumpjumper where you can mess around with the geo.
Yep. Define "all" then go from there. A gravel bike probably gets closest to actual "all", possibly run a close second by a lightweight, racy hardtail.
It would mean big sacrifices to the disciples I ride. As I do everything from road to enduro.
I'd probably pick a robust big tyre capable aero gravel bike.
It would be a compromise on the road but allow me to access the easier end of mountain biking.
Realistically I'd want two minimum which would be a gravel bike and a full suss around the 130mm mark that I could use on big days or enduro.
That assumes I'm happy to stop racing CX, xco, TT.
Based on how I ride and where I ride currently, Airdrop Filter with three wheelsets.
Cotic Flaremax (130/120)
can commute on it (accepting that Hathersage to Rotherham is a slightly atypical commute but the descent from Stanage pole is so much better than on a gravel bike)
can do local rides on it (Dark peak: where it is just right)
can happily ride in the Lakes (where it is surprisingly capable)
as others have said, if going abroad may hire a bigger bike anyway…
So the shortest travel Cotic gets my vote every time!
If I had infinite energy then my Pipedream Moxie singlespeed. But as I don't then maybe a short travel lightweight ebike - my Levo is great but too big and squishy for my less steep twisty local trails. Actually, I don't need electricity - I just need more time, so could I have a short travel geared full-sus, an admin person to do the boring stuff for me at work and a part-time nanny?
If I'm just allowed one bike then it depends on the terrain I've got: either a SC Tallboy for more gentle woodsy southern British stylee, or a toss up between the Ripmo and the Yeti SB140 if it's more full on.
Hardtail, plus a second set of road-type wheels with slicks. As to what type of hardtail, erm... been a while since I looked, so dunno. Solaris?
Probably a new Spur as my current one covers the most bases in my fleet. The actual answer is some sort of e-bike I'd imagine though.
I have recently gone from a Soul & a 27.5 Rocket to a Saracen Ariel Elite.
It's great fun & means I don't have to maintain 2 bikes & it's great for local rides & uplift days. It would suck if I had to commute on it tho...
As much as I can't even begin to imagine just one bike, the more I ride it, the more I think the answer is this.
And not just because I designed it (well, specced the geometry and stuff) specifically for my riding! Yes it's a bit portly but it's more than happy round the flat, twisty local stuff. Took an absolute battering at Antur over the weekend in it's stride (and not noticeably slower than my big bike) before winching and pootling round Llandegla's flowiness the day after. Could (admittedly fairly slowly) commute on it if I had to. It's steel, so pretty repairable. No weird sizing or standards on anything so parts aren't an issue, And, above all, it's pink.
MY shand bahookie ( hardtail MTB) Two sets of tyres / wheels tho. I used this for my long 3000mile tour, I have used it for proper MTBing, I use it for day rides, It covers pretty much everything I do
I’d struggle in the velodrome and on the rush hour Elizabeth Line, but a Crux and some spare road race wheels would cover most if my rides and races (TT’s would be grim though).
Probably a reasonably meaty hardtail and a few wheels to swap depending on what I was doing with it.
However, that would come with the caveat that it would most likely be a jack of all trades and a master of none.
A 2 bike setup consisting of a gravel bike and lightish enduro bike (again with lots of sets of wheels depending on purpose) gets you a lot closer to covering everything really pretty well.
Probably just a trail bike of some kind with 2 sets of wheels. 140mm travel or there abouts, geometry and weight more on the trail spectrum than enduro side of things. Something adjustable for mullet or full 29 would be nice too, maybe with some flip chips to alter the geometry. I'm sure there's plenty of bikes out there that fit this requirement but no idea what they are.
Boringly practical but expensive answer. Something Carbon by Last. With a change of shock and linkage (and fork) it can go from 120-130-145-160. Maybe an Intend Edge fork which can adjust to meet all of those needs as well. Occasionally slightly over or under bikes but as flexible a bike as I can think of.
Depends on the kind of stuff you want to ride. I only have one bike which is a 170/170 enduro type bike which I ride in the lakes, downhill, winch and plummet enduro stuff and the occasional trail centre. It can be a bit of a slog at trail centres and not as good as a downhill bike at proper downhill but it does the job well enough.
If I also commuted by bike and did proper xc stuff I think I’d go with a burly 140/140 trail bike, the commute and downhill would be a bit rough though.
...I contemplated your exact scenario and the one I'd repurchase is the Forge
And I should admit I did consider buying another frame and storing at a pals place....just in case...
Having been in the position of having one main bike for pretty much my whole time mountain biking (with a couple of commuter type bikes scattered in) I have found a 130-140mm full suss trail bike is great for covering most bases. In the UK my latest Stumpjumper is not noticeably slower than my riding pals 150-160mm bikes on the descents and it is definitely lighter and faster on more mellow terrain and climbs.
That said, I’ve added a 140mm hardtail in the last couple of years, and I have been surprised how capable it is. It’s also great for pootling around with the kids. It’s nothing fancy but I really like it (Merida Big Trail), so I can imagine how nice a posher steel or titanium hardtail must be. So I’d probably be equally happy with something like that either.
In the real world where thankfully we aren’t restricted to one bike, I’ll probably eventually retire the Stumpjumper and replace it with a slightly more capable full susser to widen the gap from my 140mm hardtail.
Probably a reasonably meaty hardtail and a few wheels to swap depending on what I was doing with it.
However, that would come with the caveat that it would most likely be a jack of all trades and a master of none.
This is the correct answer.
I've raced enduros where some of the stages I would undoubtedly have been faster on a hardtail.
With the right tyres they're great gravel bikes (i'm depressingly no faster over 50km on a light carbon HT than I was on a 3-4 kg heavier bike with the same tyres).
And... most importantly, riding a HT in any conditions that aren't ideally suited to it gives you plenty of excuses.
Enve MOG or Wilier Rave with SRAM Red XPLR and a second set of wheels for road rides. Would mean no more MTBing but that's the smallest part of my riding these days.
130 to 140 full suss trail bike. with some wheel/tyre options.
but that’s a willingness to give up more on the distance/gravel end of the spectrum than the technical riding end.
One for all.. Would be like going back to the late 80s and early 90s when I did everything on one rigid bike with options for tyres and bar ends or Scott AT3s for more grip positions. No problem then, no problem now. Looking at my current do-most-things ATB not much has changed. Trails are similar, bike is similar, just better wheels, brakes and geometry plus a dropper.
Or for 'proper MTB' it'd be a Starling Mini-Murmur - simple steel 120mm SP FS. Which is a bit of a cheat choice bc it could change into a 140mm bike easily enough, but unlikely I'd bother unless I moved somewhere else.
Ignoring the ebike I posted above (if it was truly one bike, then I don't think I'd be without an ebike tbh).
As for normal bikes, I was going to refrain from posting wot you got, but I honestly don't know what I'd replace this with. 160f/140r, mullet - even though it's not supposed to be, but it's better this way, reasonably light for a modern mid travel FS, climbs well, zips along singletrack (I'm still to tackle any spicy descents on it though). I don't commute, I don't do big miles, so for local/Peak riding and the odd bike park trip, it's spot on. Looks good (IMO) in a world of moulded carbon and ti will look good for a long time. Two sets of tyres and it would be good for year round riding.
As much as I love a sorted HT, the 'one bike' would have to be a FS
Yup, any 140-150mm travel 29er trail bike would probably do me. I like my Vitus Escarpe enough that I've no plans to get rid of it and it feels like it could climb and descend faster than my legs or skills could manage.
Although I'd want a road bike as well. And maybe something dedicated to commuting. And a track bike.
The bigger problem is where you ride, when I lived in Sheffield the idea of N+1 barely registered (except for a jump bike for Bolehills) because you could always go for a decent ride, and a decent ride generally always meant the same kind of thing. In Reading I'd want a different bike for the Chilterns and Ridgeway (gravel / XC) Vs Swinley, Aldershot and the Surrey Hills. Either is a bit boring/difficult on the wrong bike.
A £15,000 road bike of some sort.
Then sell it for as much as possible and redistribute the money between the road bike, a gravel bike and 120-140mm FS with a sturdy fork.
Given the way that Trump is trying to drive the world's civilization off a cliff, I think it would have to be one of these:
I'm only slightly joking.
A £15,000 road bike of some sort.
Then sell it for as much as possible and redistribute the money between the road bike, a gravel bike and 120-140mm FS with a sturdy fork.
yeah, thats not how this works 🤣 🤣 🤣
yeah, thats not how this works
Where is the limit though?
I proposed 2 wheelsets mainly for speed of switching tyres and as a spare for the thing I'm most likely to break; rather than an actual need for differing wheel constructions.
But there are bikes like Onza's Lasts that can change drastically with a different linkage....and shock.... and either a second fork or a fork travel adjustment.
i could've been more specific with the original ponderings. But ultimately, the idea was you would choose one bike, to cover all your riding needs. you may compromise in certain areas to gain in others. Or you might not ride a certain thing due to the bikes limitations.
I guess it was to see what sort of bikes folks would go for and/or what sort of compromises they would make.
But as its all hypothetical, the rules dont have to be that rigid... but ideally, your choice is one bike to keep and ride, not sell to purchase others. And if a frame is versatile enough to have some changes, then thats all good.
But ultimately, the idea was you would choose one bike, to cover all your riding needs
AND
, not sell to purchase others.
I totally knew that but some rules are just too cruel! 🤣
If I could genuinely only have 1 bike I'd be super torn between a gravel bike (with some road tyres as well) and a lightweight hardtail with a rigid fork and some spare slicks.
I think the gravel bike would just edge it.
A £15,000 road bike of some sort.
Then sell it for as much as possible and redistribute the money between the road bike, a gravel bike and 120-140mm FS with a sturdy fork.
That’s sounds like a great way of turning £15k worth of bike money into about £6k of cash with which to buy 3 bikes…
If just one bike then a steel hardtail with a 150mm fork, 65/66° head able, steep seat tube.
Enough to ride nice, fun and sketchy alpine trails, but still rideable and engaging on mellower terrain.
Having been through and out the other side of road and gravel I decided a couple of years ago to get my riding down to what I actually enjoy which is woodland trails and rocky hills. I got a mullet trance e and a whyte e160 and they cover my riding perfectly. Either would be a good 'one bike' choice for what I do but if forced to choose I would go with the Whyte because I just love the geometry and feel of the ride. This is more important to me than versatility, I want my bike to feel brilliant on the stuff I most like riding, not a jack of all trades that always feels compromised