[Closed] Just the one bike........

I have tried and failed. Not going to try again.

i want to but i'm not strong enough

It depends what you're trying to do. I can't get down to one because:

- I don't drive, and find the cargo bike immensely useful

- I don't really want to have to choose between riding on and off the road

So I'd struggle to get below three unless I really had to. If that happened the cargo bike would probably be the survivor. 🙂

three.

now i only consider replacements or upgrades not additions.

@ Bigdummy they are all fair comments.

I should probably say who has gotten down to a single off road bike as this is what I am aiming for. The fact I have no other disipline bikes makes that easier I guess! 🙂

To Mister P & RD why have you experienced problems?

SOOBalias - Member

three.

now i only consider replacements or upgrades not additions.

What sort are the three?

Apart from my pub/shopping/commuter bike (a £25 reclaim special) I've got a Cotic Soul with a Magura Menja 130 fork which I always think is the perfect bike for wherever I take it. Chase, Peak, Lakes, CyB, whatever.

It spends most of its time singlespeed but because mine has the old fashioned slotted cable guides I can put the gears back on in a flash without having to adjust the cables even.

At the moment 1 bike - and that only has 1 gear !

Ah if you mean one MTB then I have managed that at the moment, my Ti Altitude is the only fat tyred bike I have. Probably won't be alone for long though.

Down to 1 mtb, but got 4 other bikes so that doesn't really count does it! And the 1 mtb will be joined by another when I get around to finishing building it up.

Ti456 - would have bought an Orange 5 if I had known there was another hardtail on the way.
Pompino - now flat barred for shopping duties & buzzing around work.
One one ti cross - winter road, summer touring, autumn cyclocross duties- the bike I'd rescue from a fire.
Issac Kelvin summer road bike, could do without if I'm honest now I don't road race.
Cervelo P3c - that I'm currently too fat to ride comfortably but selling it would break my heart and be the slippery slope to obesity!

....To be joined by Alfined Niner Sir9 for mud duties.

I think 2 bikes should be achievable though if I was able to admit to myself I'm never going to be proper fast again - a bouncy bike for bigger adventures and another - maybe a cross with 2 sets of wheels to cover everything else including road. One bike would always feel too compromised.

Erm, anyone else [i]trying[/i] to get their collection [b]up to[/b] two or more?

If there's one thing will force you to rationalise your collection its unemployment. As things get increasingly desperate you start to look where all your spare capital is. Where did all your disposable income go? Oh look.... its all in the garage 😀

I'm now down to my full susser (and I'll be living on the street before that goes) and my pub/hack singlespeed

Everything else has been ebayed. Including all the 'surplus' parts that clutter everywhere up

you neeeeeed 2 mountain bikes so you can ride one when the other is broken. A HT and a FS seems the best mix to me.

I'm down to just my Soul. I do have a crappy pub bike though if that counts.

im with you on that one pook, although a job would help me massively 😛

Nope.

I'll stick to the 5 I have..

I agree with Binners tho..

When I was made redundant, the first thing I thought was to flog them off and get some cash, but then the Mrs pointed out that I'd be even more gutted, and with nowt to do..

So I didin't.

And, when I got my new job- I bought a new frame.

4 bikes here, all get used, what's the point in reducing the number?

theiving scumbags took me from 2 bikes to one...

They knicked my hardtail that did me for racing and local rides and left me with my 5 inch full sus, that was OK for ages, but as I was doing a few races at the time but was short of cash I sold the sus frame and bought another hardtail frame as I was never going to get a pass for trailcentres or the Alps for ages anyhow, but if a trip to Wales had come up I would have still been quite well covered....

so was still at 1 bike, and it was fine for everything & I was and happy, then the unthinkable happened and I got a pass for an Alps trip... bugger the do it all full sus now gone and a Lightwieght hardtail instead.. So built up a 6 inch travel bike just for the alps and trailcentres and stuff..

In answer if your going to have 1 bike make it a medium sort of travel full sus, light enough for XC racing, Enduros etc but heavy enough for a little bigger stuff... OK you dont need sus for trailcentres but I find it prefereable, but if you have any trips to do up a proper mountain you will enjoy it more with suspension.

One hooligan bike and one mincing bike for me. Both get used every other day all year long.

I came to Oz with 1 bike, the Salsa, now I have 5. Only 2 are used offroad regularly, the others are mainly used on the street. I could never sell the Salsa & the DBR Axis TT is a keeper. The Iron Horse will break for the last time soon.
I don't sell bikes. The ones I could sell, aren't worth much, so why bother.

1. Heavy Duty Full Suss - DH, uplift, awaydays, full face, pads etc.
2. Hard Tail - almost all recreational riding
3. SS/FG skinny tyred drop barred racks & guards commuter

My numbers are going up. Not down.

Turner 5 spot - for trails centres and scotland plus the odd surrey hills ride. Alps trip this year.
Santa Cruz Superlight - racing, general local riding and anything else.
Cotic Simple - Winter & Wet
Cotic Soul - on its way - coz I wanted one.
Specialized Tricross Single - new purchase second hand - nice for riding from the door
Road bike.

Only one not ridden in the last month is the road bike & the sould which is not quite back from respray yet!

I've been trying for a few years and I'm getting closer to my goal !! 3 years ago I owned 17 bikes (dont ask) and I'm now down to 6 (and 5 frames) 😉 My goal is to get down to one play bike (Vassago Jabberwocky) and 1 commuter (Cannondale bad boy)

because youve told me not to, how the hell did you manage to have 17 bikes?? i would love 2 bikes but there we go 😛

I got by just fine with just one, the Soul. Well, plus my commuter but that doesn't count, it's not a real bike. Did me everything from local XC to snow commuting to fort william. I'm glad I can afford and have the space for 2, since they're built to do kind of different jobs... But I could go back to one without too much fuss.

I have one solo MTB - its set up to be OK at everything - a compromise between light and strong that works for me - and with travel adjust fork so its OK up and down hill. Its better than I am.

i've got two bikes. it's ridiculous! one ali hardtail and one steel rigid. i should just combine them into a steel hardtail - will be able to offroad, do alps, touring, some road... i sicken myself by having two!

double post..

One bike only, numerous sets of tyres, but since I don't plan on launching myself down the alps I should be fine for a while, yeti ASR, I suppose it depends on how much space you've got to store them.

I was always under the impression that the correct number of bikes was N+1 with N being the number you currently have. I currently have a kinesis maxlight and a giant road bike and as the above law suggests I am looking for another road bike.

Iain

I've got four at the moment:

1 x 130mm full suss
1 x Steel HT
1 x Road Bike
1 x SS Commuter

i'm pretty certain the HT is going to become girlyfied for the wife, so thats how I'm going to get down to less 😆

Those of you that seem to be on some sort of religious quest to get down to "just one bike"...
...do you take the same approach to other essential things in life? jackets?, shoes?,... underwear?!.

Sort of. One "proper" mtb, Thorn Raven Enduro with Rohloff Speedhub and Magura Thors.
But I do also have a fixie road bike for commuting which is soon to be replaced by an ALfine'd Peregrine Singular. And I have an old Kona Cindercone I can't bare to part with which is single-speeded but hung up in need of some TLC, but that's only for quick blasts through town and the local woods.

But I did used to have 8, so I consider it an improvement.

I'm trying to do the same. I'm just getting round to selling some stuff. The Pitch is being swapped for a ragley mmmbop, and if I really like it and it is alright at xc as well as bigger stuff I will probably sell it and my beloved litespeed and buy a ragley ti. That's the plan, but I'll be surprised if it actually happens.

On-one with swap outs might help reduce the number of hardtails by one.

Only the one here. Only ever had one in the 22 years I have been MTB'ing.

As I change to a new one I seel the old one.

Currently got a 5 spot, had it 5 years and cant see me ever changing it unless it breaks.

1x scandal hardtail
1x titus motolite ( ona 3 year loan from brother in law currently in OZ)
1x Dolan cross bike (used most days fro commuting winter training, going to shops)
1x road bike (used for tri's and summer riding)
1x road bike (wifes road bike we ride the same size bikes)
1x cube ams (wifes but as above)

the motolite gets ridden rarely but cost me a fortune to replace the bearings recently, thinkging of changing the scandal for a new sirius frame and getting rid of one of the road bikes, will see how much spa ethere is in the new garage. Wen the motolite goes will prob not replace it.

I managed for a few weeks after one got stolen. Insurance happily fixed that problem, though. 8)

Only got one MTB (but one urban bike for road work and one BMX for injuring myself, plus a full sus in the cupboard I don't use anymore).

yep just the 575 - although even thats hardly getting ridden at the moment <hangs head>

Unless there's a need to *really* free up some cash, I don't see the point in getting rid of bikes unless there are duplicates...

After several years of just one bike, my collection has grown to a peak of 7 a couple of months ago. I'm now on 5, and it will stay like that I think - they all have discrete usage...

muddy winter mtb (fully rigid singlespeed 456)
fun mtb - cotic hemlock
ss winter/spinny road bike - tricross singlecross
nice road bike for dry days and triathlon - focus cayo
hack/commuter/round town - old inbred with mainly broken bits off other bikes.

I've only ever had one bike at a time. Currently an Independent Fabrication Deluxe. Gets used in the Mendips, Wales, Alps, Indian and Nepalese Himalayas, Oman, UAE. I would like a full suspension bike, maybe an Orange Alpine 160, for the Alps but can't really justify if for 2 weeks a year - anyway the Indy Fab does fine, it was built erring on the hardcore hardtail end of the spectrum anyway.

(Actually I also have a '70s Dawes rescue bike that I use as a pub/ town bike)

I'm finding one of each type of bike works fine. Using them for race and riding.
Hardtail MTB
Road bike
Cross bike
Though this winter has made me think about getting a road/cross hack as the road bikes too precious and I like to keep the cross bike race ready.

One bike - that is never going to happen with me...

1 x CX bike - commuting
1 x hardtail - general riding
1 x singlespeed/Alfined 29er - winter/crappiest conditions riding
1 x big full-susser - just because

I'm trying hard to resist a 5th bike (another hardtail but different purpose) but something else would have to give way, and I don't want to lose any of my current bikes.

I've done it and I have only been riding one off road bike for nearly two years now after selling the full susser.

Went to an Inbred, and now a slot dropout Scandal. Althought it is only one bike it does get changed over alot.

Winter = SS + rigid fork
Summer = SS + suspension fork
Summer (big hills) = 1x9 setup + suspension fork

Also with two wheelsets this also make it easier to have a spare wheelset if one of them is bust.

I've considered this. I've got 9 bikes.

That's silly isn't it.

Just the one mountain bike - a santa cruz chameleon. But then I have 3 bmxs, a road bike, and a unicycle.. And saving up for a new road bike.

I've managed to get it down to three.

1. Shiny new Anthem X2 for the long sunny days to come.....I hope!!
2. Orange Clockwork (newer one) for muddy/winter duties
3. Cove Stiffee 69er....best bike I've ever had.

In my defence, number 3 isn't ridden anymore as it's now become something of a family heirloom. It's so good I named my son after it (Cove....not Stiffee!!) so I want to pass it on to him.

One MTB (On-one 456) and one road bike (Dawes thingy). But both my commuters (EBC Courier and Singlecross) are happily off- and on-roadable.

So maybe I have one and two-halfs MTBs, and one and two-halfs road bikes.

I ride bikes for a living, and I've only got one bike.

Wait...
Hang on...

Well, there is the old rigid MTB I use on the turbo and on the road. And I do really want a hardtail for keeping up with the vertically-motivated guests...

So that could easily be 3.... 😳

one bike but 2 sets of forks and wheels...............light and heavy versions. Brill

Those of you that seem to be on some sort of religious quest to get down to "just one bike"...
...do you take the same approach to other essential things in life? jackets?, shoes?,... underwear?!.

i only have one coat! and a bike as an essential thing? sheesh! i've ridden the alps on my hardtail and loved it. and cross country. and toured. i really think it is you, sir, who needs to convince me!

2 MTBs (plus others) here but they are quite different; a 4” forked “trail/XC” HT and a 7” forked DH-HT, I did have a Proper DH bike and a trail bike and a 24” wheeled Dirt MTB for a while but it was a waste when 2 bikes will do for all my MTB riding, I keep starting to fancy a 4X type build but then I have a BMX and I think that is a better buy for getting your jumpy thrills and I’d probably not really bother racing 4x, plus I have a Road bike for commuting, the ideal tool for that particular job….

I think I’m at about the right number of bikes right now, all of my riding bases are covered, there is no duplication of function and I’m not spending lots on maintenance and spares…

I’ve “rationalised” FS bikes out altogether and I’m quite happy with that, I do find myself mulling over “fantasy” builds, then I start costing them up and factor in the amount of use they would actually receive… my current 4 bikes is pretty much optimum for my purposes as it stands right now and for the foreseeable future….

It’s all horses for courses, if I didn’t have a garage I couldn’t spare the space for this many bikes, and if I had any less spare time I couldn’t justify the ownership of the bikes I have…

Other peoples riding will be more or less varied, they will have more or less free time and cash to spend on kit, I don’t think it should be a matter of aspiration to have X number of bikes, more a desire to have the right kit for the cycling that you do…