This is something I’ve been wrestling with a bit too. I have 3 mountain bikes, which is too many for my needs, but I can’t decide which one(s) to sell.
For the past six months I’ve been almost exclusively riding my 5″ fatbike. It’s ideal for the sort of exploring I enjoy most. It’s the obvious choice if I don’t know what the trail will be like (or even if there will be one). I can also ride it up and down stuff that I can’t (or just won’t) ride on any other bike. So, I tend to reach for it if the trail includes any sections that I find tricky or scary, which with my limited skill set is most of them 🙂
The old 26″ Five is still a blast and I still choose it for trails that I know well and are well within my comfort zone i.e. messing about in the woods.
That leaves the Smuggler, which is far and away the best (and most expensive) mountain bike I’ve ever owned, but the least ridden. It is amazingly fast over open ground and I’ve set most of my Strava PRs on it. But I’m acutely aware that it lets me (and encourages me to) ride at speeds where, when I fall off (and it’s really a when rather than an if) the consequences could be severe. To be honest, I’m only keeping it for the one or two rides a year that I do with other people, since it allows me to keep up. A bit like Northwind riding his fatbike to level the playing field, but from the other side of the field 🙂
