How few bikes?

Generally we get to hear about how often people change bikes etc, but how few bikes have you had?

Over a 20 yr period I’ve had 4

2nd hand Scott – was a heavy great gate, but got me into it.
’97 Lava Dome – never been quite right, but I love it nonetheless and still have it.
’06 Spesh Enduro Expert – fantastic bike, but a bit of a pig uphill.
’08 Spesh Enduro S-Works (built up in 2009) – now getting close to perfection (see my other thread)

Think the S-Works will stay for another couple of years – glad I went down the upgrade route, as it’s always felt like it could be ‘the bike’, but never quite had it. Had I sold it and gone for a new one, the quest to get it feeling just right would no doubt have started again.

9 and still counting.

There is only one which is no longer in my shed. The best of the others is the Stumpy Elite ’08

From what i can remember

Universal siera nevada i think 26 inch ridig thing was far too big for me (long gone)

diamond back sorrento that had V brakes and Canti levers awsome stopping power (long gone )

numerous bmx (wish i still had them sold for at most £30 prices now are more than i paid for a garage full of stuff)

Not bought one for at lest 6 years

Mongoose Rackadile ALD (stripped to build Patriot frame up)frame donatedto a friend

Patriot (crashed and brokeen)

Geared inbred DN6 (stripped and frams sold when 456 launched) frams still in use

456 Still got it only bike i have now all the others have gone

airborne liberator looked nice rode it once or twice decided was too small and short so swopped it possibly for a Dialled PA frame

Jump bike not sure what brand it was or where it went

sub5 bought it rode it thought it was going to end up the same way as the patriot and possibly end up damaging me so that went back on ebay

sure i had another fram but cant remeber

out of them all i kept the 456 and love riding it after a few years off

20 in 20 years ish, probably forgotten a few

Mid nineties diamond back sorrento
Club Roost Stinger in pastel green with bomber Z1 BAMs, it looked awesome until the head tube snapped off.
The stinger was then replaced by a Curtis SuperX in 2001 which I still have along with an 08 Trek 8500.

4 since 1989 (and still got all 4)

Madison/Ridgeback Rapide road bike
Scott Vail ht
Cotic Soul
Droessiger (German brand) CX bike

MBK Monaco a long while ago as a Kid but thrashed it all over the mountains of Leicestershire as a student – skip somewhere
Orange Evo2 – first proper bike v brakes and 100mm bombers – snapped
Spec S-Works Enduro 04 – awesome bike – snapped at 6 years old – it was too soon
Kinesis Pha5e – fun but harsh ride
06 Heckler – 1x before it was fashionable and coil sprung – skipped as it was trashed after 4 years of abuse
On-One 456 – Replacing the Kinesis still going strong
09 Heckler – Just stripped down and in the store room
2013 Blur Ltc – Just finised

So 8 in 19 years

I think about 7 since I “properly” got into riding. I’m now down to 4 but will be 3 shortly if I can get my bmx sold.

50 plus – I need to list/count them.

Some for one ride, admittedly.

first bike 1992, Kona Hahanna, replaced with Bontrager privateer in ’96, I think i bought a Lemond Tourmalet in 1997 got a deal on a bontrager race in ’98. Then bought a Trek Top Fuel in 2006? and a new one in 2010. Snapped the Lemond in 2008? and got a Lemond Croix de Fer frameset as a warranty replacement.

I still have the two bontragers in the loft, one has rusted through on the seat tube and the other just needs new cables, chain and cassette, I only use the newer Top Fuel and the Croix de fer.

So in total, 5 bikes and 2 frames in 21 years.

23 yrs of messing about on bikes!
Old
21″ Raleigh Purple frame forget its name
AlpineStars mega DX HT
Marin Bear Valley HT
Marin Ti Bike HT
Marin FS
Whyte 46 FS
Present
Airbourne Black Widow HT (Long fast rides)
Singular Hummingbird HT (Bikepacking bike)
Independent Fabrications SS (Look @ me bike)
Canyon Nerve (most used bike at the moment)

20 ish is my guess

35 bikes since my Raleigh Silver Bullet in 1983….

Not really ‘how few’ is it?!

Not many. I had a triggers broom of a BMX – a Raleigh Aero Pro (’84) which came with a 15 yr F+F guarantee. I milked that to death (5 pairs of forks and 3 frames) for 12 years until some wee scrote stole it. Since then there was one more bmx and 6 mtbs (four of which i still have).

12 in as many years I reckon.

I’ve lost count of the amount of bikes I’ve bought over the years, most being either second hand or built up from parts that I’ve bought second hand. If we’re talking brand spanking then 10 in 20 years

Strangely enough, I havent noticed hora post here yet

5 in 20 years

Marin Palisades
Commencal meta 5.5.2
Orange Crush
Trek ex8 (current
Cotic Soul (current)

I’ve had 7 since 1996, still got 2 of them.

MTBs

Kona Hahanna (Gifted to Dad so he can learn to ride)
Trek Marlin SS (Sold)
Orange MS Isle (current)

Road

Raleigh Something or other (Died after 15 years service!)
Edinburgh Bike Coop Revolution (Gifted To Best Mate)
Specialised Roubaix (Sold)

CX
Stevens Vapor Disc (teh awsumz)

MTB’s 5 off :-

Claude Butler thing that i rebuilt before realising it was pretty rubbish
Kona Cindercone ’98. Great bike but too big for me (didn’t know better at the time).
GT Zaskar Race ’01. Great bike but extremely stiff, beat me up a fair bit. Upgraded with nice kit then sold to fund :-
Marin Mount Vision ’04 that i still have. Still a fantastic bike for long days and marathon rides.
Marin Wolf Ridge 6.8 ’09 model. Closest i have to ‘my perfect bike’ and the one i ride the most. Heavy but so much fun 🙂

Road :-
Boardman Sports Hybrid ’10 model. Been great for introducing me to the tarmac world
Mango singlespeed commuter, great fun around town.

Next bike (hopefully this week)
MEKK Potenza 5.0 full carbon road bike 🙂

Started with a Raleigh MTrax (not counting bikes when I was a kid!)
Upgraded frame to a Marin Pine Mountain and forks to Pace RC35s

Had that stolen and didn’t ride for years

Then got a P7
Had that stolen and got a replacement P7
Sold that after a few years and didn’t ride for a while

Had a retro Marin Nail Trail with rigid forks for a bit but it got stripped one night

My wife then got me a GT hardtail to get back out again and I ended up with an 06 Enduro that I’ve just almost got right (but its too heavy really)

Now also have a steel SS and a DMR Rhythm both of which I’ve built up. Only ever bought 2 bikes from new but had 9 in total

Just added up bikes owned since I reached full size/got into cycling as a hobby – 24.

Didn’t think it’d be so many, but most are within the past four years and I did have all my bikes nicked.

You should have done a bit more research before buying them then.

Orange Clockwork
Specialized FSR
On One Inbred
Kona Sutra
Focus Cayo
Ragley mmmBop
Ragley Ti
(all now gone)

Chinese Ti hardtail
(mostly dismantled)

SC Blur XC Carbon
Van Nicholas Amazon
Cube GTC
Salsa El Mariachi
9:Zero:7
(all current)

Over about 20 years (lordy) only 3 MTBs:
Specialized hardrock sport got me started,
Marin wolf ridge followed,
Lapierre zesty is the current one.

I didn’t take cycling up till about 5 years ago and the bug didn’t really bite till two years ago. First bike was a Cube Ltd pro, that got sold for a Cotic Soul and I had my first ride on my new TRc today. My first and only road bike, which gets used a lot is a Boardman Comp, £330 bargain off eBay. So 4 in 5 years.

Cad1 Worn out
Kona caldera. Bent
Maxlite Bent
Maxlite xcpro. Sold on
Prophet. Sold on
Decade virsa. Snapped abit
Voodoo wanga. Languishing in bits needing some tlc
Canondale f29 Pretty much a modern version of my 1st mtb

All since 97

Over 14 years

Kona explosif
Cove hustler
Cotic soul
Singular swift

All good in their own way and its taken me that long to realise that I’m really not that bothered what bike I’m riding as long as it fits and doesn’t break too easily.

3 MTBs
1 road bike

Only been riding seriously for 4 years though.

14 mountain bikes (7 hardtails, 7 full sus), 2 road bikes. Still have 5 bikes out of those lot I’ve kept. The tragic thing is about 8 of those are all from the last 5 years.

Quite often buy just a frame though, 9 of those mountain bikes were bought as frames. My gearing and finishing kit lasts a lot longer.

Proper, actual bikes rather than BSOs? 4 and a half.
Started it all off with a Cube LTD Race, 100mm. Great thing, and having a decent bike just as I was getting back into it was the difference between me sticking with it and me jacking it in.

After that came a rather large step forward: Pronghorn XC-SW Carbon. Ridiculously light, ridiculously expensive, and (to my eyes only, it would appear) a thing of handsome majesty. It rides fairly well too.

That was swiftly followed by my first road bike: Look 566. Nice and light, nice and fast, nice.

Then I had a hankering for something a bit beefier than the carbon Prongy, so I went for an alu one: Pronghorn PR6 Trail. Fox Float 36s, Kashima, FIT, all that jazz. No idea how, cos i didn’t spend any real money on bling weight-weenie stuff, but it weighs in at 28lbs. As a result I’ve not ridden the carbon one since. A proper do-everything-I-can-imagine-doing-on-a-bike bike.

Now have a PR6 Trail frame as well, just as a back-up in case the other one fails. Pronghorn don’t make them any more, see, and it’s the best bike I’ve had the pleasure of riding and don’t want to swap for another.

Thinking back my best ever bike must be the Diamond Back Ascent EX

2 new frames. New bars, shifters, 5 sets of wheels, 3 forks, umpteen gear sets and chains, not to mention saddles. Cantis, V brakes, disks on the front.

They dont make bikes like that anymore 🙂

not so ‘quite few’

I thought i’d better write it down before I forgot 😉

Since about 1992-ish I think 15 bikes, the majority in the last 10 years, but half of them are still with me… Is that a lot?

1992-Now (21 years) a grand total of 7.
Raleigh something or other (Stolen)
Al Carter Sacremento
Orange C16r
Orange Sub5
Niner EMD (stolen)
Orange ST4 (busted)
Sanderson Breath

I’ve ony had 5 this year . . . I think I’m cured! 😛

I was doing really well from 1992 until until about 2009, I’d had two proper bikes that I bought myself, a Breezer (nicked) and a Marin (still going). Since then I’ve gone a bit nuts though, I think I’m on about seven or eight now… 😀

Since 1990, 8 MTB & 2 road

Down to only one Mtb now – from three this time last year.
But .. Up to three road bikes now … soon to be four.

too many keep finding pictures of bikes i’ve had and cant remember on photobucket