How often do you change/buy a new bike and why?

Two bikes in 4 years (last one is a year old).

v. cheap hard tail -> v. nice hardtail

I was at a demo day yesterday because I was getting a full-sus itch. That itch has gone away now. I rode the new Nukeproof Mega pro version and the Vitus Sommet VRX. I didn’t like the Guide RS brake levers (the brakes worked well though) or the X1 shifter (nice and clicky, but the up shift only worked one way which caught me out a few times). They both had OKLO droppers which were slower up and down than reverbs, the lever was much harder to push too.

But worse than that, I didn’t feel I was getting much out of the suspension. They were chattery over general trail riding (the tyres were quite firm which could’ve made it worse), about the same as my hard tail over drops and rock gardens (the back end felt very firm) and a few times I could feel the back end working when I made mistakes. I didn’t think the Pike’s on both of them were nicer than the X-Fusion Sweeps on my hard tail.

I preferred the Sommet over the Mega, but didn’t find any of them better than my Bird Zero. It might just be the riding that I do doesn’t need a 160mm full sus, (and they won’t cure my fear of steep rooty bits, or make me fitter).

I will be happily staying on the Zero for a few more years now 🙂

Ndw bike/frame once every 3-4 years. Still have my first mtb bike 10 years later. Forks on my FS are from 2006 although on a 2012 frame. All bikes 26 and as posted before I have a frame i biught in 2912 waiting to be built up with okd/new bits

I don’t tend to just wander into shops and buy whole new bikes, more just 2nd hand frames to try mostly.

Current MTB I’ve had ~4 years I think and it wasn’t new to me. Won’t change until it dies.

Road bike I bought the frame and repaired it almost two years ago now and snagged a bit of a bargain, I won’t be changing it for several years to come.

Last year’s “splash out” was a cheap London Road frame, whole build cost under £300 again, I have no plans to replace it for some time…

So I reckon I am pretty much set for the foreseeable future… But based on the last few years I seem to make a new acquisition every couple of years..

Don’t think I could do one a year, I don’t have the time, funds or spousal understanding…

I average one a year but have had five in just over a year. Of those, two were frames of the same design (steel to Ti Stooge) and two were commuters, so I figure they don’t count.

But I’d still change the full suss for a remedy 29 in a heartbeat, that’s always been the deal there.

I’ll have on for sale very soon. 😉

I covet the Cannondale Slate – maybe one day i will buy it, until then i just day dream.

singlespeedstu – Member

I’ll have on for sale very soon.

If it’s some sort of mediumy-largey (nobody understands Trek sizes) and none of that Boost bollocks and ideally a frame only then I may have just done some terrible negotiating 😆 Otherwise, well, still worth talking

1 in 2013
1 in 2014
2 in 2015

Maybe another one this year

Since I got back in to bikes I have changed my main one in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2014. I tend to change it when the frame still has some value as I don’t have piles of disposable income so sell to buy.

Looking to change again now as I think the value of my frame will drop significantly in the next year or so. I also plan to treat myself to a posh bike in a couple of years when I turn 40. I currently have a long travel 29er and had a 26″ht. I want to try a 650b fs and 29″ ht so I have covered all bases and can make an informed choice of what I want when I buy my super bike!

I have had other bikes in this time but most have been retro and not very expensive.

every 3-4 years it seems

When I was younger, it was swapping a bike every 3-4 months. I had about 3-6 bikes at a time. Swapped before anything would wear out most of the time.

Found a few bikes I absolutely love and sold the ones I don’t use. Now down to 3 and they’ve been around for 1x 3 years, 1x 1 year and 1x 1 month. Can’t see me swapping them anytime soon.

That said, we’re moving into a house soon and it’s not got a garage and space is limited, so I might have to go down to 2.. so possibly upgrade to same bike but current MY for my favorite and keep the roadie.

When – About every six to eight years?
It’s a bit hard to gauge as my two bikes are trigger’s brooms

Why – Because they last a long old time and I can’t afford to be buying summink new every time something catches my eye 🙁

Northwind.
It’s a large none boost full bike.
We’ll be up in Inners for a week in April too. I could deliver it for you 😉

used to be every 2 years then i realised that i needed t get rid of a few.
current frame is a 2009 model i bought last year…stuck the 2014 kit on it of the old bike and sold that frame on. that frame was also a 2009 model which i bought 18 months earlier.
prior to that the last frame i bought was in 2006
i’ve only ever bought 3 complete bikes…2 were in the 90’s and one was 18 months ago.
its my 40th next year and the wife has said i can pull the trigger on a new bike…the current one will stay as a backup bike and will eventually be handed down to my son

it varies depending on if i like the bike. I tend to keep them for a year before passing judgement.

i`ve had bikes for yearss and bikes for less than a year. Just bought a ‘new’ one recently. seems ok we shall see.

Every year, ish.

Usually I’ll have an idea of what I want in my head, then I’m patient enough to wait for it 2nd hand or to come up in a sale.

Just bought a Fatty Trail frame, which I’m hoping that combined with selling the original Fatty (or bits thereof) will mean the cost of upgrading to a Bluto will be <£300 by the time I’ve raided the spares box.

Sometimes I’ll just buy/sell stuff because something nice turns up, that’s how I went from a Swift to an El-Mariachi. If a large SS Inbred 29 with carbon forks were to pop up at a good price (i.e. a fair bit less than the el-mariachi frame is worth) I’d probably buy that, not for a profit, I just like to ride different bikes and not spend too much £££ doing it (and fancy track ends).

I bought a Dawes Galaxy new in 1996 and since then I’ve bought 5 more new bikes. I haven’t really bought any just because I fancied something new; apart from maybe a Trek hybrid to replace the Galaxy which was just starting to feel like it wasn’t the right tool for the job.
I bought an MTB and a road bike to do things the Trek couldn’t, and then a singlespeed to replace the Trek when it got stolen.
Then I bought a new MTB when the old one was 6 or 7 years old and needed new parts that were likely going to cost over half the cost of a new one.

When I have to.

I replaced my 2004 FS with a NOS 2008 frame in 2015 because I thought I had ovalised the headtube (I hadn’t, I had pulled the fork dropout off the carbon lower). Lack of funds meant I had a tight budget but thanks to the hardtail I had a long time to pick up bargains (~1000 euro for an excellent spec XC bike).

My hardtail needs some new cables and the fork could do with a service.

Original thread on the hardtail

I replaced the commuterised pompino when my hip was playing up and on the indirect advice of the consultant, and seeing how the Pomp had paid for itself many times over I did “splash” out on a top of the range PX-LR so I can keep cycling.

I don’t feel I’m good enough or on the bike enough to justify spending a fortune on my hobby.

That and I’m a tightwad.

First mtb I had for 5 years
2nd for 11 years
3rd was a replacement for 2nd , bought 2nd hand and the frame broke. (Repaired after bike 4 purchased)
4th I had for 3 years until it was stolen from my garage
5th I had as an also ran for bikes 3&4 for just 9 months before that got stolen with 3&4

In the last 18 months I have bought 2 new bikes and 1 second hand, sold 1 new bike and will need to replace my FS bike in the next year or two due to a hairline crack on a weld on the rear triangle.

I would still have bikes 3,4&5 if they hadn’t have been stolen.

Generally I get one new per year on average

The most I’ve bought in a single year has been two

Last purchase was June 2015 as I cracked a frame (bought a full build second hand & swapped some parts over from the old one)

Got a DH rig in June 2014 as I fancied one

Can’t see myself buying anything new for the foreseeable future due to the lack of new 26″ wheeled bikes & the constant changing of which wheel size is “the best” by manufacturers

I go through phases, I’ve bought a new one every year for the last 3 but didn’t buy one for 7 years before then and have no plans for 1 this year.

Saying that, I did bid on one on eBay last weekend and only marginally missed it…

Last bike purchase was in 2007. I tend to buy a new bike when the old one is no longer serviceable or maybe if some new development will be a significant improvement over what I currently have. I don’t count altering wheel sizes or 1 x drivetrains as all that significant.

Generally once a year (except twice this year :oops:).

It keeps things fresh and motivates me to get out and use it.
I do have a one in one out policy though.

1 in 1999 – SC Bullet
1 in 2006 – SC Heckler, due to the above one being stolen, sold in 2012
1 in 2009 – Decade Virtue, which I still have.
1 in 2012 – TR Covert, for moar travel, but too small (M)
1 in 2015 – TR Scout, for less travel and better fit (L) This babies a keeper!

The Virtue might get moved on this year as I keep getting offers for it.

stewartc – Member

Maybe every 9-12 months, I get the itch, possibly saddle related?

I think you’re in the wrong thread, you want the “How often do you change/wash your bibs and why?”

Last one, Kona Hei Hei, built up in ’98. Now saving for another next year (probably Soul) once the standards have made their mind up.

I keep them for ages if I like the way they ride. Get rid quick if not. I just sold a 2007 yeti 575 – more due to ill health than anything else. I preferred it over the newer 575 – so flickable and unbeatable on Cumbrian rocks up or down.

I would argue that if a bike is any good it takes years to squeeze the last few drops of speed from a new bike. I was still finding ways to get more out of it.

Next purchase will be a change of direction to a fast hardtail 29er.