if you had to have just one bike?

Done before. i’m sure, but what would you base your decision on, fashion, utility, riding style, sentimentality, financial investment? And which one would it be? i can’t seem to do it.

My LTc, I can live with out road riding and it does most things off road well.

My cx bike. Put road tyres on for road riding, off road tyres for off road – sorted.

Just one bike??
I refuse to pay, it’s a bloody stupid thing to suggest!!!

Geared Steel HT with 5″ fork, it simply covers more “Riding Bases” than anything else would for me…

Boring I know, but just the most practical option…

I would have Mike’s LTc purely to screw with his head. What would you choose then eh?

I have the bike I’d have if I only had one. My 853 Inbred. Because it fits so well, it rides well, it’s infinitely repairable and the most versatile bike I can think of. It has been my main MTB and is currently wearing rigid forks, slicks, mudguards and a rack for touring and commuting. In its time it’s had forks from 100-140 mm on it, rigid forks, gears, Singlespeed, it’s been toured, commuted, raced, and ridden on every type of trail. I’ll never sell it, and I’ll never need to either.

I’d take the missus one 😉

I only have one bike (that’s fully functional ATM) so that one – a Pitch.

Probably my Whippet, but only if I’m allowed to hire a big bouncy bike in the Alps.

It would be a Specialized Camber FSR Expert Carbon.
I’ve only got one bike and that’s what it is.

Only one for me (150mm Ti HT), only one needed – but then I just ride rather than do niche stuff.

It’s tough, but probably Walter, you can see the whole geeky thing if google ‘Walter M-Trax 150’ on Retrobike, sentimentality, sweat and labour, and pure practicality would win the day. Probably never going to happen tho 😉

This one
ScandAl by Notoriously Bad Typist[/url], on Flickr

it’s the bike I ride most anyway

Still love the Commencal Meta I’ve had for 5 years.
Light enough (30lbs) for everything I do. Climbs well, general trail riding is great and no probs at Stiniog last summer. Can Propedal the back and lock out the front so fairly adaptable. DT Swiss (26er!)/Hope wheels, 150mm Maxle Revs, full XT, Thompson/Easton – nothing I want to/need to change TBH…maybe a Reverb would be nice though!

Fatbike, there’s no other bike that comes close to that much fun.

Kona Explosif 650b

Geared (maybe 1x) steel 29er with two sets of forks, rigid for road, easy stuff, and sus forks for proper off road. Solaris, swift or el mar.

I’ve only got one bike and, to be honest, it’s perfect for everything I do – Intense 6.6 🙂

Out of my current bikes I would pick my El-Guapo if it was a new bike then it would be an AM/Enduro bike just not sure which one.

Hmm tricky – if I had to get rid of all other bikes and save one it would be either my old custom hardtail or the Blur LT.

I have just 1 bike. A Commencal AM29.

IT’s brilliant. In simple terms it can do all the best parts of MTBing brilliantly, DH, AM, Enduro, call it what you like. But I can also XC and road on it.

Things like riding on the road only matter when you care about speed more than training. If I train hard for 2 hours on the road, I get the same exercise as someone else who trains hard for 2 hours on a road bike.. but I cover less distance.. so what.. it’s about the training.

However, they can’t take theirs down the black at BPW

Assuming its one I now own it would be my Kaffenback. It’s currently my winter road bike but with a few additions it would be used to tour, do light off road and commute if needed. In many ways it’s the bike I like least but it is the most versatile.

Salsa fargo.

It would be a cx bike. It would live with guards and road tyres on for the winter and I’d give up riding off road in the winter as mud depresses me anyway. In the summer the guards would come off and I’d have a 2nd pair of wheels with big cx tyres on to make the switch a synch.

Still prefer to have a bit more choice though.

CX for me too. It’s been the most ridden of my bikes so far this year.

EDIT: But having only one bike is never going to happen.

Head says

My cx bike. Put road tyres on for road riding, off road tyres for off road – sorted.

Heart says

PeterPoddy – Member

I have the bike I’d have if I only had one. My 853 Inbred. Because it fits so well, it rides well, it’s infinitely repairable and the most versatile bike I can think of. It has been my main MTB and is currently wearing rigid forks, slicks, mudguards and a rack for touring and commuting. In its time it’s had forks from 100-140 mm on it, rigid forks, gears, Singlespeed, it’s been toured, commuted, raced, and ridden on every type of trail. I’ll never sell it, and I’ll never need to either.

Ti frame cross bike with disc brakes and touring tyres.

I ride my cross bike more than my mountain bike. I just love the versatility of that platform.

I’m riding alloy at the moment but would love a ti frame just for the feel. Much better than carbon or steel in my opinion.

A CX bike that will take guards and racks. Like my Arkrose. And two sets of wheels – road and off road.

But why would you only want one bike?

cotic soul 🙂

It would be my least practical bike…A Five.

I’d struggle tbh, riding’s too varied… I guess it’d be something very like the changes I’m making to my Hemlock, big and capable but light. But there’s no way I’d commute on that, and it’d still be a bit non-ideal for uplifts etc. As much as I love my Ragley, I generally enjoy it less for the more full on riding than I do a big full suss- I’ve done uplifts on it but it’s a different sort of uplift really. And I still wouldn’t want to commute on it!

I’m downsizing but I’m not downsizing that far…

650b hardcore hardtail. Can handle pretty much anything from a mountain biking perspective (to a point) and with some slicks on will be fine on the road (also to a point). If it was one of my current stable then probably the Sanderson Life.

Am trying to declutter, am inveterate magpie and budding sentimentalist. Also taken to living for long periods traveling and self-supported, which makes storing bikes a PITA and makes me question my priorities, I suppose sentimentalism wins in this case, as all the other bikes are replaceable and would probably upgrade anyway. This a vain pursuit the bikes always win…

CX really seems to be popular here these days, it seems to make sense. this thread and others making me look covetously at Salsa Fargo now…gaaah

Epic carbon expert – but too expensive

Tough call between HT or FS XC and a trail bike. Trying to make the call for past 12 months!!

Possibly camber evo or anthem 29er

The dinglespeed Hooker 😛 – the only one of my four that can do everything the other three do.

Difficult, because I’m tempted to say my ’88 Explosif (because I’ve had it so long) but actually I think I’d keep one of my Singular Hummingbirds, probably in singlespeed, 69er guise.
Although I’ve been riding (and raving about) my Alpitude for the last month, I took the singlespeed Hummingbird out for an hour yesterday evening and was reminded of how much I like it.

I’ve seriously looked into this a couple of times (see my most recent thread).

If I were to go for it, then a hardtail with two sets of wheels would fit the bill. Things I learnt along the way:

– You may already own that bike (I used to do everything all on one bike back in the day);
– 26er would be fine, as 700c / 29er wheels with slicks are the same circumference;
– Rigid fork would probably stay on the whole time, as to change regularly is a faff.

I didn’t go ahead because I cycle to a busy railway station once a week at least and have to lock my bike up there. I also took a good look at my riding stats for the past year and saw that I do 85% of my miles on the road. So, I kept my Cotic Soul and brought my roadie up-to-date with a Cotic Escapade frame and some new 105 gear.

I’d still consider something like a rigid Surly Karate Monkey or Cotic Solaris as the ultimate do-it-all bike when the Soul needs replacing. But I’d go into it with my eyes wide open to the compromises.

unicycle

Easy for me to choose, sorry but it’s my Roadie. 😀