Why 2 bikes?

Evil Laugh

wildmoustache wrote:

4 here:

> Good summer bike
> Good summer bike
> Good summer bike, also used in winter
> Pretty good summer bike, also used in winter

Unusual stable. 4 bikes, each of which could easily be a very respectable best bike

I'm on my way to the same place.

1) My steel , which was supposed to be a pub bike. Ended up being a very personal build full of rare NOS Dura Ace etc. Won't lock that up anywhere. Irreplaceable.

2) Carbon Colnago, currently getting painted in a one off colour and clad in Dura Ace. Will again be too personal and as good as irreplaceable so won't get locked either.

3) After summer a C59 is on the cards.

4) There's 2 Master Olympic/X light colours that I'll buy if I find one in my size.

I can justify bike 1) steel, standard chainset. 2) carbon, compact, maybe carbon wheels but beyond that I'm struggling tbh as like WM I'm just heading for a house full of summer bikes.

Whatever, I'm fully aware my growing stable is a case of want not need but I don't really spend money on much else so i'm ok with it as is the missus. I need a project to keep me occupied. Hopefully before bike 4 or 5 we'll have some kids to do that.

I do wish I was capable of a station/shopper/pub bike. I need to get a bike I can happily lock and leave but I have a problem whereby within 3 months I know I'd have had it custom finished and spent a grand on the components. :?

Evil Laugh

antikythera wrote:

The limiting factor is storage, one bed room is only for bikes, but that's getting crowded!

God I just got a glimpse of the future, was thinking yesterday our bike wall is soon to become room what with all the accompanying crud. The missus just reclaimed the dining table yesterday after a month of me using it as an ebay stock area and workshop.

hopper1

I currently have 5 bikes:
Ti/Ultegra winter hack.
Full Carbon/Force Summer bike.
TT bike.
Alloy back up bike.
F/S MTB.

New Cervelo S2 & P3 frames just arrived, along with Red groupsets, etc...

Oh, yeah... 9 varying wheels to keep the frames off the floor!
Now decided I want a HT MTB, but which... Nobody answered my post on the MTB site, so.... :evil:

jame58rown

A collection I hope to own one day would be:

Race/summer bike - Cannondale CAAD10 105
Winter bike/commuter/tourer - Something like a Ribble or a Dolan with guards etc
Hardtail MTB - A Giant or a scott 8)

Thats only gonna cost about £2500 :roll:

It's nothing compared to some of the collections posted here, but I can't imagine wanting more.......except maybe an italian carbon fibre, a TT.........Why is it so hard to just have 3 bicycles??

thegreatdivide

Wilier Izoard for dry days
Pinarello Sestriere for the wet

I've got nothing to nip down the shops on so bike number 3 is now on the cards...

bakerstreet

I do currently have two bikes, but one is an old MTB that I haven't ridden for years and the other is my recently purchased Giant. Long term plan is to convert the MTB to SS and use that to cycle to gym. I won't be worried about leaving that locked up outside a gym. I only commute on my Giant atm, so I'm happy leaving it in our warehouse at work where its safe,

I clean my bike after every commute and lubricate very 150km (roughly), but even with that I have noticed that the wheels/rims are looking pretty grim. Based on that I can see why people have winter bikes.

I do like using item of kit for everything. I manage it with my scuba diving equipment. I actually find a carbon bike for commuting and pleasure quite appealing as my current commute route is pretty rough and from what I have gathered Carbon gives a smoother ride.

At the same time, I am not sure that I would want to put a £1500+ Carbon bike into commuting duties.

I'm getting married in September and she would go mental if I spent £1500 on a carbon bike !

nochekmate

bakerstreet wrote:

I'm getting married in September and she would go mental if I spent £1500 on a carbon bike !

Better put her straight beforehand then because it will happen!

option_click

wheelygood wrote:

Salt used in gritting is especially bad for carbon fibre...

Seriously? I didn't know that.

Having sold a couple of frames recently, I'm down to 'just' three carbon beauties:

Best: Storck Absolutist 0.9
Commute: Wilier Mortirolo
MTB: Scott Scale 10

owenlars

Enigma
Thorn Audax Mk3
Pearson Doublecross
Pearson Touche
Dawes Galaxy (1995 vintage for snow and crud)

As I'm retiring at the end of March this will have to do me for a long time to come

bakerstreet

nochekmate wrote:

bakerstreet wrote:

I'm getting married in September and she would go mental if I spent £1500 on a carbon bike !

Better put her straight beforehand then because it will happen!

I'm half way there. I showed her the picture of Bianchi Interio 105 (SP??) from the thread the other day and she said 'Oh thats nice'

Thats good enough for me

west green

Seconded - cheaper than gym membership and travelcard - at least that's how I initially justified it to myself. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your stance) - i've now gone way over the price of my travelcard in less than a year - so that didn't quite work out. Thing is I love the cycling and with the different bikes I never have to miss a day, - so if that's the case tthen to me it's worth it. The only thing that stops me buying more is cost and the Mrs,.............."why do you need 3 bikes you can't ride them at the same time?" Get another one on cycle to wrok scheme whilst it's still operating - it's easier to justify then.

MattC59

bakerstreet wrote:

nochekmate wrote:

bakerstreet wrote:

I'm getting married in September and she would go mental if I spent £1500 on a carbon bike !

Better put her straight beforehand then because it will happen!

I'm half way there. I showed her the picture of Bianchi Interio 105 (SP??) from the thread the other day and she said 'Oh thats nice'

Thats good enough for me

Just make sure that any new purchases are a similar colour, she'll never notice

I bought a second pair of wheels last summer, Bontrager Aeolus 5.0 ACC, which are 50mm deep carbon wheels. My 'old' wheels are fairly standard Bontrager, and they're white with black tyres. How do I hide 50mm deep carbon rims from her ? Put white wall tyres on them. As far as she's concerned, my wheels are black and white, and (so far) she's not noticed

daccordimark

When I was young and spent all my waking hours cycling I had two bikes:

One for riding to work
One for racing

Now I hardly ever ride a bike I have:

A nice shiny new Kinesis TK2 for riding to work and weekend rides
My old racing bike (being restored to 80s loveliness) for "special" weekend rides
Enough bits to build up another old racing frame into a bike for "really special" weekend rides.
Another road bike given to me by a colleague that's too big for me.
A mountain bike (well most of one)

Total mileage this year? A pitiful 95 miles all on the TK2. What a waste of bikes. I only need one really.

springtide9

I ride with one bike (well, one per discipline - as I also have an MTB)

I don't commute, but will happily ride my carbon in any weather. It is a budget carbon bike - and I'm sure I'd probably feel different if the bike cost £4k rather than £1.5k

- If it gets dirty... there's something called soap that seems to do a fine job of getting rid of grime.
- if parts wear out - I'll replace them. I'm pretty sure it would still be cheaper than running more than one bike.
- If it gets scratched - who cares... a bike is for riding not ponsing about trying to looking pretty. I always struggle when the bike is box fresh. I really worry about it getting marked - but once it has a few war marks... it always looks much better. When it's box fresh... i I always think... I look like one of those 'all the gear, no idea' Sunday riders.

it's a bike not a piece of jewellery

rake

springtide9 wrote:

it's a bike not a piece of jewellery

im not sure about that.

springtide9

rake wrote:

springtide9 wrote:

it's a bike not a piece of jewellery

im not sure about that.

LOL

I think coming from a MTB background - it makes you immune fro that terrible illness called 'perfect bike syndrome'.
My FS MTB frame cost about 2/3 the cost of my carbon road bike. After just one outing of jolly good fun, there were more stone chips than on my previous HT MTB that I had for 5 years. So the paint isn't as tough.. but I didn't buy the frame for the paint.

Been out on the carbon racer a few times now - on the salty wet roads and it's hardly dirty. I'm pretty sure I can get away with washing it once a year at this rate

It's a bike. Ride it. Ride it hard. Repair it when things wear out.

If you have kids... you have so little time to enjoy yourself. Why spend a pot of cash on a bike that brings such a smile on your face when you ride it, to keep it locked away just in case it gets dirty :?

For me... every second that I have free, I want to make that the most pleasurable experience I can. As they say... you only get one go in life.

rake

it does get frustrating waiting for the nice weather. with little time its nice to ride a good bike but im limited somewhat buy budget and kept my old bike for bad weather rather than get little back selling it, thinking my good bike will last longer. i might have a couple more month wait at this rate. it sits as a work of art in the house at the moment, i still give it an admiring glance and that keeps me going.

paulorg

I've got 2, my good bike for days when there is no moisture on the ground or in the air, then I've got the s*** bike that I use for all the other times when I don't want to get the good bike wet. It's also so old the the chavs won't nick it and I can store it under a tarp in the yard cos I'm not allowed 2 bikes in the house. It also means I've got something I can use to tinker with mechanicall,y safe in the knowledge that If I really bugger it up it's not going to cost the GDP of a small nation to fix.

Mainly though I have 2 because I am a magpie and like shiny bits of kit. N+1 for me as well.

cyclingmev

i've two bikes...a Trek 1200 which is currently all Turbo-ed up for the winter, and also treated myself to a Kona Jake for going out to play in the mud..why? Well, one's a winter / bad weather bike, and the larl Trek i keep for better weather....plus there's a spare bike if owt goes wrong with one of them...not to mention they fill spaces in my house and much prettier than all this furniture you're supposed to have if you're a grown up...Follow the old formula... number of bikes needed = number of current bikes you own + 1

richk

Three for me & like others each has a particular purpose

1. Commuter
2. Road bike
3. TT bike

Money no object I'd probably have a couple more

Lagavulin

I want more. Tempted to get a CX bike. For the offroad work I do I could easily get away with a cyclocross machine. If I could buy one of those and somehow get out of selling the hardtail even better.

Bought my CAAD9 under the pretence that it was my new winter bike when I really had no intention of exposing it to the grime and $h!te the roads are littered with.
Seemed to work up to the point until I retrieved my Allez from storage at my grand parents and a few eyebrows were raised when a set of D-A 7850s arrived. Nothing has been said though - yet.

Wheelie Bin

Why ONLY two bikes? :shock:

lemoncurd

There's only one advantage in only having two bikes, room in the shed for more bikes.