Change of heart

[ededwards]

This thread is useless without pics, or at least a 'fleet' list.

Here’s the fleet (and it looks really excessive/indulgent when written down)

Mountain Bike
Fat Chance Yo Eddy (will it go or will it stay? If it goes it will be trouble, if it stays it will be double. Or something)
Specialized Stumpjumper Comp (stripped down and earmarked for the door)
IF Deluxe ss
Dekerf SL Team
Orange Vit T
Merlin XLM
Rocky Mountain Altitude

Road Bike
Zullo SLX
EM Corsa Extra
Panasonic PR-6000
Colnago Master
Mercian 753
Gazelle AA frame
Gios Torino Super Record
Dawes Galaxy (unbuilt)

Cyclocross
IF Planet X
Bontrager Cx

Commuter
On One Il Pompino


At the moment it has a vague symmetry (ok, so it is pure coincidence) but I can see that losing two road and two mountain bikes makes sense. But which ones? I have moments of blinding clarity, often at 3.24 a.m., but longer, far longer, periods of cloudy uncertainty. The shortlist to depart at the moment includes:

Mountain – Stumpjumper Comp, Yo (?), XLM (?)

Road – Corsa Extra (have entered into discussions on sale), Master

It would be good to be lean, pared down if you will (ok, as pared down as having 14 or so bikes allows), but will this cathartic bike-letting only mean that it creates space and funds to buy more? And if it does, is that necessarily a bad thing?

My name is Ed. I am Libran.

 

[NeilM]

If I put my serious head on for a moment.

I think the sort of thinning you are contemplating is extremely hard, simply because that is not a random collection of frames and bikes that have accumulated over the years (or perhaps it is), instead there is a reason behind each bike.

None of the mtb's are particularly my thing, with the exception of the DeKerf. But the roadbikes (and I am a novice in this area) are all pretty special, and look a little like my custom / Brit built mtb fleet ( 2 x Yates, 2 X Roberts, a Rourke and a Bigfoot).

If your bikes are anything like mine, then each has a reason for being and remaining in the fleet, and the job is only made a little easier if there are bikes you just don't get on with or which you have not spent too much time on and so will not miss.

I recently contemplated getting rid of a couple of my bikes, to make room for some more modern machinery. The decision of which to get rid of came down in the end to those that I did not ride very much, or had not really ridden since building. In my case the issue sort of resolved itself with one going as a present to my daughter and the other remaining in the fleet as I can live without a modern bike (what you've never had you cannot miss).

So, in short, get rid of the bikes you rarely or never ride, making sure of course that they go to a good appreciative retro friendly home.

Now, about that Colnago of yours...........

EDIT: Should I cool it, or should I blow.

 

[daj]

And you say I have a collection of shit

Just an idea , Pull the lot out of the shed and put them back in shootout school team picking fashion .... the last four don't go back in?

 

[We_are_Stevo]

'Shed Shedwards'

...Brilliant!

 

[mrkawasaki]

I'll foster the Stumpy and the Altitude until you come to your senses...

 

[gdb2b]

How about a compromise? A lend lease from your shed to my garage? Your collection is eclectic and distinctive, and I'd be honored to house some of it for you.

Oh, I'm across the pond...

If the leand lease proposal doesn't work, than I second the bigger shed.

 

[FluffyChicken]

If I'm not mistaken, most people could just climb through your bikes, so just make a tunnel out of them to the other side of the shed. It'll not look so cluttered then.

 

[Johnsqual]

I think you need at least a couple of track bikes to round out your collection.
And maybe more cyclocross

 

[mrkawasaki]

You definitely need a tad more leftfield (an e-stay and a classic British clunker spring to mind) to illustrate the quirkier elements of your character - it's all a bit Daily Mail at the minute... ;-)

 

[kaiser]

I forgot you wrote out this same list at the 3 peaks! Anyway, I can appreciate loosing the Stumpy but not a Yo! Out of the mtb's which is the poorest fitting?