One bike!? What is it?

[Ren Rawbor]

Don't worry I know I'm on the downward slope now after carefree abuse of the knees and shoulders et al in the first half... If I'm still able to swing a leg over a mountain bike and go for a ride at 75 years young I'll be happy no matter how high and close the bars need to be

 

[hamster]

All my bikes tned to end up with shallow drops and 1.5" / 40mm ish tyres, plus mudguards. Chunky, tough go-anywhere sort of things with touring load capability are what appeals.

At present that's probably a Dawes Edge 653 with dirt drops. That said, I probably ride a rigid singlespeed the most.

 

[Titiritero]

I think putting ourselves in the position of having "only one bike" is always positive, even if we never get there. Helps to prioritise what is important, what we would take in case of an urgent move, what we would sell last in case of financial need...

A couple of years ago I went through this as I realised my favourite bike was not ridden out of fear of wearing it out or being stolen. But then I thought how ridiculous would be if my children would inherit a barely used bike that was supposed to be "my favourite". So now it's my "do it all" commuter, and I get to ride it daily. Nice!

Best way to realise if we have duplicates is to ask a third party. They will usually say "why do you have so many "xxx"? (MTB, road, folding, whatever is your obsession). Many of us think we need all our bikes but in reality they are just slight variations of the same thing.

A normal weekday in the train station

 

[kingoffootball]

Interestingly (or not!) I feel I am going in slightly the opposite direction at the moment. Not buying more bikes (definitely, definitely not) but selling the bike that in recent years has been the best all rounder. I think the idea is that I will be more motivated to finishes some of the many other builds to fill different requirements better, rather than ending up using one bike for most my riding.

[edit] Either that, or the fact I'm willing to sell it just shows it is not actually my ideal single bike despite me using it that way.

 

[Ippikin]

So difficult deciding which ones to part with as they all ride differently and are all part of me, especially the ones owned for years. So easy to put back into use and they don't incur costs whilst inactive. At the end of the day having a 'few' bikes is no biggie and definitely not in the same league as owning multiple cars / motorbikes.

 

[sunympholepsy]

2013 Roughstuff with a Rohloff and disc brakes (don’t shoot!), and a future-proof head tube.
(Not my only bike, but it would most likely be if I had to choose)

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Cotic Soul on 26” wheels.

Name checks out

 

[dirttorpedo]

If I had to go to one bike I think it would be something like a Rivendell Atlantis or a Surly Straggler. Now if it was something I already had in my collection it would probably be my Elephant NFE or maybe my Miyata 1000.

 

[CassidyAce]

I've reached the stage where I don't want to buy any more bikes and I just want to enjoy what I've got. After moving some on, I expect to be left with five: one road bike, one gravel bike, one hybrid bike and two retro 26ers (+ a frame or three in reserve). That will be roughly one bike per purpose. If I had to have just one bike, it would probably be my 1996 Marin Stinson. It's the bike I've had the longest, it's comfortable, it's fast enough, it's got a lot of sentimental value (but it's had least spent on it), and it's versatile: 700 x 50c tyres and it's a retro 29er, skinny tyres and it's a flat bar road bike, somewhere in the middle and it's a gravel bike.

 

[Caj Remtiw]