One bike!? What is it?

[doctor-bond]

I’ve got it down to about 6 bikes now, 4 of which are prolly ‘needed’ fast road bike, tourer, bike transport and MTB.

“The one” keeper would be bike transport. Got it dialled how I need it after lots of trial and error.

 

[Ren Rawbor]

I probably do own it already, but I have yet to work it out.

Same here, and if I'm honest it's probably the Giant Escaper but I'm too enamoured with my suspension to admit it.

That bike does pretty much anything I could reasonably *need* of it, but the fact remains I like to have fun and abuse things a little still & while I could do stairsets and drop offs on the Giant it wouldn't be as fun as a bike more geared to coping with that.

One bike is fine if you're doing much the same thing on it, but for me part of the joy of old bikes is being able to do all sorts of different things. For street riding it's the Giant, for towpaths/trails and city jaunts with a little urban freeride thrown in it's the Base SJ26, sometimes the LTS but that's more for heavier freeriding & bike parks. Popping to the shops in style is handled by a little Schwinn-esque cruiser currently & there's other builds in the works too. (and that's another big part of the attraction, building "new" things and seeing what feels good and what doesn't just like BITD. It's a hobby but also a lifestyle IMO)

Ramble over, TL;DR = you only NEED one bike, but do you only WANT one bike?

 

[Tootyred]

Maybe the one bike thinking is a function of my riding becoming more conservative and less varied.....

Got to agree with @Imlach that my bikes are definitely becoming more about comfort than performance.

But as ive never road raced or chucked stuff off cliffs, one bike becomes an easier proposition.

 

[widowmaker]

I like the Marin in the first picture

 

[Imlach]

Maybe the one bike thinking is a function of my riding becoming more conservative and less varied.....

Got to agree with @Imlach that my bikes are definitely becoming more about comfort than performance.

But as ive never road raced or chucked stuff off cliffs, one bike becomes an easier proposition.

Never road raced or chucked stuff off cliffs either. I only own multiple bikes because people on here are a bunch of enablers. And because I like to have different ride experiences, I make a point not to have multiple of the same sort of bikes (to my best ability), I couldn't collect just one type of bicycle. More upright comfy riding is everything for me, definitely, I like seeing nature.

 

[Tsundere]

I'm very fortunate to have my 'one bike', I have others but if I had to make do with just the one then the Roberts Leopard would be it. So comfortable and versatile, currently running it with road tyres, it's been my dry day commuter/cruiser/gravel/general use bike since the day I built it up.



It's got the perfect geometry for me, feels good on or off road, has plenty of braze ons so it could be used for off road touring or bike-packing. I often find myself contemplating (usually in the aftermath of another barney with the missus about all the bikes) getting rid of the rest and just stop buying more, and having the Roberts, knowing it really is all of the other bikes and more rolled into one almost makes the idea feasible.

Then I come on here.

 

[Tootyred]

Yes.....this site is a very very bad influence. One bike never seems enough after a quick lunchtime trawl....

 

[oldave]

I thought only I am old enough, but, no, lots of uprights with swept back 'bars....Not my only bike but would be had I to choose!

 

[Ren Rawbor]

I'm very fortunate to have my 'one bike', I have others but if I had to make do with just the one then the Roberts Leopard would be it. So comfortable and versatile, currently running it with road tyres, it's been my dry day commuter/cruiser/gravel/general use bike since the day I built it up.

View attachment 833661

It's got the perfect geometry for me, feels good on or off road, has plenty of braze ons so it could be used for off road touring or bike-packing. I often find myself contemplating (usually in the aftermath of another barney with the missus about all the bikes) getting rid of the rest and just stop buying more, and having the Roberts, knowing it really is all of the other bikes and more rolled into one almost makes the idea feasible.

Then I come on here.

You need to get the missus on a bike (and get her looking on here!) then she'll get what it's all about, no more barneys about bikes, no more sneaking parts in etc. Worked for me

@oldave not only you is right. I'm only 43 so a mere nipper compared to many but my body's getting very much to the point where backswept/high risers are enticing. I'm managing admirably by going to shorter stems than I used to run but the sweepy risers are on the horizon...

 

[oldave]

@Ren Rawbor "not only you is right. I'm only 43 so a mere nipper compared to many but my body's getting very much to the point where backswept/high risers are enticing."

Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you'll have to adapt gradually to get through the next 32 years!