The unicorn bike paradox

[Tootyred]

What stops you owning your dream/ unicorn bike?
What makes a unicorn for you? And why don't you have it?

Is it that you can't quite establish exactly what it is? Or is it the fear that you will get it and find its not exactly what you thought it was and has spectacularly failed to turn you into " no way ray" overnight?

Does a unicorn have to expensive? Or could it be that £295 bike you just could not quite afford from your paper round? Or was it your dads/ aunties/ brothers or just been with you for years and is wrapped up in a sentimental blanket of great feeling fluff.

Are you lucky enough to own it already?

Or is it just the cash?

DISCUSS with pictures. (10 marks).

 

[Tootyred]

I spent a long time messing about with bikes, building the next thing, till i got bored. Then i stopped and rode more!

After a while i got the urge to build again, better, faster, lighter....the ultimate bike for me......but none of them seemed to do it.

Then i realised, the unicorn i was chasing was already in the stable, quietly standing waiting for me whenever i wanted it for the last 32 years. How would anything else ever compare......it dont.

Cheers Mavis

 

[retrobikeguy]

I'm very lucky to have had quite a few of my unicorns a lot of them have been the way I envisage them and not necessarily how I saw them back in the day but the one that has always eluded me from when I used to collect carbon bikes was the kestrel nitro, a ground breaking full suspension carbon mountain bike with v brakes back in 88
Why don't I have? There is only one and they wouldn't sell it to me no matter how much I tried and offered them
I believe also that it would have been a total let down... probably unrideable, but Hey I really wanted it because it's cool, a talking piece.... Hence why I guess they pulled it out of storage and used as a display in future cycle shows from then on

Past my carbon phase now..... But wouldn't say no if it came up

 

[longun]

Ive owned a number of them over the years being here.

The one that stood out to own one day was the san Andrea's, loved them bitd, got to ride paul Smith's a few years ago at the malverns and as ive got older and taller.....glad I didnt splash the cash, way too small,much like the kirk revolution that only came in one size. Still uber cool though, well the original ones were.

Did I mention I liked pace........

 

[novocaine]

Because i know that there is no way id do it justice now and it be honest it will be a let down. Kona stinky deluxe. Sad aren't I?
Screw ypu auto correct. Dee-lux

 

[sinnerman]

Is a Unicorn, something that's longed to be seen, been seen only in print, wondered about, pondered over, if one were to even exist...?

If so this is different for me to owning the ultimate bike, the most expensive bike, Klein, Fat chance etc, the coolest paint job, or the bike to be reported as the best riding bike ever....?

this would be a different bike for me if so...

Can the bike you never managed to be able to buy in the local bike shop window, at £249.00 be defined as a unicorn, when its not a unicorn, just a horse thats a bit far away....(cost etc etc)....? If so, this would be a different bike for me again...?

 

[KermitGKona88]

I am fortunate enough to own my Unicorn frame and forks, although the build is changing at the moment to a more boutique version, the frame is currently in the attic...

https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/proper-unicorn-fuquay-content-finished-at-last.304585/

 

[brocklanders023]

These days it comes down to cost for me, not that I can't afford it but I'm not prepared to sacrifice what I'd need to to own them. Availability also plays a huge part.

My unicorn list would be a mint aqua fade Yo, original GT RTS-1, Wade built Orange Formula, silver/grey 1992 Clockwork and a 92/3 era Dogs Bollox.

Out of all those, the Formula and Clockwork just do not appear so I can't buy what's not for sale.

I've got a Yo but it's the wrong size. It's lovely though so I would be tempted to part with a fair amount for a large.

I had an RTS frame but wanted to build it properly with full M900 and the rest of the goodies. Just couldn't justify the cost.

The Roberts do come up but I seem to miss the reasonably priced ones but there's always hope.

Another issue for me is that I need XL frames if I want to ride them but if I'm spending loads on retro it needs to look ace and XL's rarely do. I have a beautiful orange/white Clockwork, a rare colour Clockwork, a lovely Prestige and a couple of Marin's. Most don't fit me so will never be ridden but also didn't cost a fortune so I can just enjoy owning them without issue. The only one worth a noticeable sum would be the mint orange/white but I keep it as I'll never find another as perfect and even if I sold it I'd need a ton more to buy an average example of my other unicorns.

The main investment I have in cycling is in my modern gear. They might not look as nice but I prefer how they ride over retro and that's the main thing ultimately.

 

[pw_pw_la]

There were those from my youth I always wanted and couldn't have.

Then there are those from my adulthood I now want.

Of those maybe ten bikes, there's three to five that I recently made the decision to actively pursue.

Whatever that means!

Which I guess is just saving the money for them, not buying other, lesser, bikes instead, and then a mix of just patiently waiting with devout scouring the corners of the globe for a sniff at one.

But then sometimes something magical happens and the goalposts shift a little...

I was just lucky enough to recently purchase one of the unicorns from that shortlist. I didn't think I'd get close to having one anytime soon, nor did I have the money readily available for it. But it was through another member on here, and then someone very dear to me helped make the dream a reality.

And here's the thing: it's not technically even THE unicorn. But it's too close to being for me to turn down. So perhaps one day I'll find its replacement; a larger-sized version from an earlier year. And in the meantime, building this one up very slowly is going to be a lot of fun.

And money!

And then I'm sure one of those other 5 will rear it's beautiful head, and my wife will start the process of filing that dreaded paperwork...

 

[Tootyred]

Hummm ,..... mr brocklanders has a very good point, owning something that may have been perfect fit ( physically or psychologically) bitd, night not fit in the reality of the here and now.

But thats part of the unicorn appeal?

Like that person at school you always fancied ......rember them as they were....buying your unicorn could ne as big a mistake as going on friends reunited and then screaming " noooooooo", when their latest photo comes up.

Mr sinnerman is also very correct...one mans unicorn is anothers horse at a distance.