One bike?

[Bearbonesnorm]

I realise this sounds like sacrilege and if you think you might be offended, please feel free to go and look at something else.

Those of you with only one bike ...

A / What is it?

B / Does it manage to satisfy the roles you ask of it?

C / If you could, would you have more bikes?

Ta.

[Fat tyre kicker]

Go on then,I'll start....

A - Salsa Mukluk mk1 running 26x4 or 26 plus extra terrestrials

B - Yes....in the main, however it's a medium frame and a little small for me to ride all day,
As a fattie it's fine in singletrack/beach/fun mode though

C. - Yes....hopefully secured a new 2016 vagabond purple frame in large ( whilst Swmbo was in
Majorca last week ) so can't spend owt else at the mo.....

[ctznsmith]

Ignore me, I thought this was hypothetical.

[slarge]

I used to have only 1 bike, then found it was compromised at most things (slow on road, heavy for racing, a bit crap off road) it was a 1998 steel frame Dawes hardtail. Then bought another bike of a different sort, then it slowly went out of control.

[Bearbonesnorm]

hen it slowly went out of control.

That's kind of where I am Steve. Either I've had some sort of epiphany or maybe a second mid-life crisis which rather than making me want to buy a sports car and breaking out the Grecian 2000, is making me think about selling everything

[Wulfrunian]

A / Cove Stiffee of 2006 vintage. (Ignoring an unused road bike and assorted old bike remnants.

B / Not now that I'm more interested in long days out exploring and less interested in hooning about down the park.

C / Nope. Currently building up a Stanton Sherpa as a rigid 29er. Options for 650b+ and front squish make it versatile. Shouldn't need owt else for my needs. Stiffee shall be ceremoniously dismantled once the Sherpa's done. That's today's plan at least.

[ianfitz]

I'm not on this cohort but I thought that if I lived somewhere like you do and didn't like road riding it may be possible.

It would the rigid 29er that I have now. It does most things pretty well TBH.

1x11, 35mm rims, jones bars, son hub

[Mariner]

A Stooge - its always the answer.
B Question does not arise only have one bike so just use it. It does however have several configurations I can run it in depending on requirements.
C Yes.

[ctznsmith]

hen it slowly went out of control.

That's kind of where I am Steve. Either I've had some sort of epiphany or maybe a second mid-life crisis which rather than making me want to buy a sports car and breaking out the Grecian 2000, is making me think about selling everything

I used to have 5 bikes. I now have 2 and realistically I could survive with one.

A: Lee Cooper custom steel 29er frame. It's a fargo a-like tweaked for my body shape.

B: Yes, with an mtb wheelset and a road 'touring' wheelset it would cover all the riding I generally do.

C: Yes, I do also have a practical single speed for commuting, the pub and running errands. If one bike breaks or is stolen at least I have the other to get around. I do also contemplate a light geared gravel/road bike but I don't have space or really the need if I'm truly honest.

[Lawmanmx]

got a fat and a plus, Love um both equally but IF i had to have one ............

[SixPotBelly]

Subscribed. Have 3 bikes but have been having n-2 thoughts...

[techno]

A / Custom build around 2016 Genesis longitude frameset.

B / Yes, gets me everywhere I point it, is great fun and comfortable to ride.

C / In an ideal world I'd maybe have a full suss of some flavour & a single speed XC bike and a nicer commuter and a tandem to take the kids out and.....

[TheBrownDog]

Have 3 bikes but have been having n-2 thoughts...

Snap. Ive sold or split five bikes in the past 2 years, leaving me with three, two of which are for the chop, which will leave me with

A / What is it? OnOne Fatty with two wheelsets

B / Does it manage to satisfy the roles you ask of it? Mostly, but its not up to any sort of lumpy downhilling

C / If you could, would you have more bikes? I'd like to keep, and to have kept, everything but space and a need to simplify various aspects of life have meant I've been shedding bikes and parts and stuff Ive accumulated in the past 16 years. When it's all done and Im left with just my Fatty and an empty garage, I'd like a full suss 29er with some really swish wheels for long day rides. I feel a Santa Cruz Tallboy coming on.

[Alpinum]

I realise this sounds like sacrilege and if you think you might be offended, please feel free to go and look at something else.

Those of you with only one bike ...

A / What is it?

B / Does it manage to satisfy the roles you ask of it?

C / If you could, would you have more bikes?

Ta.

Well was... 'long time ago'
A: DH race bike.
B: Yes
C: Back then, no. I was happy as could be.

Not too long ago I had two bikes. Short travel suss and fat. As I don't ride fat on dirt the summer season was spent on one.
A: short travel full suspension
B: no
C: Yes


Back when all went downhill I wasn't interested in other types of biking. Makes the one bike thing dead easy. As soon as I fancied everything from fatbiking to ultradistance to everyday use to downhill etc... it got a bit tougher...
I'll not go into the details why.

Ask yourself what riding you like most, where you're riding might take you in the next few years. Then you get the answer for the bike automatically. Basically you can also just get any one bike and shape you're riding around it and be stubborn.
Also, if your desire to own only one bike is bigger than to have a bike each for various types of riding you're set already.

There are surely more ways to get there.

If you really want just one bike you'd not be asking those questions. Once you know precicely what you want, it'll be simple and easy

[Alpinum]

Do you have a car?

[Dan_K]

I've got 5 with 2 currently up for sale (boardman cx and radon full suss).
Will leave me with a high end road bike, stooge and arkose alfine.
For the type of riding I do, I'd be happy to just have either the stooge or arkose as my only bike. If I was forced to just keep one, it'll be the Arkose.
Nano tyres are fast enough for a road ride, alfine hub is super practical and it can handle the gentle off road stuff I do and tour.

[ootini]

A / What is it?

B / Does it manage to satisfy the roles you ask of it?

C / If you could, would you have more bikes?

Ta.

A. KTM ULTRAFIRE 27.5 hardtail - 2015

B. Not really. It's great off road, and is my "bikepacking" bike. However I've got friends on road bikes that I'd like to ride out eyth now and again. I've got two options: buy a second bike more suited to roads. Or, buy a second set of wheels dedicated to road use and swap the cheap suspension fork for a lighter carbon fork.

C. Yes. I'm toying getting a gravel bike, Sonder Camino or similar.

[mountainbaker]

I'm building a bigger shed at the moment. Bye.

[Charliecres]

One bike? Madness

[Wulfrunian]

Do you have a car?

You mean a car for traveling long distance, a car for going on roads, a car for going off road, a car for nipping down the shops and a car for winter use?

I gave up on multi-bike ownership a good few years ago. Found I spent more time piddling about with the bikes than out riding them. And, realistically, for the type of riding I do, one bike is enough. I maybe faster on roads on a road bike, or faster down hills on a boing-boing bike but I don't mind. Just enjoy getting outside and enjoying myself. Think my mid-life crisis was just a backlash against a pointless, life-long accumulation of stuff. Same thing's happened to my guitar collection. Down to one in theory (3 in practice, but only 'cos I'm too lazy to get rid).

[jameso]

The mythical one bike ..

My life's bike-related daydreams (and work to some extent) would be complete if there was such a thing, for me. Depends on what riding you do. I'd find it impossible to own one bike that was truly great for all my riding as I like fun off-road as much as I like long road rides. I have got it down to three bikes though - geared MTB, SS MTB that gets 90% of the local off-road use, and a fat-tyre drop bar road-ish bike. I could be quite happy with two of them, the geared MTB could be run SS in winter. One bike, maybe, but it just couldn't cover all my riding in the way I'd like a bike to suit the ride.

[rudedog]

1. Transition Bandit

2. Yes - used mainly for frequent Pentlands rides, bikepacking and occasional trail centre

3. I'm planing to get a new full suss and use the parts from the bandit to build up my old ragley mmmbop

[ScotRoutes]

Currently 6 but I could reduce that to 4 with no major issues. That would still give me a decent bike for the various types of riding I do without too many compromises. There is, however, a point when resale values mean it's not worth selling.

[ootini]

With this thread in mind, is there such a thing as a "jack of all trades" "one bike to rule them all"?

I'm thinking given my requirements, mostly off road, but the ability to keep up with "slow" road bikes when needed, something like a Salsa Fargo would be perfect. I can run big chunky tyres for off-road work and swap out on to a fast second wheel set when required. I know other bikes can do this too, Arkoses, Caminos etc, but the Fargo can take 29+ as far as I'm aware, making it one of the few "adventure" bikes that can, along with the CutThroat, but isn't that just a better, more expensive Fargo at the end of the day? Would the Genesis Vagabond fall in to this category? The Marin Four Corners Elite?

I could be talking a load of sh!te.

[psling]

I have several bikes, they all get used. The thing is though, not one of them is less than 5 years old and most of them are at least 10 years old.
I do wonder though that if in this day and age of bikes being categorised into so many genres **road race, road winter, road general, gravel, adventure, touring, light touring, hybrid, xc mtb, enduro mtb, light enduro mtb, downhill mtb, bikepacking, plus, fat, and so the list goes on** some people are fooled into believing they really do need a different bike for each type of riding.

Anyway. Just one bike? Silly boy...
Midlife crisis? Go the whole hog and get yerself a microlight or something....