One bike?

Talk about anything.

Moderators: Bearbonesnorm, Taylor, Chew

User avatar
Bearbonesnorm
Posts: 23905
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:53 pm
Location: my own little world

Re: One bike?

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

Midlife crisis? Go the whole hog and get yerself a microlight or something....
I'm a little disappointed no one's advised getting a mistress :wink:
May the bridges you burn light your way
jameso
Posts: 5036
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 1:48 pm

Re: One bike?

Post by jameso »

ootini wrote: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.
Not a L.O.S : ) the flare-drop 29er is like a city hybrid - potentially a really good all rounder compromise, potentiually a hopless bag of neither one nor another. Even when done well it is compromised - relatively slow or at least less 'responsive' on tarmac and imo it'll never truly handle like a good MTB when things get tricky/fun. But it will do most things well and scores on being wide-ranging, so gets my vote and a bar swap can answer a lot of any off-road handling challenges. My 2-bike answer to all this simply sits each bike slightly to either side of a drop-bar 29er MTB.
User avatar
NorwayCalling
Posts: 457
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 5:50 pm
Location: Stavanger, Norway / Cardiff, UK

Re: One bike?

Post by NorwayCalling »

I only have one bike in Norway and it does everything from the daily commuting with rack and guards, going on "b-roads" up the fjords, keeps up on social rides, gravel riding, bike packing and lugging a weeks shopping home from Rema 1000...

So what is this mythical do it all bike... a 2007 Gary Fisher Wingra that I found in a skip.

"Skippy" as it is affectionately known runs a 3x8 atlus group-set and 700 x 35 wheels - just a cheep (well, in my case free) hybrid bike.

There is a lot to be said about "the best bike for your chosen activity, is the bike you already have". The places and activities that Skippy has been used on could happily be filled with 5 or even 6 "proper bikes" if I had a quiver of them. I did at one time, have 3 bikes over here but not now.

With one bike comes liberation, no "oh maybe I should use this bike for x-activity or this bike for y-activity".... Just pick bike up, adapt it (adding luggage etc) get on and ride.
Image
Fat tyre kicker
Posts: 982
Joined: Sun Jan 04, 2015 8:39 pm
Location: Cheshire

Re: One bike?

Post by Fat tyre kicker »

I'm a little disappointed no one's advised getting a mistress :wink:[/quote]

No there's a mid life crisis and utter desperation.....One woman is enough for any man :grin:
AlasdairMc
Posts: 1267
Joined: Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:46 pm
Location: Edinburgh
Contact:

Re: One bike?

Post by AlasdairMc »

I'm on 5 at the moment, but I really only ride one.

My 'one bike' is a Jones Spaceframe Ti, and it gets used for everything. I commute on it, as I figure Rohloff running costs are almost zero, and it gets used for all my mountain biking despite also having a Ti Stooge.

I could ride it on the road, in fact I did 50 mainly road miles on it last week on an errand, but I still like having the Warbird for longer rides.

I could lose the road bike, and my dad uses it more than I do (and it lives with him now), and the Brompton just takes up space except for the rare occasions where I use it to collect the car from somewhere.

So to summarise, I could drop 5 to 2 without much hardship
User avatar
whitestone
Posts: 7847
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 10:20 am
Location: Skipton(ish)
Contact:

Re: One bike?

Post by whitestone »

I think I'd struggle with one as anything more suited to off-road wouldn't cope with road and vice versa.

The Cotic Solaris is probably closest and is certainly my (almost) do-it-all off-road bike with just the fat bike filling in the gaps. I use the Croix de Fer as my commuting and winter road bike so that would cover the road side of things but I wouldn't expect to keep up on the chain gang with it.
Better weight than wisdom, a traveller cannot carry
jameso
Posts: 5036
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 1:48 pm

Re: One bike?

Post by jameso »

My 'one bike' is a Jones Spaceframe Ti
"If I could only have one bike.." - that'd be it. No second thoughts, but I would miss my drop-bar bike.
AlasdairMc
Posts: 1267
Joined: Wed Apr 03, 2013 8:46 pm
Location: Edinburgh
Contact:

Re: One bike?

Post by AlasdairMc »

jameso wrote: "If I could only have one bike.." - that'd be it. No second thoughts, but I would miss my drop-bar bike.
I got it second hand for a good price, it’d be well out of my league if I’d gone for it new. Definitely a bike for life.
User avatar
jay91
Posts: 1056
Joined: Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:30 pm
Location: Staffordshire
Contact:

Re: One bike?

Post by jay91 »

2 bikes at the moment

MTB used nearly all of the time

CX bike very rarely used a least it was cheap...
Trying to ride bikes.
User avatar
BigdummySteve
Posts: 2974
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2016 9:16 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow

Re: One bike?

Post by BigdummySteve »

A- My ECR, currently sat outside the tent in the pissing rain. I sold my Bigdummy to buy it. Initially it ran a surly nice rack and small panniers, brooks saddle, heavy basic crank and just about everything else you could bolt on to make it heavier including a hilleburg nallo2 on the back! God knows what it weighed on those early trips, considerably more than the 62lb I clocked at the WRT.

Currently it equipped with a new carbon fork, race face next cranks, answer 20/20 carbon bar and a lot less poor show. Went out the door tonight at a not too shabby 44lb with a rohloff out back.

B- for bike packing it's great, I'm still tweaking it but it's already far more capable than I am. There is still a little of the road tourer in me and obviously 3" tyres are not ideal for road sections and the rohloff is just too expensive to have a second set of wheels, also while I like the low bottom bracket it does rule out smaller rubber

C- damm right I would! Would like a titanium jones plus, bigfatdummy- just because and a nice light frame which could run 27.5+ and 29" rubber as Swiss Army knife bike packer/road capable bike ...and .....and

But I'd be divorced, which apparently is rather expensive
We’re all individuals, except me.

I woke up this morning but I’m still in the dark
User avatar
BigdummySteve
Posts: 2974
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2016 9:16 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow

Re: One bike?

Post by BigdummySteve »

Bearbonesnorm wrote:
Midlife crisis? Go the whole hog and get yerself a microlight or something....
I'm a little disappointed no one's advised getting a mistress :wink:
I'm not sure I can afford a wife :o

That said I've just got a new job with a 20% pay increase :-bd
We’re all individuals, except me.

I woke up this morning but I’m still in the dark
HaYWiRe
Posts: 617
Joined: Mon Jun 15, 2015 1:47 pm
Location: Neath, South Wales

Re: One bike?

Post by HaYWiRe »

Id really struggle to have just one, my 2 main bikes are such solar opposites im glad of the contrast. I could never get the use of a full fleet though. Would be so wasteful.

I have a true road bike, and a full suspension trail bike, both such fun hobbies and very different, one could never do both. Either fast road mountain passes and tarmac straights or trail center days with flowing trails and full 'endurbro!

But i have just bought a third bike dispite being against it, a folding bike! Cheap and basic, no attachment and for shops, commuting, work, town....lifestyle choices really, almost a car replacement (i can't drive)

2 for a hobby and 1 for life, i could lose the folder if i needed but love by 2 fun bikes!

As for bikepacking? Well any bike will do right? Thats the point IMO. Either multiday mountain biking or ultralight road touring. All the same kit just a different bike for different terrain


Bikepacking on a folding shopper? Now that could be a new niche!!
User avatar
SixPotBelly
Posts: 113
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2016 9:30 pm
Location: Herts

Re: One bike?

Post by SixPotBelly »

HaYWiRe wrote:
Bikepacking on a folding shopper? Now that could be a new niche!!
Image

Doesn't fold, but..


(pic shamelessly stolen from a facebook group)
notinabox
Posts: 210
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 8:17 pm
Location: Nottingham/Derby border shhhh :)

Re: One bike?

Post by notinabox »

A I don't strictly have one bike BUT pretty much only use one that I want to. And despite treating myself to something nice It doesn't get ridden. Not the bikes fault. The used one? A fortitude geared.

B. Yes it does satisfy. Used for bivi stuff and always gets me thru.

C. What was C......? Only one bike? Not ridden one yet but wanting a Ti Camino Force G set. Or Di2.
Anyone's one bike a T130C RS? Mines for sale :-bd
The noise goes quiet when I'm on my bike :)
User avatar
psling
Posts: 1606
Joined: Sat Feb 08, 2014 11:36 am
Location: Forest of Dean

Re: One bike?

Post by psling »

notinabox wrote:A I don't strictly have one bike BUT pretty much only use one that I want to. And despite treating myself to something nice It doesn't get ridden...
Doesn't this pretty much sum up Stu's original musings in this thread?
We go out into the hills to lose ourselves, not to get lost. You are only lost if you need to be somewhere else and if you really need to be somewhere else then you're probably in the wrong place to begin with.
User avatar
gairym
Posts: 3137
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 11:05 am
Location: Chamonix, France (but a Yorkshire lad).

Re: One bike?

Post by gairym »

No way I could have only one bike and still do all the riding that I do.

3 would be the minimum without (much) compromise (road, fat and bouncy for long fast alpine road rides, deep winter snow and über tech alpine downhill fun).

But.....none of those three would be my first choice for long distance bikepacking and so let's add a drop bar'd gravel bike and a nice steel HT 29er shall we?

All of the above are too valuable (either financially or sentimentally) to leave locked up unattended and so a SS pub bike is obviously required.

The above is my genuine argument to Mrs Boss as to why I need six bikes.

In reality I currently have 10 bikes (ok, and two frames/forks).

My name is Gairy and I'm a bikeaholic.
Last edited by gairym on Sat Jul 22, 2017 8:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
ootini
Posts: 1802
Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2015 5:45 pm

Re: One bike?

Post by ootini »

gairym wrote:No way I could have only one bike and still do all the riding that I do.

3 would be the minimum without (much) compromise (road, fat and bouncy for long fast alpine road rides, deep winter snow and über tech alpine downhill fun).

But.....none of those three would be my first choice for long distance bikepacking and so let's add a drop bar'd gravel bike and a nice steel HT 29er shall we?

All of the above are too valuable (either financially or sentimentally) to leave locked up unattended and so a pub bike is obviously required.

The above is my genuine argument to Mrs Boss as to why I need six bikes.

In reality I currently have 10 bikes (ok, and two frames/forks).

My name is Gairy and I'm a bikeaholic.
*claps*
jameso
Posts: 5036
Joined: Tue Nov 06, 2012 1:48 pm

Re: One bike?

Post by jameso »

'Nods toward Gairy' "well done Gairy, welcome..' : )
Bikepacking on a folding shopper? Now that could be a new niche!!
Done :-bd
Image

After this impromptu overnighter bonus ride I (again) wanted a 20x2.3" Brompton-alike for getting rides in when travelling for work. Asked Ben at Kinetics about costs. ...'Gairy nods in understanding'
User avatar
benp1
Posts: 4051
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2013 7:36 pm
Location: South Downs

Re: One bike?

Post by benp1 »

4 bikes. It was 5 but the bike in shed has gone missing... think it's been nicked?

Anyway, my four are
- Arkose, used for commuting on the road and light tracks
- Solaris hardtail, used for bikepacking and big rides
- el Mariachi, Riis and singlespeed, used for local riding and 'walking' with the dogs
- Brompton, used for errands, commutes where I might need public transport and taking the kids about. Also lobbing in the car for just in case

So very little overlap, I could lose one MTB but they're quite different. I'd keep the Solaris if that was happening but all the gloop round here would kill it slowly - the dog bike doesn't get washed, just left to dry. Rigid SS means no cleaning required!

I'd like to get to 3 just to have more room in the garage, there's too much stuff in there!
User avatar
atk
Posts: 851
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:16 pm

Re: One bike?

Post by atk »

I regret owning multiple bikes at the same time, I wasted far too much time tinkering around with them rather than actually riding them and on more than one occasion using a "broken" bike as an excuse to bail on/dns rides.

I'm down to one rigid singlespeed in the loft at my parents and as of today, I have one here in New Zealand too. I am hoping I won't end up with multiple bikes in the same country for a while.
ScotRoutes
Posts: 8144
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:56 am

Re: One bike?

Post by ScotRoutes »

I'm not sure I understand the "tinkering" issue with multiple bikes. Yes, things wear out but it's no more work to maintain several lightly-used bikes over one well-used one.

My fatbike is currently "resting" until the winter and it'll sit there like that until I start using it again. Similarly, my carbon road bike will be hanging on the wall for 4-5 months at a time.
notinabox
Posts: 210
Joined: Fri Oct 11, 2013 8:17 pm
Location: Nottingham/Derby border shhhh :)

Re: One bike?

Post by notinabox »

psling wrote:
notinabox wrote:A I don't strictly have one bike BUT pretty much only use one that I want to. And despite treating myself to something nice It doesn't get ridden...
Doesn't this pretty much sum up Stu's original musings in this thread?
Was there a musing? Have I missed a point? :|
The noise goes quiet when I'm on my bike :)
User avatar
atk
Posts: 851
Joined: Tue Jul 01, 2014 12:16 pm

Re: One bike?

Post by atk »

Tinkering =/= maintaining

I'm talking about pissing round switching wheelsets, bars, gear systems, guards, tyres etc between bikes for the sake of it. Pointless 650b conversions, searching for the perfect ultracompact gear ratio, taking mudguards on/off bikes etc.
User avatar
BigdummySteve
Posts: 2974
Joined: Sun Nov 20, 2016 9:16 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow

Re: One bike?

Post by BigdummySteve »

BE MORE GAIRY
We’re all individuals, except me.

I woke up this morning but I’m still in the dark
User avatar
Bearbonesnorm
Posts: 23905
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:53 pm
Location: my own little world

Re: One bike?

Post by Bearbonesnorm »

BE MORE GAIRY
No, no, no ... that's what got me into this in the first place.
May the bridges you burn light your way
Post Reply