Bike For Life, Fact or Fiction?

[Ray Young]

In today's MTB market do you think it is possible to buy "a bike for life". Many years ago I bought a semi custom Dave Yates Team Diablo thinking "this is my bike for life". I specced a 1 1/8" headset even though they had only just started to come on the market and felt I was taking a gamble, what if they didn't catch on. Similarly, suspension forks hadn't been out long. I had a pair of Manitou elastomer forks fitted but the frame angles were not adjusted in any way, good job the forks only had 60mm of travel.
Today we see tapered head sets, different wheel sizes and even different axle sizes. So, is a bike for life possible for mtb'ers?

[Cheeky Monkey]

Bloody hell that's a lot of fluff in that there navel

[slugwash]

I also bought a D Y Diablo (rebadged as a Condor Diablo) back in 1991 (1' headset). I've used it for, despatch riding, various bike rides around the globe, commuting and most of my off road riding in the 1990s. I even used it for a lightweight tour around Brittany last year. I might even ride into work on it tomorrow (as I have many times this year) if I don't get around to getting my road bike out of the attic. So, bike for life? Yes.


Aha, an excuse to flick through the Diablo photo album...

[Bearbonesnorm]

For me 'owning a bike for life' is possible but I don't think there's any way it could be a sole bike. I've still got my very first mountain bike (853 Rock Lobster) but I've lost track of the number of bikes I've built, bought and sold while retaining that one. Over the years a little divide has developed between the bikes I ride for 'work' and those I ride for pleasure, so that also tends to mean more than 1 bike*.

*More than one can be anything from 5 to 18

[Brothersmith]

I think I tend to agree with Stu on this one. I think its possible to have a bike for life, so long as its not your sole one. I think Ray's point is a good one about technology moving on, but the main reason it does is because people (me) like new shinny things and especially new shinny bikes.

Before my son was born I had one last splurge on an MB for life* and sold my Maverick ML8 and ageing HT and bought a Cotic Soda. It was/is brilliant and a bike I thought I would never out grow. My 40th came my son was a bit older and my cross bike died, so I bought a Fargo, discovered bikepacking and the wonder of 29" wheels. My Soda, the bike for life*, doesnt get used very much. I am now thinking of selling it (and the Fargo) and getting a Jones as my bike for life*

The point? Well I could make the Soda work, but part of the enjoyment (at least for me) is the gear geeky nature of it. There comes a point when you have upgraded the worn out parts and the only thing left to change is the frame, then your on the slippery slope to new bike :D

For me you cant have a bike for life; unless of course you mean life*


*By life I dont mean life, i just mean a considerable period of time (or until the wife lets me buy a new one)

[Kumquat]

So
what you're saying is yes Trystan, I think you really should buy the Surly ECR.
It will easily last you a lifetime.....

Hmm. Am sure that I would still have one or two of the bikes I used to own 20 years ago
if they hadn't been liberated by scum sucking weasels.
Then again I broke my last "keeper"
Life is the thing that happens to you whilst you are busy making plans.
Or something.

[evilgoat]

Hmm. I bought a Robin Mather custom 853 mtb frame in 2004. it's still my top mountain bike. things have changed a bit since i got it. Fitted longer adjustable travel (designed around 100mm) forks and wider bars.

it's still a bloody brilliant ride and very comfortable.

in the bottom right from wrt in 2010: http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/image ... istory.pdf

But it's not my only mtb. I still have the 1997 klein attitude it replaced and a genesis io single speed. Plus a road bike and another road bike in the pipeline.

and i'm trying hard to ignore 29ers because they look interesting but a little afraid of getting something that will replace the Mather. As I don't feel i've done everything i want to with it. It does need a respray now though.

[jameso]

I'll come back to a post like this in 15 years and see if I was right .. My steel Jones is a bike for life. I may need to stockpile 135mm front hubs at some point but that's it. It does many things very well, I love riding it and it's bombproof. It's unique enough to kill off 95% of new-bike needs, thankfully.
Good to see a few rigid steel bikes up there doing the same kind of thing. Slugwash, hat off to you, that bike's done some miles! Still looks good too.

[FLV]

back in 2006 or something like that I bought a bike for life. I'd always wanted a ti hardtail so eventually I got one, a lovely litespeed OBED. For a while it was my only bike, but most of the time I had one or more others, usually a full suspension but not always.

I rode it all over the place and loved it.


Last year a friend of mine lent me a 29er frame and wheelset. I was hooked, they made so much sense for me. In building the 29er my trusty litespeed got taken apart, abandonned to the loft and eventually...sold

I knew I had to give it back to him eventually, so the hunt was on. A new 'bike for life' was needed. slidy dropouts / adjustable chain tension, 44mm head tube, 29er wheels, sus forks or rigid compatible. Ti, cos I love the stuff.

Enter the all new bike for life....


until the next one...

[Ray Young]

Slugwash, thanks for the Diablo pics, brought back many happy memories of the one I owned, my favourite all time bike to date. It was my sole bike for many years and was used for everything, commuting, xc riding, racing and touring both on and off road. I would still have it if illness had not stopped me riding for many years, it was very hard to part with.