Forget how many you want or how many you own. From a purely logical and reasonable standpoint, given how much you ride and how many different types of riding you do - how many do you think you should own?
I say three. One for on-road use that's practical for picking up groceries and getting places, one for off road use - getting to more remote places, enjoying the outdoors in general etc, and one for exactly the type of riding you like best - whatever that is - and this third one would be the less compromise, all-you-can-afford 'dream bike'.
In reality, I have four and would like to be at six. Here are three of them, the fourth lives in the parkade (bar bike).
The correct answer is n+1; there is no such thing as a practical limit to the number of bikes you should have, it's simply a limit of your current situation. Just because you don't have the money or room for another bike doesn't mean you don't need another one!
Let's see, my garage currently looks like this:
FS 170 trail bike
SS HT
DJ HT
Cruiser
CX
First hand built frame: CX
Wife's FS 140mm
Wife's cruiser
Random WalSchwinn (in case of company needing to ride to dinner with us)
Need:
Wife FS 170mm (will likely replace 140mm)
DH bike, probably 2
To learn to fillet braze, build 650b AM HT
Wife should have a HT
If velodrome finally gets funding: 2 track bikes
Near future: kid's bike(s)
If I ever get to get a new house, I'm going to need a garage bay for bikes and bike building.
Owning a single bike is infinitely better than owning none. Any number of bikes beyond the first, though rewarding and favorable, is relatively insignificant.
Plus when the bike becomes used to wanting to have the bars, seat etc move towards gravity, when you turn it back around you can totally get more air on jumps.........it's training your bike to bunny hop really.........
I think any more than 2 is a luxury. I own 3 at the moment and would really like to get a fourth, but a mountain bike and a cyclocross bike would fill all my needs if I could only have 2.
i'd say 5 is a good number. you need a dedicated road bike, singlespeed, geared mtb, a all-round beater/commuter, and a full-suspension mtb. i got 4 out of those 5, just need a full suspension bike.
Personally, I'd like to just have one bike that does everything but that's not realistic. So...
1. Gotta have a beater for commuting.
2. Gotta have a road/cross bike with high gears for road rides.
3. Gotta have a mtn.bike. A cross bike won't cut it around here. Trust me, I've tried.
If I really wanted to geek out -
1. Hardtail.
2. Full suspension.
3. Road.
4. Cross.
5. Beater mtn. with rigid fork or cross bike.
Rule #12 // The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.
While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.
I don't really enjoy FS bikes so a nice hardtail and a decent road bike are enough to keep me happy, though I always want one more bike than I currently own
3 is the minimum number : 1 mountain bike, 1 road bike, 1 commuter.
And by commuter, I mean a bike just for casually riding around town regardless of whether you ride it to work or not. Personally, I won't ride junker bikes, so mine is a Surly Troll with a rear rack.
A. DH/FR Bike (I find 7inches is a sweet spot unless you're hitting serious chunk)
B. DJ Hardtail/Slope Bike
C. XC/AM Steel Hardtail
D. Cheapo road/town bike.
A. DH/FR Bike (I find 7inches is a sweet spot unless you're hitting serious chunk)
B. DJ Hardtail/Slope Bike
C. XC/AM Steel Hardtail
D. MADE TO LOOK Cheapo road/town bike.
I think a bare minimum would be two - a road bike and a mountain bike. Beyond that would depend on where you live.
In or near a city I'd say 3 minimum. Add to the above an around-town/commuter/errand bike. Something single speed, fixie, or cruiser.. Something you can take to the store, a friends house, lunch, bar, etc and not have gotten geared up with SPD shoes and not afraid to leave it locked up. The key with one of these is to have it be nice enough that you want to ride it, but not so expensive you're paranoid about leaving it locked in a reasonable location. Quick release anything need not apply.
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