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What do you think is the truly appropriate number of bikes to own?

15K views 156 replies 115 participants last post by  ghost_03 
#1 ·
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).

 
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#32 ·
I like the idea of combining as many types of riding into each bike as possible - I was at two for a while, an all-mountain bike that sufficed on any type of trail and a touring road bike that could do everything from road rides to light trail use, with braze-ons for anything. It was a very well rounded pair.

Made-to-look-cheap bar bikes are key, I agree with the sentiment that it needs to be nice enough to be enjoyable to ride. My upcoming bar bike is a de-badged Long Haul Trucker with a parts-bin build.
 
#34 ·
I like the idea of combining as many types of riding into each bike as possible .
Agreed. For that reason I have to say 3.

One all-mountain/trail do it all mountain bike
One bar bike/commuter/road bike for training
And one fatbike for winter.

If i could combine the fatbike with the bar bike/commuter via wheel swaps - I would say 2. But I haven't looked into that yet.
 
#37 ·
Townie bike
Full sus trail bike (~140mm)
More hardcore AM bike (~160mm)
Hardtail trail bike (~120mm for winter and as backup)
Fancy road bike
Beater road bike (winter/backup)
CX bike
DH bike

So. Eight bikes. Damn that's a lot. I only have the first two!
 
#38 ·
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.
 
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#44 ·
4...

1 do everything full suspension.. (my mojo HD)
2 road bike
3 hardtail light 29er for racing
4 downhill/freeride

right now, I make the best of what I can with the Mojo HD, for racing I switch tires and forks, and same for DH and freeride. I have a road bike. It'd be nice to ad a xc racer, and a DH rig to my stable....
 
#49 ·
i would say 3,

1.your primary biking discipline - DH, road, XC ect.

2.a commuter - because everyone who can should bike to work, simply because if your lucky enough to have an excuse to ride everyday you should. =p

3.secondary discipline aka the fun bike. Single speed, DH sled for parks, trials, BMX ect.

I think personal think anything more then that gets to expense in initial purches and upkeep.

I have my little AM monster, which i do all my riding on. Im getting a commuter in a month or so, and i have been looking for a Bike park DH sled for a while.
 
#52 ·
I'm thinking 5:

HT 29er , wouldn't sell for nostalgic reasons
Old HT 26", now commuter/lender
Road bike..not sure I'll ever ride it, but I bought it cheap
( gave away another 26" HT to a deserving fellow sothe bike storage area looks less over-the-top)

(near future purchases...)
FS 26" all-purpose
Fat Tire bike cuz I live in the frozen tundra and I don't want to wait until June to ride again

Wonder when the Hubs is going to stop turning a blind eye to my bike habit...
 
#54 ·
commuter/grocery getter/waling the dog around the neighborhood bike

crap weather/trails are too wet roadie/commuter/around town/gotta feed the jones bike

hardtailtrialsinsoloridepedalingfromhomeridebike

trail/AM/riding with an undetermined group ride 5" bike

local burly trails/once in a blue moon shuttle/DH and park bike/still want to pedal it local on xc trails for shits and grins bike.

parts bin, leftover bits and studded tires in winter SS bike with way too big a fork but who cars it's stupid fun to ride bike
 
#55 ·
Several theories can be applied.
1) You can only ride 1 bike at a time so 1 is sufficient
2) 1 bike for every discipline I ride
3) 7 days in a week, so a different bike for each day
4) 1 bike for every discipline I ride with a backup bike for each
5) I ride a bike everyday and I never ride the same bike within a month
6) I'm a collector
7) I'm an obsessive wack job who likes to build bikes as much as I do riding them

The list goes on. Im sure I missed some. Its all good.
 
#60 ·
In an ideal world I'd have:

29" hardtail for xc racing
Fatbike for the winter
Cross bike for dirt road rides, cross races, and rides where I want to combine some road and singletrack
Race road bike
Fixie commuter

So I guess five bikes would completely suit just about all of my needs. A DH bike would be fun and all, but I don't exactly live near anywhere with the elevation required for that.
 
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