Obvious we all agree that having multiple bikes is fine (in fact encouraged), but do you own a bike that is just 'the One'?
You may often ride other bikes, and you may buy new bikes, but you'll never sell this bike, and still ride it often enough to warrant its ownership.
In my case it's my Surly Krampus. Owned since they were first released in the UK - I got mine on January 2013 - and it's been through multiple guises over the last decade...geared, SS, bike packing, front suspension,etc.
Still an amazing bike, and still a joy to ride 😎
I've just treated it to new Maxxis 3.0/2.8"rubber front and rear, it's currently a rigid SS, and I did 45km on it this afternoon.
Love it 😁
Titus Fireline. Had it for about 6 years now. Bit like triggers broom but the ti frame still looks as good as new.
Done cycle touring round holland, all day epics in the cairngorms, commuted to work, 5ok smash around the dales and lots of lunch time dashes.
Love it.
Nope, or at least not so far - bikes are like food, there's always another take, another flavour, another thing to try. Yum.
Saying that, I think it's easier to hold onto road and gravel bikes as less changes, less often. My Litespeed is my go-to bike if if want to just go out and explore, cruise, whatever. I can't see what would make it better.
Hoping this is what my Cotic Cascade will be. Take my time and add the 'right' components, not necessarily bling but just good quality that will last a long time would like XTR gears but next up is replacing the brakes....
I’ll be buried with this. If it breaks, It’ll go on a wall.
Others will come and go, and have, but this one’s a keeper.
God no
Yes. An on one pompetamine. Got 3x10 speed on it and been my most ridden bike in probably near 15 years now. Doesn’t matter if it’s popping a mile to the shop, an all day epic or a 1000 mile tour. Getting on is like being reacquainted with an old friend. It likes especially being <br />used it as a fully laden touring bike where it’s like wafting along on a sofa. <br /><br /><br />
i thought i did, bought when i retired as a treat.
proved to be a bit of a mare............ sold it yesterday.
a Ti salsa fargo, sorry, a warrenty replacement Ti fargo.
Stooge Mark 2, so adaptable and always makes me smile. Doesn't get ridden as much as it once did. It's setup singlespeed and I was using it to take my son to football & cycle training. He's now too fast so I take a geared bike instead. It's still amazing for an hour or two on local trails.
Can't see me ever selling it as I can just build it into something else.
I might turn it into a long distance bike packing / gravel bike.
Maybe the Orange Stage Evo I got this year, but too soon to tell.
Or maybe it was the stage 6 I sold last year.
Can't see myself being without an Orange full sus while I'm still riding MTBs anyway
Stooge MK3. Either rigid or with boing forks.
3T Exploro - 650b wheels and 47c tyres , where I live its absolutely great.
A gravel bike with zillions of miles of gravel and lots of tarmac in varying conditions is a great combo.
Cannondale Systemsix road bike, unless the UCI relax the rules, or someone makes a mental unofficial aero road bike (looking at you Specialized, please just do a non uci mental venge!), I'm not sure why I'd consider buying anything new
My road bike is also a Ritchey Logic 2, even the same colour. Bought and built by me in 2015. It's even been to the Alps once. Amazing bike. I always feel some remorse whenever I ride it as I built it to a budget at the time, the only decent kit on it is the brooks ti Swift saddle and Hope DT Swiss Wheels. The rest is 105 and Planet X.
A frame as good as this deserved at least Ultegra. Wonder if I can find a decent second hand period Durace groupset 🤔
I can’t see myself ever wanting to replace my Stumpjumper Evo, as it just seems so perfect for the gnarlier riding that I like to do.
Mk 2 Cotic Soul. Originally built up from a load of spares and a medium frame then swapped out for a Large a few years later so I could squeeze in a Shotgun seat for my little girl to come out with me on.
I've got newer and better bikes in every way (including a Bird Forge steel hardtail, which is superb) but there's just something about that wee old Soul. I'll never sell it, it's such a joy to ride.
The day I remove the Shotgun will be a truly sad 'end-of-an-era' one. But I'm almost looking forward to having it back as my own again.
My Pronghorn Carbon XC-SW
The first real extravagant purchase I ever made. It has way outdated geometry and I'm resigned to the fact that it's unlikely I'll ever get a top level 1 1/8" straight steerer fork to replace if this one breaks, but to my eyes it's a thing of beauty and purpose.
My G13
I got it in 2017
Its had a few revisions from 140-160mm forks, offset bushings because rasing the BB with longer forks was not great.
Its done 100 mile two day bike packing rides, uplift week at whistler where I was faster on it than a full DH bike.
Mostly it's been shlepped round the peaks, Wales and Scotland, and had a lot of time mucking about in the woods.
I don't need a longer travel bike, it's 135mm rear is enough for uplifts. I don't need a shorter travel full suss, I should be losing the weight from me rather than a bike.
Its up to 17.4kg with DH tires and a coil shock, and down to 16.4kg with an air shock and lighter tires.
Probably I'd be just as happy on any mid travel full suss, but this feels better than anything else I've tried 😀
Yes. But there are three of them. So I guess no.
Yes. But there are three of them. So I guess no.
That's ok you're allowed three 😉
Tbh I could've included my Stooge and my Vagabond too, but the Krampus is probably the one out of the three I'd save if I had to choose just one. Maybe. I do like the Stooge a lot. Arggh!
Currently the one is my Camber Evo. It just does everything it needs to at a wallet friendly level and without drama. Mainly that's downcountry (or whatever we call riding up and down and along singletrack hills currently) and trail centres.
There's a sense brewing after 8 years that at some point it might be time for the next or supplemental 'the one' or maybe just a beefier fork. 🙂
I don't understand the question 😉
My jones spaceframe has been with me for 13 years, its out lived all sorts of LLS trail bikes, custom ti bling etc...
If i could only have one bike, it would be that
Although one or two of my titanium custom stooges are rapidly joining it in the " will never be sold" category
My Defy Advanced SL with Dura Ace 9000. it’s a 2013 model and the very same won Paris Roubaix in 2014. when you ride it, you can see why.
L
My Enigma fixed road bike. A relatively new addition, but the culmination of 30 years of fixed wheel riding for me.
I have a dropper post that has outlived three frames and it on its fourth since 2019... I guess that's a keeper.
I only ever have one bike at a time so that is the one by default. As I now have the very light fixed gear bike I have always wanted (after riding fixed for 20 years) I don't think I will be tempted to change much about it so it may be the one.
My custom hard tail. Made locally by chickens to my specifications, there’s a couple of things I’d do differently if I did it again, but I love it, it’s an amalgam of features and geometry of bikes I have had or wanted. But it’s mine and unique.
Stooge fat bike in titanium. My favorite.
Mk1 stooge that the family has used as a training bike, bike packing, going to the shops, hybrid gravel cross thing
It is probably the most used bike in the family
My One Bike, but it has other friends in the shed. Much love for my Pace RC627.
I wouldn't say it's a do-it-all bike, but it works with my skill and fitness levels.
Roberts road bike, handmade custom build in Columbus tubing, a present for my 40th
Planet X , xls - cheap carbon Cx bike with no bling kit but probably the bike I have ridden the most over the last few years.
No Orange Fives?
you lot have changed
This.
Handbuilt & custom paint scheme Columbus SLX with full Dura Ace 7402 series. Built up in 1990, raced on it, and now a weekend bike. Rides amazingly well and very stable on fast descents - no tank slappers. Frame number 141
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My Stanton Sherpa Gen 1.
I'm actually in a pickle at the moment as i have a Specialized Chisel sat in the cellar doing nothing - so do i sell it and then spend the money on the Sherpa and give it an upgrade, or just strip down the Chisel and bung the parts on the Sherpa and then sell the frame 🤷🏼♂️
Most definitely my old P7. A proper Triggers Broom. I reckon I've had it about 12 years and it has seen many, many guises. It used to be black but had the 'Greggs' powder coat a while back. The only original part left on the frame is the seat clamp.
It was looking really tatty and tired, having had a bad paper round with a neglectful, mechanically clueless owner (me), so I gave it a bit of TLC last year. New drivechain and cosmetic parts, lost the dropper, new narrower bars, rigid carbon forks, fast rolling tyres and its now set up as a gravel/commuter/pub bike.
Having done that I find myself riding it more than my other more modern, more expensive bikes because I just love it. I was out on it yesterday afternoon in the sun...
I will definitely never get shut of this bike
I used to, but not anymore. I seem to have become less materialistic.
They are transient and I have no attachment beyond the monetary value.
Travers Single Speed wouldn’t give it up for anything, in fact planning on give it a refresh with some new bits & bobs
No Orange Fives?
you lot have changed
Haha, doesn't help that they don't actually make a Five or a Stage 5 anymore, just the Five Evo and it's full 27 so I never see any.
I used to, but not anymore. I seem to have become less materialistic.
They are transient and I have no attachment beyond the monetary value.
It's not a materialistic thing, it's about how they make you feel IMO.
Haha, doesn’t help that they don’t actually make a Five or a Stage 5 anymore
yeah, but if its your "one" bike, youd still be riding one? how young is everyone?:
but you’ll never sell this bike, and still ride it often enough to warrant its ownership.
last time i rode a Dyfi, i decided that there were two groups of people there:
Those with this years bike, smart tech. latest colours.
or
Those on battered Oranges.
So i bought one of the last fives i think.
Metal frame, not Plastic bonded string.
Proper gears, none of this "e" nonsense.
I reckon ill keep it for a while longer.
@were you at the Gorrick Cool MTB challenge yesterday? Think i saw you chatting to some other folk at the end.
As for the question, i thought it was my Norco Optic. Ruddy loved that bike. Did local XC bimbles to the Megavalanche and everything in between on it. Unfortunately i got the point in my life where i couldnt keep up with my friends on their longer travel bikes so succumbed to the enduro steamroller way or riding. I do miss it at times. Maybe another one at some point.
My '97 Kona - hardly gets ridden (I do use it someties for pub/gym though). I've had it this long, there's no point selling it for what it's worth - has more sentimental value than monetary worth.
My ebike, I dunno - I keep hankering after a new one, but this one is that good, there's not much point selling it for what I'd get. It will possibly be run until it can run no more.
My other bike is a 26" PP Shan - it really owes me nothing, but that will be the one that gets replaced soon with whichever HT I decide to build
No. Bikes for me are a means to an end. I have had bikes I really like and ones I didn't but I have never felt the level of attachment people on here seem to feel
I've got two...
Cotic Flare Gen 1 - unfashionable 650b wheels, moderate head angle, not worth anything. But, I fell in love with the bike when I test rode one on the Longmynd in 2016 I think. I was coming from a Soul that I loved, and it just felt like it, but better for more technical trails. I keep looking at Flaremax's and other 29ers, but I really don't think I'd be any better off after a few rides, and I don't need a more capable bike. I've recently made it lighter with a wheel and tyre upgrade, and could do a few more bits, but it just works and I'll keep riding it.
Cotic Cascade - recently built up as a rigid, flat bar do anything bike using an on sale XL frame. Chunky old WTB/GT saddle, Stooge Moto bars, loads of stem spacers, it's really comfy, if a bit portly, but the point of it isn't to go fast. I can't see me ever selling it, it's so adaptable.
Absolutley not, just like cars (I'm talking 'hobby' or fun cars). The chase is half the fun, the buying, speccing, building, customising.
Changed my last car, an old Lotus, after two years just recently, always found it interesting talking to the old boys in the club who would proudly proclaim how they ordered this car new in 1997 and still have it... I respect that, but also - have you never fancied trying something else?
Love the bikes I have now, absolutely bought the right ones, but none of them will last more than a couple of years before I get itchy feet. Anbd something always has to go to make room for the new stuff.
You may often ride other bikes, and you may buy new bikes, but you’ll never sell this bike, and still ride it often enough to warrant its ownership
Well, if that's the criteria - then it's undoubtably my Tripster. Ridden more than the other bikes, cos I commute on it. And it's a great pre-gravel-bikes gravel bike. Pretty too 🙂
There's not a "The One", but there's definitely some bikes that I bond with and enjoy much longer than others.
My mk1 Cotic Soda was one. Light, springy, went like poo off a shovel. Never stopped enjoying riding it, but it got to the point that chopping back and forth from my full sus took 2 or 3 rides to get used to riding it quick again. Used it for 11 years as an MTB, then it had a second lease of life as a gravel bike with 650b wheels and rigid forks.
Swapped that in 2018 for a MkV Soul, which I still have, and is currently the nearest to "the one". Light enough and nimble enough I can chuck it around properly; long enough, slack enough, solid enough to take some real abuse. Still got some give to it (but not like the Soda). Unfashionable wheel size, but I can still most riders honest on it, and there's very little I can't attempt up or down on it. I've ridden DH courses on it, multiday bikepacking stuff and a LOT of just razzing round the woods and moors. Rarely does it not make me grin like a loon.
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The other easy one is my Enigma ELite HSS. 40th birthday present to myself. Took a lot of finding, but by the time I was out the carpark on the demo I knew it was right. Pretty light for a steel bike, rim brakes are absolutely fine on a summer "best bike" and I enjoy the feel of making it go. Just pedalling the thing makes me smile. I need to be in shape to get the best out of it, but that's part of the appeal. 9 years on, its only cost me tyres, brake pads and a chain, which is nice too...
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🤔I've had many🤣
My old V1 sample 520 frame Genesis Equilibrium. It's accumulated so many winter miles that I'm determined to see how long it lasts. The carbon fork came off it at about 10 years old, now has a nice Tange lugged fork. I should have a Croix de Fer in the garage too really but I chopped and changed there, didn't keep one long term.
Giant Defy 2014 with 10 speed 105. Upgraded with Hope x Pacenti wheels.
Its now been semi-retired and replaced by my new Basso Venta but i'll never sell the Giant and intend to use it for occasional summer blasts.
Its hugely sentimental as i bought it to do a charity ride from London to Snowdonia in memory of my brother who died in 2013. Have also ridden it from London to Amsterdam in 2018.
I’ve only got a Giant Anthem Advanced. I know my limits at 55 so light and comfortable suits me fine. I can get a decent lick out of it and it’s good for a 3hr wang about.
It’s got my old ti Jones bars on so no one has ever asked for a go on it 😂
Absolutley not, just like cars (I’m talking ‘hobby’ or fun cars). The chase is half the fun, the buying, speccing, building, customising.
Changed my last car, an old Lotus, after two years just recently, always found it interesting talking to the old boys in the club who would proudly proclaim how they ordered this car new in 1997 and still have it… I respect that, but also – have you never fancied trying something else?
This is an interesting one, earlier this year I bought another Peugeot 205 XS - having owned (and rallied) one for about 10 years previously. I love the little thing, and had put it on my list of things never to be sold, but just lately it's not been starting great, the local roads are so bad the interior is constantly making horrific noises, and there are quite a few niggly little jobs cropping up, that I've thought maybe I'd be better off with something a bit newer like a Clio 172 or 182. Just deciding you're never going to sell something seems to be a bit self harmish, why deprive yourself of something better.
