You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Whilst reading the insanity that is the eBike hatred thread I got to thinking “what number and types of bikes would I be happy with?”
The answer for me would be two. I’d like a nice short travel full suspension bike like an Orange Stage Evo or Transition Spur (Neither of which are likely) and just a bike to arse about on. Commuting to work, bimbling with the kids, exploring etc. something a bit nippy but nearer MTB than road. That’d do me.
in the meantime I’ll make do with the nice HT that I have. What would be your ideal number and why?
n+1 surely?
I'm currently at 5, could drop to 4 without much grief as one is rarely used. The other 4 are all fairly different and used regularly
2.
1 turbo bike
2 long travel MTB
That's it thank you
Two. One road. One mtb. Simple.
• 140mm 29er FS
• 100mm 29er hardtail
• Rigid steel 26" singlespeed
• Ti Gravel bike
• Carbon road bike
• Brompton
• Shopping/pub bike
7 seems to cover it for me. Last night I was asked if I was thinking of buying another bike this year, and it felt like sacrilege to say that I didn't think I needed one.
5, because that covers 2 variants within MTB and road plus 1 gravel bike. 6 includes a Brompton.
1 bike could do all of that apart from the Brompton role, if pushed.
I could do with another one.
That would be 8, including the one that lives on the trainer.
Mine is pretty much set:
1x long travel FS for mountains/gnar
1x winter proof slack HT, with a 2nd set of wheels for gravel duties
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52455522446_58563fd134_h.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52455522446_58563fd134_h.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
1x turbo trainer/zwift road bike
If I had space, I'd add a cheap SS rigid to the fleet, and a gravel bike.
If money were no object, I could quite easily find space for a couple of e-bikes (one of them a cargo bike) and a folding bike.
Ahh, crap. Yes, if I had the money then a Specialized Kenevo SL would be in the collection too...
If money were no object, I could quite easily find space for a couple of e-bikes (one of them a cargo bike) and a folding bike.
My MTB is ancient but then I hardly ride it any more - not sure if a new MTB would actually get me out mountain biking again or just sit languishing in a corner.
I could probably accommodate some kind of touring / bikepacking bike as well.
5 here, plus a Wattbike.
Hardtail, Full suss, road, gravel, Ebike, vintage-ish road bike, single-speed pub bike & retro stump jumper I built as a project.
So.... 8 🤣😅
4
Mid travel full suss- currently a G13
Hardtail- currently hello Dave
Commuting bike- alloy Cannondale synapse
Lighter road bike- carbon Cannondale synapse
I've got a gravel bike I've fallen out of love with that will be up for sale soon. (Xl transition rapture if you are taken in by my stealth advert £1000 with hope/ carbon wheels)
I've also bought a cotic rocket that I bought to replace a stolen bike. It's too short so this will be heading back on to eBay soon (XL 2017 in green with fancy fox suspension.£1300 )
Currently got a hardtail for mud duties, summer distance rides, and xc racing
And a bling bouncy bike for "fun" rides - where the success is measured in enjoyment, not statistics or finish position.
And a wattbike which takes care of the fitness and training side of things.
fairly happy with things at the moment, although with unlimited free time and budget, I'd be interested in...(in no particular order)
XC race full suss
lite e bike for self serve DH
gearbox mid travel trail bike
bling steel single speed
carbon gravel/comfort roadie
I've got 2 fully functional, very decent, full suspension mountain bikes in the garage for the first time ever. They're both pretty similar though so one might get swapped for a smaller wheeled uplift/bikeparky bike.
26" DJ bike on the wall waiting for nicer weather.
I'd love a DH bike but only if I lived near mountains and lifts.
So I think I'll max out at 3.
I went down to 2 which I thought was the right number, then my wife bought me an e-bike so I’m back to 3.
Gravel Bike
Mid Travel FS
Mid Travel FS e-bike
Covers anything I want to ride.
1. MTB. Ideally 29er, steel HT with a lightweight ish build.
2. Everything else bike. From touring and commuting on road, to some off-road lite / gravel touring.
I'm on 4 at the moment
Utility bike
Fat bike
Mountainbike
Road bike
Got a wet weather road bike and a dry weather road bike, a gravel bike and a hardtail.
I'm thinking there's a full sus sized gap in that list.....
3. I think.
One commuter, one medium travel FS, one road.
I'm not keen on using my road bike for a commute and the Stumpy FSR I have is hilarious fun through town, but it's hard work and slower than the Malt2 with slicks.
Thinking about it, I could see a time when I would say four, but only if I got a job in Uppsala and needed to do the 20km commute every day and did not want to be utterly destroyed before and after work.
Currently I have 1. an Ebike. Could do with a 2nd for use should the Ebike develop problems and i need to do the short run shopping etc.
I've 4.
150/120mm Steel FS bike
150mm slack, playful steel HT, mostly set up SS
Titanium CX/Gravel bike (with second set of wheels for occasional road duties)
1 steel SS rim brake road/cx/occasional commuter/pub bike.
I'm pretty happy with that lot, and gives me a nice variety of ride options.
If I had more money, I'd tweak the above ...
Replace the steel FS bike (which I nevertheless love) with a lighter DownCountry+ bike (this is a new genre I've invented. Basically a Spur, but with a 140/150mm fork, and 130mm shock)
Replace the HT (again, which I love) with a Ti HT with similar geometry. Or with carbon/alu frame just to lose a bit of weight, and XC-ify it. I'd also have a second set of wheels with chunkier gravel wheels/tyres for more challenging bike-packing.
Gravel bike - would stay as is.
SS steel road bike - would have one with discs.
Edit:
Oh, and I'd add a FS ebike.
n - 1 + 2
3 currently, hybrid for commuting, hard tail for mountain biking, trials bike for trials.
3 would be the minimum for me - enduro, burly hardtail, fast road bike
5 is what I have - 170mm 29er enduro, 27.5" burly hardtail, fast road bike, cheap gravel/errand bike and an old 4x/pumptrack 26" hardtail.
Would love a Spur and something like the new Tranny Relay on top so that would be 7 and somehow that seems sensible!
In theory....2.
One full suss and one ebike, although I've won a road bike but haven't even opened the box yet.
I like knowing the bike categories more than the actual models, I find it interesting
- Short travel FS MTB
- Rigid MTB. Used as a MTB but also as an all round bike
- Gravel/commuter. Not used in a while, moved house and don't ride to work, could move this on
- Brompton. Used for the commute in combo with a train
- E cargo bike. Only used for practical stuff and rides with the kids. They're still fun rides but wouldn't use it if I was 'going for a ride'
The last three bikes can/do/did carry kids. First two don't, although I used to tow a double trailer with the rigid MTB
Still have niches to fill but also have a lack of storage, particularly with kids bikes knocking about. Would still like a SS MTB again, plus a hardtail, maybe a Ti gravel bike. Don't have a roadbike, not my thing.
Two.
I’ve had one for every day of the week before but it just meant they sat around doing nothing and I ended up feeling they were being wasted.
Now I’ve got a Zwift bike and a road/gravel bike and that does all of my riding happily.
In an ideal world....
- Lightweight Short(er) Travel 29er FS bike (Full day out epics)
- 150ish Trail Bike for banging down fun things and steep stuff while still doing longer rides
- Steel 'all road' bike. Scruffy looking but a good ride for pub & commuting duties.
- Santa cruz chameleon (2023). Just cos I like them really. Would double up as a pump track bike
- 26" pum track/dirt jumper bike.
- Ebike FS & longer travel for bike park laps
But in my space limited world I can pick two.
Three if I could have multiple wheelsets:
1 gravel/road bike, a set of wheels for each
1 mtb, probably a 120mm hardtail, either single speed or gearbox belt drive
1 pos single speed commutor
If I had a secure, dry garage, decent workshop, and an outdoor tap, I'd probably have 2 mtbs, a fast rigid single speed and a beltdrive hardtail
Commuter hack
Nice summer road bike
Winter road bike with guards
Gravel bike
Do-most-things hardtail
Big full sus.
...I also have a Brompton and a jump bike, neither of which get a lot of use, but are the right tool for the job when needed...
Have 2, would like a 3rd
1. 180/155mm F/S
2. 140mm forked hardtail
Would like to add a light weight short travel F/S
"in the meantime I’ll make do with the nice HT that I have"
YOU HAVE ONE BIKE?!?!
6 hardtails, 2 full sussers, 2 ebikes and 3 road bikes.
He who dies with the most toys wins.........
We don't talk about the number of bikes in this house. .....
But suffice to say my 3 year old has 3 ......
5, because that covers 2 variants within MTB and road plus 1 gravel bike. 6 includes a Brompton.
1 bike could do all of that apart from the Brompton role, if pushed.
I'm going to add one, a utility e-bike. Yet to be acquired. It's a practical car-replacer choice so anything like that can be added to all of our lists without influence on existing bike numbers. Any e-bike counts as long as you can and do add bags to it to do shopping or it can carry / tow kids to school.
Fair? Good : )
Two would do me,
One bouncy medium travel MTB and one Gravelly Roadyish type bike.
I currently have eight...
How do you find the Pinion for gravel?
Excellent - loads of range for when you're 50k in and there's a horrible climb, the belt gets a little squeaky when it's really dry and dusty but a splash of water fixes that.
I currently have 4 with a share of the tandem as a half extra. An electric cargo trike to move the dog around town wouldn't go amiss and a titanium framed tourer would be a nice to have.
Ideally a nice hardtail, a mid range road bike and a 160-180 travel ebike. Maybe an old ratty jump bike for playing on pump tracks with my kids.
Minimum two bikes. Nice do-it-all hardtail and a comfortable pub bike that's unlikely to get nicked.
Currently on 4, but I maxed out at 6 (or possibly 7?) Scott a decade out so ago.
1) Short-travel FSer - my main MTB, brilliant for most stuff
2) Big FSer - away days, uplifts, Alps etc
3) HT MTB - mucking around with the kids etc
4) Flat bar commuter/gravel mongrel - must-used bike
N+1s in the past included a lovely dedicated singlespeed, proper DH bike, jump/pump track bike. All fun but none of them around now.
I would say three:
1: road bike
2: hardtail MTB
3: gravel bike (a great spare bike if one of the other bikes break as i can use it as a road bike and go off-road)
Unfortunately I need a car currently so am selling my road bike (it's worth the most!) and lusting after a full suspension bike!
My recent plan is to have some posh road wheels for my gravel bike and use it dual purpose and get a full suspension MTB so my ideal number is currently 2!
Two. I always said one was plenty but then I had two. And now I have two, two is plenty bikes. No need for any more bikes.
....so I'm going to have a look at another bike tomorrow 🤔
Clearly its not even remotely similar to the two ialready have and will widen the scope of situations where I could cycle.
So three. Three is the right number of bikes. End of.
Four. Though three would work.
Hardtail MTB
Flat bar steel road bike.
Two steel tourers. But the Spa was only bought as a back up for local winter use as I don't want to park my Long haul Trucker around Glasgow as I have a bit of an emotional attachment to it.
Currently on 4:
HT (Dialled Alpine) on teeny tiny 26” wheels
FS (Calibre TripleB)
Road (Trek Domane)
Fixie SS (can’t remember make)
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">After getting a new job, I’ve been tempted to get a fancy carbon roadie but now thinking of a Stanton once they’re back up & running.</span>
5 for me.
Big travel fs
shorter travel lighter more snappy fs
hardtail
gravel
retrobike
currently experimenting to see if the shorter travel fs can do both mtb jobs (it has a 160mm fork). Seems likely.
The retro bike also doubles as pub / shopping bike. Only problem is I seem to have ended up with 3 of them.
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> </span>
2 - 1 commuter, 1 fun bike
Presently have 4, about to sell old fun bike, and the bmx that tries to kill me...
I can see the point in more fun bikes, but the new fun bike is sooo much fun I'm not feeling the need for other types of fun biking 🙂
3
Mountain, road, work. However, each MUST be a joy in itself to ride.
Full sus
Hardtail
Commuter (old school 26 inch hardtail)
Very happy with those but if I had tons of cash I’d almost certainly get a long travel ebike too
Seven is the sweet spot for me.😁
Ive never owned a full suspension mountain bike, and I never will.😎
Currently at 4 but could go down to three easily enough if I had two sets of wheels. Current ones are:
Enduro FS bike for uplift/arsing around days.
Trail FS for general riding everywhere.
Hardtail for easier days.
Commuter/Zwift hybrid bike.
Could easily drop the commuter bike (as I don't ride to work...) and convert the hardtail using a second set of wheels with a suitable gear set also for on the trainer. No need to change the gearing though if I use ERG mode so could do that too. Any fewer bikes and I'd be making too many compromises.
I’ve got 6-ish at the minute…
Identiti hardtail MTB
BMC Hybrid commuter / Gravel ride bike
SS Fixie for alternate commuting weeks and winter commute
Surly 1x1 currently in the collecting parts and building stage
20” BMX for pottering around / shopping bike
…and I have a clown bike…don’t ask…
not sure I’m ready for a full squish just yet so have managed to hold off…so far…
quite content that I have something to cover all my bases
4
Road bike
Mtb
Gravel bike
Bikepacking bike (currently a fatbike but doesn't have to be)
When I retire in a few years I'll add a handmade long distance touring bike but currently I don't have time to use it.
EDIT i would add that none of my bikes are very expensive - well my mtb was around 2k but all the others are around 1k (but upgraded when needed) and I prefer this way rather than having 1 or 2 very expensive bikes
3 for me: road bike, xc bike and a big bounce bike…
@ta11pau1 thanks, I have been considering something like the Tout Terrain Scrambler
With two wheelsets that would cover 75% of my riding
7 for me.....
Hardtail geared
SS rigid mtb
SS road
Gravel/road
Rigid geared utility mtb
Zwift Roady
BMX for pumptrack
Too many but can't think of one I'd like to be without......
3 is plenty for me as well:
Gravel bike, used mainly on the road but does a fire road nicely as well.
Short travel ful sus mtb, just a fun bike off road everywhere.
Ecommuter, full guards and panniers for the work run, shopping run etc. Means I leave the car home most of the time.
I wanted another ht mtb as well but it won't ever get ridden with the others, so I'm on a strict self imposed 1 in 1 out policy now.
3 seems to be what I need.
1 supercommuter, (mudguards, hub gears, dynamo, belt drive)
1 MTB. Not hugely hardcore hardtail.
1 Gravel Bike, also for road riding because Cheshire roads are awful.
But that does leave one space for something a bit more random. Minivelo maybe.
Considering where I live, my collection is just about right??
summer road bike
wet summer/dry winter bike😀
winter road bike
old classic Italian road bike (still used on high days and holidays)
gravel bike
fatty (for the sand)
rigid single speed 29’er for all MTB’ing duties (perfect for Norfolk!)
pub/shopping bike
I still have a Pace and a Klein from my youth hanging up in the bike shed but are never ridden so won’t count them.
Every time we visit anywhere with hills, I will hire a full sus.
I ride most days and really mix it up so I’ve covered all bases.
edit, forgot the spin bike in the garden under a roofed pergola for when it’s too icy to get out.
170/175 enduro bike, 150/130 trail bike, 140 hardtail, gravel bike, singlespeed nipping out for coffee bike.
I'd like a rigid HT, and maybe an EBike
3 minimum. I have 5. Only the car has a motor, currently.
Currently 3 and don't have the spare time (or money) to justify any more. And two of them haven't turned a wheel in a long time.
I should maybe look at rehoming the Unit but it makes a good "general bike" bike. My road/gravel/turbo bike just hasn't had a look in for ages, easily since summer. Maybe that should go too. And one bike is not enough so a hardtail to compliment the FS.
Four, 150/140 29er FS, 130 29er HT, nice weather roadie, not nice weather roadie. All ridden in the last week
I'd like a pub/shop bike but no room in the garage as the Mrs has four bikes as well.
I'm replacing the nice roadie when I can decide how much I want to spend, the current one is 9 years old and starting to feel it!
3 atm, 29" FS, 650b HT and gravel. No desire to get any more for the time being, they cover all my bases.
Oh, and retro but the answer to that can be 1 or 20 depending on my mood. Just tend to enjoy owning them though, rather than ride.
I have 5 at three moment, two too many. Two would be great, three ideal.
2 Cotic Souls, one sadly has to go is the plan.
A full suss, hardly ridden. Not worth selling.
29er "aggro gravel" rigid MTB. Good for occasional bike packing and longer MTB/gravel rides but could use the hardtail or the...
Tripster road/gravel/touring/commuter. Has to stay.
Road bike for indoor training and er.... road cycling
Cross or fast gravel bike or fast xc bike for easy local rides, cross races and longer gravel rides.
Burly mountain bikes hard tail or full sus for days riding proper mountain bike trails.
Pub/beater bike or commuter or singlespeed. Something you can rode to the gym/pub/Tesco.
I have each of the above but also have a more niche long distance marathon type mountain bike.
I'm planning on riding the Badger Divide this year and have the dilemma of what bike to take..... first world problems 🫣
Ps it'll probably be the lightweight full sus complete with fast xc tyres..... Comfort over speed? Maybe
Hardtail, full-sus, Brompton.
Currently one and two wheelsets. But ideally no more bikes than I can ride in one week.
Ti HT current.
I would add a mid travel FS but don’t really want to spend the money
At the moment I have 5
Hardtail MTB
Jump bike
Road bike
Commuter/ Cross/ Gravel/ winter road bike
Pub bike (90s rigid MTB)
Could lose jump bike as don't use it enough.
If money was no object I"d like more - full suss MTB, E-MTB and nicer Road bike, but unfortunately it is!
Currently on 4
- road
- Mtb full sus 150mm
- gravel
- Brompton
would quite like to also have
- hardtail
-e-bike
-dh bike (maybe just for a year or two)
currently funding doesn’t allow, but one day it will and I’ll be ready 😂
2's plenty for me. 140mm Hardtail for winter slop/XC rides and the 150mm full suss for the bigger, techier 'proper' rides. Though if I was commuting I'd get a hybrid of some sort too probably
Currently got:
Hardtail
short travel bike
medium travel bike
longish travel bike
gravel bike
fast road bike
fast road bike may make way for something electric, or full on DH
I was hoping that I could use this thread to show my wife that 15 bikes was in some way normal.
I currently have:
180mm Enduro ggnarr machine
140mm trail fs
Ti hardtail, for winter and (with wheel swap) gravel/hybrid
pump track 26” DMR hardtail
ratty pub bike.
if I had space, I’d add:
e-cargo bike
cant see a need for anything else tBH.
As many as you can reasonably store and actually use. Not just for social media lifestyle/look at me/wishful thinking photoshoots!
17
I want to change my answer. 18 or 19. 20 tops.