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I have two mtbs, a Yeti Big Top 29er all tricked out with XTR and a Santa Cruz Chameleon in a more burley build. They are lovely bikes but I just don't have any attachment to them. My road bikes I've had a while and they are part of me to the point of me being heartbroken if they were stolen.
I had a steel Rocky Mountain Blizzard for 13 years and had a real attachment to it. In fact, it's still in the lof as I can't bear to sell it.
I'm looking for a frame, hard tail, modern, preferably steel, not overly mass produced, geometry similar to the Santa Cruz, but something which I can get really attached to for a long time.
I like the Pace RC127 but it's just not quite perfect for me. So, am I looking at a custom frame? If so, does anyone have any suggestions?
Floss
J_n*s
I'm a big believer of the idea that it's the places we go and adventures we have with our bikes that builds that "bond".
However, despite trying really hard I had to give in and sell an El Mariachi as I just couldn't get it to feel like "my" bike rather than "a" bike.
My first suggestion would still be to embark on some crazy adventure though. If that doesn't work then at least you've had fun trying.
Sign up for a bicycle academy course and build your own?
Stanton Slackline?
[i]does anyone have any suggestions[/i]
Get a girlfriend?
Bikes are for riding not emotional attachment! I've got a Big Top and I [i]love[/i] it. I haven't got a girlfriend.
I love my Spitfire.
Chromag Samurai 65
Cotic Soul.....!
My Nicolai Helius is the bike I love. It is 9 speed, straight steerer, 26" QR- all in all, heading towards obsolete. And today, when i finally managed to revitalise the forks- I gave it a little kiss.
I have a chameleon and after a period of not riding it (summer)and pretty much exclusively riding the comfy sofa that is my nomad it takes a few rides to rekindle the fire. It's such a good bike but you have to re learn to ride it and become the suspension as its like riding a house brick. Give it a few more rides and see if you start to feel the love. Mine has mudguards and I mainly use it for muddy winter so it's a case of re learning to ride mud and the hard tail.
I get this too... I really appreciate my Remedy, it's a fantastic bike and suits me very well, but I have no affection for it at all. I loved my Hemlock, the Remedy is a big upgrade in pretty much every way but I do miss that connection.
OTOH I love my fatbike, it is my waggy tailed idiot labrador bike.
Buy on paint job and look not spec and brand.
Ritchey p 29
Sometimes it's not the bling that has that thing. We're all different shapes and sizes so I think it's a lot about what fits you the best. For me it's an 18" Inbred, even though I'm 6'4" lol. Cheap as chips too!
Have you thought about pulling the Blizzard out of the loft and building it back up? Maybe that'll give you an idea of what you are missing from your current bikes...
I don't know about love but I want to take the new Production Privee Shan GT somewhere out of the way and have some rough and dirty fun. Maybe lust would evolve into love?
I've had about twenty five MTB's since 1989 and in that time I have truly 'loved' two (although a Surly 1x1 and Cove Handjob were brief love 'affairs'). My '89 pink/green Stumpjumper and the bike I have owned and ridden for nine years now - a '98 Chameleon. Battered and bruised but easily my favourite bike of all time. The frame will hang on a wall when one day I retire it.
But as said above - just like people you cannot make them 'love you' - it's the experiences you share and memories they instil that make you bond*.
*FFS - what a load of Saturday night bollox that sounds....
I've been lucky - loved most of my bikes. That's probably why I hold on to them for so long.
I had a Big Top, it was all XX1'd up and I truly loved it, but I couldn't justify that and a Stigmata... breaks my heart every day thinking about that bike 🙁
That said... the Stigmata is an utter, utter joy and I'm so, so pleased I have one... if I could have both, I feel I'd be complete!
I have - IMO - a bike that's superior to an Orange, but I crave owning one mainly for the brand, it's history and what it represents. I don't think the craving will go away until I own one.
Try a jones. Bike for life. If you are in the south east, welcome to try mine.
Just go for a ride... It's the riding that is the best bit. I struggle to get sentimental about metal and plastic. What I did when I had them counts.
I don't know about love but I want to take the new Production Privee Shan GT somewhere out of the way and have some rough and dirty fun. Maybe lust would evolve into love?
That's just what I was going to suggest, lovely looking bike.
For what it's worth, I have a Chameleon and it is the one bike I will never ever sell.
I think you're right, an attachment is earned and not bought. I need to get out and have some adventures ride sone events and get some 'bausage' (beauty through usage) otherwise known as patina or distressing to really make them mine.
I still fancy an RC127 though!
Thanks gents
Oi DezB- don't you suggest he needs a girlfriend: I'm his wife 😛
I think I put him off his Chameleon by singing "Karma Chameleon" when he rides it!
I've travelled up the Western Isles from Bara to Stornoway, toured Skye and Northern Ireland. Ridden on Jura, Ghia, Mull, Iona,etc. All on my Sabbath September.
I love that bike 🙂
+1 for doing a Bicycle Academy course. They are excellent. Nothing builds a bond with a frame like accidentally burning your fingers for the umpteenth time building it. (As it turns out things close to fire get hot)
[i]Oi DezB- don't you suggest he needs a girlfriend: I'm his wife
[/i]
Er.... no comment from me on that..! 😀
I wanted a bike that got under my skin. Made me want to ride. Akin to mtb's I enjoyed back in the late 80's/early 90's. But with the modern comforts like decent braking 😆
I appreciate it's not what you are looking for and the nay sayers will cringe at the fact I mention it. But my test weekend on a fat bike ticked those boxes for me.
It is my 'go to' bike now.
I hope you find the 'one' that works for you.