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Just idly thinking about something this morning over my toast;
Let's say hypothetically, you have a bit of a cluster###k and find you have next-to-no disposable income, have to sell all your current bikes for the foreseeable future but can still afford one bike.
Let's say maintenance costs have to be minimal, so reliability is a massive factor.
There's no n+1 and no car, so this really does have to be a do-it-all bike: On-road, off road (I won't say Mountain Biking, as I think that immediately says action pyjamas and guhnarlinuss).
So......How little do you think you could reasonably cope with and still consider yourself an MTB'er? Cyclist? I know that technically anyone on a bike is a cyclist and that's all nice, but we all know that isn't really true and we all have prejudices and snobberies.
The next part of that then is what does this bike look like? You don't have to use available parts as such, but it could be a production bike with completely bespoke parts.
If I was forced to have 1 bike to do everything it would be a steel 29Ed hardtail. Something slack, but not ridiculous travel, on a budget it would probably be one of the new coming on ones.
That said if I was in such a pickle financially to have to sell my bike. I would be more worried about getting to work and feeding my kids rather than ‘which bike will do it all’
After going bankrupt 10yrs ago (family business went under) this was a reality for me!
Kept this one, and it's still my only bike as I hardly ride now...
This is relatively easy for me. If I have to keep one bike it would be my PX Kaffenback. It's not glamorous, heck it's plain dull, but it is versatile so I can commute on it, put panniers on it to do the shopping, do normal road riding and with the right tyres some light off road too. Ideally I'd have the option of a couple of pairs of wheels.
If I was starting from scratch, it would be very similar to the Kaff but lighter and with Di2 and Hydraulic discs as opposed to the beaten up Tiagra and BB7's that are currently on it.
In all honesty, this would have little or no impact on the type of riding I do anyway.
Mason bokeh, 650 wheels, really flared bars.
Yes. I do have this.
But it would have GRX on it. I reckon it’d do all the off-road I wanted. And would be totally capable road riding, even club rides (maybe a second wheelset for that!). And touring/adventure/cliché is covered too.
Steel rigid 29er with 1/2x10 M6000 Deore drivetrain and 2.3" tyres.
..But if we're being gronwups then this-
That said if I was in such a pickle financially to have to sell my bike. I would be more worried about getting to work and feeding my kids rather than ‘which bike will do it all’
That’d be my Surly Disc Trucker.
I’ve used it for 200km+ road rides, mini tours, towing kids, lugging shopping, commuting, off-Reading, you name it. It’s happy whether it’s on 2”+ knobbies or 32mm slicks, stripped down for a big tarmac day or loaded up for a tour, and being a Surly it’s also completely bombproof.
Forgetting the maintenance part of it, if I could have only 1 bike it would be my 170mm enduro bike or similar.
Probably my rigid 1x10 swift, maybe with a slightly bigger chainring & faster tyres. Or something like this:
Yep, 29er HT would be my choice. My mk2 Cotic Solaris is awesome.
I could live with not being super fast on the road but couldn't live without being able to have fun off road.
Burly-ish, slack-ish steel HT, 650B, ISCG mount, can be rigid if it has to be. Must have bottle cage, rack and mudguard mounts for carrying shopping or touring and be strong enough to handle a bit of DH if I want it to. Basically a Switchback or BFe with rack/mudguard mounts.
I could live with not being super fast on the road but couldn’t live without being able to have fun off road.
This.
SolarisMAX.
Would need a few different sets of tyres though.
CX bike is probably the only option for do it all. Jack of all, master of none (even a 29er HT is better at cyclocross!).
Minimal costs, switch tyres to slicks for road rides. Racks and stuff for commuting/shopping.
CX/Gravel is the most versitile bike. Just not the best on road, or off road
In your experiment, assuming you're in a real pickle, presumably the one bike is one you already own, you're not going to be splurging on
lighter and with Di2 and Hydraulic discs
Heart says DayOne as it's my commuter, pub bike, on-road, off-road mincecore light capable favorite. In the cold light of day the addition of gears for versatility probably overcomes the less maintenance benefit of singlespeed, so would probably be my Pinnacle Dolomite.
It'd be my Cotic Soul.
If however future maintenance would be an issue then I'd go for a single speed gravel bike.
If it really needed the money, the expensive* bikes would go. The HT 26er would be staying as it's worth about £50.
For preference, I'd keep my Arkose as an "only" bike. I'm interested in swapping (n+1 not an option) the 26er for something like a Sherpa or Solaris - if I'd done that, thet would be the one I'd keep.
*relatively.
You can always get a cheap commuter as well as an offroad mtb, unless space is limited. Just go for an old hardtail with slicks on it. Shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred pounds all in and would deter thiefs when it's locked up. I wouldn't want to lock up a nice bike.
The next part of that then is what does this bike look like?
My rigid Salsa. Good enough on road to hold road PRs on, comfortable enough for all day and handles nearly any off road. Not ideal.for leaving locked up though....
Secondhand Cannondale 29er rigid off classifieds here with 1x11 fitted and decent tyres. Does all I need. Doesn’t stop me having other bikes but didn’t stop me riding on and off road when I didn’t have other bikes.
Some very interesting answers here!
Ok, it's not financial oblivion, just frugality.
@tthew no, you've had to sell all your bikes; this is a separate bike.
@trumpton nope, it's one bike.
I had a Surly Crosscheck a few years ago and I remember thinking at the time that it could be a one-bike.
What I'm trying to explore is how much influence gear has over our experience of cycling.
I BMX'd all through my teens and early twenties and that really was one bike to do it all. I can remember a widely held prejudice was that mountain bikers were completely gear obsessed to the detriment of just riding (oddly, this didn't apply to road cyclists). I got my first "modern" mtb in 2009 which was a GT Peace 29er and I loved it, it felt very minimalist, just enough bike to get things done. But as time, experience and money went on, I became more "into" the bikes. Now, currently I have a 7yo Karate Monkey, with a reasonably budget conscious build. I love it, but I do feel little pangs of inadequacy if I turn up for group rides and everyone seems to be on £3k+ bikes. This is totally my problem, of course, but peer pressure and media marketing can be very strong.
This thread has bindun many times but... the answer each person gives is kind of instructive on how 'rad' you consider yourself. either you go for something that will do road and easytrack well and accept that there will be a limit of what you can do in terms of techy stuff, or you go for HT with a sus fork and put up with the position, big tyres and wide bars when riding on the road.
Ridgid gearbox fatbike with a spare set of 29r wheels......
I would stick with my BFe. It's done all sorts from big trail centre rides to commuting and onto multi-day rides across the country with rack conversion.
I've set up the back axle to work with the trailer we have for the dogs too, so could use it as a cargo bike if necessary.
Pretty much ticks every box for me.
This one - will just about do everything. I have ridden it to work, winter MTB rides, longish mixed terrain rides etc. Weighs a bloody ton mind 🙂
My commuter, 1x9, rigid, tubeless, "agricultural" RSP dropper.
I have a raleigh m-trax that i picked up for about 30 quid.
I'd leave it locked anywhere, it's reasonably fast with slicks on and it'll do all my local South Downs biking, and it costs peanuts to fix/maintain, so that's what I'd choose.
Modern equivalent would be a hybrid or gravel/adventure bike i guess
There always seems to be a majority convergence on something with 700c wheels, fully rigid, decent tyre clearance, with a bunch of braze-ons. The main point of contention then being the choice of flat or drop bars.
There was a time when I started road cycling, when I did most of it on a mountain bike running slick tyres...
I still considered it road cycling. The bike itself doesn't identify your riding.
If I had one bike, I think like most on here, it would be a fat-tyre-capable gravel bike. I know some people think the 'gravel bike' thing is a fad, but I see it as a resurgence of the simple all-round bikes we had in the late 80s, early 90s. Only they're faster now. And they're versatile enough to be ridden on the road, or on a mountain, even on the same set of tyres. What you identify with is then up to you.
The OP's post basically was my situation when I was young. The bike had to do it all.
I used what is now regarded as a classic lightweight (steel, fancy lugs). I fitted larger tyres than most people fitted (attracted scorn from the fashionista roadie types), and it got used for commuting, road riding, rough stuff (sort of stuff that's now in the HT550, eg Corrieyairack), and trips to Edinburgh, Glasgow from Inverness, and when my girlfriend moved to the south of England, to pop down there a few times to visit her.
In the same situation now it would be either a Pompino, or a Surly Disk Trucker - with the preference being the Surly because it can take 2" tyres.
Spec now would be 3 speed hubgear, probably drum brakes because they never wear out and the rims benefit too, steel chainring, and to further conserve money and reduce maintenance, I'd fit a chaincase so I'd never wear out the drivetrain either.
Actually, that sounds awfully like a classic British roadster like a 1940/50s Rudge or Raleigh.
@epicyclo I'm beginning to think that that would be very close. Also keeping in mind how people used to cycle to work and with a change of wheels, race etc. at the weekend.
I'm not personally in this situation, it was just to see where other peoples sorta datum points lie.
How much bike do you actually need to tick the "cyclist" box. I'm starting to build up a mental picture of what my one would be like.
A one-bike-to-rule-them-all is impossible IMO, but that's not what I'm getting at. I think it's more about how far you could pare the modern bike back. My own ideas thus far;
1) Steel (I think 4134 minimum) frame and fork, slackish.
2) Rigid for purchase price, maintenance costs etc.
3) Single speed or SA AW, with road-y cranks.
4) I think 700c, 2" clearance, rim brakes for cost.....
This all rather incoherent as usual.
Right now I have an old Soul which is mostly used as a commuter (because I bust my wrist and can't ride my normal commuter). I could get by with just that one bike. Really glad I don't have to though!
The old Orange P7 that got me into mountain bikes. I still ride it now, maintaining it costs peanuts cos its Deore/SLX 3x9. It's capable of anything I am, and more besides, I can fit racks. It'll just about do anything I want at a push. When I got it I thought I was spending a fortune, but over the years its been the cheapest fun i've ever had with my pants on.
Gun to my head, I'd say my Spark RC. I've taken it down some pretty steep descents and survived, it's very comfortable over distance and surprisingly efficient on the road!
Having said that, I've not ridden my Intense Spider yet 🙂
I know that technically anyone on a bike is a cyclist and that’s all nice, but we all know that isn’t really true and we all have prejudices and snobberies
I disagree with this. Anyone on a bike is a cyclist. And how much you ride is far more important than how many bikes you have.
Anyway, if I had to choose only one of my bikes it would be the Arkose - I’d still just about be able to do everything I do now. If I was choosing any bike to be my only bike I might go for the Orange Speedworks. I’ve never tried one, but that kind of bike seems like it would allow most types of riding.
I’m in the rigid 29er camp. Choose something Stoogey and with a change of tyres and possibly bars you have a surprisingly capable mountain bike and a close approximation of a road/gravel bike.
And being a cyclist is entirely in your head. I could be one without any bikes -but who wants to be pigeonholed?
some people think the ‘gravel bike’ thing is a fad, but I see it as a resurgence of the simple all-round bikes we had in the late 80s, early 90s
This is my thinking exactly. I ride my current Arkose 3 the way I used to ride my old rigid Orange Clockwork - the one I bought second hand in about 1990.
I had it for years - I wish I'd kept it, it was the best bike I ever had, but I got seduced by suspension and other new-fangled stuff so I gave it to a mate who'd had his bike stolen.
Why would I torture myself with such a horrible thought?
Bruce Willies
4) I think 700c, 2″ clearance, rim brakes for cost…..
If rim brakes, I'd fit stainless steel rims because then you'll never grind your way through them.
And as for the capabilities of the old British roadsters, here's pic of my 70 year old one on part of the HT550.
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I bought it for about £40, it had been lying in a shed for 20 years after 50 years of commuting and leisure which if it did a moderate 5 miles a day works out at nearly 100,000 miles.
I replaced the perished tyres and tubes, checked all the bearings - all ok, just add fresh oil and grease and it was good to go. The original chain was still in good condition.
The rims are stainless, as are the spokes.
I believe it will still be perfectly rideable in another 70 years, so maybe one of these is the answer to your question.