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I currently ride a carbon 29er Vitus Escarpe CRX with decent components etc. It's a good bike, not dream bike level but the best I have ever had. I built it up a year ago to be my go to bike for everything including big days out in places like the peak district, yorkshire etc as well as hitting the more natural trail centres in the UK. At 140r / 150f travel it is (IMO) about perfect to go have fun in these places while still being good to ride all day.
Great? Problem is due to a long old recovery from back to back covid I'm just not riding these places at the moment and can't see it happening until at least mid summer. In the meantime what I am doing is going to a couple of local spots which are a bit more focussed on airtime than anything else. I'm also really enjoying it, despite not being very good.
Here's my issue, I now feel like I'm holding back a bit for fear of damaging by 'best' bike. Especially considering that it's a Vitus so I no longer have any warranty and I'm going to struggle for parts if anything is needed. Plus I don't really want to ruin my bike before I can do the big days out again.
So I'm looking at an n+1 - specifically a Trek remedy. My 27.5 hardtail is agile and fun but absolutely not suited to my trail spot. So a fairly burly full suss frame that (at a future time) takes a coil just fine seems like the answer. Maybe even simplify things more by going singlespeed. Also - they are knocking around quite cheap at the moment... So STW, am I being a plank here? Should I just ride my bike and deal with the worries? Or am I onto something..?
Sorry for the ramble. Just can work out if I am actually thinking along the right lines, or if I have just hyperfocussed on a new bike and am trying to justify it...
If you want another bike get one. Life is short, bikes aren’t particularly extravagant, and they’re only expensive if you don’t use them.
Seems pretty reasonable to me. Will give you a good pair of different bikes for different rides. It's a good time to buy, some great prices out there.
So, I'm guessing that, with the Remedy, you're not really looking at 'more' bike as such (it's only 10mm F&R than the Vitus), just something maybe a bit more 'playful' and 'cheap' such that you don't mind too much if you crash/scrape it?
Probably makes sense if you can afford it ...
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So, I’m guessing that, with the Remedy, you’re not really looking at ‘more’ bike as such (it’s only 10mm F&R than the Vitus), just something maybe a bit more ‘playful’ and ‘cheap’ such that you don’t mind too much if you crash/scrape it?
Probably makes sense if you can afford it …
That's pretty much it. I don't really need much more bike but I am drawn to the combination of playful, tough and (currently) cheap. Affordability is a bit of a stretch but not as much as replacing a carbon frame because I hucked it a bit hard..!
Seems pretty reasonable to me. Will give you a good pair of different bikes for different rides. It’s a good time to buy, some great prices out there.
THanks. If it weren't for the fairly incredible prices right now I probably wouldn't even consider it!
If you want another bike get one. Life is short, bikes aren’t particularly extravagant, and they’re only expensive if you don’t use them.
Thanks. Life is indeed short and mine is littered with poor financial decisions. But yea, a bike I will actually ride won't be one of them.
Can I suggest a secondhand ally YT Capra. Really good ones from around 2017/18 can be had for 1k. Absolutely bombproof and very good for what you require.
This is obviously going against the grain of N+1, so not standard stw.... but I would just use the Escarpe for everything as it will likely be fine for local sessioning as well as big days out. Maybe put some cash away just in case you need to repair or replace something, but it's cash you haven't spent until that point, unlike N+1.
So ride it hard now with no fear, knowing you have saved the equivalent of a whole Remedy.
Or sell it and buy a remedy that would be easier to get parts for if you do break it?
You've come to the right place if you're looking for n+1 justification! 😉