I've been riding for alomst 20 years now, and I've never owned more than one road bike at a time, preferring to either sell or give away the retired old steed. However, having just aquired my latest new ride, I'm thinking I'll keep the old one this time. Rationalization follows:
1. I can ride the old one in rain or nasty weather and not get the new one dirty
2. Selling a used 9 speed bike won't bring me much $$$, it has more value to me than it would to someone else

I feel like this is the camel's nose under the tent; i.e., I will soon rationalize getting a vintage bike, a travel bike, a fixie, etc. Is this how it starts?

It's just basic need. 1 steel, 1 carbon, 1 Ti, 1 retro, 1 rain, 1 hardtail mtb, 1 fs mtb.

Yea pretty much. My "categories" are:

Rain bike, grocery bike, fixed/ss, fast ride bike, look good bike, long distance bike

That's pretty much how my "stable" was started. I've still got the frame I used when I started serious cycling around 1972, a Stella. I've only let two bikes slip through my hands since then and both went to family members. A Cannondale Super V mountain bike went to my son and a Softride Solo went to my bro-in-law. Otherwise I've got everything I've acquired since the early '70's. That would be 9, including the Stella frame, but not including other family members bikes that still reside in the garage.

I was perfectly happy with pre-indexed shifting mtb that I used as a commuter and a road bike. I got a new road bike and told my friend Peter I was gonna keep the old one for bad weather riding, etc. He warned me that two road bikes belonging to the same person inevitably breed. Peter was right. I'm up to 4, not counting kids hand-me-ups.

My catergories

1. Non trendy Ti, Steel, Aluminium, Carbon. bikes.(opt. Bamboo)
2. Rain bike
3. Touring bike
4. TT bike
5. Race bike
6. Pro team bike(s)

At last, all of the above catergories from my favourite companies. :-)

:23:

1. Nice Long distance Fixed SS
2. Nice Track bike for shorter distances
3. Throw in the back of the car Fixed gear
4. Rain/commute single speed
5. Long distance road bike
6. Vintage road bike
7. Folding travel bike

and a whole bunch of frames hanging in the attic that I just can't part with

I know we tease TerryB a lot, but I just saw this picture. This guy truely has a problem. He either has a very odd interior decorator, or he is trying to corner the market in Ti. I love the newsboy though. Here is a link to his site. Apparently there are others not on display. http://www.kalimotxo.com/mtb/index_info.html

http://kalimotxo.com/mtb/images/room/images/room_front_000.jpg

However "it" starts, it's good. My first bike after a long non-riding hiatus was a hybrid I tooled around on for a while, until I found that I couldn't really ride offroad with it, hence my first (rigid) MTB. Realized I wanted to tour and the MTB wasn't working out that well in that role, so I got a touring bike. Touring bike wasn't as fast on the road as I wanted, so I got my first road bike. Then a hardtail...then dual-suspension...somewhere along the way I "discovered" cyclocross bikes, and I was really a goner. Not sure any more how many bikes I've got, but I am happy to say it's under 50 now.

Woah. That guy DOES have a problem - why aren't they built up?! :p
Everything would be good if he had some wheels on them :D

The trick is not to let them spend the night in the same room.

Definitely don't let them spend their nights in a cold garage. There's only one thing they can do to stay warm!

There's nothing "stable" about having a bunch of bikes but that's another story. Mine started over 30 years ago when because of an upcoming trip to Ocean City, Maryland, I decided I needed a coaster brake balloner to ride on the boardwalk there (I didn't want the sew-up's on my Italian racer ruined by splinters) . Then klunkers (soon aka MTB's) came along, a velodrome was built near by, someone suggested full pannier touring, the club decided cyclocross would be fun, ti frames came out, front & then full suspension MTB's seemed like good ideas, a tandem would be fun to ride with the wife, a new bike path meant I could commute to work, a coffee shop opened nearby requiring a single speed, I saw an Extracycle, it doesn't seem right taking the car to the Saturday Farmer's Market...

So the list of "must haves" follows:

Lugged steel classic (Preferably Italian with Campy Super Record)
Coaster brake ballooner (For example, a WWII Schwinn Tiger w/Chrome fenders)
Ti frame/carbon forked bike with all the weight-wienie stuff (Campy Record Carbon, et al)
Track bike (Except for the paint jobs, you've seen one & you've seen them all)
Touring bike (Long wheelbase and lots of eyelets)
Rigid, front suspension, & full suspension MTB's (Go ahead and get the Ellsworth)
Cyclocross bike (Ensure lots of tire clearance if you're actually going to race it)
Tandem (Get a folding one)
Breezer Uptown (To get to work in style)
700c single-speed/fixie (Go ghetto or full boat - depending on the coffee shop clientele)
Extracycle attached to a rigid MTB (An American Breezer works nicely - very cool and great for bike path clean-up days)
26" single-speed Farmer's Market bike (Fenders, all-rounder bars, wicker basket, rear rack/bags, canti's)

Of course this leaves little room in the three-car garage for the MINI and the Forester.

Yep. That's how it starts.

You're toast.

So the list of "must haves" follows:

Lugged steel classic (Preferably Italian with Campy Super Record)...

I'm already browsing eBay for a lugged steel DeRosa with Super Record :)

You need to have at least two good road bikes, in my view. That way you always have a bike to ride in case one has to get some work at the shop, has an unexpected flat at the last minute before you leave, etc. I've gotten by with 2 bikes until recently, when I succumbed to eBay window shopping. It started out as search for a cheap steal frame to make into a single speed, and ended up as nice retro downtube shifter. Now I'm back searching for that cheap frame for a single speed ...

Yes, you've taken the first step towards financial ruin.

My Categories:


Any road bike I see that I feel I can afford at that particular moment in time
A mountain bike to take to Mexico
A bike with S&S couplers
Whichever road bike I'm tired of that gets turned into a single speed

My stable is small, but has potential. Pics can be found in my member's gallery. Not shown are the kids bikes hanging from the ceiling. The white Schwinn in the forground is the workhorse in the group. It acts as my commuter, grocery, local chinese restaurant pickup, pull the kids in the trailer, etc. bike. The dark blue C-dale is my wife's (triathlons, training rides, centuries). The light blue C-dale is mine (triathlons, training rides, centuries). Not sure how well you can see it, but the crappy no-name mountain bike was given to us and we use it to ride next to the kids when they are out on their training wheel bikes.

spooky, thats just sad...
a frame is just wothless metal unless it's ridable. They cat needs some build kits!

a stable isn't too hard to come by...

a look at mine...

Road bikes:
- Paketa (my race bike for RR/Crit)
- Masi (my old race bike turned steel backup)
- Softride (for my TTs) it ain't UCI legal but i'd love for that to be a problem
- late 80's Raligh track bike... (dammit when are we going to get a boulder/denver drome?)

Mountain bikes
- Surly Karate Monkey (single speed rigid, primary off road bike)
- Gary Fisher Big Sur. (gona dust this puppy off for some action this season)
- dual suspension (purchase on hold as funds were misappropriated toward engagement ring/wedding/house)

Misc. bikes
- Bianchi Axis (CX racer of course!)
- vintage schwin, (for cruising/comuting)
- vintage schwinn twinn (for cruising with my sweetie) No bike turns as many heads and gets waves, smiles ect. The funnest bike of them all!
- newer schwinn remake of a vintage, (dust collector after some clod stole the gas tank and veloure seat)

I would say that I'm exactly the opposite. While I truly love bicycles, and all the wonderful designs, forms, shapes, and materials, I've rarely ever owned two bikes at the same time. Currently, I have a FElt F65 road bike. Nothing unique or sexy about it, but I hammer the hell out of it. I own one set of wheels. I ride them, race them, train them, whatever. yet, somehow, I'm still covered in credit card debt, and can't see the end.

Not to worry, however. I've been eyeballing an Orbea Onix and I really, really want a decent dual suspension mountain bike, as I'd like to cross-train the two. The wife and I are committed to paying down debt right now, and I've not been able to keep steady, solid income producing work for more than 12 months at a time since 2003. Right now, we're making more money than we ever have as a couple, and we're making the proverbial "hay while the sun is shining" with regards to paying down debt.

But I sure would love a decent Specialized Stumpy hardtail or a low-end FS Specialized or Cannondale....Or heck, anything...Oh, and that Orbea is sure sweet.....

Great. I was just starting to make progress towards selling off two or three bikes or frames a month until I'm down around 30, and you stick in that item about a bike with S&S couplers and I'm sitting here thinking "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm....I haven't had anything like that yet". I hope you're happy....:cryin:

That is indeed how it gets started. Mine consists more of parts that I refuse to throw out more than it does of bikes though.

Everyone needs at least
1. road bike
2. mtb
3. cross bike + a spare
4. single speed with a cracked frame
5. mtb frame with a bent chainstay
6. mtb frame that never fit you but you don't know what else to do with
7. bmx bike to hit some sweet jumps with

Add at least 7 different wheelsets, a few leftover groups and stacks of tires to the equation and you can build a small bike stable that could potentially run itself for a life time (it won't though because we all love new stuff).

Misery loves company, so yes, I am happy now. :D

1. Vanilla convertible fixed/multigear road/brevet bike (main recreational bike - usually in fixed mode) - ridden 30-50 days a year, about 1500-2000 miles
2. Bianchi Pista commuter (kludged fenders, shimano dynohub light) - ridden 230-240 days a year, about 2000 miles
3. Litespeed Tuscany - main back-up road bike (or faster road rides I can't do on the Vanilla in fixed mode) - ridden 5-10 days a year, 300-700 miles
4. Ritchey Break-Away - (nice travel bike, in the case, ready to go) - ridden 5-15 days a year, 200-500 miles
5. Cannondale hardtail (former commuter - gathering dust) - not being ridden

Despite all of this, I keep toying with the idea of an upright 3-speed-ish English/Amsterdam city/urban utility bike and a 650B Kogswell (or Bleriot?) multi-terrain road bike good for rides on mixed paved/gravel roads. I am certainly reaching the point of diminishing returns. A pair of 3-speed-ish English/Amsterdam city/urban utility bikes for me & my sweetie would be of minimal use because much of where we would ride them are generally within walking distance... So maybe a pair of 650B bikes instead to get up onto some of those marginally paved Forest Service roads... :idea:

He warned me that two road bikes belonging to the same person inevitably breed.

that is awesome. :thumbsup: