Taking Stock.
I have a few bikes. Far too many, according to some. Far too few, according to others.
I started thinking about this the other day, which is always a dangerous thing.
Maybe I do have too many bikes. Then again, maybe the number is right and they're just the wrong bikes. Some I like better than others, so I ride them more. Some are used for very specific tasks, and perform admirably in those roles. I realized years ago that I didn't need the latest and greatest, but rather solid and dependable. Aerodynamic frame design really no longer thrills me, because quite frankly I find them a pain in the ass to work on. A good old fashioned English thread bottom bracket is stiff enough for me for the vast majority of my sprinting. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I'm at the point where I just want to ride my bikes and not worry about the rest of it.
It's fairly bad that I have to sit down and think about how many bikes I have at the moment.
It's a lot of bikes. What's worse, it's a lot of bikes that don't get ridden a whole lot. I would say 95% of my riding is done on the Russian ti and Madone 5.2 Pro. It doesn't seem right, so maybe it's time to start refining my collection. Ironically, those are the two bikes I am looking at the most to off-load. The 5.2 Pro is still a race-worthy ride, but it's getting a little long in the tooth. Despite being very similar to the Madones of today, the average latest/greatest Trek buyer would think it was horribly outdated. As I mentioned, the ti bike is too endurance-oriented, and doesn't quite jump like I prefer. Could I replace them with one bike? Is there a bike that has the rock-solid durability of the Russian ti and the reliable performance of the 5.2 Pro? I can't help but think there is.
The bikes I find myself lusting after these days aren't the carbon wunderbikes the big companies churn out year after year. They're the round-tube frames from small builders. Bikes crafted out of steel and titanium that perform every bit as well, but don't fall apart when a few pebbles strike their downtubes. Euro-sounding brands like Stoemper or Speedvagen. Ti builders like Kent Eriksen, Firefly, or Moots. I've never been much for the lugged look, although I can appreciate the craftsmanship when it's done well. No, I'm down to brutal, rugged simplicity and clean lines.
You roll up to a group ride somewhere on a Trek, people generally won't give it a second look. On a Firefly or an Eriksen? A rider will look a little closer. Maybe I'm just looking to buy street cred before I'm dropped at the first hill. Screw it, as long as I like what I'm riding I couldn't care less how unworthy I am. Plus, given my recently acquired habit of falling down, I need something that's built to last.
Problem is, most of those bikes I lust after take several months if not a year to be delivered. My tastes could change before I ever get to ride it. The framesets also cost more than my car, and that's before I start slapping on the high-end parts. As much as I'd like to believe I'm some specially-proportioned rider that can only be properly fitted on a custom-made bike, the truth is that I fit a lot of standard-sized bikes. I'm remarkably average.
So, I've been looking in the usual used marketplaces for frames I like. Something someone with more disposable income than I have bought, rode for a couple years, and then decided to sell. Unfortunately, the market for such frames can be kinda limited. Moots, Litespeed, and Lynskey put out a decent amount of bikes these days, so they're relatively common. The others? Not so much. When they do show up, they command more than I usually want to pay. I want the best, I want it now, and I want to pay pennies on the dollar for it. Is that so much to ask?
Probably.
I'll never find a true quiver killer. I'll always own bikes I haul down off the hooks for a handful of rides a year. They last a long, long time that way. However, I want an everyday ride that does most things better than "pretty good". Maybe I'll find one.
"Paring down the quiver" is about as good of an excuse as any for buying yet another bike, even if it really doesn't make much sense when viewed objectively.
I started thinking about this the other day, which is always a dangerous thing.
Maybe I do have too many bikes. Then again, maybe the number is right and they're just the wrong bikes. Some I like better than others, so I ride them more. Some are used for very specific tasks, and perform admirably in those roles. I realized years ago that I didn't need the latest and greatest, but rather solid and dependable. Aerodynamic frame design really no longer thrills me, because quite frankly I find them a pain in the ass to work on. A good old fashioned English thread bottom bracket is stiff enough for me for the vast majority of my sprinting. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I'm at the point where I just want to ride my bikes and not worry about the rest of it.
It's fairly bad that I have to sit down and think about how many bikes I have at the moment.
It's a lot of bikes. What's worse, it's a lot of bikes that don't get ridden a whole lot. I would say 95% of my riding is done on the Russian ti and Madone 5.2 Pro. It doesn't seem right, so maybe it's time to start refining my collection. Ironically, those are the two bikes I am looking at the most to off-load. The 5.2 Pro is still a race-worthy ride, but it's getting a little long in the tooth. Despite being very similar to the Madones of today, the average latest/greatest Trek buyer would think it was horribly outdated. As I mentioned, the ti bike is too endurance-oriented, and doesn't quite jump like I prefer. Could I replace them with one bike? Is there a bike that has the rock-solid durability of the Russian ti and the reliable performance of the 5.2 Pro? I can't help but think there is.
The bikes I find myself lusting after these days aren't the carbon wunderbikes the big companies churn out year after year. They're the round-tube frames from small builders. Bikes crafted out of steel and titanium that perform every bit as well, but don't fall apart when a few pebbles strike their downtubes. Euro-sounding brands like Stoemper or Speedvagen. Ti builders like Kent Eriksen, Firefly, or Moots. I've never been much for the lugged look, although I can appreciate the craftsmanship when it's done well. No, I'm down to brutal, rugged simplicity and clean lines.
You roll up to a group ride somewhere on a Trek, people generally won't give it a second look. On a Firefly or an Eriksen? A rider will look a little closer. Maybe I'm just looking to buy street cred before I'm dropped at the first hill. Screw it, as long as I like what I'm riding I couldn't care less how unworthy I am. Plus, given my recently acquired habit of falling down, I need something that's built to last.
Problem is, most of those bikes I lust after take several months if not a year to be delivered. My tastes could change before I ever get to ride it. The framesets also cost more than my car, and that's before I start slapping on the high-end parts. As much as I'd like to believe I'm some specially-proportioned rider that can only be properly fitted on a custom-made bike, the truth is that I fit a lot of standard-sized bikes. I'm remarkably average.
So, I've been looking in the usual used marketplaces for frames I like. Something someone with more disposable income than I have bought, rode for a couple years, and then decided to sell. Unfortunately, the market for such frames can be kinda limited. Moots, Litespeed, and Lynskey put out a decent amount of bikes these days, so they're relatively common. The others? Not so much. When they do show up, they command more than I usually want to pay. I want the best, I want it now, and I want to pay pennies on the dollar for it. Is that so much to ask?
Probably.
I'll never find a true quiver killer. I'll always own bikes I haul down off the hooks for a handful of rides a year. They last a long, long time that way. However, I want an everyday ride that does most things better than "pretty good". Maybe I'll find one.
"Paring down the quiver" is about as good of an excuse as any for buying yet another bike, even if it really doesn't make much sense when viewed objectively.
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