Enough.
Yesterday I sold a bike. I built up the Russian titanium frame and sold it at the bike swap. To be honest, given the amount of new parts on it, a little math would probably reveal I practically gave it away. That's why I don't keep records of what I spend on most projects. I just don't want to know. Hopefully the new owner will ride the hell out of it and enjoy it.
That's really what's it's all about, and that's a lesson I never seem to learn. I just want more.
I've been looking at Moots frames all over the place. Specifically Moots Compact and Compact SLs. I don't need another one. I now have two, in addition to the Vamoots RSL.
The first Compact is the only bike I've actually melted into. I've come close before, but somehow through dumb luck I've managed to hit on a combination that just works for me in a way that no other has before. It just feels "right", and I'm smitten. Other than the odd component in the future to do a minor tweak, this bike is done.
The RSL was built to mirror the Compact as much as possible, using the same parts wherever possible. It's darn close, yet stiffer, lighter, and faster. Thanks to the high-zoot ENVE wheels on it, it probably won't see much more than dry, bluebird rides and races. It's just too nice, and I like it every bit as much as the Compact.
So why get a second Compact if those two met every desire I had? In a word, travel. The second Compact is being fitted with S&S couplers so I can travel with a bike that inspires me. Even on the trainer, the BreakAway CX just doesn't make me giggle like a schoolgirl like the Compact does- I'm too much of a roadie. If I were to travel somewhere with actual pavement, I would want to be on a bike that would make the best use of it. Paired with an eTap wireless groupset in various configurations, I'll have the ultimate (for me) travel bike that the airlines won't gouge me for hauling around. Someday in the future I'll do a post on how I configure my travel bike for different trips.
So why am I still cruising eBay, forums, and Facebook marketplace ads for Moots Compacts? Why do I still want more, when I already have more than I need or could ever use? In addition to the three Moots, I have seven other bikes that rarely (or never) see pavement. Granted, one of those is my nightmare dented Storck that will be tied to the trainer until it corrodes out from under me. There's the time trial bike that sees maybe two or three TTs a year. There's my two race Madones, which currently may be on the bubble after the arrival of the RSL. There's the Lynskey gravel bike that I never can seem to find the time or enthusiasm to finish. There's yet another Madone and the BreakAway I would like to find homes for. More bikes than I have a need or even a want for, and yet I'm still looking.
In the last couple weeks I've found one tempting Compact after another, including a "unicorn" Moots SL, made of seamless butted 6/4 Reynolds titanium and sprinkled with the tears of 1000 virgin princesses. Even the guys at Moots say the SLs are the "most Mootsiest" ones of them all. And here it was, sitting there for the taking. I choked back an anguished cry and passed on it. I passed on other deals I consider "screaming".
For once, I realized I had enough. I realized I had far too many.
Instead of buying another project and blissfully spending hours sourcing parts to finish it, I went for a ride. I took the Compact up on the hillside above Anchorage, plowing through the runoff from the melting snow and spackling the titanium tubes with a heavy coat of the winter's road grit. I slowly trudged up the hills, weighed down with a full year's worth of bad life choices. I dove down potholed and sandy switchbacks as fast as I dared, reveling in the miracle of counter-steering. When I got home, I gave it a good scrub-down and got it ready for the next adventure.
I've started looking for ways to pare down what I have. Maybe lose some of those parts I'll likely never use, which are just cluttering up the place. Brands and models that I once swore by but have since moved away from. Cast-offs from projects that never found another home. And yes, some of those rarely used bikes will likely move on.
Yeah, I need to get back to just riding again and maybe skip some of the acquiring for a while. In the Compact I've found something that simply works for me, and I need to go out and play bikes a bunch more. As hard as I try with all of my eBay transactions, I can't buy fun- at least not in any meaningful way. If one bike is fun, five bikes aren't five times as fun. It doesn't work that way for me. N+1 has become a bit of a burden, and I don't do this to add to my troubles.
My gut isn't the only thing that needs to be leaned out.
That's really what's it's all about, and that's a lesson I never seem to learn. I just want more.
I've been looking at Moots frames all over the place. Specifically Moots Compact and Compact SLs. I don't need another one. I now have two, in addition to the Vamoots RSL.
The first Compact is the only bike I've actually melted into. I've come close before, but somehow through dumb luck I've managed to hit on a combination that just works for me in a way that no other has before. It just feels "right", and I'm smitten. Other than the odd component in the future to do a minor tweak, this bike is done.
The RSL was built to mirror the Compact as much as possible, using the same parts wherever possible. It's darn close, yet stiffer, lighter, and faster. Thanks to the high-zoot ENVE wheels on it, it probably won't see much more than dry, bluebird rides and races. It's just too nice, and I like it every bit as much as the Compact.
So why get a second Compact if those two met every desire I had? In a word, travel. The second Compact is being fitted with S&S couplers so I can travel with a bike that inspires me. Even on the trainer, the BreakAway CX just doesn't make me giggle like a schoolgirl like the Compact does- I'm too much of a roadie. If I were to travel somewhere with actual pavement, I would want to be on a bike that would make the best use of it. Paired with an eTap wireless groupset in various configurations, I'll have the ultimate (for me) travel bike that the airlines won't gouge me for hauling around. Someday in the future I'll do a post on how I configure my travel bike for different trips.
So why am I still cruising eBay, forums, and Facebook marketplace ads for Moots Compacts? Why do I still want more, when I already have more than I need or could ever use? In addition to the three Moots, I have seven other bikes that rarely (or never) see pavement. Granted, one of those is my nightmare dented Storck that will be tied to the trainer until it corrodes out from under me. There's the time trial bike that sees maybe two or three TTs a year. There's my two race Madones, which currently may be on the bubble after the arrival of the RSL. There's the Lynskey gravel bike that I never can seem to find the time or enthusiasm to finish. There's yet another Madone and the BreakAway I would like to find homes for. More bikes than I have a need or even a want for, and yet I'm still looking.
In the last couple weeks I've found one tempting Compact after another, including a "unicorn" Moots SL, made of seamless butted 6/4 Reynolds titanium and sprinkled with the tears of 1000 virgin princesses. Even the guys at Moots say the SLs are the "most Mootsiest" ones of them all. And here it was, sitting there for the taking. I choked back an anguished cry and passed on it. I passed on other deals I consider "screaming".
For once, I realized I had enough. I realized I had far too many.
Instead of buying another project and blissfully spending hours sourcing parts to finish it, I went for a ride. I took the Compact up on the hillside above Anchorage, plowing through the runoff from the melting snow and spackling the titanium tubes with a heavy coat of the winter's road grit. I slowly trudged up the hills, weighed down with a full year's worth of bad life choices. I dove down potholed and sandy switchbacks as fast as I dared, reveling in the miracle of counter-steering. When I got home, I gave it a good scrub-down and got it ready for the next adventure.
I've started looking for ways to pare down what I have. Maybe lose some of those parts I'll likely never use, which are just cluttering up the place. Brands and models that I once swore by but have since moved away from. Cast-offs from projects that never found another home. And yes, some of those rarely used bikes will likely move on.
Yeah, I need to get back to just riding again and maybe skip some of the acquiring for a while. In the Compact I've found something that simply works for me, and I need to go out and play bikes a bunch more. As hard as I try with all of my eBay transactions, I can't buy fun- at least not in any meaningful way. If one bike is fun, five bikes aren't five times as fun. It doesn't work that way for me. N+1 has become a bit of a burden, and I don't do this to add to my troubles.
My gut isn't the only thing that needs to be leaned out.
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