Why so many bikes?

I can understand having multiple bikes as in a triathlon frame, road frame, mountain bike frame, but I don’t understand why some people have multiple road frames especially really expensive ones. How do you guys decide which bike to ride?

Well I can only speak for myself as I have 6 bikes in total (8 including the 2 that I have done up for my wife). I have a road bike that I have built up as a weight weenie bike that I love to ride but only ride in the summer time. I also have a triathlon bike that I ride in the summer. I have a winter road bike that I have set up more as a triathlon bike to ride in the winter. I have a cyclo cross bike that I ride to work and ride in the winter. I have a full suspension mountain bike that I ride all year round and I have a single speed mountain bike that I love to ride around for fun.

For me I have always wanted to have the bikes that I have now and love the variety. I can honestly say that I love bikes and that I am a bit of a addict when it come to bikes. I have spent a lot of time getting the bikes the way that I want and find it very relaxing to head into the garage to work on them when I am not riding.

Do you have a set of pedals for each or swap them around?

I have speedplays on the road bike, tri bike and winter bike. On the cross bike, mountain bike and single speed I have eggbeaters. I have two pairs of road shoes with the speedplay cleat on them and I have one pair of old road shoes and a pair of mountainbike shoes with the eggbeater cleats on them.

I have speedplays on the road bike, tri bike and winter bike. On the cross bike, mountain bike and single speed I have eggbeaters. I have two pairs of road shoes with the speedplay cleat on them and I have one pair of old road shoes and a pair of mountainbike shoes with the eggbeater cleats on them.
THE correct number of bikes one has equal n + 1 (where n = # you have currently)

Do you have a set of pedals for each or swap them around?

change pedals ??

that is just to much work

dirt

Discretionary income. Some spend their money on cars, beer, baseball cards, clothes, motorcycles, RV’s… this is our hobby and it’s what we love. This is where we chose to spend our money. Where’s the quandary? It’s a sport of passion for technology and that (along with high incomes) equals the bike collection. It’s never enough. LOL!

Trek 5500: The “everyday” road bike for logging the miles. Pretty basic setup. Nice stuff, but basic.

Cervelo Soloist: DA10, HED Alps wheelset. Used for group rides when I know all the local racers will be there, or for the few road races I do.

K2 Mod5: Former everyday bike that’s now used for trainer, roller and outdoor rain rides.

Cervelo P2k: Used for time trial training, triathlon relay events when conditions are less than ideal, etc.

Cervelo P3sl: My dream machine. Used for time trials and key triathlon events on flatter courses.

All bikes are either full DA or a mix of DA and Ultegra. All have Speedplay pedals, some X-1s, some X-2s. The two Cervelos are nearly identical in spec, fit and dimension. They’re both 650 bikes and I have a full range of 650 training and race wheels.

I’m 50. It was either this or a Corvette and gold chains.

.

You don’t have to understand it. Just don’t criticize it.

I have 5 bikes, and I tell myself that they are used for different things:

Road bike: Trek 5200-Group rides/spring rides-if I had one bike this would be it

Tri bike: Six13 IM

Mt bike: Gary Fisher Mt Tam I never ride it, but it is worth so little I might as well keep it.

Cross bike: Cannondale, built up with lefotover parts. Ride to work/winter rides

Fixed gear: Paramount series 7,built up with spare parts.

I would love a new road bike and I know I would get good use out of it. It is just not in the budget at this time.

Keeping it simple.

2006 Trek Madone SSL: DA10, Powertap SL HED Alps for racing and Powertap SL/open pro/chris king for training, Q-Rings, ZeroGravity brakes, FSA Kforce bar, ITM carbon stem, thompson masterpiece post, Spec ti saddle

2006 Cervelo P3C: DA10, Mavic disc/Zipp808, SRM Dura Ace, reynolds fork, Q-Rings, HED bar, hooker brake, deda stem, Spec ti saddle

2006 Tiemeyer custom pursuit: Blackwell track disc/ Blackwell 100, track powertap wheels, Vision bar system, thomson post, Spec ti saddle, FSA vigorelli cranks

Why? Because you can. Some guys I know spend their money on golf, cars, etc. We’re just big kids and we like our toys. I have road, tri, mtn, cyclocross, and beater bikes. Weather and terrain typically dicatate which bike I choose.

Nice rides Gary!!

I’ve got:

2005 Fuji Team SL with Record for race days
2005 Fuji Team Pro with Chorus for training/backup race bike
2004 Fort Komet TT with Centaur as my TT/tri bike
2000 Cannondale Cross bike with Veloce for cross and everyday kicking around.

I race around 40 times a year and have the Fuji’s since they are our team sponsor and we get great deals. Both of my Fuji’s have been built up for probably less than one Fuji MSRP.

hay
I have 2 Fort frames
how do you like the Fort Komet ??
and problems thoughts about it
I have a uno and a older steel Thron
I want a steep frame Fort is one I can afford but it isn’t to steep

Thom

add in a commuter bike…
sometimes it comes down to this: you have a bike that can’t really handle the major miles anymore, you have the $ for a new bike, the space in the garage, and you’re attached enough to the old bike to not sell it (and it’s probably not worth much anyway).
i’m at 4 bikes now, and they each get some miles, but it’s true that there are some times when i realize that one of them hasn’t been outside for a while.
-charles

I love it. It was basically bought on a bet. A friend of mine had a P3C and was trying to talk me into buying a carbon tri bike. I told him I’d still beat him on a generic aluminum frame. So, I was pretty much set on a QR Seduza or Caliente and decided to try and build a budget minded racer. So I got FIST’d and took it from there. The FORT pretty much fit my specs exactly. I called and they had a left over frame and I got it for $250. It’s the yellow and white which I don’t really like, but I am getting ready to get it powdercoated anyway, and for the price I couldn’t pass it up. So I pieced everything together and actually LOVED the frame. The fit is perfect and I feel great on it. I was only planning on using it for a year or two and then buy a carbon frame, but I like it so much, I’m just going to keep it.

This is from last year when I first got it done. It had Ultegra on there since I was going for a budget build. It now has Centaur 10 speed.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y163/cslone/DSC01115.jpg

For every job, one needs the correct tool…With that said, my super-understanding spouse created the “$1,000 rule” which simply states that for every $1,000 spent on a bike, I need to get 1 year of use out of it (a $4,000 bike can’t be replaced for 4 years).

  1. Colnago C-40 (year 2000) with year 2000 Campy 10s–This was the gift I gave myself when I graduated B-School…It’s got 40k miles on it, 8 Ironmans, and 10-halfs…I still love riding it and the memories make it hard (near impossible) to sell…Something about the Kona Bike Check Sticker…

  2. Colnago C-50 (year 2005…See rule above) with 2005 Record 10s–The bike which replaced the C-40…Actually, with the slightly sloping top tube, it fits my slightly better than the C-40 so I really like the fit…Ironically, it’s actually HEAVIER than the C-40 by just a little bit…

  3. Colnago Master Pista (2001)–Steel Track Bike with Record Pista…The last of the Steel Track bikes from the Master…If you live 10 minutes from a velodrome…You better race the track one in a while…

  4. Moots Titanium YBB MTB with SRAM and a mix of components (2004)–Buy Ti for MTB and you never need to replace the frame. YBB is a perfect compromise for the weight weenie in me…

  5. Moots Titanium Psychlo-X–Built with older Chorus (2005)…I live in Portland, OR…Cross is king here! This is my commuter, winter trainer, etc. If I could only have one bike in the entire World, this would be it.

I had a Cervelo P2K that I used this past season…I sold it at the end of the year with the goal of getting a carbon Triathlon bike that can hold 2 bottle cages. The tri geometry allowed me to go faster on fewer watts (superior positioning) and I’m convinced that I’ll race all future Ironman races (with a few exceptions such as Lanzarote or Silverman) on tri geometry.

To answer your question, I leave one bike on the trainer all year (usually the back-up road bike) which allows me to use the CCX bike on wet days and the road bike when I get good conditions in the winter.

BTW, I drive a 1993 Ford Explorer with 140k miles on it…Whenever I’ve got a bike racked, the bike is worth more than the Ford…I take pride in my priorities and don’t see myself buying a new vehicle for a while.

I have 11 bikes, 5 road, 3 cross, 1 TT, 1 track, 1 SS/FG.

Why 5 road?

C50 with Record for nice days. As things turned out, I rode this more miles than any other bike this year.

Cramerotti Quattro. Normal training bike with Chorus and SRM.

Cramerotti Gardena. Just got this a couple of weeks ago as a winter bike. Steel, about 19.5 pounds, mongrel Campy parts mix from Centaur to old Record.

Independent Fabrication with S&S couplings. All steel for sturdiness in travel, not one carbon part. Mainly Chorus, with Centaur crank and BB (no Chorus compact in alloy). This is a really nice bike but spends most of the year in its box.

De Rosa Endurance. Classic steel bike, upgraed a couple of years ago with Chorus compact. A beautiful bike but more classic than fast. I keep it at my place in the mountains and ride it only when I’m up there half a dozen times a year.

Why 5 road bikes? All somewhat different purposes. However, I’m thinking of an IF factory lighweight for next season but can’t find a reason to justify it right now. It will be identical to the S&S one in size and geometry but a lot lighter with lots of carbon, Record and something light for wheels (perhaps my Zipp 303s that aren’t used much at present).

Why three cross bikes? The Litespeed (Chorus 9) was a Christmas gift from my wife and has become a winter bike with fenders. The Cramerotti (Veloce 9) was my commuter except that I retired earlier this year. My younger son will probably use it to commute to school in the spring. The Moots (Chorus 10) was too good a deal to pass up.

All the other bikes have a unique purpose and aren’t likely to be sold or replaced soon.

Chances are you’ll never buy the multi-million dollar house you’d love to have…
Chances are you’ll never buy the Lotus or McLaren of Ferrari you 'd love to have…
Chances are you’ll never buy that private jet…

But you can have the equivalent bike(s).