How many bikes is it right to own?

one.

I simply can't afford to have more, but if I can, the max for me would be 3;

a fixed wheel bike
a town/dutch utility bike
a road bike preferably modern steel horizontal TT one.

i have:

• carbon road bike
  
• steel fixed (general use)
  
• newly-purchased Brompton
  
  

and in aus i also have:

• late-90's alu hardtail MTB
  
• late 70's english touring bikes that belonged to my dad x2
  

Fiddy Obvuiously hasn't seen this yet, and as his name has been mentioned he needs some representation.

I know its about 11/12 fully built as of now. He also has that exceptional 8 speed Moser and the Nag which are nearly done. Also the Pinnerallo Prince which is waiting for either the DT2 or Super Record 11 groupsets (I can't remember which).

I did have a discussion about his wheels with him at the moment and including those on bikes I think it was somewhere in the vacinity of 50 individual wheels.

NOW all bets are off...

;)

( I have ALMOST 5 if your interested, which your not, so I'm not entirely sure why I mentioned it)

The new Di2 is stunning dunno if it's worth 2.5K though. You'll never go back to 10 speed when you've tried 11.

1. Fixed hack (suicide hub+rack), no worries - leave and lock anywhere
   
2. Fixed commuter, only for secure lockup at work/home
   
3. Carbon 10 speed, for the occasional weekend 60 miler
   
   

Hybrid donated to my son.

Is the answer 7? What do I win? Cash is fine...

the answer is surely 42

the answer is surely 42

Damn, I must have forgotten to multiply by 2 somewhere...

I've been considering this recently, and I don't know.

1. I'd keep my fixie-wixie
   
2. and my new audax affair
   
3. eventually it'd be fun to own a dura-ace equipped racing bike
   
4. and probably a rigid or hardtail singlespeed mountain bike
   
5. and an all-singing, all-dancing full bouncer of some kind
   
   

So... 5. But that's how many I'd like to own, not how many is 'right'. Personally I don't see the problem; They'd still take up less space than a car.

i did a quick google but couldn't find any philosophers who had written specifically about the "right" number of cycles to own, but pope benedict xvi has some things to say about consumerism in general.

Damn, I must have forgotten to multiply by 2 somewhere...

You certainly missed tourers and cargo bikes.

Oh, and a Pashley Princess for her indoors.

sold my ruption, which has consequently ben stolen. Cunts.

Got silver/ chrome roadie (soon for sale) and the fixed. Disgusting frankenstein hunk a junk. ob ob ob

1; a 'custom made' road/bmx/time trial bike for the olympics (still being built)
2; a 'clown bike' for my role as the comedy 'baddie' in the next James Bond film (still being built)
3; a 'space bike' for when I lead the first manned mission to mars (it's hush hush) (still being built)
4; a new 'sexy bike' which I will let glossy girls sit on and have their photograph taken so they can be perved over by bearded losers (still being built)
5; an 'alchemy-Canute' bike which is being made of base metal but which will turn in to gold when I sit on it (still being built)
6; a 'Popecycle' because the Vatican has asked me to be the next Pope (still being built)
7; a 'Spacehopper' which Mummy bought me. It's not really a bicycle but I like bouncing up and down on it in our drive before Mummy calls me in for dinner. Hope it's egg and chips (still being fried).

You're wasted here Will.

You're wasted here Will.

I think I may be a little 'wasted' right now if I have understood the modern 'youth' argot because I have only recently returned from a ''public house' where I I was persuaded to drink two pints and one half pint of 'Kronenberg "1664"' which I believe is a French beer of antique origin and the experience has left me a little light headed.

1. Beater/bad weather/lock anywhere fixed
   
2. fair weather fixed
   
3. Tourer/mule/current road bike
   and possibly a 4th which will be a nice geared road bike, hopefully finding out on Wednesday from Retro di Corsa.
   

Partner is showing signs of disapproval of me "needing more than one bike". Currently one Fixed being built stored in shed. One geared tourer stored at workshop. One hybrid with child seat and every heavy utility to weigh it down possible. The hybrid is allowed in the house.

2 yr old son has two bikes in the house. One wood, one plastic and is also allowed toys all over the floor in every room and pushchairs, car seats etc everywhere and allowed to throw his dinner at me after I've spent an hour making it.

How to subtly make 2 other bikes appear in the house?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mt3vZHDiM8

I have a Raleigh Optima frame which is broken and has a bottom bracket stuck in it. And a Colnago C95 which has a bottom bracket stuck in it and a stem and a seat post stuck in it. And a Colnago Technos which is lovely and has a rounded out stem bolt stuck in it. One day I hope to own a bike that has nothing stuck in it.

Partner is showing signs of disapproval of me "needing more than one bike"

My mother knew the battle was lost when the parents were shopping for a new bed, and father had to measure the drawers underneath to make sure his best wheels would fit in them.

Partner is showing signs of disapproval of me "needing more than one bike". Currently one Fixed being built stored in shed. One geared tourer stored at workshop. One hybrid with child seat and every heavy utility to weigh it down possible. The hybrid is allowed in the house.

2 yr old son has two bikes in the house. One wood, one plastic and is also allowed toys all over the floor in every room and pushchairs, car seats etc everywhere and allowed to throw his dinner at me after I've spent an hour making it.

How to subtly make 2 other bikes appear in the house?

Same here. I'm only allowed the unfinished lo-pro in the kitchen, because I promised I will sell it at some point (for "profit" - yeah, right). There's also my stepson's hybrid in the kitchen ("because it's expensive" and almost ready Fuji Track Pro hanging on the bracket on the wall behind the fridge. Wooden bike and a plastic trike belonging to my 2 y/o always somewhere in the way. A mountain bike in the garden next to a rusty bmx. Folding bike in the boot of my car. The shed is full of spare parts for my other car which needs to be restored at some point (folding soft top, bumper and a pair of new doors). On top of that unfinished Fondriest frame. I need more space. I'm looking for some kind of metal brackets I can fit in the kitchen to hang up all the light frames, so I don't bump into the stuff at night.

Will, never show your face in Billinge again. You ordered a half?
Ken Barlow face

Will, never show your face in Billinge again. You ordered a half?
Ken Barlow face

Actually I halved a half with another man. Ken Halliwell face.

In general, if you have somebody else in the house who will question whether you need another bike, then it as well to go into the relationship with a sufficient number that extra ones can pass unnoticed. It helps if you stick to one or two basic colour schemes. If you have 10 black bikes and add a yellow one, it will stand out. If you have 4 black bikes and add another black one, you can probably bluff it out.

In the absence of domestic constraints, the total number will depend on which types of riding you do. For example, if you ride exclusively for the purpose of track racing you probably only need five bikes:

1: Race sprint bike
2: Race pursuit bike
3: Track training bike
4: Summer road bike (can also be used on the rollers for warm ups)
5: Winter road bike

Not everybody is so narrowly focused, though, so you might need to add

6: Road race bike
7: Road TT bike

and then there's the winter to think about

8: CX bike
9: Second CX bike for swaps

but if you're going to ride CX, you might as well do some MTB races for skills improvement

10: XC Race MTB
11: XC Training MTB

That was fun, but now there are other challenges opening up

12: Full-Sus enduro bike
13: SS MTB

And you SS MTB is nice, but it's not quite right on the local six pack, so

14: Dirt jump bike

And you did OK in the MTB class at the BMX track, but those little wheeled bikes seem to be even better

15: BMX race bike
16: BMX jump bike

but your BMX jump bike is good on the stairs and rails, but there are things in the urban landscape you could session if you only had a

17: 20" trials bike

which is all very well, but that hippity hoppity stuff doesn't really flow, so it's not helping you MTB riding as much as it should, so maybe what you need is

18: 26" trials bike

Now that you're going out and playing on natural stuff, picking lines that flow together, perhaps you need to up the ante by hitting them faster

19: Freeride bike

Of course, if you're going to go fast, you have to go faster than everybody else, which means racing

20: DH race bike

and there's no pointing driving all that way to races and then not competing in all the races

21: BSX/4X bike

Obviously, I've pared the collection down to the bare essentials by sticking to sports use and eliminating spares except for CX. Some people also think they are missing out on the full experience if they don't also have a tandem or three
that made me smile

You certainly missed tourers and cargo bikes.

Oh, and a Pashley Princess for her indoors.
oh and mitre teaser missed out moultons. . . you need a small wheeled full sus made in england for commuting and showing you have 10 k to spend on random shizzle :D