How many "forever" bikes do you have?
 

To many their forever bike means their one and only they will never part ways with. I guess I'm more promiscuous than that... I'm blessed with a tall and long garage/workshop wall where I can hang a number of them.

I recently got a specialized expedition, a very special bike indeed with a place in everybody's list of top 3 best touring bikes of all times. It rides like a dream, I need to build a new wheelset for it.

I also have a trek 720, also one of the best tourers ever built. My trusty mule of many thousands of miles.

And my 1971 Schwinn Paramount, my favorite credit card tourer. It goes to show you how far a freewheel will take you if you let it.

My Mt Fuji early mountain bike. It is just like me, not meant to be trying to pull crazy jumps anymore. But when a dry river bed or trail needs exploring it is the right tool for the job.

Then there is the longer list of bikes I probably will not get rid of anyways. A mint univega Gran tourismo, Raleigh Alyeska, heck my custom build Fuji flair mixte.

An univega specialissima (rebadged Miyata 1000) is not in either list because it is not my size. I'm hoping to eventually trade just the frame with somebody needing a larger one. Then it will probably join the forever list until a Miyata 1000 shows up, at which point I'll join the I'm-still-not-going-to-sell-it list.

The chrome Japanese market Nishiki Pro is a toss up, don't know yet. I'm currently spending money in it, building it up with arabesque components.

Don't know - I haven't reached the end of forever yet. But I have had my Legnano for a long long time...
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Too...darn...many...

The three Capo road bikes and the Schwinn mountain bike.

less than a few weeks ago :(

An example of my first road bike 1972- better size, same import batch. I was 12 and 5’-7”, everyone thought I would attain 6’. Nope.
my second road bike purchased in early 1974, sold off as a frameset plus in 1975, repurchased in 1983 - just received another overhaul.
‘My track bike from 1975, still hanging on a hook. I do not expect to sell that. Was made for me.
I bought a replacement of my first Masi early in the pandemic period - same color, to replace my stolen one.
my First mtb, a Ritchey from 1988.

these may not be forever bikes but the decades are reeling on.

periodically I look for a similar bike to my long sold off Harry Quinn criterium bike. There were two others in that import batch. The design was typical ultra short wheelbase of the mid 70’s, 37.25”. For a 22” ctt frame.
maybe one will turn up.

I suppose there are circumstances under which I would part with my Eisentraut, Ron Cooper, blue Cinelli and Paramount. I have trouble imagining what those circumstances would be, but it would take a lot.

My silver Cinelli, on the other hand, will have to be pried out of my cold, dead hands. And you'll need a seriously long lever.

I have two tiers. The lower one is comprised of nice bicycles that I intend to keep. Then there are those which I have some attachment to due to the rides I've had on them, or the effort I put into getting them to be the way they are. Counting only the ones which I don't consider my wife's (a couple of which are also very special in similar ways), I kinda hate to admit it's as many as it is, but there are 14 that I would call definite "keepers", five of which I'd have definite regret if I had to part with them.

1. 1974 Raleigh International - acquired from sloar about six years ago. I am hoping I'll be able to get to Cino someday, and if I do, this is what I intend to ride
2. 1972 Fuji Finest - was my very favorite rider when I returned to cycling. It's quite versatile and has made it through three of my four Seagull Centuries
3. Gugified 1972 Raleigh Competition. It now sports 650b wheels and cantis and a dyno hub. I still aspire to randonneuring, and this would be the choice
4. 2000 Bob Jackson Arrowhead. This is about as light and modern as steel gets without chasing the latest tech that adds about zero to functionality. It's a great go-fast machine and quite pretty too.
5. SB1092 - 1977 Raleigh Team Professional - arguably the very best model available in its day. While it isn't set up traditionally, and I didn't opt for the iconic paint scheme (original finish was already gone when I got it), it's a fine rider and is possibly the only thing I have owned/will own that I can say was the very best when it was new.

note: in my project queue, I have a couple potential additions.

Too many?

Nah ;)

This one.


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My 1978 De Rosa. It came to me in 2012 in my size 58.5. I do enjoy photographing it and posting.

It’s for summer rides only country backroads -
1000+ miles this summer. I only ride my Raleigh during Winter..

​​​I’ve had and ridden a few Italian cycles over the decades, but don’t seek bikes out anymore (for myself). I’ll keep this one, and my daughter will eventually have it.

Chris

Ar 72, calling any of my bikes a forever bike would be faint praise.

That said, the bikes I might have thought were candidates for being forever bikes 30 or 40 or 50 years ago, all of them steel, were sold off long ago or haven't been ridden in years.

I guess my forever bike is my (aluminum frame and fork) 2005 Specialized Langster fixed-gear bike. It just feels perfect, even on the rolling hills of Baltimore County.

Depending on interest rates, I’d like to move to a place a third to half the size as the current place shortly. This has changed my viewpoint entirely about forever bikes as I need to dump a bunch shortly. Also notice, not a lot of bikes will overlap in this thread. Meaning, there are a lot of great bikes. Any one can catch my fancy, I’m good.

That said, I am also a lazy person. If a bike floats my boat, it’s too much work to change it.

As the ol' spine compacts my fit on bikes changes, and so my oldest ride, which I once used for double centuries, is no longer a bike I can spend twelve hours on. OTOH could I spend twelve hours on any bike? Magic 8 ball says "hah!"

Forever seems a lot nearer, while the fleet spans forty years from oldest to most recent. Picking one and disposing of the rest would be traumatic.

How I almost detest that term, observed so often in breach despite all the lofty claims and best intentions…

After too many bicycles in too short a time, and now that I race on the bicycles of my youth rather than those of the present, I’m happily liberated from the chains of next year’s model, 3% lighter, 6% more aerodynamic, 18% more expensive and 40% less serviceable…

I doubt I’ll ever sell my Alberto Masi Faema tribute. I’d perhaps trade it for or towards another Masi, but it’d probably have to be an immaculate red 1989 3V in 59/60x58. You never know.

Having finally acquired a Ron Cooper, getting a sublime fork built for it, and having it painted in my all-time favourite bicycle colour it’s probably now the most forever.

I have no plans to ever sell my Serotta Coors Light team frame, but it is a repaint and if the right buyer surfaced I’d be persuadable I guess, but I can’t imagine ever listing it.

And my Bianchi was bought from a friend. I wouldn’t sell it or give it away other than back to home or one of his sons.

Perhaps the best lesson I’ve learned in this respect is that, for me at least, one doesn’t buy forever bicycles. No matter what it is, how perfect, however long the wait, it’s time spent on the road that makes some forever bicycles, and others not.

Around a hundred, cause I'll never get to them all. Right now I'm getting all my riding in on a dented and straightened out single speed mountain bike with a bit of black spray paint here and there. I'll be culling the herd at some point, and the "important" bikes that come to mind are:

Bill Veter touring bike (needs frame work+ paint)

Delta Sportive English Audux bike (needs significant frame work+paint)

Raleigh Competition (needs love)

Motobecane Le champion (needs love)

Bridgestone RBT (needs love)

Bridgestone T700 (need love)

Trek 728 (needs paint)

Beyond that there are all the perceived category bikes and rationalized project bikes "rough stuff", "French as F. 650b", "OG Mountain bike" "Pimp my Super Course" etcetera etcetera

My signature shows the basic fleet of Touring Bike, Sports Touring and Country Bike that has gotten real use. These are job descriptions, and I have plenty of candidates for up grading, and and plenty of other bikes "half way there" and "when and if" vying for time and attention. The "Randonneuring bike parts complex" really need to get on the road though.

As far as general asperations, I saw plans for a rolling bike stand that holds 12 bikes, so I guess I'll try and get down to 13...

I like all the bikes I own . I have a pretty good sized shop where I can store them with easy access. The day will come , eventually , when I will have to make the difficult decision to only have a couple . The one that I know will always have a home is my orange Colnago. I bought it 3 years ago and there are times that it is the only bike I need . Then I decide to ride one of my others and find that I probably will always have a few. Having a stable of bikes is a nice convenience , but a few may be necessities.

When you almost never sell a bike, does anything count as a "forever" bike?
Still, I've got two that were built by small local builders and have accumulated a ton of miles. They are probably my best candidates...

The first was built by Gordon Borthwick in Marshalltown, Iowa back in 1989. I was looking for a replacement for my Raleigh Gran Sport, and a shop in Ames, Iowa pointed me towards Gordon. Gordon was building a lot of tandems at that time, so he was routinely using fillet brazing. At that time, lugs were the standard, so this seemed pretty exotic and fun! The geometry largely copied the Gran Sport, but stretching the top tube a bit. The downtube was 1 1/4" diameter, to bump up the torsional stiffness, which also seemed pretty exotic back then. I had been having some shimmy issues with the Gran Sport, so this was great! The bike has accumulated over 60,000 miles and been used for commuting, winter riding, etc. It's been updated with some new paint and spreading the rear end to 130mm, but no other significant changes.

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While the Borthwick was good, it wasn't set up well for commuting. I wanted something that had room for larger tires (28mm), fittings for racks and lights, cantilever brakes, mountain bike rear hub with 135mm OLD, and even S&S couplers for travel. At the same time, I wanted to run some old parts and keep a classic appearance. I think it was the year 2000 when I ended up going to Rich Powers in the Chicago area, and it worked out great! Again, most dimensions were based on the Borthwick, but with longer chainstays. It has spent a lot of time being used for commuting and utility riding, as well as some travel. I think it has around 55,000 miles now.

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Steve in Peoria

All of them stay with me until I die. They are like family members. If I didn't want them, I wouldn't have bought them.

Same with me, I keep them all until I die as well. Some frames were very rare to find and will be built it into great bikes. Like you if I didn't want a bike, I wouldn't have purchased it

What happened??

Darn tootin'! I feel blessed to have these bikes. Although I do admire those who have no problem "letting go", that is just not on the program for me. I feel these bikes are my privilege and responsibility. It was just meant to be. Although I won't be buying more (I did find and rescue a pair of (mens and womens) 3-speeds, which I will fix up and sell, the bikes I bought and built have found a home.

Some people are thinning the herd in their collection, for buying something more high end which is fine by me too. I will be buying more high end spare parts for the road bikes and MTBs and finish all the projects I started no matter how much time it takes.

At the time, most feel like forever bikes, but wind up moving along anyway. Hard to see me ever selling the Merckx or the Moto Le Champion, but who knows?

Great to hear about Gordon Borthwick. Wasn't familiar with him. My partner is from a very small town near Marshalltown, Iowa and I'm over there with some regularity. The gravel riding is great. Anyway, I'll be on the lookout for Mr. Borthwick's bikes when I'm there. Looks like he did very nice work, especially as something resembling a hobby. Sorry to see he passed away not long ago. Searched the site for info on him and most of the posts are from you. Thanks again for the awareness.

Only one now - the DiNucci has replaced all other contenders. A true masterpiece in execution and rider experience.

#2 would be Alex Singer #3302, built for me in year 2000.

/markp
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