Originally Posted by
cocoabeachcrab
just found this thread and i think it was responsible for my sleepless night last night! i just paid another $250 monthly for a storage shed full of my projects and completed bikes i'm worried sick (and somewhat shameful over all the $$ spent) over leaving my wife or kids a burden if i kick the bucket, stressed that i won't be able to get rid of all those bikes (around 20) and i'm just going to skip to the stages of grief and make a move somehow. i didn't really plan to build all those bikes to sell to make a killing on selling them... as a former aircraft mechanic i just like building bikes but it's gotten out of hand (bike project anon founding member!) and i say that as i look over my shoulder at another build that i justified doing as being for the spring time daffodil ride here in newport. and i still have a frame sitting at groodys to be powdered.
i like the idea of listing our herds somewhere and seeing if anyone is interested... just amongst us.
If your number is anywhere need around 20, know that is significantly better than it could be. It means that every single bike that you do end up moving is starting at 5% of your total, and only getting better.
I'd tried making lists over and over about the bikes I want to keep, but it doesn't seem to go anywhere, since it changes so much. Even creating a list of 'non-negotiables' is an uphill battle, because what if they are all non-negotiable?
I will say this - there is no such thing as a non-negotiable if your house burns down, which partly happened to one of my family members a couple weeks ago. He wasn't a huge cyclist, but the the bicycle he did have - gone. It sort of puts things in perspective.
I think I'm at the point where I could easily pick a 'top 5' or something like that, but somewhat of an even truer test is to see which ones you grab the most when you'd like to go for a ride. And if there are any that fight you on things that you can't really change (yeah, this one is too big or small) then that will be an easy one to let go, since there is someone else out there that could enjoy it even more.
Regarding the cost - once you sort of give up on the idea of making any $$ it gets a lot easier
I know that many won't take my approach (giving them away), but for me, it works well because I now don't have the hindrances of waiting for an interested buyer and being on someone else's timeframe, and giving feels good too. The real value has been in the experience, and in the wisdom gained.