mercator

I used to have only one bike. I'm much happier now.

HTupolev

There's really no hard limit, it depends on a lot of factors. Plenty of FDs can handle total differences in the mid-20s when used with a typical multi-range triple, including a lot of "double" front derailleurs. In desperation, it's also often possible to extend a front derailleur's cage so that the chain can pass through from smaller rings, with the caveat that this tends to reduce the FD's stiffness.

baldilocks

This would be my one bike. The handle bars make it my road bike or my mountain bike depending on where I put my hands.

radom

One is really totally reasonable... But only if you stick mainly to one discipline.. if you want to ride both mountain and road, get one for each.. But then if you really like them both and don't want to park them outside in the elements at work/bars/restaurants it's probably a good idea to grab a beater... So... 3 is the dream personally...

If I had to live with just one it's a hardtail 29er with narrower bars, hands down. Can rip singletrack, gravel, commutes, even keep up on a tame road ride in a pinch..

cyccommute 

The 52 tooth chainring is a left over from the old days. When the smallest cog on the freewheel...yes, freewheel, had 14 teeth, a 52/14 gave a 100 inch gear. If you happened to have a rare 13 tooth cog on your freewheel, you got a 109 inch high gear. If you went to a 53 tooth chainwheel and a 13 tooth cog, you could get to a whopping 111 inch gear.

But, since the advent of the 11 tooth cog that is ubiquitous on just about every cassette, you don't need that tall 50 tooth gear. A 52/11 combination is a 129" gear which is very, very high and almost useless...and that's coming from someone who loves speed. A 48/11 combination is still 8" taller than the tallest 53/13 combination and a 44/11 gives you the same gear as a 53/13. That's a pretty small from chainring. Here's a comparison of the different high gears that are currently possible. With 10 tooth cogs, you can get a knee busting 120" gear.

My bikes above, by the way, have 44 tooth outers. But the real gem is that they have 20 tooth inners and 11-36 cassettes (one 9 speed and one 10 speed). I also have a touring bike that has a 46 tooth outer, 20 toot inner and an 11-36 9 speed cassette. Doing the math, that's a high of 114"...which is still higher than the old 52 tooth system... and a low of 15" and a range of 750%. It shifts wonderfully and is a joy to ride both up and down hills. Shimano and SRAM both say you can't do what I have done, but what do they know?

TheDudeIsHere

IMO, one must have at least 3 bikes.

1) Roadie..........commuting, fun, recreation, road, trails, mountains, city, streets, fitness, race.




2) Mountain bike.......commute, fun, fitness, touring, paved and dirt trails, off road and mountains.




3) Tandem...........fast, recreation, touring, streets, paved trails, fitness, and ROMANCE!

mrv 

.... I'm not sure. I think you have 3 of the same thing....
- I have a RockHopper that is quite similar to yours. Definitely a great all-rounder!

Rollfast

I have one in every color I like. So far that's eight colors.

Gresp15C

My all-rounder is best described as a "sporty looking hybrid" with a swept bar and 1x9 setup.

Now, I own a few other bikes, largely because I enjoy tinkering. Also, it's nice having a dedicated winter bike to bear the brunt of road salt, and to avoid swapping tires every season.

wipekitty

If I had to go with one, it would be my gravel bike. It has wide enough clearance for...gravel tires (light off-road use), studded tires (winter use), and still works with road tires. It's nice but not that nice, so I'm okay with locking it outside for short stints.

In real life, I have a road bike (road, commutes with indoor parking), gravel bike (gravel, light winter ice/snow), single speed (bad weather road/training, commuting, bangin' around and parking outside), and old MTB (heavy winter ice/snow, low-gear stuff like trailer hauling). Most of my miles are on the road bike and single speed. The gravel bike is actually my least favorite for normal road/commuter biking; it's heavier and has a bit more of an upright position than I like for those tasks.

gorillimo

Pretty good with my Cross Check. Ride trails. Ride road. Run around town. Explore back roads. Goes camping. Kinda fun, being a bike that goes anywhere. Just ride!

subgrade

They probably say that because the max chain wrap capacity of Shimano made rear derailleurs is 47T (haven't looked into SRAM), while (46-20)+(36-11) makes 51T difference. That means small-small and/or big-big combos would be unusable, but who does that anyway?

cyccommute 

Depends on how you define "unusable". I can shift into both and make the bike go in either. The chain is almost too slack in the little/little combination but still workable. But, as you said, who would use those gears anyway. The problem is that Shimano limits the usage of the drivetrain because they are CYAing.

Hiro11

A ~$4K, good quality, lightweight 29er hardtail or short-travel FS XC bike is hard to argue with. Something like a Santa Cruz Highball or Blur, Giant XTC, Trek Procaliber or Supercalibur, Specialized Epic etc.

To be very specific, I'd go for:
​​​
Carbon frame
68-69 head angle, 71-72 seat angle. A bit modern but not floppy
1x 12sp drivetrain with a 32 front chainring SLX or GX level is probably all you need
Excellent hubs, especially the rear one
Tubeless XC 2.1-2.3 race tires
Shimano brakes, Deore level is fine
Lightweight 120-140 fork
Remote lockouts
125 dropper
Threaded BB
720-750 bar

This kind of bike is useful in almost all situations barring the fastest road rides. Trails, gravel, casual to fairly fast group rides, commuting etc, it could handle it all.

rumrunn6

fwiw: I can't help the OP, currently using 3 bikes, road bike, hybrid & mountain bike (cheap front sus. fork only). feels like the right formula for me. keeping each running, tuned, clean w/ appropriate tires is enough for me. I can look out the window, check the forecast, reserach conditions, pick the bike & go

- road bike for clean roads, a little wet is OK
- hybrid for riding with Wifey & summer vacations, or mixed terrain solo, equipped with studs right now for the paved trails near me, some of which get plowed, but leave a thin layer of fun perfect for a studded hybrid
- mountain bike for real dirt trails (the easy ones). got the studs on now cuz even without snow there's some tricky ice in the woods

rumrunn6

attracted to those tires! what are they?

Cougrrcj

I only had one bike until I joined this site. Y'all are a bunch of enablers!!

I still have and ride my '75 Fuji (bought new) out of sentimental reasons. Yes, the others have better tubing, but other than that? I just dunno... The Uni Grand Tourismo is technically a 'better' bike than the Fuji as the Fuji was fitted out for sport-touring 30 years ago -- but that old Fuji and I have shared so many miles of smiles I could never get rid of it.

As for 'better', I had initially got the Univega Viva Sport and turned it into the 'better' road bike I thought I wanted -- and then the Miyata 710 fell into my lap... Pretty much the same. I couldn't sell the Viva for what I have into it in upgrades, so it stays out of stubbornness.

I have the MTBs as beater bikes - NOT as off-road machines. The Woodlands is my 'pit bike' for when I'm at the dragstrip, and the Huffy is for corner store trips. So they fit a purpose. All were garbage-picked finds so I'm not really out anything other than consumables on those... The MUTT is for a possible gravel-grinder for the GAP/C&O if I should ever actually do it...

If I were forced to chose ONE to keep and get rid of the rest, it would be the Fuji. Just because 45 years of memories. And it could be called upon to fill any of the other bikes' purposes.

Korina

Nope. The Princess used to be a mtb., but she's been brought back to her roots as a cruiser, and the Multi-Track is a 520 tourer without the cachet (or the price tag).

Korina

Rubena City Hoppers, 26" x 2". Running them at 35psi up front and 45 in back.

woodcraft

This has been good all-around with a couple of wheelset choices.

Struggle a bit to keep up on the road, and left in the dust by the mtn bikes, but goes everywhere

except severe single track. 18 lbs.

I could get by with this and the road bike if I had to.

Lman

Co op cty 1.3 cty ❤️😊

Co-op cty 1.3❤️

badger1

At the moment, I have three bicycles. However, the newest is a replacement for the second-oldest, which will shortly be either sold on or donated to our local co-op. The third (from 2005) I keep for occasional use through the summer at our place 1800kms from home base. I can't be bothered with the hassle of transporting bike #1 back and forth.

So, in spirit I'm a 'one bike' person, and have been since I re-started cycling in '02. I dislike an excess of 'stuff'.

New bike covers everything I need it to do at home base -- long road/paved trail rides; fast 'city'/ride to work rides; gravel/dirt road rides; and a bit of non-technical hard-packed singletrack when the mood takes me -- with just a simple tire switch (Spec. Roubaix Pro 32s for paved; Spec. Pathfinder Pro 38s for unpaved).

Still figuring it out after the first season, but this spring I'll get a decent wheelset and crankset to get rid of the boat-anchor stock ones. That will get the all-up weight down to around 18 lbs or so -- right where I like it.

Works for me.

woodcraft

Is that a bell, or a hamburger case?

Korina

I'll bet even people with earbuds in can hear that hamburger case.

Riveting

If I could only keep one it would be the 29er full-suspension, with a spare set of narrow width wheels w/slicks for more efficient road/MUP/commuting. Technical MTB is just too much fun to give up, and can't/shouldn't be done (by me) with anything less than full squish. The downside is that I'd have to give up group rides with the roadies, or find a much slower group.