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Quiver Killer for the Car-Light, Commuter, Family, Mountain and Snow biker?

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Living Car Free Do you live car free or car light? Do you prefer to use alternative transportation (bicycles, walking, other human-powered or public transportation) for everyday activities whenever possible? Discuss your lifestyle here.

Quiver Killer for the Car-Light, Commuter, Family, Mountain and Snow biker?

Old 03-17-16, 01:16 PM
  #1  
davidmcowan
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Quiver Killer for the Car-Light, Commuter, Family, Mountain and Snow biker?

I'm a year round commuter (8 miles each way), who also hauls kids around town on bakfiets/long tail, rides mountain bikes, does the occasional road ride and gets out on the snow in the winter months on a fat tire. My garage is full of bikes, each, I'd argue, with a distinct purpose.

That said, I get tired of all the maintenance and a little discouraged when I think about how much money is sitting in my garage. I've justified these bikes for years by the fact that I hardly ever use a car, but as my kids get old enough to ride on their own, I'm starting to wonder - is there a way to whittle the number of bikes I own down to a reasonable number?

I'm curious if any of you have had similar issues and, hopefully, solutions. I remember when I got started riding a lot more I had one bike and she was well loved.

Anyone got good ideas for fixes?

Help.
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Old 03-17-16, 01:48 PM
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We all have our own answers to that.

If you had just one bike and then a beater backup, how would that be.

My main bike that gets 99% of the riding is a streetified mountain bike that is 27 years old. My beater backup is a 7 year old recumbent.
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Old 03-18-16, 07:29 AM
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Originally Posted by davidmcowan
I'm a year round commuter (8 miles each way), who also hauls kids around town on bakfiets/long tail, rides mountain bikes, does the occasional road ride and gets out on the snow in the winter months on a fat tire.

....

Anyone got good ideas for fixes?
The Bakfiets probably has a good resale value and likely takes up the most garage space - do you you still need that one? Some other young family might be thrilled to get it.

I have an 80s Trek 520 tour bike as my main commuter, a rigid 90s mountain bike as my back up, and a Bike Friday as my travel bike.

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Old 03-18-16, 03:25 PM
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I'm not sure. I think if I had one bike that I felt like could "do everything" I wouldn't mind that at all. Even fewer bikes that could help do the same thing would be nice. Too many choices right now and too much consumerism for my tastes.

Originally Posted by Artkansas
We all have our own answers to that.

If you had just one bike and then a beater backup, how would that be.

My main bike that gets 99% of the riding is a streetified mountain bike that is 27 years old. My beater backup is a 7 year old recumbent.
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Old 03-18-16, 03:28 PM
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Cooker, I think this is probably step one, but we've probably got a year or so left of it being a nice addition for getting to the farther reaches of town with the kids. (my youngest is still 3, the bakfiets allows kids to nap on longer rides which is hard to replace during summer when we want to haul across town) I'd love to find a way for my commuter, snow/mountain and long bike to become one bicycle in the meantime. It is so hard to consolidate, yet I want to so bad (and yetyet try to balance our car light needs which sometimes feels like owning several bikes)

Originally Posted by cooker
The Bakfiets probably has a good resale value and likely takes up the most garage space - do you you still need that one? Some other young family might be thrilled to get it.

I have an 80s Trek 520 tour bike as my main commuter, a rigid 90s mountain bike as my back up, and a Bike Friday as my travel bike.
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Old 03-18-16, 03:55 PM
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One or more of these might help free up some floor space in the garage without having to get rid of anything precious.
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Old 03-18-16, 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by davidmcowan
Even fewer bikes that could help do the same thing would be nice. Too many choices right now and too much consumerism for my tastes.
So why don't you do the obvious, answer your own "question" with the obvious answer and get rid of the excess bikes, and have fewer bikes and less choices, more to your tastes?
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Old 03-18-16, 05:49 PM
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Iltb,
"I'm curious if any of you have had similar issues and, hopefully, solutions."
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Old 03-19-16, 12:23 AM
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I never had this problem with bikes, but I have been a bit of a hoarder when it comes to books and cooking equipment. One approach is to consider how often you use something. If you don't use a particular bike in one year, you could probably get along quite well without it. Or you might need a cutoff like "Used less than five times in the last year."

There's some good discussions of this on the Simple Living sticky thread, especially posts by @Smallwheels and a few others.

Giving a bike away, or selling it at a fair price, may actually bring you more happiness than hanging onto something you barely use and don't really need. Not to mention the happiness it will bring to the recipient.
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Old 03-21-16, 09:53 PM
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Originally Posted by davidmcowan
I remember when I got started riding a lot more I had one bike and she was well loved.

Help.
I used to own seven bikes. I decided to live a more simple lifestyle 3 years ago with the goal of owning one bike. The problem is:

Racing road bikes requires a road bike. (light, short top tube, drop bars)
Mountain biking requires an mtb. (long toptube, wide flat bars, big tires)
Touring and commuting requires comfort. (durable, heavy, room for racks and fenders)
Cyclocross and gravel rides can both be done on an mtb.

It is very easy to get your stable down to two bikes. A cx bike can be used for road racing, gravel grinding, and cx. Combine that with a mtb and you can race mountain bikes, ride rough gravel, go exploring, commute through the winter, and have a durable frame for touring.

Whenever I finally got my stable down to one bike (either road oriented, or mountain oriented) I found myself needing the opposite bike. So my recommendation is to own two bikes if you ride the type of variety that I do. Plus, if you have two bikes you still have a bike to ride when you are working on your other bike.

BUT WITH THAT SAID I finally got my stable down to one bike and have been quite satisfied with its ability to fill all of my cycling needs (EXCEPT ROAD RACING - which I no longer do)



It is a surly karate monkey which has very "agile" handling due to the short wheel base / steep head tube / low offset fork. This means it crushes single track! It has tons of room for 2.5"+ tires for commuting on snow or giving cushion on super rocky terrain. I added salsa cowbell drop bars that put me in a road position which means I can toss on some skinny road tires and join my local road group rides. Traditional mtb drop bar bikes are setup with the drop bars very high using a high rise stem (in order to descend while riding in the drops) but I set up my bars low because I need to be able to keep up with my old race team on the road. And to top it all of the frame is steel and has lots of mounts for heavy and durable touring.

I have never loved a bike like I love my karate monkey. Owning just one bike and no car means I can keep my bike in flawless condition because I never have to worry about fixing my other bikes. Good luck!
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