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Most Versatile Bike - If You Could Have Only One - What Would It Be?

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View Poll Results: Most Versatile Bike - If You Could Have Only One - What It Be?
Road?
8
6.90%
Cyclocross?
11
9.48%
Hybrid?
13
11.21%
Gravel?
49
42.24%
General Mountain?
8
6.90%
Cross Country Mountain?
5
4.31%
Other?
22
18.97%
Voters: 116. You may not vote on this poll

Most Versatile Bike - If You Could Have Only One - What Would It Be?

Old 07-02-20, 12:15 PM
  #26  
Leinster
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Originally Posted by flangehead
I voted general mountain to represent fully rigid steel, 2” tire width, flat bar, wide gearing range.
I'd do similar with flared drops.

So I voted gravel.
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Old 07-02-20, 04:22 PM
  #27  
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Look this is a dumb post. You cannot just say mathematics is wrong, it is a solid formula that has been long proven, N+1. Denying pure fact is silly.

If I was held at gunpoint with no chance of escape I would probably do some sort of Titanium touring bike with wide clearance and sliding drop outs and run dynamo and Di2.
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Old 07-03-20, 01:15 AM
  #28  
theDirtyLemon
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Originally Posted by CAT7RDR
A hard tail 29'er is pretty versatile with the right tires - urban, road, gravel, dirt, some single track.
This is the right response: the best all-round bike is a bike.
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Old 07-03-20, 03:22 AM
  #29  
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Trek SL6 with the new GRX810 which I will be upgrading tp DI2 electronic shifting, Roval Terra Clx Evo wheels with Gravel King SS 700x43 tires and a Brooks B17 saddle. Hope to have it by 7/13 or 14.
Can't wait
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Old 07-03-20, 01:04 PM
  #30  
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Why is there no option for eBike?

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Old 07-03-20, 01:34 PM
  #31  
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Why are there 4 choices for MTBs??
Lumping Pashley's with race bikes in ROAD is laughable. I have said this before.
And nothing for IGH roadster/ tour bikes?? This is what my 2 bikes are.
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Old 07-05-20, 08:03 AM
  #32  
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Loaded Touring. None of your named candidates are as versatile so, I guess I will vote for "other".

This poll reminds me of shopping for a loaded touring bicycle at LBSes. They stock everything except the type of bicycle that I'm interested in spending my money on.
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Old 07-05-20, 08:35 AM
  #33  
Sy Reene
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Gravel, but non-Carbon, or at least something built with mounts for some pannier. Eg. the Ribble Ti CGR is one example:
https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-cgr-ti/
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Old 07-05-20, 08:44 AM
  #34  
Digger Goreman
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Rigid, mid-90's mtb. It is a Camel! (does everything, just not best)
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Old 07-05-20, 09:54 AM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by subgrade
Out of these, it has to be either gravel or hybrid. CX or XC MTB come close, but usually lack mounting points for racks and fenders for true versatility.
Good point about mounting points for racks: I didn't think of that before voting for CX. CX makes a versatile bike with two sets of wheels with appropriate tires and cassettes for either road or gravel/ off- road. Gravel bike is a little slower, but rack mounts probably do make it most versatile.
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Old 07-06-20, 12:28 PM
  #36  
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I voted "Other"

Steel Soma Wolverine. Why?

1) steel
2) split stay for belt drive compatibility
3) sliding dropouts for single speed compatibility
4) ability to run up to 29x2.10 tires (Thunder Burts fit fine!)
5) front and rear rack-ability
6) fender mounts
7) Disc brakes for easy wheel size interchangeability. I've run 26x2.35 (Rat Trap Pass) to 29x2.10 (Thunder Burts) with a random 27.5 wheel in there as an experiment.

Currently set up as SS with a rear rack and Topeak bag with deploying side pannier bags. 😃
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Old 07-06-20, 12:51 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by cango
So you saw the title. Forget this N+1 stuff .

Whats the most versatile bike if you could have only one. What would it be?

Road bike?
Touring?
Cyclocross bike?
Gravel bike?
Hybrid?
General Mountain bike?
Cross country mountain bike?
Something else?

Tell me why.
I wouldn't trade my Sun Tour Recumbent EX for anything. I can ride all day with no trouble at all. It's like an easy chair with pedals.
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Old 07-06-20, 01:55 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by cango
So you saw the title. Forget this N+1 stuff .

Whats the most versatile bike if you could have only one. What would it be?

Road bike?
Touring?
Cyclocross bike?
Gravel bike?
Hybrid?
General Mountain bike?
Cross country mountain bike?
Something else?

Tell me why.
Raleigh DL-1 Police Bicycle from the pinnacle of the years (1950's-60's) when bikes were machines, not toys. Fully restored, upgraded modern components (brakes and internal hub) and then add a Bafang BBS-HD mid drive motor.

The bike is made to go anywhere (except up stairs or on a plane), will last a lifetime, absorbs pothole and cobblestone shocks like a 1960's Cadillac, is easy to repair, fixable parts remain forever available, and it looks good in a retro way (kids less likely to steal it).

The reason to add the ebike motor is that durability and comfortable ride add weight, and unlike the bobby cruising town slowly, you want performance. The motor adds speed, flattens the hills (there was a reason they were called push bikes) and extends distance.

The bikes go under various names, but it is the extended front fork (rake) that stands out. Unlike modern shock absorbers, in the height of bike making they used spring steel where the angle of the front fork was steeper for sport and stretched out longer for comfort. The spring steel lasts for decades, if not centuries, whereas mechanical shocks have moving parts that eventually give out (and too many seem to rust).

Having said this, there is a reason why there is not one bike to rule them all. Everyone has different requirements. Live in a walk-up apartment, need is different than bike kept in garage. Need to ride down Mt. Tamalpais, need is different that cruising for a cappuccino in Sausalito. Gave up driving and do all your shopping on a bike - different than randonneuring 100 miles. Thus, the more one specifies how one lives, the closer others can offer their experience. In my case, I have an unusual requirement in that I ride a ferry to town. They require the bikes remain on the outer deck, so they get salt spray. Corrosion is a continual issue. So I have one bike for the island and another for town. Plus a couple of others as back up because bikes are just not as reliable as cars - it's been decades since I got a flat tyre on a car, but it's fairly common on a bike.

But if I was limited to one bike, it would be a Raleigh DL-1 and a can of WD-40.


1951 Raleigh DL-1 Overseas Export Version with upgraded components and BBS-01 300W Bafang

Last edited by greenspark; 07-06-20 at 01:58 PM. Reason: typo
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Old 07-06-20, 03:16 PM
  #39  
Bill in VA
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Originally Posted by cango
So you saw the title. Forget this N+1 stuff .

Whats the most versatile bike if you could have only one. What would it be?

Road bike?
Touring?
Cyclocross bike?
Gravel bike?
Hybrid?
General Mountain bike?
Cross country mountain bike?
Something else?

Tell me why.
My choice is my bike, a steel road/cyclocross/gravel/all-road/touring bike depending on what the maker was advertising it at any given iteration in its long life depending on what was popular or trending that year. Does that fit something else?

That is my 2016 Bianchi Volpe.

It meets all my needs for the riding I do: road riding, light load or credit card touring, rougher roads, towpaths, gravel roads. It has clearance for up to 38mm tires (with appropriate rims, which I have on wheelset 2), cantilever brakes for clearance and wheel swaps (and because I like them and always wanted them), rack, bottle, pump, and fender braze-ons and eyelets, and in my year, a triple front. Other than the ubiquitous Shimano proprietary relationships, it is largely standard with a 27.2 seatpost and 1 1/8 threadless steerer and 31.8 drop handlebars.

If I ever went custom, I would keep the Volpe and choose to have as many of its features duplicated. My only addition for a custom would be to specify head and seat stay lugs for their intrinsic beauty, and possibly a polished stainless or chromed fork. I would also consider a return to a square tapered BB for the Spécialités TA Carmina very customizable crankset (thanks to member Clyde 1820's Rivendell build thread.)

I like specialization in fishing rods, but rods and reels store more easily than bikes.
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Old 07-06-20, 03:24 PM
  #40  
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I see so far he gravel bike is the winner. When I was young I had to ride gravel roads to school. That gave me all the gravel riding I wanted for a life time!!!!
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Old 07-06-20, 03:42 PM
  #41  
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Hybrid bicycle. ... Hybrid bicycles blend characteristics from more specialized road bikes, touring bikes and mountain bikes.
The resulting "
hybrid" is a general-purpose bike that can tolerate a wide range of riding conditions and applications.
This is the type for me..... if there really is such a thing.
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Old 07-06-20, 04:20 PM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by Chuckles1
Good point about mounting points for racks: I didn't think of that before voting for CX. CX makes a versatile bike with two sets of wheels with appropriate tires and cassettes for either road or gravel/ off- road. Gravel bike is a little slower, but rack mounts probably do make it most versatile.
My CX bike has no mounts, but I just got a rack that mounts through the skewers and seatpost clamp. Super solid. I need to post some photos.
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Old 07-06-20, 07:16 PM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by cango
So you saw the title. Forget this N+1 stuff .

Whats the most versatile bike if you could have only one. What would it be?

Road bike?
Touring?
Cyclocross bike?
Gravel bike?
Hybrid?
General Mountain bike?
Cross country mountain bike?
Something else?

Tell me why.
Seven Airheart

Titanium road bike with S&S couplers standard, disk brakes, large tire clearance. Mine has ENVE SES 3.4 AR disk wheels and 28 mm tires and is a respectable road bike. Can put 40 mm knobby tires and hit dirt or gravel. Fits into a travel case within airline regs.
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Old 07-07-20, 07:58 AM
  #44  
Rides4Beer
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Gravel bike with two wheelsets.
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Old 07-07-20, 08:25 AM
  #45  
jjankie
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Gravel. My Trek Checkpoint ALR 4 is great.
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Old 07-07-20, 09:09 AM
  #46  
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From my viewpoint, the most versatile bike and the bike if I could have only one are really two different things.

Out of the two bikes I currently have, the most versatile of the two unfortunately bores me, even though it is capable at more things than the other bike. Yet, the other bike is the one that calls me to ride it the most, so I do.
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Old 07-07-20, 09:15 AM
  #47  
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Versatility = wide tires, and if fun-factor is a major consideration for "doing it all versatility", then I'd choose "Other: Full squish mtb", because to me, fast downhill mtb is orders of magnitude more fun than any other bike discipline, and I can swap in a 2nd set of thin slick tired wheels with an e-hub for commuting while sitting upright into a headwind. If efficiency and utility is more important than fun, then gravel would be my choice, and I'd have to say goodbye to real fun.
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Old 07-07-20, 09:26 AM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by Riveting
Versatility = wide tires, and if fun-factor is a major consideration for "doing it all versatility", then I'd choose "Other: Full squish mtb", because to me, fast downhill mtb is orders of magnitude more fun than any other bike discipline, and I can swap in a 2nd set of thin slick tired wheels with an e-hub for commuting while sitting upright into a headwind. If efficiency and utility is more important than fun, then gravel would be my choice, and I'd have to say goodbye to real fun.
Why not ride a rigid MTB on some less challenging trails? You'll still go fast downhill, but have to check your speed a bit more for the bumpier stuff. Using your full-squish on paved roads, on the other hand...
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Old 07-07-20, 09:29 AM
  #49  
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I voted for other which for me means a touring bike (made of steel or titanium).

Why a touring bike? because they're very versatile, they can ride on 38c tires and cover almost any terrain with those, or you can swap the tires out for 32c tires if you want a bit more speed on the tarmac, or swap in 45c tires if you want more action on gravel (though I've ridden on gravel with just 23c tires, not idea, but I was able to do it); and you could use more knobby threads and go off road, not radically off road but you could reasonably do any off road bike trail. Also, if you get the itch to go camping or touring you're all set. So it's the one bike that can do virtually anything.

Some touring bikes are not quite as versatile as others, so you have to be careful shopping if want one to take a variety of tire sizes. I ended up with a Masi Giramondo 700c because it can take 32 to 45c tires on the same rims and fit the bike at the same time. So I plan to change the tires from the stock 45c to a 38c for road touring, but later I want to get a set of 45c tires with some knobs on it so I can go off road.
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Old 07-07-20, 09:42 AM
  #50  
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Originally Posted by Leinster
Why not ride a rigid MTB on some less challenging trails? You'll still go fast downhill, but have to check your speed a bit more for the bumpier stuff. Using your full-squish on paved roads, on the other hand...
The challenge of technical and fast mtb IS the fun part, so if I have to check my speed because the rigid can't handle it, that might bring the fun factor way down, or bring the chance for crashing way up if I decide to not slow down, though I've only ever had full squish so I could be wrong there. Full squish on roads isn't so bad with suspension lockouts, and slick tires. I've seen a strong rider on a fat bike with slicks keeping up with the front during a 40 mile road A/B group ride. I really don't like this exercise of having to choose a favorite, luckily, at the moment, I don't have to.
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