jamesdak 

I tried to read through this thread but I just don't need the kind of "negativity" in my life.

merziac

Its a fools errand no matter how you parse it, knowing and recognizing that is key IMO, the sooner the better, I jumped back in with that premise and have no real regrets, yet.

Most any justification or rationalization will most certainly lead to said negativity.

cinelliguy 

My vintage bicycle buying and selling short story.

Started buying in 1999, number grew from 2 riders, by 2007 I had 32 riders, 3 non-rides, two of them Cinelli Lasers (one attached), 4 framesets. Sold down to 15, then went on the hunt for vintage Bianchi, the number of Bianchis grew to 16, so back up to around 30.

Got into motorcycles again in 2012, and sold the bikes down to 8 riders, no frames, no non-riders by 2017. In 2018, I decided to sell my motorcycles, and go back into vintage bikes.

Here I am a now, with 16 riders, 2 non-riders, and a few framesets, now preparing to sell off some of my non-American brand bikes and have started the hunt for a few more bikes made by American builders only. I am pretty fickle, I learn about bikes by buying and riding but my tastes and interests change over the years, its part of the fun of the hobby/sport, I guess. Now my target it 10 riders, no framesets, minimal parts. I will be 70 in September. I also figure its time to simplify a bit.

Mr. Spadoni 

This is not going help my situation, but I’ve sent a pm. If it’s 57/58, then this will help me move another frame. Fingers crossed.

panzerwagon 

Needs more drillium

RCMoeur 

Examiner: "The body shows evidence of burns corresponding to a method of torture."

RCMoeur 

Perfect grocery-getter.

squirtdad

that would be me

as for bikes...I am not a big number bike guy

.I am ok with 3 each with a role and all get ridden (round town bike: SR semi pro, Cino/heroica ready (bike not body) :84 Miyata team, and "best bike" Kirk custom, but am open something like the superlight, or other interesting italian, or raleigh international, of 531 frame that like the international I can put decent size tires on

part of the challenge is I like to build up bikes to a vision. I might go back to volunteering at a local bike charity to help with that itch

what I do have to do is go through my parts horde, I know I don't need a 165 arabesque crank set as an example. I have a fair amount of just in case/ just in case zombie apocalypse ranging from campy super record (for bike number 4?) to suntour gtx that need to thing out

RCMoeur 

I think the whole point of this thread is when your hoard becomes a horde. And next thing you know, they're besieging Baghdad, and then it really gets messy...

squirtdad

my first "10 speed" was an Azuki....pretty sure it was 4130....but paid $160 for it in 1971?... it got me thru high school and had it for 4 years in the coast guard, when I was on a ship and on shore....so it got pedaled in NYC, Newfoundland, Bermuda, Bahamas, Florida and Connecticut

albrt 

Yeah, I bet you could design a big grocery basket to go on top of that stem projecting out flat from the top tube.

Andrew_G

Congratulations on your decision to downsize.

I'm "fortunate" in that I don't fit production bikes. BITD I managed to fit a production bike, but now I don't. So, the three bikes that I own are all custom, made-to-measure. They're all riders and keepers. I have no display-only bikes. My needs, budget, and space concerns have been fairly addressed:

a) Two classic style top end race bikes (used for sport/fitness), built with modern oversized steel tubes, threadless stems and lugged construction. Groupset on both is ~1997 Campy Record 9 Ergo, with a smattering of newer bits.

b) One new-build top end vintage-spec bike, built with lugged construction and Columbus SLX tubes. About 2/3rds of the parts were NOS, mostly Campy Nuovo Record.

I ride the Ergo bikes 90% of the time. One bike I ride in spring and summer; the other I ride in fall and winter (in southern California). Each bike has a color appropriate to the season. I overhaul the non-used bike in the off-season, in preparation for next year.

I've used my new-build vintage bike for Eroica-CA and other vacations. It's also backup to the other bikes if they're temporarily out of commission due to maintenance. I also ride it whenever the mood suits me, especially when I hear the newest marketing BS of needing disc brakes, electronic shifting, and other pricey market-driven indulgences.

I estimate that I have enough spare parts to keep my Ergo-equipped bikes going for the rest of my life. (I'm 67.) For my new build vintage bike, I have 3/4 of the parts I think I'll need. The remaining bits (Campy NR derailleurs) will be easily available if I need one.

Everything fits in one moderately sized spare bedroom. Riding 3 days per week, plus adding in maintence on the bikes, keeps me busy enough.

Anything more would be too much.

Triplecrank92

Ha...I got to the point that "sneaking another cow into the herd" didn't register on the wife's radar. I guess I reached "critical mass". My issue was not having my own barn for the herd to live in. It's hard to keep using the argument that all the bikes were "works of art" around the house. . Therefore, I have started on my road to recovery by thinning the herd. Just got to decide whether to keep Bessie or turn her into to hamburger! I propositioned AdventureManCO this morning with my Circuit before I had read the entire thread and later learned that I was already late to that party, "Hey Big Boy, like the chrome or are you just happy to see me?"

PhilFo 

I joined up earlier, then got busy, and haven't really caught up on this very active thread. Here I go...
The bike I've owned the longest is a 1981 Miyata 610 (just before the frame switch to cantis) which I got in 2011. It has been through a few iterations of build, the last being mostly Suntour Superbe 1st gen. This bike just sticks with me because it simply works for me. That said, It's now sitting in my dining room on my trainer, so it's kind of become a stationary.
I do stuff like that, build with a goal, reach it, then find a new shiny.
Currently, I have what is in my signature and a bunch of other bits. That's 8 built, tuned up, working bicycles, most serve a specific purpose, though a few could serve multiple roles. My 1951 Rudge Clubman is in bits and the components went to become the lets-get-riding base of my recent acquisition, a 1952 R.O. Harrison, Madison Club frame. I took this on an inaugural ride on Sunday and is it a rocket. Then yesterday, I rode to work, and I'm not sure if it was the psychological mud of the prospect of working, but my commuter Raleigh Competition GS just feels like riding in soggy wet grass. Simply unpleasant. So, what do I do about this? Mental math and new bike daydreaming to fix my soggy ride problem.
This is how a collection of 8 working bikes (the missus has 2 bikes and 2 trikes as well), a no less than 2 framesets, a bunch of wheels and a bike shop worth of parts, accumulates.
One of these days we're going to need to move, as we'd like to live closer to family back out west. I digress.
These daily thoughts of filling a perceived need are how I acquire and build bikes. I did this with a very used 2012 Yuba Mundo; basically everything changed, it got giant disc brakes, new wheels, new shifters, and I have used it to get groceries TWICE in the year I've owned it. That's really on me, since I do need to use the car less.
Same goes for the 1991 Breezer, a near dream bike from my youth, built up 100% XT with a set of Magura Raceline hydraulics, and I haven't been on a trail since I built it. And so on, and so on.
This is why I joined this thread. To help keep me aware of my BS. Building is fun, riding is more fun; I need to do more of the latter, and if getting rid of a bike or three will help, then so be it.
No, the Breezer will not be for sale

Phil

Mad Honk 

Wow!
I got up today to a full inbox of PM's. It seems funny that when I offered a bike for sale at my cost it got Crickets, And when I said the magic FREE word all sorts of folks showed up. So I guess there is some hope for the C&V crowd to continue thriving. As for the 50 year Old Nago. I suspect it will leave here one way or another. It is not anything special for me, so I guess it makes for N-1, which is a pretty good thing. Bringing my self down to five rider quality bikes and a room full of Campy stash will keep me pretty busy for quite a while. Next up will be paring down some of the excess nice parts laying around the shop, And of course being able too commit to my real job of being a golf professional. long and short of it is the "nago" has been claimed. Smiles, MH

Kabuki12

Then there is the guy( John ) who just bought a collection of bikes and parts. Not everyone is downsizing!

SoCaled 

How's this for an angle? I am not downsizing or reducing, I am Expanding the C&V Market/World!
So I sold my '85 Trek 410 yesterday and once again the buyer seemed like it was there first experience with a vintage road bike. They went to take a test ride and started out very wobbly. I re-adjusted the saddle and got the bike in a easy gear and set them off for try number 2, much better. Now I find out they don't know how the down tube shifters work, so we go over that, I point out probably best to shift while seated (fresh from a recent thread) and how the shifters work. Bike fits the buyer, we have a deal, now we go over front wheel quick release and brake quick release, so the buyer can fit the bike in their car. I demo the amount of pressure you should feel when closing the quick release and have them repeat, not too tight not too loose, until we get to the Goldilocks pressure. Finally, I tell him to check out Bikeforums.net, Sheldon Brown and Park Tool repair videos. Just as I think we might be done, buyer mentions he won't be using the spd pedals and will need to source flat pedals. I bring him in the back and grab some (free, stop gap) flat pedals and swap them out for him. This gives him a chance to ask about wheel/tire sizes and replacement options. Finally I ask if he wants a water bottle cage installed and grab him one from my pile. With any luck he will catch the (vintage) bug like the rest of us
This has been typical of the bikes I have sold, I am not selling grail bikes, and tend to get "newbies" when I sell off bikes. This has even expanded into some of the nicer bikes I have parted with, I think the only bike I have sold that was bought by someone "in the C&V world" was my Paragon and that was a rare bike with a great history.

mhespenheide 

I'm not quite at these levels, but I'm currently at 9 bikes locally (+2 "zero" bikes at my parents' house) and 6 frames. But I'm likely moving soon. And probably to a smaller space. So I need to downsize, even if my collection isn't outrageous.

I will say that I struggle a bit since I'm quite tall -- which means that there's a more limited supply of used bikes and frames. So when I see something available that I'm interested in, I'm very tempted to pick it up because I don't know if something similar will come back up for sale again. And then, once I have something, the supply of other riders interested in buying is also correspondingly smaller as well.

AdventureManCO 

Well, today way a win and a fail. I had every intention of dropping off a bike and a bunch of wheels today, but work got so busy I had to work through lunch and couldn't get away. So I'm at par. However! The win is that it is still on the truck and not getting offloaded back at home

Here is what will be leaving:

mhespenheide 

For me, it's the recognition that adding more bicycles takes away from the time that I have for riding. And I have to be ruthless about holding on to the idea that riding is better than collecting.

If I can keep that in the forefront of my mind, then I don't mind passing up or letting go of a frame or bike.

smurfy

Since I'm now in my sixties and stiff w/arthritis it's easier for me to downsize my collection since I don't want a bike I'm not going to ride or can't ride.

I'm down to four complete bikes and one in parts:

Late '80's Schwinn Traveler 650B (newly powder coated) which I featured here a couple of days ago
Nashbar aluminum Touring
Marin Bridgeway hybrid/comfort (converted into a gravel bike w/drop bars)
'07 Trek Pure semi-recumbent (Electra Townie copy)

My parts bike is a late '50's Raleigh Sports three-speed I'm planning on restoring or resto-modding w/modern three-speed components and wheels but I will be retiring in a few years from now and I can devote more time and attention to that project. At this time it's much easier on my well-being and less-confusing to not have bikes and parts sprawled all over the place.

Last eighteen months ago I moved out of the big city to a smaller working-class former bedroom community. The riding here is totally awesome but not many bike enthusiasts here. Mostly bums who can't afford cars but I did see a guy last weekend on a carbon-Pinarello w/full race kit. Like seeing a UFO in these parts!

SoCaled 

The Collection Reduction Support/Encouragement/Accountability thread!
hmm, whatever do you mean . . .

Oh, right . . .

AdventureManCO 

Oh no. Another Circuit...


It must be destiny!



Well, first off thank you (both of you) for the extremely kind offers. Maybe I'll clear enough room for one of these? The ideal vision would be to have a couple of 'rotational slots' in the stable so that curiosities could make their way into the shop, and then if they became keepers, they would displace one of the 'regulars' and open up the rotational slots again. This could work well if I have, let's say, 8 bikes, and 2 open slots. It doesn't work so well when I have 8 bikes, and 24 rotational slots, all filled

PMs have been sent.

nesteel 

Losing my wife last May has brought this entire subject into an entirely uncomfortable focus. Cycling is just one of four hobbies that'll be slimmed down as to not leave my two boys with a pile of crap to deal with.
I need to get down to 6 vintage keepers, and only enough spares to comfortably keep those 6 on the road until my eventual passing (I'm only 52, so hopefully that takes a while) That means moving 6 completes and another 6 frame sets on in the next 3 months.

AdventureManCO 

You can do it!

Have you identified the first you want to go? Do you have your keepers all picked out? Someone could look at my stash and probably not feel bad about getting rid of 80% of it, but for those who actually have really nice bikes and frames, I wonder if it becomes harder.

Feel free to post up your numbers here as you reduce. It may be fun to look back a year from now to see where you started and the excellent progress your bound to make.