Maelochs

that's what shoots down the whole "One Bike to Rule Them All" paradigm.

At my age and my depreciating fitness and skill set, F/S is the only way to get off fire roads and on to actual MTB trails. But there is no way (lockouts nonwithstanding) to make an F/S bike efficient on the road. It just ain't built for that. And for touring, I cannot imagine bikepacking gear which would work with all the F/S hardware inside the front triangle ....

So I need At least two, and really more like five bikes, top really do things right. Maybe fewer ... MTB, fast road, rain/touring .....

I cannot imagine being willing to accept the compromises involved with owning only one ... but to each his/her own.

Riveting

Yup those are the three I have now (along with a spare fast road that has trainer duty). Missing are possibly a gravel, and possibly a fat bike (for snowy trails), and possibly a fixie just for fun, and possibly an e-bike for tackling the hills on the return trip home when the knees are sore, and possibly a....

caloso

If I had to get rid of all my bikes save one, I would probably keep my CX bike. I've raced it for CX (duh), take it on gravel rides, did a few MTB races on it (suboptimal but doable), commute on it, and I could gear it up to do road rides on.

Wilfred Laurier

I have had only one working bike for the past two years - an aluminum touring bike. I can do medium/fast group road rides with it, if I have wide enough tires (~38mm) I can slowly pick my way through 98% of off road trails around here, and it is very much at home on gravel roads and stone dust paths. And it has the racks installed to get groceries or a case of beer, or I can strap whatever I need to it to do a self supported tour.

I had a FS Kona mtb I bought used a couple years ago, but it was a bit small for me so I passed it down to one of my kids. I also have frames and most of the parts needed to build my old hardtail mtb, road racing bike, and a few others, but I have been putting so many hours and miles on the touring bike that I have neither the time nor the motivation to bother.

Lman

It's nice on a busy greenbelt😆 nice doorbell ding dong

Slightspeed

Of the 8 bikes I ride, 3 modernish and 5 vintage, probably my '73 Super Course would be the one. It does dirt, hills, fast group rides, and everything else I need in a smooth responsive manner that always amazes me. It was also my first ever build from a scrap metal alley find frame. I love the the modern carbon, and the others are fun, but the old SC is probably the most versatile. With only a 14t small rear gear, even with a 52t front, the top end is limited, but I love the 32/34t on the hills.

Taking a break on Sulphur Mtn fire road.

Cleaned up for the beauty shot.

DorkDisk

I was looking for something versatile, and finally got me a Ritchey Swiss Cross after decades of wanting one.

daoswald

One bike: A sturdy endurance road bike with the ability to mount a lightweight rack such as a Tubus Fly Evo. For me, this was an aluminum Cannondale Synapse.

But your needs will be different from mine, possibly.

Darth Lefty 

Rationally there should be a market for full suspension road bikes, or at least hybrids, that are functional but not premium. Even the cheapest Chinese moped has oil dampers.

HTupolev

Suspension is big cost compromise in the scope of a bicycle, and for bicycles where the rider is in a fairly forward posture with their legs supporting their weight, the rider's legs can take away some of the need for rear suspension. On comfort hybrids where the rider is in a more "sitting on a chair" posture, you do often see things like suspension seatposts.

Maelochs

Saying there "should' be a market for full-suspension road bikes is irrational. There is no market---no demand---because there is no great benefit to the product compared to existing products, and there are significant downsides.

Unless once considers stuff like Future Shock to be "suspension" .... the amount of travel needed to smooth out most paved roads is minimal, but even a little travel is heavy. Since riders provide the motive power (unlike with mopeds) that extra weight is felt immediately---and the people who ride paved roads daily, like commuters, probably don't want to waste any energy unless they are getting a significant advantage---but as we all know (if we ride roads) we generally don't Need suspension.

Sure, a Cadillac ride would be wonderful ... but the old, plush Cadillacs had big, whopping motors and could not corner well at all. Most people who ride on the road to commute don't really want suspension---else there would be a market, and they would constitute that market.

Most recreation riders don't want suspension, and in fact want light bikes.

The only type of rider who would want suspension would be the very relaxed recreation rider ... the low-speed, around-the-block, or ride-the-local-MUP-slowly folks .... and some of them have hybrids with front suspension. The logical disconnect there is that at low speeds, bumps are minor, and for people riding quickly enough for the bumps to matter, they would generally to lift out of the saddle for "suspension" and keep the bike light.

There is simply not a large number of people who are willing to pedal hard to pull the weight of full suspension, at a speed where suspension offers a real benefit, and even for fast riders, most don't ride roads bad enough that suspension is needed at any speed. (There are dedicated gravel bikes with suspension forks, but that is a different discussion.)

There is no "market," because the benefits of F/S are negligible at low speed or over mostly smooth terrain (bumps lower than dropping off a curb, for instance.) F/S is great when taking bigger hits, but not many road riders are regularly hopping curbs or tackling obstacles similar or larger. Sure there are some---and they tend to ride BMX bikes, or "urban assault" bikes, from what I see.

The benefits of F/S simply are not sufficient for most rads and for most riders ... hence there is no market, no demand, no pool of customers. And the few who Might be potential customers seem to be fine with front shocks and fat tires.

showlow

Open U.P.

philboyeee

I have a Trek Checkpoint. Does everything I need it to. Primarily used for commuting and road riding both solo and in a group. Will be taking it to gravel soon. Simple. I like simple

Oldguyonoldbike

My "do anything" bike, or better, my "do anything that I do" bike is a Black Mountain Cycles Road frame built up with Campy Veloce 10-speed. Steel frame and fork, rack mounts, clearance for biggish tires, threaded bb shell. Since this picture was taken I have changed the wheels and tires. It now sports a pair of 30mm Vittoria Rubino Pros on Miche Race wheels (inappropriate name for some solid wheels). At some point I may go with some more old-guy-friendly gearing.
It's not really great at anything, but it's really good at a lot.

subgrade

Full sus hybrids are a thing, see Kettler Pendo or Giant X9000.

Leebo

Can't help you. 9 bikes, just barely getting by. Its a hardship. Its my sport, transportation, escape and my hobby. And my therapy. A Cross check, couple of touring/bikepacking rigs, fat bike, full sus mt bikes etc. All do their job well.

Darth Lefty 

Front suspension hybrids (and road bikes) aren't the rule, but they are not rare. After the front hits the pothole the rear hits the same pothole, and the rear has 1.5 or 2x the weight on it. But hardtail designs go back to the dawn of motorcycles, at least. Maybe people perceive the front hit as harder because it's coming through their hands. It's not quite the same as on a mountain bike where you are expected to be out of your seat. There are a number of seat posts, some quite fancy and expensive. I don't know why that's preferred to rear suspension, I've had both kinds on different bikes and the rear suspension is objectively better. The seat posts screw up your pedaling unless you top out the preload. I've asked the same question about road tandems where suspension posts are very popular, because the stoker can't see any hits coming.

I know it's been tried. There was a full squish Cannondale Bad Boy Jekyl many years ago too. But suspension designs are way, way better now, a bike with a short link like Santa Cruz VPP or DW-link pedals really well.

Rides4Beer

If I could only have one bike, it would be a gravel bike with a second wheelset for road tires. My Revolt is fantastic on the road, could use a touch more gearing on the topend, but still has no problems keeping up on A+ group rides.

Maelochs

None of my bikes can keep up on A+ rides. I guess I should sell them and get new ones.

Miele Man

If I had to have but one bicycle it'd be my 1980s era MIELE MTB that has been converted to dropbar, V-brakes and interrupter levers. I can put on smooth tread narrow 26" x 1.5" tires for paved road riding or paved road touring; I can use 26" x 2.125" knobby tires for off-road riding or riding in winter on snow; I can put on 26" x 2.125" knobby tires with studs for riding on ice. To me this is the most versatile bike in my stable and I love it.




Cheers

bwilli88 

This one probably setup as a dingle speed, 17-21 2 speed freewheel with 42x46 chain rings 17x46 makes a nice road gearing and 21x42 makes for some hills. Simple and sweet. those Schwalbe Big Apple 700C x 50mm makes a nice plush ride. Cantilever brakes stop well and that Brooks Pro has been changed to a Flyer.

rami_arna

I don’t think that’s achievable by one bike. You can almost achieve that by two bikes. A road bike and a mountain bike.

RandyBaton

Hard tail 29er for me but I have carbon rigid forks. I commute most days on road but still like to gravel it everyonece in a while. I also have my bar slightly further forward than most MTB's.

Its hard work taking a road bike off road, not so much taking a MTB on road. An off the shelf hybrid is nonsense.

Lman

Oh you mean only one bicycle..........😆

Lman

Oh you mean only one bicycle..........😆