hazetguy 

Trying to accurately determine my "n" status.

Earlier this week I sold a bike (paid for, so theoretically it is not "mine" anymore. I packed the bike, but have not shipped it. I will be shipping today.), which would take me me to n - 1, establishing the new n, which I was until last night.

Yesterday I bought another bike, making it n + 1 overall.

So am I (n - 1) + (n + 1) = n ?

Or am I now technically n + 1 since the other bike will still be here for a couple more hours, and then I will be n - 1 after it has been shipped?

This whole n thing has me really confused.

n - 1 in the box, new "mystery n" next to the box.

Deal4Fuji

N 95 is the safest number I hear

SurferRosa

I didn't like the op's post, which is what he asked.

That's zero likes from me on this particular one. L = 0.

squirtdad

Cannonlale clearly a fake,,, like a Rollex, or Niken I will take it off your hands to save you the embarrassment

meanwhile N has many possible values that need to be determined before you can apply the function n+1 .

these values vary depending on personal situation, storage space, out look on live and ability to add and subtact

examples:

there is N as in response to a significant other inquiry as to how many bikes do you have?

there is N as in I have N bikes ready to ride

there is N as in I have N bikes ready to ride and N i am working on

There is N as in N only counts for C&V, I don't count my carbon, di2, hydralic brake bike....

and so on

Wildwood 

N needs to be pictured to be valid. So you seem to be at N = 1 Crack-n-Lale

Late edit: What bike was in the box? One corollary to the cycling Equation of Truth Theory is that N+'s should (almost) always be 'upgrades' to the N-'s. 'Upgrades' as deemed by your personal cycling god's preferences. N = Nirvana - is a journey, not only a cycling enlightened destination. ...

Given the neat stuff I've purchased from you - @hazetguy - there are great expectations for the aluminum rocket - both the build (mostly a refurb, it looks clean) and many future road pics. Gear it to ride your Asheville terrain, it likely scoots.

nlerner

I find it best not to count.

juvela

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have oft wondered anent the n thing

what if one has five complete machines and five framesets

does that make one's n ten?

or do bare framesets count as one half a cycle?

so the n in this case would be seven and one half

[not adept at higher math]

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nlerner

General rule of thumb: If you have to use calculus to figure out how many bikes you have, you likely have too many.

tricky 

Blasphemy!

Hudson308 

Theoretical impossibility.

wrk101

When you run out of space, you have too many. If you have to create a path through the garage, you have too many. If you can't park a car in the garage because all of the bikes, you have too many.

Anything short of that, you are fine!

For years, I practiced one comes in, one has to leave. This worked quite well. I am re-adopting that rule right now. I am looking at a bike, if I get it, I have identified what has to leave. And I shipped two bikes this week, so I am at N-2 right now. But N exceeded my storage space. I probably need to be at N-10.

J.Higgins 

I have about 60 mixted bikes and frames right now, but only 4 in my personal stable. So would my "N" be four?

kcblair

OMG ! Have you all been couped up toooooo long . Just take a different toy out for an hour ride each day, til this crisis is over. KB.

Eric F 

I reject the idea that helping someone else achieve their "N+1" is in any way a negative to my "N". My "N" is still "N", regardless of how many bikes "N" represents. There is only "N+1".

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

droppedandlost 

Solving this equation will likely tear a hole in the fabric of the universe. Safest course is always n+1

Russ Roth

How can N=nirvana when nirvana suggests a completeness and satisfaction with the total and yet the typical desire is N+1 suggesting a dissatisfaction with N?

A bike is a bike and a frame is a frame, so if N represents bikes then I would think frames can't be included. They're potential N but can't be N.

I can't park the car in the garage due to the 6' tall bandsaw, as well as the other heavy iron tools that follow it. Besides, everyone knows you only keep some in the garage, a bunch in the shed, some in the basement, and a few in the living room. This way no one has a full picture of the addiction.

The real question is, does N include only your bikes or does it include the household? Since my understanding is that a fleet equals 4 and technically 2 of 3 kids and the wife have their own fleets. The third is too young and only has 3 bikes till I sell the 12" he just outgrew.

RiddleOfSteel

I may be at N = 6, but in my efforts to consolidate, I want the N = 6 to turn into N^6 where the remaining bikes are exponentially better than they were before and thus the best expressions of what they could be.

Mathematicians and engineers' heads are exploding right now, I am sure of it. I am going to go create a thread chronicling a rim swap for my Paramount, wherein I employ addition and subtraction in an orderly fashion...

juvela

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+1

an enthusiast can only approach nirvana asymptotically by continuing to do n + 1

if one still has an aisle in their workspace/storage space then they clearly do no ha' eno'!


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Lascauxcaveman 

If my wife is asking, n = "a few."

Lascauxcaveman 

I like this idea. I've got twenty bikes hanging up in my shop. If I take off the front wheel, say, of each of them, I've only got some bike parts. This sounds a lot more manageable.

non-fixie 

A frame is just a bike part, right? And an incomplete bike just counts as a parts, right? So if I take off the pedals, it's just parts, right? So, I've got just a few bikes and a whole lotta parts.

qcpmsame 

Asked the wife, she's the one with the mathematics degree in this house (I'm a lowly engineer, with an additional, worthless BA in Law, as a conversation killer,) she said the answer is 42, or Green, depending on the time of day and how you hold your mouth.

Bill

clubman 

42 is spot-on, sadly.

AeroGut

N+1 is like tomorrow. It’s always in the future. Every new bike is still N, just like every new day is still today. . .

Wildwood 

I say a Black Lightning beats a Trek 660. So N+0 is still on the path to attain Cycling Truth, the journey evertoward nirvana state of encyclingpediafun.