InTheRain

A lot of forum members have more than one bike. A lot of forum members would like to have more bikes. Hopefully, you never have to decide, but what bike would you keep if you could only keep one? Why?

I have two bikes (I want more) - a touring bike that is a commuter/e-bike and I have a carbon fiber road bike. The touring/commuter/e-bike is so versatile. It gets me to work and back. I can carry relatively heavy loads. I can make my rides and commutes easy, or I can get a better workout than I could ever imagine on the road bike. The touring/commuter/e-bike is set up to handle wet weather and is able to take all kinds of accessories (which I have taken full advantage.) I would keep the touring/commuter/e-bike... I guess for practical purposes.

I'm hoping this thread might be helpful for those people that might be looking for their first bike. Many will be looking for a bike for a specific purpose (and maybe that's why you have your favorite) and others might be looking for one that will serve many purposes. Give your reasons, buyers will consider your criteria. There must be many, many people that are in the same circumstances as you are.

Giant Doofus

Good question. Right now I have three bikes:
1. A Dutch-style step-through city bike with all the stuff you'd expect: dynamo lights, roller brakes, IGH, chain case, fenders, etc.,
2. A Bianchi Volpe, and
3. A 23-year old steel hybrid that I overhauled myself.

If I could only keep one it would be the Bianchi, no question. It's a nice versatile bike that can be fast enough for my purposes on fun rides, has good geometry for long, rambling rides on the weekends, and would serve perfectly well as a commuter. It has 28mm tires now, but could go wider. It will take racks and fenders. If it were my only bike, there's just one thing I would change. I would get the disc brake version for riding in wet conditions. We get a lot of rain in Memphis.

CrankyOne

Workcycles Opafiets. Easy Choice.

I have a number of bikes including three track, several road from 70's to 2013 Scott Addict, some mountain, hybrid, and various others. I love them all. But the Opafiets is my go to bike. It's the most reliable, the most comfortable, the easiest for transportation, and the best for hauling stuff (short of my bakfiets which would likely be my second choice). It's not the fastest but does quite well on slower club rides (13-15 mph is fine but would be really worn out doing anything faster) and does much better on club rides than any other bike does for daily xport.

wolfchild

If I had to have only one, it would be my single speed mountain bike.

rekmeyata

If I could only keep one bike it would have to be a bike that can be used for just road riding, gravel roads, commuting, and touring, so my new titanium bike would be tossed out...damn it! So that would leave either the Schwinn Le Tour Luxe or the Mercian Vincitore Special; looks wise the Mercian wins hands down, but for ease of repair the Schwinn wins hands down. I'm at odds with myself. I would probably keep the Schwinn...no wait the Mercian, no the Schwinn, no the Mercian...damn question has driven me to insanity. Ok, if that choice was given quite honestly I would probably flip a coin and let chaos take over.

Mr Pink57

I have:

1. Surly Ogre
2. Surly Pugsley
3. Vassago Fisticuff
4. On-One Scandal SS

Practicality says I should keep the Ogre but my gut says keep the pugsley.

tjspiel

I'm not really interested in having a garage full of bikes but I do have two. I also often ride what is technically my wife's bike. Anyway, having multiple bikes has allowed me to specialize in a way that I wouldn't if I had only one. I don't really have a general purpose bike, though both are fine for commuting most of the year.

All that is a long winded way of saying that I wouldn't keep either bike and instead I would get a CF gravel bike which I figure would be OK for most of the riding I do if not ideal. I'd have 3 wheelsets for it. One with an Alfine 11 Di2, the other with a cassette for an Ultegra Di2 derailleur, and a 3rd with a single speed/fixed cog. Oh, and what the hell, might as well through a dyno hub on one of them. Since this is a theoretical discussion, I will theoretically have a pile of money to spend on it.

This will be an interesting thread, but I doubt it would be used by many people looking for a new bike to help them make a decision. More than likely, newbies will continue to start new threads asking what kind of bike they should get, - which I think is fine. It's fine because I'd rather not try to sell people on a bike that I chose. It's more important that folks get a bike that THEY like. Most commutes aren't so special that any number of bikes couldn't do the job. I like to ask people if they have any particular cycling interests outside of commuting.

caloso

The Ridley. It's a great bike. Light, stiff, neutral handling, takes a standard BB and seat post, and has exterior cabling, so it's easy to work on. Best all around race bike I have ever owned. And if you ride it to work, it becomes a commute bike.

ThermionicScott 

Right now, it's my recently-reworked Bianchi Sport SX:



Much smoother and faster than it was in its previous incarnation. Comfortable with its 38mm tires, good fender coverage, and adequate carrying capacity when the handlebar bag is attached.

tjspiel

Beautiful. I would take that bike too except that I'd hate to subject it to our winters.

Gresp15C

Among the bikes that I actually own, it would have to be my old steel MTB because it has clearance for studded tires and fenders. Other than that issue, my bikes are surprisingly similar, and I could ride pretty much anything with upright handlebars.

If all of my bikes vanished, and I had to buy a new one in a hurry with limited funds, it would look a lot like this:

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...-bike-sale.htm

Assuming I'm allowed to keep all of my tools for a complete tune-up upon arrival.

Dave Cutter

If you could keep only one bike, which one would it be?

Since all my bikes are more or less use specific I don't think I own "the one" bike that could replace them all. So I'd just have to pick my favorite bike (and daily rider). It is very comfortable. Not a pricey or special bike. It's a entry level Trek 1.1 I bought new in July of 2014. I just checked it's computer and it has 2,856 miles.

Bike Gremlin

Since I have a road bike and a MTB now, of the two it would be the MTB - more universal.

If I had to choose one "perfect" bike, it would be a relaxed hybrid frame with mini v-brakes, with drop bars. Rack, fenders, 32 mm wide tyres and a set of winter wheels with studded tyres on.

ThermionicScott 

Thanks! I would, too -- I currently only ride this bike spring-fall, and use the fixed-gear MTB (or car ) during the winter.

Andy_K 

I currently own seven bikes:

2013 Kona Jake (entry level cyclocross bike set up for commuting)
2008 Kona Major Jake (geared cyclocross race bike)
2013 Kona Jake the Snake (singlespeed cyclocross race bike)
2012 Ridley Excalibur (carbon road bike)
2001 LeMond Beunos Aires (steel road bike)
2008 Surly Long Haul Trucker (touring bike)
2006 Kona Kula (hard tail mountain bike)

I think either the Major Jake or the LeMond is my favorite (depending on what time of year you asked me), but if I could only keep one it would be the commuter because it can do what all of the others do (though not quite as well). It's the one I ride most anyway.

79pmooney

In the real world with bike thefts, etc? My workhorse '83 Trek 420 fix gear with its fenders, LowRiders and U-lock. Rideable year 'round and I can pretty much lock it anywhere. Fit is right on, as good as it gets. I bike that will get ridden 12months of the year and can go out anytime i need a sanity ride.

In a slightly less real world? My custom TiCycles fix gear, Jessica. The fix gear I can ride anywhere. Dropouts to handle any cogs from 12 to 23. (I think a 24 will go on, Just haven't found one yet.)

I have known for nearly 40 years that if I had to trim down to one bike it would be the fix gear. Now it is harder, I have a choice.

Ben

bmthom.gis

If I could only have 1 bike, I would probably sell everything I have and get a really nice Reynolds 853 Randonneuring bike - nice stable geometry, can haul stuff on it, not quite as overbuilt as a touring bike, comfortable for long distances, etc.

canadian deacon

I have two bikes and if I was forced to downsize I would keep the fixed gear bike. The geared bike is more practical but the fixed gear is more fun.

tjspiel

The most practical and versatile bike I have is the one I ride the least, - which probably explains why I'd get rid of the bikes I have and get a new one instead. It's not that there's anything wrong with it, and it can be a fun bike under certain conditions. It's just not that particularly fun for most of the riding I do.

Steely Dan

my current stable:

- titanium road bike w/ ultegra (the fun bike!)

- aluminum disc-brake hybrid w/ alfine 8 & studded tires (the winter beast)

- aluminum disc-brake CX bike converted to a commuter (the everyday bike)

- aluminum SS 20" wheel folder (the little bike)


if i could only keep one of those it'd have to be the CX commuter because it's the most versatile, jack of all trades bike that i have with its full fenders, rack, and panniers.

however, i'd miss the titanium road bike the most because it's the most fun to ride, but it's not very practical for a transportation cyclist like me. it has no clearance for fenders, no rack mounts, and is FAR too spendy to ever leave locked up and unattended on the street.

HardyWeinberg

A pug w/ a spare 29er wheelset is pretty darn versatile.

I have a crosscheck that I swap back and forth between a 7 speed rearwheel (w/ downtube shifter) and a fixed-gear wheel that is also versatile enough to meet all my needs. Does not meet a ton of my wants, although this time of year it's better at them than the CF racing bike for sure.

mcours2006

Like many of you I'd also keep the most versatile bike I have--my Bianchi CX. It's on the heavy side, but it's equipped with fenders, rack, capable of taking on wider tires.

Fortunately, I don't have to make that decision, but I could see that if space was at a premium I'd be a one-bike cyclist.

RubeRad

Tough question. What I have to choose from are:

* N-1 bike (commuting, road, gravel, ...) Surly CrossCheck with Marathon Supreme 700x50 tires
* Hardtail 29er (Moto Fantom 29 Pro SL)

The CrossCheck is already a do-almost-everything bike, but when I ride with my wife, we ride trails that I just can't handle with the CrossCheck's fork and gearing (39/52 x 11-34). But I couldn't ride road with the hardtail, even though the fork has lockout, mostly because of the flatbar; but also the frame has no rack mounts, so that's a pain.

So if I had to choose just one, I'd go with the CrossCheck, but I'd look into a suspended fork with lockout and canti posts (or go disc in the front), and I'd have to get a smaller crankset, probably a triple (should be an easy conversion because I have friction front shifting with my Retroshifts). And I'd want a spare wheelset because it would be easier to swap wheels than to change tires every time I go between trail and road.

Now that I think about it, it's almost tempting to actually do it, because I don't have the N+1 disease, I'd rather get rid of stuff. But even changing fork and gearing, I think the tall road geometry of the CrossCheck would not be ideal for trying to pick my way through rock gardens etc.

plaucc

I currently own 6 bikes. When the time come to keep one, it will be my gravel bike. Dual purpose, versatile and ready for any road. If I could keep 2 bikes, it still will be my gravel bike and a steel MTB with semi knobby tires for more relaxing ride.

Mr Pink57

Why go with so much wheel swap? Build a disc hub and put a tomicog or a velo solo cog on it and just flip it!