79pmooney

My Mooney has been such a fixture in my like that I won't part with it. I knew early on in my last season of racing; the season after my head injury and the year when when one of the few skills I didn't lose was riding the bike, that Peter Mooney, who assisted me after a crash to placing in the money in the last mountain race I was ever going to ride that he was building my my post-racing bike; the bike that would be tasked with being my solace when life was overwhelming and my sanity challenged. Bike's task - to be rideable 12 months of the year in the lower 48 states; to be able to club ride, do long rides and climbs, tour, go off road ...

The bike, Pete, has done all of that. No, it isn't the best at any of those tasks. But over the crazy recovery years, my focus was not on the bike. And more than two was out of the question. Money was very tight. I lived in often studio apartments. (The other, my workhorse fix gear commuter.)

Starting in the '00s, I picked up used frames and started putting together bikes to do things well. Had a ti custom built, then another. Pete hung on a hook. Or did nice day rides to the farmers market. Then Cycle Oregon announced a ride to Crater Lake with 1000' ups and downs on gravel. Perfect elevation profile to do fixed but not on skinny tires! My other bikes didn't qualify. But Pete could! So I set Pete up mountain fix gear (three very different drive trains, gear ratios and nice big tires. And guess what? Pete, with his horizontal dropouts plus clearances for really big tires, also made a sweet road fix gear in the classic English roadster sense. A ride this completely non-specialist does really, really well! Total keeper for this guy who hopes to be riding fixed forever.

Pete now sports a beautiful paint job, lugged Nitto stem, GP4 rims and a Nitto Pearl stem. Pure class for a ride that I've shared so much of my life with and done so many crazy rides on.

Edit: I should add some bike frame geometry comments. As designed, Pete's chainstays were too long to be great on fast downhill corners with me as rider. I tend to pull my weight forward, leaving the rear tire too light on bouncy cuves unless the chainstays are really short. Pete's can handle big panners and my heels on 175s. A forever compromise on fast descents - until I set Pete up fixed. I now have to brake for those corners to keep the pedals off the pavement. Long chainstays? Simply not an issue. The rest of the handling is in the front end and that is all pure Peter Mooney. Sweet! (Did I say "classic English roadster" up above?) And long chainstays have some comfort advantages for all day fix gears.

AdventureManCO 

I am 'forever' scarred by the pain of working on my Huffy Le Grande, the endless incompatibilities, the numerous misalignments, the scrapes and burns and cuts (to my soul). My 'forever' bike. Does that count?

base2 

Is it taboo to say: "I'm Poly with my bike love."?
Don't judge.
There are more of us than you think.

Jeff Neese

My problem is that every time I think about "thinning the herd" and maybe selling one of my bikes, I take it out for a ride and end up saying "Man, I can't sell this thing!"

top506

5. I just don't know which five.

Top

RB1-luvr

My wife is 21 years younger than me, so she'll have to dispense with my RB-1 and my Supergo Access when I go dead. Both owned since new and having seen multiple groupsets.

styggno1

Without having read all the posts...

None.

I have had this thought for a long time but as time goes by (59 and getting older as I write this...) I am now determined. I do have some different hobbies and all of them are sort of built on "things". In all these interests I see forum posts in line with "Mr/Mrs X has past" and the one left behind is, apart from the sorrow, stuck with heaps of stuff they do not know what to do with or how to dispose/sell.

I will not expose my wife to this. There are two plans. One in case of an unexpected early departure - ie accidents, etcetera, and one for a more age oriented (my life expectancy according to Swedish statistics is 83). The first one consisting of a list of people to contact for each hobby. The second a more practical sell-list for myself.

I see dying before every hobby-generated Krona (Swedish currency) is spent on traveling and adventures together with my wife as a personal failure. That is an incitament to speak of!

The first plan is in order. The second plan starts at 60 and ends around 75.

panzerwagon 

All mine are keepers until the burden of keeping exceeds the joy they bring, neither of which are time-invariant functions.
Right now, there are over a dozen keepers and over a dozen non-keepers.
The exit queue tends to be a lot slower than the entry queue, for some reason

obrentharris 

Now in my 72nd year, "forever" isn't so long as it once was.

I've been paring down. I'm down to 10 bikes. Two of those are inching towards the exit. I have 5 bikes which will stick around the longest for reasons of sentimental personal attachment to the builders. When the time comes that I can no longer ride, those 5 will also be sent to new homes.

Now, if you'll please excuse me I have a date with my wife for a foggy morning tandem ride.
Brent

tkamd73 

Well let’s see:


This one

This one

This one

This one

This one

This one

This one

and This one,

Spent a lot of time, effort, and money, sourcing and building these bikes up. I ride them all, and enjoy maintaining them, my wife can do what she wants with them when I croak!
Tim

SurferRosa

I always think of this film scene from my youth when I hear folks talking about taking things to the grave.

"So what if it's as big as a Subaru and cost as much! You'll never have to trade this in! This is gonna be with you for the rest of your life! And when you die, they can bury you in it!"

[language nsfw]

tkamd73 

That was a good movie, but I’m not taking my bikes, or any material item to the grave, or crematorium. My wife is pretty basic about such things, very non materialistic, and non sentimental, she’ll just have a dumpster set in the driveway, fill it with all my stuff, and not think twice about it.
I like that about her!
Tim

SurferRosa

And please don't misunderstand my post. I don't care that much about it. It's just one of those film scenes that has stayed with me that I still find hilarious ... and rings so true of how I also felt as a young person shopping for a powerful sound system cranking out classic rock.

I wish I had a grail bike with a story to tell! There's one bike I rebuilt that's an old family heirloom I gifted to my nephew. I hope it stays in our family forever. As far as my current six road bikes, I just pray I will be able to ride one or more of them with passion until my big exit.

ascherer 

If it could only be one, no question:
Mercian Professional

Since this was taken I've swapped in a slightly larger small chainring, bigger cassette, and it's sporting a silver Impero.

If I could hang on to a few others, these would be hard to part with:
Paramount P13


Raleigh Pro MkI


Despite being too small for me to ride, the PX10 my cycling mentor rode when he brought me to cycling in 1972, and gifted me in 2012. Not exactly how he had it configured, but not far off. The bars and rack are the biggest difference.

squirtdad

I have learned, never say never, but at this point if i had to say one forever bike it would be my kirk custom.
I specced it in way that I think will give me max usage and flexibility

Key forever specs in my mind

1. 1 inch threaded steerer gives be a lot of flexibility with stems in the future and looks better than threadless
2. eyelets for rear rack. I am set for commuting with a tubus rack and ortlieb panniers...very much do no like riding with a pack
3. eyelets and attachment points for genders... support year round riding
4. sized to take 32 mm tires (28 with fenders)

.
that said I would have a really hard time getting rid of my 84 team miyata

my third bike...the commuter utility is currently a SR semi pro and I am more flexible there

and digressing like an good C&V person I am open to karma and interesting bikes (please someone else buy the Richard Sachs on for sale)

Manny66 

None , as much as I Love riding all of my bikes, they are all replaceable.

Wildwood 

After enough years of refining what I like to ride, they are all keepers. Just may not be able to keep them all. I hope to be pedaling for a long time, surely something more appropriate for me out there 'down the road', if I ever get old.

This keeper just shipped out.

squirtdad

looks like red is requirement.....that does keep new bikes from being noticed

SoCaled 

I am not sure if you all read the title? I see a lot of nice bikes, but none of them are "Forever" bikes

a "real" Forever bike:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...010933690359/?

squirtdad

well played

steelbikeguy

Can't argue with that!

It does make one think more about what a forever bike should be... is it the bike that you will want for the rest of time, or is it the bike that you can't wear out??

If it is the latter, then maybe one of those industrial Worksman bikes are the choice?? I've seen those in factories before, usually with a big toolbox on the back of the trike. Pretty impressive in their own way.




Steve in Peoria

smd4

One.

abdon 

Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. Your forever bike could be a Schwinn letour just because it is identical to the one you owned in college.

Also "forever" is better defined as an intent rather than an outcome. Nothing lasts forever.

jPrichard10 

My Trek 910 is "a" forever bike. Came to me original, one owner for its life except for the estate saler who nabbed it from his widow and sold it to me. It's my hard-to-find size (25.5") and my favorite bicycle color: Imron Ice Blue metallic. It has the original sticker from the Bike Gallery, which is still in business here in Portland. For some reason, that local bike shop sticker is a huge part of why I never want to get rid of it.




The only thing that could maybe sway me would be a 710 or even 510 in the same size and color with a similar "local flavor." I am curious how the thinner walled 531 or Ishiwata 022 would be on this large of a frame, and maybe I'd prefer the Columbus SP, but I have no way of know that right now.

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RiddleOfSteel

In my experience, the Columbus tubing has the most attitude, the Ishiwata the most pacific, and 531--for me at this same 25.5" frame size--to be the ideal: Perfection in its springiness and response with incredible ride comfort. I've had a 64cm '83 970 race frame and it had flawless manners. The calmest Columbus frame I've ever ridden, but it being built by Trek makes sense. I judge a frame by its out-of-saddle characteristics (as well as in saddle, etc) and my two 510s have always felt a step behind at worst or indifferent to it at best. In the saddle, they are very efficient and comfortable bikes (aka there is nothing wrong with them), and since they carry the same lugs and finish work as the 710s and 910s, one doesn't lose anything visually. I had a chestnut brown metallic 1980 510 before and now a funky-faded purple 510 now. Same character. I still need to or would like to hook it up to a really good set of wheels (Shimano RS81 C24s or DT Swiss R23s) and punchy crankset (Dura Ace 9000) and see how that helps it. I really dig the purple color of this one and I loved the chestnut brown of the previous.

At the end of the day, any wheels on a DB 531 frame Trek for me just feel amazing in all scenarios. Did I sell my '81 710 this summer? Yes. Why? It's complicated. One part, because I could and wanted to clear space, another because as set up it would have been more museum/collector piece instead of desired rider (built as 2x7 friction) and I want it to be ridden, and another part because my '82 720, as built by me, exists, and is phenomenal.

So, to answer the OP's question, my '82 Trek 720 is my "forever bike." There are two 620s in nearest orbit as well as an OS Paramount, but the 720 is the pinnacle of a number of things and to recreate it now would be thousands of dollars.


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