plumberroy

I kill time by scrolling through Market place and craigslist. I always see things I find interesting. Right now there is a Ross mountain bike someone has tricked out pretty much as I would have. There is a nice Univega Rover . That I like. 15 years ago I would have been trying to buy them. . My wife has ask if I wanted to go pull cash and go get them. Now at 61 I think the Ross is about the same as the Univega Alpina bike I just finished up tricking out. The Univega Rover won't do anything the Specialized Hardrock I have will do buying another bike just doesn't have the appeal it used to. I have eight bikes in the stable.

I-Like-To-Bike

Bicycle Hording isn't all it's cracked up to be by the advocates of "N+1."

GeezyRider 

I find I'm feeling the same as I don't see anything new or used that really appeals to me. I have a large and diverse collection of bikes. What I'm enjoying right now is taking bikes that I haven't ridden for a while and upgrading or modifying them. For example, I have a 1976 Raleigh Grand Prix that I rescued some time ago and I've been planning to use my stash of parts to convert it to single speed just for kicks and grins.

mrv 

Seems a couple things all happened at once.
Those of us who like classic bikes got bikes we wanted to ride and fix up. Thinking we could sell them for what we spent on them- money wise.

Pandemic has bike companies trying to keep up- driving up the used market

bike makers over produced right when people said an e bike is easier way to get their exercise than doing the work themselves.

So now a new bike glut, + us C&V folks can’t fit anymore bikes in the rafters- even those beautiful Lotus bikes that guy in Ohio seems to find….

so lots of nice cheap bike porn to scroll through. My 420Trek may be up there soon. Again.

TiHabanero

The heart covets what it sees as important. At some point priorities shift to putting our heart into more meaningful things. You may be at that point in life.

Chuck M 

I pretty much only use facebook for looking at bike offerings on marketplace. In my area it isn't often that something special comes up. There are also too many people looking at bikes on eBay to get an idea what they want to list the old bike they found in dad's garage and that results in a lot of $300 hi-tensile bikes being listed. However there were a couple of Miyatas that came up a couple of weeks ago but when I asked the seller for better pictures of them, she sent me two overpriced eBay screen captures. I also have 4 or 5 bikes I need to do as well as the regular maintenance on the 4 I ride so it will be a while before I add anything else to the list.

big john

If I still had a job I'd be all over some new bikes. I'm not interested in C&V bikes except to look at sometimes. I'm also not a fan of buying used bikes even though my main ride was purchased used.
Even if I had money I wouldn't want a bunch of bikes. Maybe 2 road bikes, like I have now, and 2 mountain bikes. Or, one mountain bike and one "gravel" bike.

PeteHski

Maybe you just don’t need any more bikes.

plumberroy

I didn't need the last one I bought 😁 if I am being honest it's not just bikes. I have sold or gifted several knives. Last pistol I bought was something pretty special. Besides that one It's been awhile since anything else interested me. I sold 12 sewing machines when people started looking for machines to make mask

pdlamb

I got my N+1 last year. Just this weekend I had an epiphany: I like having an extra bike so if one needs to be fixed, I can ride another one. But every bike in my stable needed some hands-on time. And it was too hot to work on them in the garage, or outside, so I was pulling one at a time into the parlor workshop. Then running to the garage (trying to get in and out before I started dripping sweat) for another tool, or that replacement part.

Half my stable is ready to ride this morning. The rest will take some time.

downtube42

I'm with you. I'm finding I don't like redundant bikes, or bikes I don't ride. I do want backup for commuting, but any of my bikes will serve as a commuter.

Right now I have four drop-bar road bikes - a fixie, a cx bike, my steel randonneuring bike, and my newest a carbon randonneuring bike. One needs to go. I also have a hardtail, but I don't ride MTB at all. My recumbent was my randonneuring bike spanning three PBPs, but it's hanging unridden now. Needs to go.

That's three, at least, I need to move and not replace.

rsbob 

Similar to bikes, I was into sports cars. I was constantly looking for better, upgrading, improving, trading and looking on Bring A Trailer at the latest offerings. I was never happy with what I had and was always involved in the hobby and shopping for another car to add. Then I woke up and sold the cars except for one and have zero interest in acquiring another. Sometimes you realize that you are on a self-perpetuating treadmill.

I have a couple of nice bikes and for the last three years had zero interest in getting another.

GhostRider62

I do not buy a new bike often, maybe once every 5-7 years. The problem is I don't get rid of the old ones like the beautiful 1971 Masi GC hanging or the lovely Peter Mooney or my old randonneuring bike or my recumbent or my Bike Friday or my Mtb bike or my tandem or my Klein touring bike. I do not ride any of them. I could keep three and those three would not be any of those listed. I should just throw them in the trash

Chuck M 

You can count on me to take the Mooney and the Masi to the curb for you.

Random11

I have two bikes and that seems to work pretty well for me. If I wanted another bike, I'd buy one... but I'm good with two.

prj71

N+1 = having the right tool for the job. Mountain bike, fat bike, road bike and gravel bike. Maybe commuter bike.

Having 2 of each is just a waste of $$$ in my opinion. Better to have a few nice bikes that do each job vs. owning and maintaining 20 bikes that are replicate tools.

big john

When I was a kid I loved cars. Couldn't wait to start driving. Eventually I became a mechanic and bought and sold some cars, had 5 cars at one time. Got a Mustang as just a shell and spent most of my free time working on it for many months. Hit a wall after that and stopped even doing most maintenance on my own cars if I could avoid it. Worked on customer cars 45 hours a week and couldn't think of picking up a wrench on my days off. It's why I neglect my bikes, I'm sure.

Biker395 

I’ve got several road bikes, but it’s not so much because I like acquiring them, but rather that I take care of them and don’t want to let them go. I’ve given away several bikes to deserving people but I’ve never sold one.

Buying and fitting a new bike is a bit of a PITA, especially someone like me who is prone to paralysis by analysis. Once I get one dialed in, I just want to keep it and ride it, not trade it in on a newer model. I’m the same way with autos … probably why I drive a 20 year old car.

But I am overdue, so N+1 is likely in my near future.

ofajen

I had one bike until I was 30 and since then I’ve had two, which is plenty. Not really going to be looking unless a frame rusts out and then I’ll get a Bassi Le Montreal.

OTOH, I do have a hankering to put together a full-track mono tape machine. I have a working 2-track and 8-track, so the mono machine would be for recording solo performances and training myself to create mixes that work in mono.

At this point, I’m old enough that I don’t care that no one really wants to hear a mono track because everyone listens on stereo earbuds.

It could also be fun to be running a machine built in the ‘50s if I get an old Ampex 300, 400 or 350.

Otto

zacster

Not at all appealing now. I barely ride the ones I have. My road bike is from 2005, when I turned 50, and I have a commuter bike that I no longer commute with. When I look at new bikes now I'm always a bit amazed by how they've changed, but I don't want to learn how to deal with the new stuff either. And does it really matter? I rode my roadie yesterday and it still shifts like new with Campy 10 that I've maintained over the years, is still very light, keeps track of everything. What will disc brakes, 12 speed, thru axle, newfangled bottom brackets get me? What I really need is my old body back! At 68 it keeps getting harder every year, but I still have some gas left in the tank.

Biker395 

I could do that. It's not a cheap hobby either, but there is something about restoring and using old audio equipment that appeals to me. I still lust after one of Teac's old simul-sync decks, even if I know full well that I could get better sound quality and more flexibility with a MUCH less expensive digital set up.

I say go for it, and post up some pix of what you come up with.

plumberroy

I bought a single speed fat tire bike from Bikesdirect when they first got popular, I have since sold it. First bike with disc brakes. I took off around the local 8 mile loop at the local park. Coasting down the steepest hill the trail . I hit to brakes between the grip of the 4 in tires and the disc brakes I about threw myself over the handle bar 🤣

t2p

before internet / early days of internet / Craigslist / FB Marketplace etc - flea markets (especially) were a great source of bikes ... often at low prices

tough to pass on some of the better bikes that were priced ridiculously low

plumberroy

I Was laid off due to a plant closing in 2008 . Fixies were hot with the college kids . I bought dozens of 70's-80's road bikes for $5-$15 at yard sales and sold them on Craigslist for $75-$150 without having to do anything to them

John E

I ride classics exclusively (see signature) and currently have too many project bikes. My only somewhat recent acquisitions are the Carlton (gift from sister-in-law) and the repainted Capo Sieger (couldn't resist a littermate of my all-original Sieger). I do not plan to purchase any additional bikes, but instead continue to ride and fix up what I have. (I have broken two frames in the past -- 1973 Peugeot UO-8 at the drive side chainstay and 1971 Nishiki Competition at the bottom bracket -- simply from use and metal fatigue, but I have plenty of backups now.)

I feel the same way about cars -- I can easily afford a new car, but I have no desire to buy one as long as I can keep the our current cars (2001 VW Passat wagon -- meets our needs perfectly as the best-sized, best-configured car ever offered on the US market, and 2016 VW Golf Sportwagen) operating safely and reliably.