Like others have mentioned, I have certain niches that I want to fill without too much overlap. I feel like I'm in a pretty good place right now with N = 4/5, and I'll hopefully just move one on if a worthy and economically viable upgrade presents itself in one of these niches. First the 4 that are currently built up and fill definite niches:
1. Rivendell canti-Hillborne - This is my commuter/tourer/most flexible bike. I've got it set up with fenders, 42c Marathons, Albatross bars, dynamo lighting, front medium wald basket, rear large saddle sack, and friction bar-end 3x9 gearing. This thing is comfortable and capable and the bike I most often grab when I'm heading out the door. 2. Gaulzetti Cazzo - I'm in a cycling club, and on the weekends I often go on road rides with some very fast friends. This is the bike that lets me keep up with them, and, if I'm in decent shape, drop them every now and then on the steep climbs ;). Constructed of light oversized steel tubing and set up with Campy 10-speed, 27c slick tires, and light aluminum wheels. This thing is a rocket-ship, and I love it. 3. Cooper Cycles (out of Portland, not to be confused with Ron Cooper) rando - This is my rando/light touring bike. Set up with fenders, 35c Soma New Xpress tires, and also Campy 10 speed, but much easier gearing than the Cazzo with a White Industries 44 x 30 VBC crank. It's got low-trail geometry, which I'm still getting used to but like so far, and several options for bags. This bike is perfect for exploring the tiny towns that dot the many beautiful but sometimes rocky dirt roads around Austin. 4. 2008 Salsa El Mariachi 29er - I've been trying to get more into mountain biking lately even though I'm not very good at it and am much too timid to take any aggressive lines or ride down anything remotely scary. Set up full rigid with a 1x9 drivetrain. I actually picked this up from a local guy who included some beautiful custom XPac frame bags he made for it, and I dream of taking it out to Big Bend State Park to do some multi-day bike camping. Some day.... Other than that, I've got 2 frames in the attic: -a 1983 Specialized Expedition that I might rebuild at some point and am too in love with to let go -a custom steel track frame a friend of mine built up for me about 11 years ago that my knees won't really let me ride any more but which is too beautiful and holds too much sentimental value for me to sell And one frame in the stand that I'm currently building up: A really nice 531 Mercian road frame I just picked up that will be my around town bike when I want to get somewhere fast. Just need to find a decent Campy rear wheel to finish it off. This stable seem to fulfill my current needs and is, conveniently, all that will comfortably fit in the bike/laundry room in my current living space. If I try to add another without moving something on, my girlfriend will definitely start to grumble. -Nick in ATX On Monday, April 3, 2017 at 10:24:18 AM UTC-5, Bob K. wrote: > > Hey Folks: > > I know threads somewhat similar to this pop up every now and again, but > Ryan's question to Eric in the Rivendell Road SOLD thread made me wonder > how folks settle on their stable size. I fall squarely in the minimalist > camp, but I'm guessing others here probably don't. So: > > 1. How do you settle on what N equals for you? (N+1, I know, I know...) > 2. What bikes do you currently own/have in regular rotation and why do you > own them? > > My stable is currently at one because of a recent sale, but it will (soon) > bump back up to two. I settled on two as the acceptable number of bikes for > a number of reasons, but mostly because I can't imagine riding enough to > justify having any more of them. We also don't have the space for me to > store any additional bikes aside from in a somewhat humid basement, and > neither my wife nor myself would appreciate more bikes in the corner of the > living room as we're not big fans of clutter, especially clutter that > doesn't get used very often. > > Current Stable: > > 1. 2009 Sam Hillborne (canti): Used mostly for road riding and touring and > some occasional single track and forest roads if the ride allows/inspires > it. > > 2. 2017 Surly Troll: I settled on the new Troll after a lengthy flirtation > with the idea of buying a Crust Evasion and other bikes as well. I decided > the Troll is better for my needs for a number of reasons: the geometry > readily accepts a Jones H-Bar, 2x is easy vs. not doable at all with the > Evasion, and my desired 26x3.0 setup doesn't require the need for expensive > cranksets. It's also $300 cheaper and I like the maroon better than the > also admittedly pretty Evasion color. It will take the place of my > erstwhile Krampus as my mountain bike, off-road tourer, long distance > tourer (if/when I get to do that!), kid trailer, and stuff hauler. > > How about you? > > Bob K. in Baltimore > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
