How often do you get a new bike

[Uawadall]

For my first road bike purchase, the parameters were pretty simple. Get a bike that fits, doesn't break the bank and is sturdy enough to withstand rookie mistakes. A Cannondale Synapse that I still use around half the time. For my second bike, I wanted something that I really liked the look of and was really different than the first. Having my gear range preference and something built for speed was also important. I picked a BMC TMR02. I use it heavily in warmer months and put it away in the winter.

I look at bikes from time to time, but am starting to realize how long a bike can really last if its taken care of. I think having 2 is good incase one needs to be repaired or something of that nature. I see little need for a third bike, but its easy to see newer models and want to purchase it. I told myself, at least 5 years between bikes unless one of the current ones gets wrecked.

How often do you get new bikes or consider getting new bikes? Do you give yourself limits in terms of years, income, or some other parameters? What qualities of a bike are most important to you?

 

[cyclintom]

I went through bikes all the time and am now settled on my Pinarello Stelvio, Basso Loto and Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra.

 

[Froze]

Brand spankin new? I bought a 1984 Trek 660 frame and fork and put Suntour Superbe components on it for racing with, which I still have; bought a backup racing bike a 1985 Miyata Team which I sold a couple a weekends ago, bought a Giant Rincon MTB in 1987 which I still have, bought a Mercian Vincitore Special in 07 for all the wrong reasons but sold that one about a year ago; and then the last one I bought new is a 2013 Lynskey Peloton which could be my last new bike unless I decide to sell the remaining steel bikes I have and put the money towards a new touring bike which at this time is highly doubtful.

 

[cyclintom]

My wife has three bikes in the garage and another I built for her and which she is going to give to her adopted grand-daughter. That is presently sitting in the living room and if I move it to the garage it will pass completely out of her mind. I have the three steel road bikes, a Time VX with an Ultegra 10 speed group on it and a Gary Fisher full suspension MTB and two cyclocross bikes - a Redline with disks and a Ridley with V-brakes that is just as powerful and more easily modulated. I put a flatbar on the Redline since I use it as a gravel bike and as an extremely rough terrain bike. Full suspension bikes climb better because the front ends are so heavy that you can't lift them off with real low gear so you can put full power into a climb. With a CX bike the front end lifts up on a steep climb and low gear. I have three different gears on the road bikes. The Eddy has a triple and a 13-29. The Basso a compact and a 13-28 and the Pinarello a 53/39 and an 11/28 cogset.

I almost never use the triple small ring. I used it on a long 19% climb and a 23% that was perhaps 100 meters long and the top of Mt. Diablo which I never could measure since it is so steep that you can't take your eyes off of the road for one second since you are going so slow - though I'm told that it's 29%. That part is a very short jump-up to the very top - perhaps 50 feet. The rest of Mt. Diablo is rather shallow at perhaps only 7%. Mt. Hamilton in San Jose and Mt. Tamilpais in Marin County are also rather shallow but long. The climb to the Marin Headlands though is perhaps 15% and the downgrade on the other side is 18%. There are some very steep but short roads near Novato CA that can knock you out. I ride straight up them with the idea that this is the shortest torture while others weave back and forth with the mistaken idea that this is an easier way. They make the climb three times as long.

There used to be a Shoreline bike trail most of the way around San Francisco Bay but a lot of it has been paved now and cheap paving and bay shores do not get along well; so long stretches instead of being pretty smooth dirt are patches of asphalt with plant roots raising splitting sections 6" tall every couple of meters. These are hard for hikers to walk on and almost impossible for bikes to ride on so the traffic is much reduced and the reasons for maintaining them are reduced. California's socialist government always finds a way to put their money in their own pockets rather than spending it on infrastructure.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

We are roadies. We have rules.

Velominati Rule #12:

The correct number of bikes to own is n+1.

1. While the minimum number of bikes one should own is three, the correct number is n+1, where n is the number of bikes currently owned. This equation may also be re-written as s-1, where s is the number of bikes owned that would result in separation from your partner.

I try to buy a bike every year. Sometimes 2 per year.

 

[cyclintom]

We are roadies. We have rules.

I try to buy a bike every year. Sometimes 2 per year.

I was pretty much in that category for years until I came back to the Pinarello, the Basso and the Eddy which is ONLY a back-up bike since it is a little too stiff for me. I discovered when you have the perfect bike you don't need a new one.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

you don't need

What is this word..."need"?

This is Amerika, Comrade Tomski! Is not about need. Is about 'want'! No one 'needs' six thousand square foot house. Or Corvette Z06. Or 300 acres of hunting land. Or Beechcraft KingAir 200. Have because want!

 

[Baldy 1953]

I recently bought my 2nd road bike. I had a Jamis,but really wanted a carbon bike. Ended up buying a Specialized Roubaix Elite. Nice bike. I do not think it was worth the money over my Jamis for the type of riding I do.
To do it over again, I would not buy the 2nd bike until I wore the Jamis out.

 

[Uawadall]

I recently bought my 2nd road bike. I had a Jamis,but really wanted a carbon bike. Ended up buying a Specialized Roubaix Elite. Nice bike. I do not think it was worth the money over my Jamis for the type of riding I do.
To do it over again, I would not buy the 2nd bike until I wore the Jamis out.

I wanted carbon for my second bike as well, but my expectations weren't high on the material. I've asked plenty experienced riders before hand about alloy vs carbon, their response "get a new wheel set instead of a new bike". In terms of speed and function, they'd be right if....Practicality was the only reason for my purchase.

I ordered my bmc without even test riding it, I thought it looked that cool and it was on a high discount. As a 61cmer, sizing usually comes down to just getting a 61 without trying other sizes. As for comfort, it takes a lot for me to be uncomfortable on a bike.

Most people just listen to marketing when comparing carbon to alloy. The Alloy Synapse is extremely comfortable. They say alloy is suppose to be rough, but it can roll through countless potholes and absorb most of the vibration. The TMR02 has me feeling rough roads. Weight isn't noticeably different between either bike, although i've never weighed them.

 

[cyclintom]

What is this word..."need"?

This is Amerika, Comrade Tomski! Is not about need. Is about 'want'! No one 'needs' six thousand square foot house. Or Corvette Z06. Or 300 acres of hunting land. Or Beechcraft KingAir 200. Have because want!

Can you suggest in what manner my statement was incorrect? People that ride NEED and bicycle and because it can break down when you're leaving on a ride you NEED a backup.

 

[cyclintom]

I recently bought my 2nd road bike. I had a Jamis,but really wanted a carbon bike. Ended up buying a Specialized Roubaix Elite. Nice bike. I do not think it was worth the money over my Jamis for the type of riding I do.
To do it over again, I would not buy the 2nd bike until I wore the Jamis out.

I rode with a friend in Arizona that had a carbon fiber Jamis and seemed quite satisfied with it. He was a beginner but like most people in Arizona seemed scared to death of dirt trails on a road bike and couldn't climb the side of a pickle. Otherwise he was a pretty good rider on the Jamis.

 

[cyclintom]

I wanted carbon for my second bike as well, but my expectations weren't high on the material. I've asked plenty experienced riders before hand about alloy vs carbon, their response "get a new wheel set instead of a new bike". In terms of speed and function, they'd be right if....Practicality was the only reason for my purchase.

I ordered my bmc without even test riding it, I thought it looked that cool and it was on a high discount. As a 61cmer, sizing usually comes down to just getting a 61 without trying other sizes. As for comfort, it takes a lot for me to be uncomfortable on a bike.

Most people just listen to marketing when comparing carbon to alloy. The Alloy Synapse is extremely comfortable. They say alloy is suppose to be rough, but it can roll through countless potholes and absorb most of the vibration. The TMR02 has me feeling rough roads. Weight isn't noticeably different between either bike, although i've never weighed them.

I have a Time VX Elite up for sale. I really didn't like it because it was so stiff that it would knock your crotch into your throat with 23 mm tires on it. While putting it together with an Ultegra group I had a set of 28 mm Michelin's and installed those. Those wider tires running lower pressure made that one of the best riding bikes I've ever had.

So if you are having comfort problems with that BMC keep that in mind.

 

[Fang]

When I was in middle school, I bought a bicycle, but it was stolen after a month. I bought a used bicycle in high school, which took three years. Now that I am working, I still ride a bicycle, but this is a shared bike. I dream of having a mountain bike, but I have no extra place to put it.

 

[cyclintom]

When I was in middle school, I bought a bicycle, but it was stolen after a month. I bought a used bicycle in high school, which took three years. Now that I am working, I still ride a bicycle, but this is a shared bike. I dream of having a mountain bike, but I have no extra place to put it.

There are a couple of problems: space to put a bicycle. You generally don't have a bicycle garage. And bicycles are stolen frequently - I just had someone sneak into my backyard last Sunday night and steal my Gary Fisher full suspension mountain bike. I didn't have any room other than in the backyard to store it, the tires were flat from sitting there for several months and there were no pedals on the bike. So the thief had to have some way of discovering it was back there since it was very well hidden, and a truck to haul it away since it wouldn't roll and couldn't be ridden. Thirdly what do you do with your bike when you take it somewhere? We always have someone sitting right next to them and watching them. People have walked right past thieves on the street using battery powered grinders to saw off a heavy duty U-Lock without saying a word. Local cameras have video logs of them looking at the guy doing it and not reporting it.

When I reported my loss to the police they considered it beneath their dignity. What? Just a bike? Yeah, a bike worth $2,000. I didn't pay that for it but that is its replacement value.

 

[Froze]

cyclingtom that bike theft sucks. None of my bikes are left naked outside, but with rain we get here I wouldn't want to even if I didn't have room inside, somehow I would figure out how to make the room. I don't "plan" on buying anymore used bikes but if I did and because I hang all of my bikes I would either just keep adding hangers or park it under the hanging bikes.

 

[cyclintom]

I have three bikes up on Craigslist but I've only had one bike sell in the last two years. I'm not that clear why. The bikes are pretty damn good for the prices.

But I've just gone against everything I've been preaching on here. I put my Time VX carbon together and put 28 mm tires on it and it now rides so good I'm loath to sell it though I probably would if a buyer comes along. I intend to strip all the major parts off of my Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra in T-Mobile colors and sell off the frame/fork/headset. It has a triple on it and I think I used the small ring twice.

In any case, that would leave me a spot on the ceiling rack in the garage and I just bought a Colnago CLX 3.0. This is a 2014 full carbon bike made in Taiwan with English threaded BB. The guy says that he put it together partially and discovered it was too big for him and the pictures do look like it was never put together 100%. I seem to have gotten over my fear of carbon fiber by extensive investigation.

Seems as how the spots where I discovered CF frames on the Internet broke are strongly reinforced on the CLX. And they apparently took a page from the Giant book and are making the frames in a different manner so that there are no sharp spots inside the frame or fork. So I figure that since the frame is unused and built very strongly where I've discovered CF frames to fail I should be able to keep this the rest of my riding life without worries.

I intend to set a speed record on it when I turn 100. This will give Bob a good target so I shouldn't have mentioned it but I'll keep you guys informed of how things are coming along because it will be awhile before I gather enough money for all the accoutrements. And that will give Bob plenty of time to razz the hell out of me.

 

[Froze]

I'm also going to try to set a world speed record when I reach 100 so Bob can have plenty of time to razz me too like he normally does, you know, I don't want Bob to feel left out.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

"I discovered when you have the perfect bike you don't need a new one."

"Can you suggest in what manner my statement was incorrect?"

It isn't about what is needed. I have several perfect bicycles. Almost all of my bicycles are perfect. Then I get one that is more perfect. I'll get another perfect one soon. I always do.

 

[Froze]

Bob I was just funnin with you. I don't think your statement was incorrect, it's true if you find the perfect bike it's really the only one you ever need. All the bikes I have fit me very well, so they're all perfect, but I don't need a custom bike, I had one once and I couldn't tell any difference than the off the shelf ones, but I don't have any odd body dimensions so an off the shelf bike works just fine for me. Now there was a bike that fitted me great like all the others do, but it was made of scandium and rode like a brick, fortunately it cracked at the top of the head tube so I wasn't forced to keep riding it, unfortunately Ridley wouldn't honor the warranty after just 8 months of use, saying it was fatigue and not covered! It seems that Scandium had problems with the material being brittle.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Yup.

7 Kg is more perfect than 6 Kg, all things being equal.

Campagnolo's new 12-speed is more perfect than Campagnolo's 11-speed.

Carbon for weigh saving is more perfect than Al, Ti or Fe. Graphene will be more perfect when it hits the market in affordable designs.

More aero is more perfect.

Disc brakes are better for multiple long descents with sharp corners.

Bicycles evolve. Perfection today is tomorrow's obsolete museum piece.

And again, I live in 'Murica. This is not about 'need'. Anyone can own an EPS equipped Dogma F10 with a gold plated stem cap. And go out and buy a Venge set up just for crit sprints and a track bike and a gravel bike and another road bike and a bike for the smart trainer and a tandem and a tri/tt bike and another road bike and a touring bike and a gran fondo bike and another road bike and a single-speed and another road bike and whatever else puts a smile on their face.

There is no 'discovering' a perfect bike. That's just one that works for now.