How many bicycles do you own ?

[Rhythm Thief]

1973 Mercian King of Mercia Audax bike
1973 Mercian KoM touring bike
1977 Mercian Campionissimo singlespeed
3 x Dawes Kingpin shopper bikes, one of which is built up as a fixed wheel drop bar bike
Daccordi road bike
1980s Orbit town bike/tourer
Kona Paddy Wagon fixed wheel
Optima Dragon recumbent bike
Dawes Super Galaxy twin tandem
1951 Humber Clubman
1999 Kona Explosif MTB
2010 Kona Major Jake

And my wife owns:
Orbit touring bike
1980s Saracen mixte cruiser

These are all complete and more or less ready to ride. Complete but in bits and awaiting work are:
1990s Dawes Audax Giro 700
1990s Peugeot road bike

And finally, frame sets awaiting more bits (or, more sensibly, listing for sale!):
Aluminium Specialized 'S' Works road frame
1980s Holdsworth Mirage
Specialized Langster

I think that's it, but I might have missed one or two!

 

[Gunk]

Not so many these days, down to just 5 now.

Carlton Professional
Van Nicholas Amazon
Brompton M3L
Brompton S6L
Giant Trance Advanced

With photos

 

[Illaveago]

I want more but space is an issue

The Final Frontier?

 

[ianrauk]

Van Nicholas Ventus Ti Road bike
Planet X Tempest Ti Road bike/Tourer/Commuter
Raleigh M-Trax Ti/Cro-Mo MTB/Hack
Pinnacle Pyrolite Alu Road bike (in bits at mo)
Tern Venge D9 Folder/Commuter

That's all I need, covers all the bases.

 

[Drago]

A wise man once said…”the more bikes you own, the more the bikes own you”.

Me thinks he spent too many an evening tinkering in his shed.

In my case I had the epiphany that I has acquiring bikes simply for the sake of it, yet I could only crap on one toilet at a time.

Moving house was the perfect opportunity to thin out the fleet. A quick phone call had Biggs pulling up outside Chez Drago with a low loader.

 

[scragend]

Seven is my number at the moment.

It had just about dawned on me that I need to stop accumulating bikes, partly for the same reason as Drago above but also because I've run out of space to put them.

Then a friend reminded me that I'd once said to him that if he was ever selling his CX bike then to let me know. He's moving away in the new year and wants rid, so he has offered me first refusal on it for a very good price.

I really shouldn't. But I will. Purely to help a mate out, you understand.

But then I do really need to stop.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Three and a half

Commuter, nice road bike, MTB, half share in a tandem.

Used to have a track bike and fancy a fixie on the road, but probably won't get round to it.

 

[PaulSB]

I'm fascinated by this thread. I've never owned more than three bikes at any one time. That's basically summer road bike, winter road/gravel and a spare for the odd occasion the other two aren't available. I'm planning to change this a bit to arrive at:

New summer road bike for 2025
Cervelo C3 for dry winter/early spring
Kinesis ATR V3 for wet winter road/gravel

I can get my head round specific bikes such as summer, winter, tourer/audax, gravel, shopper, commuter, MTB, TT.

That's eight. Many of you appear to own multiple bikes with similar purposes. Is it simply the joy of ownership? How do you find time to ride them all?

I do have a friend who owns 84 MTBs. It's like stamp collecting.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

In my case I had the epiphany that I has acquiring bikes simply for the sake of it, yet I could only crap on one toilet at a time.

That's a valid point, and "acquiring bikes for the sake of it" is certainly part of the reason I have so many. But I'm an inveterate tinkerer and I love building stuff, so I can never resist a neglected and unloved bike to restore. The finished bike is actually something of an inconvenience, but I love the process of building it.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I'm fascinated by this thread. I've never owned more than three bikes at any one time. That's basically summer road bike, winter road/gravel and a spare for the odd occasion the other two aren't available. I'm planning to change this a bit to arrive at:

New summer road bike for 2025
Cervelo C3 for dry winter/early spring
Kinesis ATR V3 for wet winter road/gravel

I can get my head round specific bikes such as summer, winter, tourer/audax, gravel, shopper, commuter, MTB, TT.

That's eight. Many of you appear to own multiple bikes with similar purposes. Is it simply the joy of ownership? How do you find time to ride them all?

I do have a friend who owns 84 MTBs. It's like stamp collecting.

I need to narrow my collection down a bit. This is what I'll probably end up with:
Fixed wheel with mudguards, rack and dynamo setup
Audax bike (basically, road bike but with dynamo lights and mudguards)
Road bike
CX bike for mild off roading
Shopper bike for, er, shopping
Singlespeed
Fixed wheel shopper, because it's fun
Maybe the recumbent
Maybe a geared bike with a pannier rack
Tandem

So that's ten. I could probably get it down further if I needed to, but I don't.

 

[Tail End Charlie]

I've been slimming down my fleet and intend to reduce it by another two, leaving me with 4.
I currently have - Sabbath September, GT Tequesta (set up as a utility bike), Dawes Sardar (set up as a touring/ camping bike) and a Dawes tandem. The ones to go are a Dawes Kingpin and a Raleigh Chiltern.

 

[scragend]

Many of you appear to own multiple bikes with similar purposes. Is it simply the joy of ownership? How do you find time to ride them all?

Mine started off as being one bike per purpose. The last one or two have blurred those lines a bit though.

How do I find time to ride them all? Oh that's easy. I don't.

That's a valid point, and "acquiring bikes for the sake of it" is certainly part of the reason I have so many. But I'm an inveterate tinkerer and I love building stuff, so I can never resist a neglected and unloved bike to restore. The finished bike is actually something of an inconvenience, but I love the process of building it.

This is me all over.

 

[Psamathe]

I wonder if the raw number is not so interesting but rather the nature of the different bicycles. For example I technically have just one but in the spirit of the question probably 2 - one an upright 2-wheel DF the other a recumbent 3-wheel.

So somebody with eg a folder for commuting, a carbon road for training and a heavier touring steel frame (for extended camping touring) would be in a very different situation from somebody with 3 carbon road bikes. But then somebody with 3 carbon road bikes might have one good one and two being re-built ...

Complex question with many nuances.

Ian

 

[Rhythm Thief]

@Psamathe yes. I find it mildly interesting that all the "you can only ride one at a time" crowd (most of my non-cycling mates) see no issue at all with owning a pair of walking boots alongside a pair of trainers, as well as maybe some smart shiny shoes and a pair of slippers.

 

[sevenfourate]

Mine started off as being one bike per purpose. The last one or two have blurred those lines a bit though.

How do I find time to ride them all? Oh that's easy. I don't.

This is me all over.

Love this. Me to a tee. I had no real plan of what I needed. Or even wanted. When the collection grew from a single bike. Desires change and develop. And like any Magpie: new shiny things come into focus.

Plus I do really just enjoy owning. Plus of course the Tinkering, keeping all tip-top, buying upgrades, having a choice, a spare etc.

At this stage: could I sell all - and have one single gravel bike (For example) which would cover all my needs ? Absolutely it would; and I could. Will I in reality. Er no….i’m far more likely to add than subtract…..