You probably all know the equation ... N=N+1.
For a while now I have been hinting this at my wife, but never had the funds to take any action.
It had even got to the stage that she was using it as a carrot to getting a better job ... "If you get one paying £££, you can get a new bike"
Recently, we have had a bit of extra cash. Not life changing, not enough to get a new car, but enough for a nice holiday or toys or maybe even a new bike.
Now, the vast majority of my riding is the daily commute. I do the occasional long (for me) distance rides like the Edinburgh to St Andrews, or the one I organised a couple of weeks ago into the borders. If we need to get the odd small item from a shop, more often than not I will go by bike.
In the garage at the moment, in increasing order of usage I have ...
An old Claude Butler frame that I have been meaning to rebuild for a number of years
A hack fixed wheel that I take on camping holidays or when the shopping is really light
A touring bike with 105 groupset, used for the odd commute and decreasingly used for the longer rides
A utility bike with hub gears, roller brakes, dynamo lighting and a rack. My shopping bike also used for some commuting especially when the ice prevents rim brakes working
A fixed gear road bike, my main commuter and increasingly used on the longer rides.
With the availability of funds I started to do some serious thinking about what I wanted and needed rather than the dreaming over glossy pictures. I could get a nice full CF bike with all the latest components, but when would I use it. Certainly not for the commuting or shopping. So it would sit gathering dust with the odd outing to show off to CC Ecosse or the trip to St Andrews. My thoughts then turned to non diamond framed bikes ... maybe a PF by Hilldodger, I seriously would like to give it a try. Unfortunately the same lack of use would be it's fate and even more damning, the idea was rejected out of hand by my wife. My next idea was a recumbent bike or trike. The bottom end price is up at the near top end price for diamond frames. Even so, I could see it being used for the commute, and more so for the longer runs. However, I have this more or less covered already.
The end result .. we are going over to the USA next year to visit family.
For a while now I have been hinting this at my wife, but never had the funds to take any action.
It had even got to the stage that she was using it as a carrot to getting a better job ... "If you get one paying £££, you can get a new bike"
Recently, we have had a bit of extra cash. Not life changing, not enough to get a new car, but enough for a nice holiday or toys or maybe even a new bike.
Now, the vast majority of my riding is the daily commute. I do the occasional long (for me) distance rides like the Edinburgh to St Andrews, or the one I organised a couple of weeks ago into the borders. If we need to get the odd small item from a shop, more often than not I will go by bike.
In the garage at the moment, in increasing order of usage I have ...
An old Claude Butler frame that I have been meaning to rebuild for a number of years
A hack fixed wheel that I take on camping holidays or when the shopping is really light
A touring bike with 105 groupset, used for the odd commute and decreasingly used for the longer rides
A utility bike with hub gears, roller brakes, dynamo lighting and a rack. My shopping bike also used for some commuting especially when the ice prevents rim brakes working
A fixed gear road bike, my main commuter and increasingly used on the longer rides.
With the availability of funds I started to do some serious thinking about what I wanted and needed rather than the dreaming over glossy pictures. I could get a nice full CF bike with all the latest components, but when would I use it. Certainly not for the commuting or shopping. So it would sit gathering dust with the odd outing to show off to CC Ecosse or the trip to St Andrews. My thoughts then turned to non diamond framed bikes ... maybe a PF by Hilldodger, I seriously would like to give it a try. Unfortunately the same lack of use would be it's fate and even more damning, the idea was rejected out of hand by my wife. My next idea was a recumbent bike or trike. The bottom end price is up at the near top end price for diamond frames. Even so, I could see it being used for the commute, and more so for the longer runs. However, I have this more or less covered already.
The end result .. we are going over to the USA next year to visit family.
I know what you mean. I run 4 bikes: a summer road bike, a winter road bike, a town bike and a TT bike. 
