Mr Meglet is a keen cyclist. In that he cycles several times a week, mtb and road. in fact today he has gone to the Manchester velodrome for the first time but thats not really relevant!
he currently owns three bikes (i am sure there are more in the garage, but there are 3 he uses). a decent MTB, a good road bike, and an older mtb he has converted to a "commuter bike". i know he wants a new mtb soon, he is triallying Scott and Giant frames. what i consider a fairly big budget- (several 1000s). he has now dropped in the conversation he needs a "winter" road bike. is this really necessary or is he just trying to wangle another toy? i have tried to find out why a winter bike is different from a summer bike, but all i can glean so far is that he can't fit mudguards to the current roadie, therefore he needs another new (expensive) bike. although he should be able to save some money with the bike to work scheme. i just get told "you don't understand"
I know i wont be able to talk him out of it, so i just want to see if this is "normal" for a cyclist. i can't believe i feel guilty when i buy a new pair of running shoes. how many bikes do you really need?
Comments
"need"?
What's "need" got to do with it?
No reason why a winter bike should be terribly expensive though. The idea is that a winter bike is sacrificed to the bad weather gods so that they may spare your summer (posh, swish, sleek, expensive) bike
A winter trainer
A Turbo bike
A fixie
Your good road bike
A TT bike
A XC mountainbike
optional
Downhill bike
Jump Bike
Commuter
I think he means the number of bikes you need is always n+1, where n is what you currently own
he's an old man, so we'll excuse him
sorry FB, humble apologies for slagging you unnecessarily
Meglet - I currently have 3 - the good summer road bike (only got 4 outings this year due to our crap weather), a winter road bike (used pretty much constantly for the very 'sacrificial' purposes mentioned above) and a mtb/hybrid (semi-slick tyres, fixed forks). I wouldnt buy a 'regular' mtb personally as I rarely do full off road stuff, but the hybrid is good for muddy or potholed country roads or canal paths.
So, personally I think a winter roadie is essential .
But I would get Mr.M to ditch one of his mtb's .
Three is the perfect number .
I can see why he wants a winter training bike for the road - I can' t see why he needs another MTB if he's already got a decent one.
A lot of people - me included - fall into the trap of getting too many bikes and probably regret some of them - you probably have to go and buy these things once before you realise you don't really need them and that a bling carbon model isn't really any better than the one you already have. The grass is always greener isn't it.
He's a keen cyclist and he has only three bikes?
He's clearly not that keen!
Agree with Popsider - there really is no reason to have two mtb's.
Whereas there is every reason to have a good summer road bike and a winter bike .
old age is terrible isn't it??
oh yes there is - full sus for long days in the saddle; hardtail for racing
5 or 6 is probably "normal" for many of the folks on here personally i find essential ;
Road Bike
TT doubling as turbo bike
Folder (speedy Dahon)
MTB
Also have a crosser which was used a lot for commuting
The n+1 argument is a good one IMHO winter road bike hmmm
Bassy you missed the essential folding bike for commuting into town on the train!
Also a winter bike is essential - you don't want to take a nice shiny expensive bike on those horrible gritty, salty, rust inducing roads!
Buy him it for Christmas
Get a fixie or singlespeed for the winter. No mechs to rot off!
Lol FB - it all depends on your perspective really doesnt it .
I would be wasting my money if I spent a £1000 on a mtb then all I did was ride it on the canal path .
Whereas spend that much on a winter roadie and I've had 4 years good use out of it so far. Money well spent .
Let him have a winter bike Meglet...go on go on go on go on......
As a complete numpty who's been cycling less than six months I'm alarmed to realise I've already accumulated three bikes....in my defence, one was free, one is ancient, and one will be arriving next week.....wooohoooooooooooo!
Oh dear......
thanks everyone, that makes me feel a bit better, i see some of you have more than he is yearning for. i did think this whole thing about salt in the chainset was a bit of an excuse. although TBH i knew you would probably come down on his side of the fence! thankfully not near a train and work is not far so the folder uneccessary! the current MTB is due for replacement and thats what he does most of.
i guess you are always looking at the next purchase, he is the same with cars, deciding on the next one usually as soon as the current one has arrived. thankfully his other hobby, rallying, has taken a back seat recently, perhaps i should be glad for that!
what really peeves me is that i dont have an equivalent expensive hobby. running is just about as cheap as they come, i dont even have a gym membership. i think we were born in the wrong places, i am the southerner and he is the yorkshireman, but i have the typical yorkshire unwillingness to spend money.
I think a minimum of 4 bikes is a must for a keen cyclist.
Winter hack/ can double up as a commuter bike
TT/tri bike
Decent summer road bike for poncing on a summers day.
MTB - just in case you need one
Here is my tuppence worth, I'm in the n+1 belief. I've given away 2 and destroyed 1 (white van man did) and I've still got 7 but I'm looking at a Cannondale Crosser this week.
(one MTB, deep pockets with holes in)
I'd like a decent road bike, a fixie to double up as my winter bike, and a better MTB. For starters at least.
Here's hoping the cycle to work scheme gets sorted soon and I can at least get the road bike.
You always need spare wheels so you can stick your turbo tyre on a spare wheel, and have a set loaded with your winter training tyres
Ive only got 4 bikes and feel ive not got enough
Old MTB thats knackered bure repairable (can be turned into a commute with slicks)
Mid range hardtail MTB
Mid range road bike
TT bike
I think I need a cross bike
as said earlier - what does "need" have to do with it?????
Between us two we have 14 bikes - MTB/hybrid/commuter/road/tri/MTB hardtail. Though in self-defense I have to add, as we have 2 homes some of the bikes are stashed in each one for use when we are there. But as I keep on saying to LJS - you can have the best bike in the world but it's no damn good unless you're a great cyclist as well. It's not the wheels, it's the "engine" that counts!