kemmer

I just put a 94 Trek 850 on the for trade thread after going back and forth on the idea of selling it for several months now. I got it new in 95, did some mountain biking on it in the 90s, used it a bit in college and started commuting on it about two years ago. I've moved on to a Miyata road bike for commuting duties, I have a carbon fiber road bike nearly ready to assemble, a Maruishi road bike I'm converting to fixed gear, a Specialized FSR Enduro Pro frame, a Jamis Eureka frame, a neat vintage Cannondale rigid MTB and on top of all that I have a 1970 Fastback Stingray and a 1960 Hercules three speed I'd like to restore. I might pick up a road bike for my wife as well. Two years ago, all I had was the Trek and a Jamis Earth Cruiser. I guess you could say I've kind of gone bike crazy, and commuting on the Trek is kind of what started it all. I try to invent reasons to keep it, I put a basket on it for a while to take to the store, but always rode my commuter. I use it to pull the kids in a bike trailer, but I use my commuter for this purpose just as often. I need $$$ to keep going on my projects and that money has to come from somewhere. Would I be foolish to sell off my old Trek just because I don't ride it much and I need some extra cash? I'd like to see it find a home with someone who will use it, but I'm afraid I'll regret it. It would be sad if I was seen posting "WTB: Trek 850" ads on BF every couple of months in 15 years.
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lotek 

No, I don't think you'd be foolish.
I had a Trek 670, 1985 all original with the exception
of the saddle and tires (ok, new cables too).
Faithful ride, did my first Ride for the Roses with it, lots of sentimental value.
however, I got to the point where the bike was neglected, I'd always reach
for something else if I was going out for a ride.
So I sold it to a BF member who was going to spend a lot
more money for less bike (the 670 was 531c and campy n. record equipped)
I don't feel bad about selling it at all, I know it's getting used and that
is more than I did with it.
All my bikes are riders, some more than others but if there is one
I don't ride I'm happy to move it along.

marty

fender1

Nah just unload it. Unlike a lot of folks on the forums I limit my self to 3 bikes based on the type of riding I do. The majority of the riding I do is commuting so I have 2 (good weather & bad weather) and I pull my son on his trailer bike with the third bike.

With the advent of CL & ebay if I suddenly develop a love of mountain biking or racing it should be pretty easy to pick up a bike of that sort cheap. Hanging on to stuff tends to make me crazy as I have so little time to do the things I want to that the "project list" just grows and grows.

This all goes out the window by the way if you consider yourself a collector, which I am not.

cyclotoine

I am going through the same thing, I sold my Nishiki Comp II, my first real road bike early this week to someone who was going to commute on it. The guy was like 6'7" and I even put an adapter with MTB stem and riser bars on it for him. Yesterday I sold an NOS schwinn letour frame with dura-ace parts I have been saving. The bike road like a dream and the components worked flawlessly. That dura-ace 8 speed stuff is awesome. I couldn't justify keeping it. I have several other bikes I can't justify either. My super record and soon nuovo record bikes are for show and fair weather. My marinoni is for serious riding, I don't need either of the vintage steeds!! but I keep them anyway, ny girlfriend doesn't need her early 80s NR equipped GIOS but I put too much time into it to sell that either.

JunkYardBike

I, with embarrassment, admitted my "collection problem" to a friend recently (nothing very high end mind you). He said I was putting myself in a good financial position given the impending disappearance of oil reserves on Earth. So think of your hoarding as retirement planning!

divineAndbright

Ive got quite a few old single speed cruisers I dont really want/need anymore taking up space. I plan to throw a few on ebay in spring that I figure I can get a worthwhile amount for going through the hassle of taking em apart and shipping them. The others I just plan to throw on the front lawn with for sale sign and sell em 5-10$ just so I can get rid of them, thus making room for more bikes? heh!

USAZorro

I'd get rid of those too.

Can never have "too many" nice, road bikes though.

tellyho

I can't believe you put the words "bike" and "need" in the same sentence. What does need have to do with our addiction? I just reinvented the old Giant Boulder in my garage as my winter and rain beater. You can find SOMETHING to do with the Trek. Better yet, sell it to make room for another bike you don't need.

USAZorro

By the way. I picked up a 1994 Trek 830 a little over a year ago. It's a great MTB for people (like me), who aren't all that keen on mountain biking. I don't use it much, but I'm hanging on to mine - at least until my son gives me the 850 I found for him.

kemmer

I guess I *could* put fenders and studded tires on it and maybe an 8 speed internal hub or something. It will be a long time before I have a spare $250 to make that happen though.

robtown

I'm selling off my Schwinn Premis to a coworker for essentially the money I invested in her. I need the room and the $200 defrays my first build [853 Reynolds frame]. It's also meant to deflect my wife's criticism (not working). I won't be upset if he decides to pass. I have very mixed emotions - she's a great beater / commuter that doesn't complain if I lock her up outside.

MajikMan

I'll definitely never get rid of my Cannondale mountain bike, even though it's fairly low-end, even if I almost completely stopped riding it. That's mostly because it was my first 'big boy' bike (first adult-sized frame), and I have too much of a history with it to let it go. If you really don't have that much of a connection with the Trek, I'd let it go. Think of it as making room for another restoration project.

I've been justifying my hoarding of bikes by telling myself that the market here is so poor I'd never get what the bike is worth. I'm gonna sell them when I get to grad school in an area where people ride bikes. Honest, I will......

Dr.Deltron

!

So in the stables are;
~ my wife's Gitane Interclub. I gave it to her for her 16th Bday in '78
~ the '86 Cannondale "rigid" mtn bike that my girlfriend-at-the-time bought me new that year. Now she's my wife.
~the '69 Clive Stuart that belonged to the oldest brother of the family I grew up across the street from.
He passed away from diabetes at 36. Before he left, he told his younger brother that if he ever sold it, to sell it to me first. It became mine about 15 years ago. I have to give first refusal to any surviving family members if I were to ever get rid of it.

I could go on...

So don't feel bad if you want to keep your ol' Trek 850! You are NOT alone!

Oh yeah, only the Cannonball ever gets ridden......ever!
And that's usually just to do some wheelies & stopies!
But there they hang anyway. I'll just let my estate deal with where they go next, whenever that is...

silversmith

You really ought to treat your wife better than this.

John E

I am hoping to interest my elder son in the PKN-10, which would be a good size for him. If he decides to stay strictly with mountain bikes, then I'll probably sell it.

Mariner Fan

I have a Schwinn Voyageur 2 that I don't need but bought anyway because it is in like new condition. So, I will probably ride it around the neighborhood from time to time and look at it hung up in the garage.

Of course, I'm looking for another bike. That will make four for me and one for the wife.

Lamplight

I get rid of a bike if I either don't have any room left for it or it's not fiixable. So far I've only gotten rid of one bike.

crazyb

I have 40+ road bikes, and I keep saying I am gonna sell some, but keep putting it off for some reason. Actually, most of them I have very little interst in riding myself, but I find some of them historically interesting, and I also loan out bikes to young riders that don't have the resources for a bike. I had 3 bikes on Ragbrai last year, and it's like giving these bikes a new lease on life.

roccobike

I like to buy yard sale bikes, repair and flip them. The problem comes when I find one that isn't way too small or way too large and I like it. I currently "like" about 14 bikes. As for kemmer's question, I'd keep the Trek. I only sell a bike when I'm convinced I won't regret it. They don't lose money and sometimes, while I'm debating whether or not to sell, I find someone who I want to sell the bike to, you know, a freind or relative or co-worker who wants to go cycling and would have purchased their bike from X-mart.

marqueemoon

Yeah. I have bike #6 in the works. It's a bit stupid really. The really dumb part is I'm now thinking of putting MORE money into my XO-2 in the form of a front cargo rack to make it more "practical".

poopncow

Looking very deep inside, 4 maybe 4, but not less. Each has a unique meaning and represents a different ride.

dck

After I acquired my 6th bike a while ago I made a resolution that I couldn't get another unless I got rid of one. Now I need to get rid of at least 4. Guess I should start posting on CL.

jjsinglespeed

I recently aquired a 1983 Univega Alpina Sport,,,,,,my first mountain bike (unless you count my Schwinn Newsboy from jr. high)so if your gonna sell it and later on miss it and want it back.I can tell you from here it was a lot of work and dead end leads till I finally got my bike back (oh not to mention I paid twice what I sold it for,,,although it did aquire new wheels and drop bars with bar end shifters along the way

JJ

kemmer

Ok, I think I'm officially talked out of it for now. If someone where to offer me really good money or a trade I could really use I'd proabably let it got, but for now I think it stays.

ilikebikes

Look, I have my GT Backroads on the flea bay right now! I really love it, but when I run out of space, Its time to thin the herd! Ive done it before, you always keep a bike (or two...or three...) that you just like, you know your prob never going to REALLY ride it, but you keep it any ways, then that fatefull day come when its tme to say,"adios old paint ) hey, better that one than the REALLY REALLY cool one that you also dont ride!