Grim

Decided to do the Atlanta Beltline tour today. My hot rod R300 needs a tire, the T700 doesn't fit in the van without pulling off the wheel (bit of a pain with the fender and front rack blocking access at the front brake). The TIII is sitting in the corner, The Raleigh thats not a Raleigh is in pieces so that left the Trek 420. I had a awesome 30 mile ride on it today. Climbs like a goat and draws zero attention. Sort of looked out of place with the Group I rode with. Most in full kit, I was in cargo shorts and a golf shirt doing the full on Fred. A few folks took a better look and saw the 105 hubs and LX Derailleurs and know it was a much better bike then it looks like at first glance. Silky smooth drivtrain and the bar ends finally got dialed in and shifting perfect. It was a total joy to ride it today.

There was a couple of us on vintage. One guy on a well used just covered with grease higher end 70's Motobacane with those real cool bottom bracket dyno's. Looked tatered but worked perfect. A girl on a 83 Trek with 501 tube that was talking about her new carbon wonder and I told her that the trek she had was a great bike and to hold onto it. She got a grin on her face.

Reaffirmed its the bike I'd keep if I could only keep one. About the only thing I want to do now is fenders, move my Blackburn off the Fuji and some 700x28 Passella TG's. I think this will be the favored bike for this summer.

steve0257

If I could have only one bike it would be my Globe Vienna 2. If not that one, then my 71 Schwinn World Traveler. The pic is me with the Vienna right after the Minnesota Ironman. And the grumpy look comes from 68 miles, 38F, and 20mph+ headwind for the first 25 miles.

Bubba Zanetti

sold all 12 bicycles but kept the LHT.

Epicus07 

I would keep my Guerciotti. It would be difficult for me to commute and i could never go touring or off-road.

That being said. I could easily spend the rest of my life riding my beautiful smooth italian steel on nice pavement.

yoder

I guess the first to go would be this steel road bike. It is my fastest/lightest bike, so it would be a shame. Also, it's what I use on real long rides where I need to cover a lot of ground, like going from DC to Charlottesville, VA in one day. But generally, it is not what I use even for long rides, and it's not a very good commuting bike.


I guess the next to go would have to be the 1971 Raleigh Sports. But what would I use in the Tweed rides? Actually, this is often my main backup. Very practical bike. It also was made the same year as I was born, so my goal is to try to stay in as good shape as it is.


Next would be the single speed 29er. The bike is totally different than the others. I take it regularly night cruising through trails and stuff in sort of meditative rides, and the other bikes couldn't really do that. I also put the studded tires on this bike in the winter (along with temp fenders), as we don't get many days that need that. I've only commuted on it a handful of times.

Next to go would be my main commuting bike, a Novara Fusion. It is the one I ride the most now, but it isn't the greatest bike, and it isn't great for touring.


I guess I'd keep the Long Haul Trucker, which would be fine for commuting/shopping/getting around. The lack of chain guard would be annoying. But, I also want to do some camping and maybe tours here and there, so I would keep this one, even though I don't commute on it all that much currently.

Terry66

I have a
2011 CrossCheck SS
2011 Salsa Vaya
2010 Specialized Roubaix Team Saxo carbon
2010 Fisher HiFi full susp 29er

If I were down to only one, it would be a toss up between the Vaya and the HiFi. I REALLY like both road and mountain biking. While the Vaya is a good adventure bike, I don't think it would replace a mountain bike....and the HiFi wouldn't replace a road bike. I guess I would probably keep the HiFi

AdamDZ

I've gone through many bikes over the last few years: MTBs, road bikes, singlespeed, IGH, a Big Dummy, steel and aluminum and I still can't decide. Except that I'm sure that I like 26" MTB geometry most. So far my current commuter based on inexpensive Nashbar MTB frame is my favorite bike. One thing for sure: I can't have just one bike. I don't have space for many bikes but two is a bare minimum. If only as a backup.

I have almost come to a conclusion that, optimally, I need three bikes: a commuter/utility, a weekend/touring bike and a front suspension MTB.

1) Commuter/utility - MTB frame, fenders, racks, lots of lights, air horn, fatter tires, average strength wheels, lower grade components (Deore), straight handlebar, trailer hitch. That's what I currently have.

2) Weekend/touring bike - MTB frame (not decided yet steel or aluminum), fenders, racks, thinner tires, strong wheels, higher grade components (Deore XT and higher), multiposition handlebar, lighter overall build. I'm brainstorming right now: Troll or the same Nashbar frame. I'm about to start working on this one.

3) MTB - rigid with 100mm suspension fork, fat trail tires, hydraulic brakes, higher grade components, minimum accessories, just to ride the trails. Most likely the same Nashbar frame.

Theoretically (1) and (2) could be the same bike with some swappable parts. But I don't want to do any swapping on Friday afternoon and the weekend/touring bike will be generally kept in better shape and used less and abused less than the commuter.

Yeah, I do like that Nashbar MTB frame a lot. For $99 you get a strong frame and a lot of mounting options and very strong rear dropouts for rack mounting, not just brazed on eyelets. Just add a chromoloy or suspension fork. And I like the way it rides and handles.