BSLeVan

For reasons completely unavailable to my conscious mind, I did something yesterday that I can’t quite explain. My youngest son asked which bike I liked riding the most. He was referring to three bikes that he sees me ride on a regular basis: 1. Habanero Team Issue; 2. Specialized S-Works Roubaix; and, 3. Jamis Eclipse.

I told him I liked them all and didn’t really know which I liked the most. His response was, “Well, don’t you think it’s time to find out?” That made sense to me at the time. So, off I go on the first bike. What was supposed to be a 10 mile ride turned into a 26 mile ride. The bike felt so good. When I returned home, I reasoned that I should ride the second bike on the same route in order to evaluate it fairly. Once again, I’m off and return 26 miles later. Then it’s on to the third bike and the same 26 mile route.

I return home from the third outing and my son says, “It’s a shame you don’t have a fourth bike to compare. Then you would have completed and unplanned century.” Well, this was just too much to pass up. So, I pull down the 80s Specialized Sirrus that gets used as a rain bike and on the trainer. Out I go to return 26 miles later. It was not my intention to ride a century yesterday, but I ended up with 104 miles. Needless to say, the grass didn’t get mowed and awaits my attention today.

Jet Travis

So, did you decide which bike you liked the most?

Beverly

That was going to be my question

I say in the excitement of completing an unplanned century he forgot about the question

Congratulations BSL

Cone Wrench

Well, of course. This is the 50 plus forum. What did you expect.

Tom Bombadil

A 4-bike century! And performed as a quad marathon!

I'm impressed!

cccorlew

What a story. But indeed, which bike (or is that like asking a parent "which child")

BSLeVan

Yeah, it's somewhat like asking a parent which child. BUT, if I had to pick....

The S-Works is wicked fast and light too. Having destroyed several other carbon frames, I find myself riding and worrying about frame failure....

The Eclipse is smooth, but a bit flexy on climbs. It does look very, very cool though....

The 80s Sirrus is what you'd expect from a good steel frame... I could ride it all day, but it doesn't climb all that good (I guess I should say I don't climb all that good on it)....

The Habanero is the one I'd keep if I could only keep one. It has the good qualities of all the others with very few flaws. It's stiff, comfortable, relatively fast, and more than an adequate climber.

solveg

That's the PERFECT thing to on a nice day! Good job. I'll bet by the 4th bike, you forgot what the first bike felt like....

swan652

That was a nasty thing to do to BSLeVan...he'll probably have to do all the rides over again now.

Tom Bombadil

He should do this at least 4 times, riding the bikes in a different order each time.

DnvrFox

Looks to me like it will take 24 complete 4 bicycle rides to get a proper evaluation - or about 2,496 miles.

Hmm Bikes 1, 2, 3 and 4

Bike ride order:

1, 2, 3, 4

1, 2, 4, 3

1, 3, 2, 4

1, 3, 4, 2

1, 4, 3, 2

1, 4, 2, 3

2, 1, 3, 4

2, 1, 4, 3

2, 3, 1, 4

2, 3, 4, 1

2, 4, 1, 3

2, 4, 3, 1

3, 1, 2, 4

3, 1, 4, 2

3, 2, 4, 1

3, 2, 1 ,4

3, 4, 1, 2

3, 4, 2, 1

4, 1, 2, 3

4, 1, 3, 2

4, 2, 1, 3

4, 2, 3, 1

4, 3, 1, 2

4, 3, 2, 1

Tom Bombadil

Actually 2,496 miles.

I was going to spare him all possible permutations, but I don't know why I was showing him any mercy.

DnvrFox

Yeah - 2,496 miles

BengeBoy 

You guys are forgetting that he needs to do this under different weather conditions (dry vs. wet at a minimum).

And then night vs. day (w/headlights, without headlights).

Retro Grouch 

I've learned to be real cagey whenever my kids ask a question like that.

If he can get you to name a favorite, the logical follow up is; "Which is your least favorite?" Next thing you know, he's riding a new bike and you're n-1. All of my kids are smarter than me. They got that from their mother. I suspect that they all have more fun than me too. They got that from me.

linux_author

my favorite rides change during the year/seasons... lately i've been liking my $549 Pedal Force RS (from the Bike Forums group buy), but in the last couple weeks my Merlin Fortius has grabbed my attention... but for bad road conditions my $100 pawn shop Specialized Crossroads meets the task...

definitely a hard question... (all have Brooks saddles, so that evens the evaluation)...

if i had to hazard a guess on which bike i valued the most, i would use the scenario of a hurricane evacuation: in that instance, the Merlin would be saved over the others...

BSLeVan

I actually just finished restoring a Trek 950 Single Track for his use. We were putting the new Avid Shorty brake arms on when I told him that at one time this bike was considered a moderately to better than average hard tail off road ride, and that I always liked the way it handled. That's when he asked about my current favorite.

BluesDawg

I think you undersold the 950. I really like the way my 970 (same frame) rides and handles. I have begun the process of yet another reconfiguration of this frame. It has proven to be a very adaptable platform.

Congrats on the unexpected century.

stapfam

Have one Tandem---Can't afford another.

Have two MTB's but the 12 year old Kona doesn't get ridden much as the Bianchi works better.

Have 3 road bikes and although I do not ride the OCR much now- All 3 do get used.

So what is it about these road bikes that makes N+a few a necessity?

Velo Fellow

Resurrected this thread while searching about..........I ride an 80's Specialized Sirrus regularly on the road and maintain it as a serious road bike-- a bit heavy but I like the handling. Still has the original front derailleur.

So, BSLeVan, which of your 4 bikes at the time do you find yourself currently riding most often by this point in time.?

ad6mj

Yeah, I just recently went N-1. After getting a new MTB, I put some smooth 2" tires on my old rigid Hard Rock. It was a lot of fun riding around the neighborhood when I didn't want to get all geared up for the road bike, but didn't feel like riding the knobbies on the MTB on the street. Well my wife took a liking to it and now it's her bike. It's worth it though, lost a bike but now my wife goes riding with me sometimes. I tried several years ago to get her interested, bought her a hybrid, then a road bike because she said the hybrid was too slow. Well she decided to give the road bike to the oldest daughter and gave up riding. She loves the Hard Rock though.

Artkansas 

Now you need a second opinion. Have your son do the same rides.

BCRider

Thanks for all the laughs. I'm splitting my gut at this thread.

I say you underrated the 950 as well. I commuted on a 970 for a few years before deciding to go for a bike with disc brakes to deal with the rain conditions up this way. I went for a pretty high end bike, Specialized Stumpjumper M4 that then got 700c wheels laced to disc hubs. But you know what? It gave up something that the 970 had. That was a fantastic frame.