Originally Posted by
MarkThailand
I just wanted to bring back the discussion about why we upgrade our bikes, or, in my case, buy another bike.
Mark
Originally Posted by
Machka
My bicycle history, since I've started buying bicycles ...
Bought Cannondale, rode Cannondale about 1 years, determined it was really too small. Sold Cannondale and bought Giant. Rode Giant a couple years, decided I wanted a triple, debated about buying triple components and putting them onto my exisiting Giant, or buying the new Giant which came with a triple. Decided to trade first Giant in on second, with a small money exchange. Rode Giant for a year, decided I wanted something with a smoother ride, decided to keep Giant to use as trainer/backup bicycle. Bought custom-built Marinoni. Customised/upgraded the Marinoni over the years. Marinoni was stolen. Bought titanium. Bought tandem. Bought touring bicycle. (Plus there have been some mtn bikes in the mix as well). All of that in the space of 13 years. And now we've got our eye on folding bicycles.
As mentioned above, these are the reasons for my upgrades:
1) Cannondale - too small
2) Giant 1 - double rather than triple chainring
3) Giant 2 - aluminum frame
4) Marinoni - lots of upgrades ... changed handlebars to something more comfortable, changed front fork to steel so I could install a front rack, changed brakes to accommodate steel fork, changed gearing several times as my desire for lower gears increased, changed handlebar tape as desired, changed saddle to Brooks because it was more comfortable, changed freehub to something more durable ...... and many more. My Marinoni was custom-built, but the more I rode it for different purposes, the more things I wanted to tweak to suit me. And just when I got it about right ... it was stolen.
5) Hasa - I needed a new bicycle and have wanted titanium for many years.
6) Santana Tandem - Rowan and I wanted to ride together. I was not well (DVT), and Rowan was dropping me all the time. The tandem renewed my enthusiasm for cycling, helped to get better, and allowed us to ride together.
7) Thorn - Rowan and I wanted to do a Round-the-World mostly cycling tour. The Hasa, Giant 2, and Tandem (and miscellaneous other bicycles Rowan has built up from frames collected here and there) just didn't suit the purpose.
8) Folding Bike of the Future - We haven't acquired folding bikes yet, but our desire for them has come from travelling with our Thorn bicycles. The Thorn bicycles are great, no regrets for the most part and I envision we could use them for years to come. But they aren't as convenient as folding bicycles. For future travel, we're looking for convenience. (Who knows ... maybe we'll head to Thailand one year soon!
)
(I'm also thinking I'd like to upgrade my current mtn bike. It's needs something. It either needs to be slightly larger or maybe have something done about the handlebars. I'm not quite sure. And over the past few years I've been riding road bicycles. But we have been talking about hitting some of the gravel roads and rail trails when we get back to Australia. And then I've got recumbent and Ordinary on my list of bicycles-to-get.
)