In my experience these collections (fixations?) grow to fit the available space, then seek to expand further.



The Official Rule has Been Made: One in = one out.
However, an exception was made last week for the frame I am building - if I polish it, it gets to live in the living room once built into a completed bike.
When it is complete, the Official Count will then be 15.
This is half of what I had back East in a house with a full walk-out basement (appropriate since our square footage dropped by half moving West).

Lets see, as a cycling enthusiast who has participated in most forms of mainstream bicycle competition (road, track, mtb, tt's, BMX, donut rides)

in the interest of making lists and because im bored on a rainy Saturday morning

i have a legitimate need for

1) daily driver road bike
2) daily driver MTB
3) omnium style track bike
4). Ttriple chainring road bike for trips to CO
5) downhill Mtb
6) having a spare mtb to take downhilling is a plus- i break things
7) vintage L'Eroica spec bike for nice recovery rides, or slow rides when you just want to talk about bikes
8) time trial bikes are sometimes needed
9) 26" BMX cruiser - (i dont live near the mountains, so i need to brush up on those downhill skills somehow)
10) a relaxed angle vintage mtb for cruising the boardwalk and river trails with my sweetie,
11) -- plus a matching one for her
12), 13), 14) -- un-designated spots open for bikes you want for sentimental reasons or "just because"


All of these needs with the exception of the downhill bike can be filled nicely with C&V rigs if one chooses

I am currently running

1) 11 y/o steel Pinarello i have chronicled in this forum--- done
2) current Yeti dual suspension---- but could sub in a nice brilliantly painted Klein for a CV alternative
3) Waterford track bike, '00 build but looks C&V -- Done - but a true CV italian trackie would be nice
4) DeBernardi triple -- Done.
5) Yeti dh bike - Done - cant think of a vintage alternative i would actually feel safe on
6) eaarly '00s Santa Cruz dual suspension - Done- great spare modernish mtb
7) -- this is where i have a pressing need-- i could put Non Aero brakes on my 86 Ciocc and do it up but i'd rather have an early 80's bike for this --- .an original Specialized Allez a'la American Flyers would be a fun build
8) Cliff Shrubb funny bike -- Done , would love a Pinarello Crono though
9) gave my retro styled SE cruiser to nephew for Christmas --- i need another one-
10) and 11) pair of matching Diamondback Fleetstreaks from 85 are doing this

all the rest of my bikes fall under 12) 13)and 14) --- except its more than 3


So with those comparison lists, one could safely say i've pretty much got it covered, - but i have uncovered holes in my collection that should be filled by

a vintage track bike
a sweet fade paint Klein MTB (a replica of Seinfelds Klein would be cool too)
an early Specialized Allez
vintage 26" BMX cruiser
Pinarello TT bike ( any nice Italian brand, really )



Damn this list making! Now i need 5 more bikes

so the correct answer to how many is too many is hard to pin down

I not in no recovery. I can control this.

I was moving a bike (72 beater varsity) that I was given last fall and overhauled over the winter. My 4.5 year old said "where did that came from and who's is it". I think he is on to me.

You know you have a problem when you start to hide the bikes ................................... Doh!

But seriously, I'm trying to limit myself to 10 bikes at a time. If another one comes along then, it's time to get rid of one. It's a delicate balance.

You know there's AA. Why not a a BA too?

Hello, my name is Chas.

I haven't bought a bike since last year...

I've been "on the wagon" for almost a year... or maybe it was 9 months ago???


One afternoon about 1978-79, my former live together fiance came out to the garage. We were renting a big house with a 2 1/2 car garage. I had about 10 bikes, 3 of them were mine, the rests were beaters that I brought home from our shop to clean up and give away to needy people.

Out of the blue she walks over and points at the bikes and says "they go or I go"!

A simple "Sheesh, I'm going to miss you"! End of discussion! What she really meant was she wanted me to give bikes to several of her girlfriends!

Say what you mean!

verktyg

Chas.

I have 4 bikes but could easily dream up a very convincing sounding reason for more. I feel that any more and instead of owning the bikes they would own me. It seems like I'm always replacing a bottom bracket here, a worn chain there, this bike needs tires, that bike needs the hubs rebuilt. The thought of adding another bike in the formula frightens me enough to keep me at 4.

If you are even trying to be in the game you need at least ten. Just owning an Italian, American, English and High end Japanese, Swiss or French bike is scratching the surface. And one Italian is not enough, cover your bases. Plus we all need to have a MTB and SS/Fixed at minimum.

So I saw ten is reasonable, up to twenty within reason. If you don't know how many you have or have to store where they are in the elements, then you have too many.

Agreed for a baseline to start with.