my bikes are not the same (similar in terms of lugged steel)

Nishiki - converted to an upright ride akin to a an english 3 speed. has fenders, rack, kickstand and wald baskets. use for when it is wet, commuting, and light utility. 1x8 and thumbshifters



Torpado- my italian job, but has a rack and wald baskets. no fenders/kickstand. Fun commuter. Most original parts. Tubies....why not just plan fun to ride



Miyata this one is when i put my kit on and go for longer rides (would like to say fast, but not right now )



hardest part is describing why these are really different and need to have room in the garage to my wife

Saying all bikes are the same is like saying all cars are the same. If you had a Ferrari, Lambo and Porsche they would not be saying this.

The dreaded,

"So, what's so special about this bike?"

Depends.

You asking or my wife's asking?

I have bikes from every decade from the 1930s to the 2010s. I'd say that's different enough.

here's what happened ...

i built up my second road bike ('73 falcon) with nearly full campy nr, new sun m13ii rims, and a 52/42 double.

then i fell out of love with my first bike ('76 moto) with its suntour and half-step, wider gearing.

so i rebuilt my moto (and basically every keeper since) like the falcon.

"it's what i like."

Banish it.

Simply explain that variety amongst bikes is much cheaper than variety amongst "sugar and spice and everything nice." And a lot less hassle.

Similar, but different...
- 2 fair weather commuter bikes, a main and a backup
- 2 foul weather commuter bikes, a main and a backup
- 2 pleasure bikes, a main and a backup
- 1 nostalgic bike from my youth (still in the overhaul process)

All drop bar steel frame bikes from mid-70s to late 80s, gearing originally 2x5 or 2x6, now 2x6 or 3x6
Main differences are in presence or absence of racks & fenders; and strength & weight of rims; consequently all up weight as well.

Not included above are my 2 modern big box store vacation (drop bar 3x7) bikes located with family remote from me, and a guest ladies' mountain bike just in case I ever have another female guest.

Different details here, but the same basic concept. Most of them are quite similar, because they are built up the way I like to ride. Tfhe differences between them make riding even more fun and more interesting.

All my bicycles are road bikes. But they are as much different... As they are the same. The differences are subtle.

Shades of grey

My bikes are all very different from each other, with only two that are somewhat interchangeable. The thing that was driving me nuts was at one point I think I had bikes with every shifting mechanism made in the last 30 years. I had:

-MTB with thumb shifters
- MTB with grip shift
-MTB with trigger shifters
- Three speed with lever shifter
- Road bike with downtube shifters
- Road bike with STI brifters
- Touring bike with bar end shifters

I would always mis-shift on rides at critical times- the times when you should be going on instinct I would inevitably hit a lever in the wrong direction. Except DT shifters of course, because they're so intuitively obvious

My bikes have Nuovo record, super record, and c -record groups. So if all My bikes are "the same" that would just tell me that the guy I am talking to at the bar is:
1. Uneducated.
2. An idiot.
3: An uneducated idiot.
Or maybe I am the dummy that appreciates 40 year old bikes a little more than I should???

I tend to collect strays - so there tends to be a lot of overlap in the cheap old MTB department - though if they stay with me long enough they tend to grow racks and fenders before I find them a good home - I have a hard time passing on a bike that I don't like to ride myself, though if I like it TOO much I also have a hard time passing it along. Dang!

But I don't think of many of my bikes as "the same" - I like to get to know them and find them their own little niche.

Let's see ... the list now is:
Utility bike - gets studded tires in winter (can do anything with it - except win if it's a race - Finish, yes. Win, no.)
Light fast Utility bike.
Utility bike with character (English 3speed - bad paint job)
Utility bike with class (English 5speed deraileur - nice original paint)
Utility Fatbike - very useful for winter commuting and errands in snow and ice
Vintage 10speed (also the windy day bike - DROPS!)
nearly vintage MTB naked and pure (ie - no suspension)
Folder
BMX
Dual suspension nicer BSO in search of new home
Vintage 12speed MTB in search of new home - may get rack and fenders.
plus about 4 bikes nearly ready to move along
plus about 4 bikes in dire need of TLC before moving along
plas a couple of bike that may stay after TLC.

Yep,

Pretty

Much

Identical

Fine bikes are like fine guitars. (I'm surprised no one has said it yet.) They are subtly different, and the finer the bike or guitar, the more significant the subtleties.

Except for my UO-8 which is the same, which is to say the same as it has been for many years.

Let us not confuse need with want. I make no excuses about why I have several more bikes than a casual observer thinks is necessary. They are not necessary, but I want them, and they are different to me.

There are differences, but there is also a norm. For me, the norm is dynamo hub with lights, fenders, and preferably some kind of luggage area. I have bikes that don't have these things, but they don't get ridden as much as those that have them.

Among those that have them, there's some variety in terms of wheel size, handlebar shapes, gearing... but oh, I don't know... maybe they are all the same after all.

The rider is the same--why not the bikes?!

My requirement is that the bike needs to be able to carry "stuff". They vary from touring/road, hybrid, and mountain but 10 have rear racks, 7 have mid fork rack mounts. My only rack free bike is the Motobecane le Champion.

2013 Linus Mixte 8 - 8 speed internal gear swept-back-bar girlie mixte, 700x32c tires, fenders & rear rack (mint green)
1994 Specialized Hard Rock - 21 speed rigid MTB commuter 26" wheels, fenders, rack (black & red)
1983 Centurion Pro Tour 15 - 15spd steel touring bike with 27x1 1/4 tires, fenders & rear rack ('taupe' dark gold & tan)

Really they're all used as commuters. Upright lady commuter, 'sketchy lockup' mtb commuter, and vintage drop bar commuter.

Though my Specialized's got a few components on their last legs and may just be retired as it's a bit small for me and not worth the $ to fix it up/was recently 'replaced' by the 2nd hand Linus (though the latter is not as stress free for sketchy-location lock up purposes). I think my Centurion is most babied - it has the brooks saddle and lives in my bedroom & not the building's bike shed. Funny that my rugged touring rig has kind of become my precious babied nice weather bike. Clearly I need to pick up a vintage 'fast bike' for that... and maybe something modern with disc brakes for the winters, and I kind of want a pearl pink bike? Yes..

I remember [MENTION=46029]fender1[/MENTION] observed that with all of his horse trading and building and rebuilding, he kept ending up with a bike of the same design. I've used that as a warning to myself. I do have some overlap, but my bikes are moderately distinctive from each other.

If your bikes tend to be too similar, I think the quickest way to make them different is to change the handlebars.

And they all ride like bikes, right?

No, some variance but also some overlap:

Road:
'86 Look Bernard Hinault: 2x7 friction, go-to bike for longer rides
'86 Look KG86: modern Campy Ergo drivetrain
'89 Parkpre Road: 2x7 Dura-Ace; this one goes "click"
'90 Merlin Ti: in-progress build with 2x7 Dura-Ace; likely foul weather road bike or fall back when I don't want to take Look BH.
'73 Speedwell Ti: 2x5 friction, eclectic period-correct build. Occasional fair weather rider.

Sport/Touring:
'72 Cilo Pacer: commuter & all-purpose around town bike, 531 frame & fork, mostly Campagnolo NR build with 2x5 friction drivetrain
'74 Nishiki Competition: Similar in purpose to the Cilo, except Japanese and heavier. Half-step gearing & bar-ends. Also only bike currently with fenders.
'74 Peugeot UE-8: fun, city/errand bike with period-correct Frenchy upgrades. Probably unnecessary, but I like it more than it's worth.

MTB:
'90 Parkpre MTB: Rigid with mostly vintage 3x7 Deore XT

Undecided:
'72 PX-10: Long-range project due to paint damage & rusted chrome. May either rebuilt as period-correct road bike (box checked already) or possibly a gravel grinder.