The subject of N+1 came up in the tavern last night.
A statement was made that a person needs a least three bikes,

a mountain bike
a city commuter
and a fast bike.

When I agreed, they all looked a me and said "But all your bikes are the same".

My justifications of the subtle nuances of vintage steel, fell on deaf ears.

Mine were all fast bikes, but now they are all slow bikes.

It's not the bikes' fault, tho.

I parse mine out a little more:

Fast bike
Climbing bike
Aero bike
LSD (long slow distance) bike
Off road bike - cyclocross in my case
Commuter bike - also happens to be single speed, so 2 birds with one bike there
Vintage bike(s)

Road bikes (2)
MTBike
Commuter
Rod brake roadster

No, no no. None of my bikes are the same. Sure they are all 6 or 7 speed lightweight steel roadies with drop bars, Brooks Pro's and DT shifters, but some were made in France, some in Italy, and some in England. Some are also orange, others not. Sheesh.

I like to "collect"/own upper eschelon racers. The, there is that Fuji sports tourer and MTB for snowriding. They are all distinctively different.

^^^^ +1

but you do need a trail/cross bike + city/utility + tandem + beach cruiser (I mean, everybody goes to the beach).....

They're all the same. And if they're not the same, I try to make them the same.

I like what I like.

They all have two wheels and all are steel. But vary based on my must haves

1)bad weather commuter w/fenders
2)nice weather commuter (lighter, more lively)
3)fast pace/group ride
4)gravel grinder/dog workout
5)tour bike for when you just gotta say "take this job and shove it"

Trying to get rid of all else.

My stable may look more ridiculous than anyone's in the light of this question. I've got:

2013 Kona Jake (disc brake commuter)
2015 Kona Jake the Snake (disc brake gravel/CX race bike)
2013 Kona Jake the Snake (cantilever brake singlespeed CX race bike)
2008 Kona Major Jake (cantilever brake CX race bike)

You may sense a theme here. I'm pretty sure I need a disc brake equipped singlespeed CX bike, maybe a Kona Private Jake.

But then I get wildly diverse...

2012 Ridley Excalibur (fancy plastic road bike)
2001 LeMond Buenos Aires with 5700-series 105 components (still nice road bike, but not so nice I won't ride it to work)
1984 Pinarello Gran Turismo with 4600-series Tiagra components (vintage road bike with modern components -- you see how that's different from the LeMond, right?)
1982 Trek 614 (vintage road bike with mostly vintage components)
2008 Surly Long Haul Trucker (touring bike, but unlike the Trek set up as and used as a touring bike)

...and now for something completely different...

2006 Kona Kula (mountain bike)

Mostly roadies for me from a 1981 aluminum Vitus to a 2009 Plastic Raleigh Team Pro. I have one mountain bike '04 Gary Fisher Big Sur, and four Kabuki/Itoh Submariner stainless steel bikes - one is my commuter, one is set up for gravel, one is a shiny collector bike(pearl white original paint, stainless tubes, chrome forks and aluminum fenders), and the last one will be all purpose something or other when it's done. I have a Hercules 3 speed rest-mod/cruiser and a Robin Hood with a SA 5 speed IGH. I am building a Peugeot up as a Rando bike and an old Raleigh Sprite as a touring bike. I like variety. The only thing I have no interest in is single speed.

Yes and no. All are drop bar road bikes with either triples or fix gear. All can take fenders. (Life in in Oregon.) Two are titanium customs that handle 28c or less tires, one triple, one fixed. The other two triples can take huge tires tires. (35c and fenders in not the limit.) And the 5th is my workhorse rain/winter/city fix gear. The bike I would keep if I could have only one.

Ben

I purposely try not to have much functional overlap.



Tandem - Jack Taylor

Fast road/skinny tires, no racks X's 2 - Bianchi, Fuji Fineass

Rando/Fast road, light with small rack and a bags - 60's PX-10

Cross - Voodoo

touring/road/fenders - Jack Taylor Super Tourer

Full Suspension MTB/Bikepacking - Santa Cruz Tallboy

Electric - 650b, upright bars

Upright Bar City Bike (nice) - Carlton Flyer

Upright Bar City Bike (crappy) - Schwinn POS

Cargo Bike - Cetma



Also have a few unbuilt frames.

Mine are all different as can be:

Colnago, 1973, orange
Colnago, 1983, gold
Somec, 1985, light metallic blue
Klein MTB, 1996, powder blue
Alpina, 1980, metallic brown
Davidson, 1980, magenta
Davidson, 2002, metallic orange
Sparrow, 1979, orange

DD

My '79 Peter Mooney was built to be that bike. All but the commuter part. (And it has done some of that too.) Designed to be the bike that I could ride for my sanity in the hard years after my head injury. Design criteria - that it be ride-able in the lower 48 states 12 months of the year. Hence clearance for any tire, 700c or 27" with fenders. (Maine was a real possibility for my next job location.) Touring, epic climbs and fast rides were all going to be on the menu. (It's done all three.) It has also done epic rain rides; down Alba Rd into Santa Cruz in a January storm off the Pacific, around Lake Washington, Seattle and through a downpour so hard the frogs were taking shelter (and the bike arrived home spotless clean).

Now the Mooney takes a back seat to bikes that do each job better, at least until/if I start touring again where it is a pretty super bike. It is one of the world's classiest farmers market bikes.

Edit: I stayed out of institutions and jails. It did its job. And in gratitude, it has a permanent place in my stable.

Ben

Let's see, there's BMX competition, BMX freestyle, ATB XC, ATB Freeride, ATB Downhill, recreational road, road race, road criterium, time trial/triathlon, track, cyclo-cross, grand touring, hybrid, tandem, recumbent, beach cruiser, folding , electric and polo. That's 20 twenty distinct style and no duplicates.

I'm certainly attracted to nice road bikes.

However, of the bikes I regularly ride... or ride with some regularlity, they are each different.

• Road Bike
• Winter Commuter
• Cross/Gravel Bike.
• Heavy Cargo Bike.
• Folding Bike

I have a couple more road bikes, as well as a new cargo bike in the works.

Nice road bike.
Bad weather road bike.
Fixed gear commuter.
Tandem.

I like the idea of bike discussions in a tavern. This is the way it should be.

Not all of my bikes are the same.
Some have different gearing.

Some are different colors.

This is a 12-19 7sp.
For hard solo workouts.


This is a bit small, and nearly NOS.
Therefore, I do not ride it.


Most often ridden.
Only one I ride in a pace line.


Climber.


30-40 mile workouts.


No place to go.
All day to get there.


To be determined.

"here, hold my beer and watch this..."

<<<<<uhhh

Of course not. Take these for example. They were built months apart and have significant differences in specifications. One has Weinmann 405 brakes (Switzerland!), the other Shimano 600 (Japan!).

'73 Gran Sport fixed gear
'73 RRA friction bar ends 2 x 6
'92 Davidson DA STI 2 x 8
'87 Trek 520 friction bar ends 3 x 7
'?? trek multitrack 720 1 x 6 errand bike with immodest basket

These have me covered for any riding I am likely to do, without much overlap.

All my bikes are black.

Gave my mountain bike to my son so all I have left are my roadies.

(2) 81' steel Treks - 1 blue/ 1 pewter
(1) 82' steel Trek in Red
(1) 84' steel Trek in pewter
(1) 13' aluminum Trek - this bike is a bit bone jarring for me so this is definitely not the same as the others.