What might appear to be a "collection" is just a gaggle of machines that I built new to suit a particular purpose of mine and proven useful/versatile enough to survive in service today decades on.

-Bandera

Much aesthetic driven.
Other factors are to be able to ride and therefore judge bikes I was not in a position to purchase way back. A few from before my awareness of top line road bikes.
One still missing is the bike I was first able to look at right after I read about pro road bikes. A '69-'70 Legnano, full Campagnolo save the brakes, paint mask downtube graphics, pin striping, chrome, that terrific looking Nuovo Record rear derailleur...

Twin Cities' builders are my long term interest.

Looking for a Goodrich, Clockwork and Anderson to keep the Kvales company down the road.

The McLean is here because I wanted one forever.

The rest are here on a rotating basis.

The off-road bikes are here on a revolving basis as well, but I think my new Yeti SB5 will be here for a fairly long time, as it's amazing.

I like certain looks, certain makes, try to stay with higher end (less production), not too obscure, buying under value, buying things that may hold value or increase based on demand.

But I still end up with some bikes that don't fit that just because I enjoy them or something about a bike appeals to me personally through my history or otherwise. It's not all about collecting. Lately I have found myself really attracted to pre 60' bikes as Iab mentioned. There are some downright amazing and unique bikes and parts that are also highly collectible and fun. They are just really hard to come across the cool ones. I know.... I am selling to myself and enabling at the same time. :-)

Buy an old bike at a great price. Ride it until it is too valuable to ride. Buy another old bike at a great price ... and so on.

If I were logical, I wouldn't have this dang collection.

My collection are all production bikes from the 70's, one from each of the major producing countries of that time (I think of Japan as coming on in the 80's). They are all top of the line racing bikes and non-intentionally all made with Reynolds 531.

Italy - Masi GC (Carlsbad made but close enough for me)
France - Motobecane Champion Team
England - Raleigh Professional
United States - Schwinn Paramount P-13

May not be logical to anyone else but it makes sense to me!

Hmm. No logic, no looking for something specific. My "collection" has been built opportunistically whenever I've discovered or stumbled on a frame that struck me as interesting. But that's not to say it has been random. Some bikes speak to me, some don't. "Fast" road bikes appeal. Used-to-be-high-end road bikes, especially European. Or iconic, like the Centurion, which is the furthest removed from what I might have started out looking for. I wasn't looking for the Gazelle, just browsing, but the idea of a great 531C frame appealed. I built the Grandis because I didn't have a true Italian bike actually made in Italy with Columbus tubing. The Raleigh came to me on its own, a nice upgrade to my original Peugeot. I built the Bianchi for fun hoping it would be different from the Raleigh. (It is.) The Motobecane was an ebay discovery and appealed because it promised to be a great speed-bike. (It is.) The Masi frame was given to me as an abused orphan.

No logic. Passion, interest.

No more collection. 1 road, 1 off-road.

Right on that observation......I do like fancy or fine lug-work, so majority Reynolds 531 and CSL.
Regards, Ben

sorry for the side views......

Mostly 6 day bikes from 20s to 70s, from Wastyn, Brennan, Drysdale, and various Paramounts.

I totally agree with this! As the OP I think this thread was my attempt to GET some logic. glad to know I'm not alone.

I do find it easier to pass on certain bikes, even if bargains, as the number of bikes downstairs grows and as my tastes develop. Still, an interesting bike in my size with a 2 digit price tag is always tough for me to walk away from...

I do credit the hype of some models Ive seen on these forums for making it easier to pull the trigger if I come across a certain model here or there at a decent price. My half-built Schwinn Cimarron is a perfect example of this! So I suspect I'll never really master "full" logic.

Basically, if it looked interesting and/or cheap, I bought it.

When I first discovered the C & V, I simply had to have all kinds of bicycles. Well, I tried the English 3-speed and it was just to sluggish for me; even with new aluminum wheels. I turned a Raleigh Sprite into a very nice upright SS/FG but sold it to make room for my current attraction, Italian road bikes.

I've got the Pinarello and the Colnago, but what the heck is this Gardin doing here? Well, it does have that curved downtube that nobody has ever seen before and I did buy it for next to nothing, so there.

My wife's mixte singlespeed was a $25 Peugeot frame that needed a $40 seatpost to complete it. (dang French and their bizarre sizes)

Sadly, I've still got a Dave Moulton Fuso frame and a John Howard (Dave Tesch) frame waiting to be built into finished bikes.


If I stopped at a yard sale and they had a bona fide C & V bike for sale and not some Free Spirit or Varsity, I'd probably buy it regardless of what it was simply because it would be fun to fix it up to its former glory.

I'll buy anything that has drop bars and is older than my daughter.

And i have a soft spot for Univegas...

My interests is top of the line product at relatively depressed prices. Those are the opportunities that if find irresistible. For me, part of the motivation must be the thrill of the hunt, as well and the fine product I will be enjoying for years afterward, both wrenching and riding. The unpredictable nature of these acquisitions means I will probably never find some models I have always wanted, and I own others I never dreamed of. As a result, my collection has a mix of Italian, French, American and Japanese, both mass produced and artisan builders. Bicycles have such variety in frame materials, construction, components, and I enjoy the variety. And I do have an n+1 problem.

Bikes...First California builders, then US builders, then stuff that interests me. Knives, drop point hunters, then stuff that interests me-mostly traditional designs. Fire arms-big bores....

High end racers are my priority and what I keep. The rest of them I grudgingly give space for such as for a specific task like the Trek 820 for winter fitness. All others I give to those that dont have bikes and are needy.

Me too. My walkabout is a Marlin Guide Gun 45-70.

I own them long enough that they become C&V.

Let keep this thread about bikes, and not guns and such, please.

One mountain bike: Schwinn Project KOM-10 in Team USA red-white-and-blue
One utility bike: Peugeot UO-8
One fair weather fast and fun bike: Bianchi Campione d'Italia
One comfortable distance bike: Capo Modell Campagnolo
One project bike: Capo Sieger

Similar logic for me as well.
MERCIAN or Bob Jackson + Campagnolo = Awesome
Schwinn Paramount + Campagnolo = Awesome
American + Campagnolo = Awesome

+ 1. I live in Treklandia in the midwest and so that's mainly what I harvest.

My "logic" and aspirations have evolved. First, I wanted a Super Course, just like the one I had when I started college (the one that got stolen a couple months after graduating -and a week before I entered the Navy).

I found a couple of bikes by the side of the curb, and that got my interest up. I fixed and found homes for them, got the Super Course, and then wanted to try better bikes. I found myself mainly coveting British-made bikes - often Raleighs - with a few strays along the way. A few years back, I re-thought my budding ambition to have a couple fine examples from every nation that had a cycle-building heritage. I also cured myself of any thoughts of full-scale touring.

Now, I have intentions to have one or two bicycles that are well suited toward randonneuring, a couple racing bikes, a fixed gear, an upright, something I can ride on, or off trails, and a couple others just because they interest me. When all projects are completed, I'll have a pretty fair representation of relatively desirable Raleighs - which were what I was exposed to during my formative years. (anyone have a 21-1/2" or 22-1/2" copper, International for sale? )

I have a very stringent set of guidelines that require certain criteria be met when evaluating a bicycle or component:

BICYCLE!!!



Aside from that, I like mid 80s tourers. I find the concept so liberating and the bikes have a combination of grace and "business" that makes them something of a velvet hammer.