Russ Roth

Store them on the other side of the kitchen table? Normally the two gravel bikes and hers and my mtbs would be back there but we had company on sat so they all had to hit the basement and haven't been mtbing since so they're still down there. Basement has steep stairs and a tight turn at the top and bottom so only the lightest bikes go there, road bikes, cross, and the kids' road and track bikes. The girl's bike should have been in the shed, don't know why it didn't get put out there. Besides these there's usually 1-2 bikes blocking the front door, we never use it and it keeps the kids from chasing each other near the china cabinet so it works.

My wife has a road, cross, gravel tourer, mtb, hybrid and shares a track bike. I don't get many complaints about the bikes. Currently looking to replace our gravel tour bikes with something like a drop bar mtb for more rugged riding. Get her hooked and it will make life easier.

Narhay

I lived in a condo for years and my bikes tended to invade the living room as the only place I could work on them. I did hear a lot about it and it was a point of contention at times. I tried keeping them in the closet or in the basement garage but neither was a great option.

I moved to a house and things are much better but it seems like I have more house projects than time to work on the bikes. So there's that.

SJX426 

Tough situation. I have always insisted on having a space for my stuff. Bicycles isn't the only challenge! I also work on my vehicles, adding tools over time along with other tools for other hobbies, like reloading. Every place we have lived has had a garage. The garage and a limited number of bikes have allowed some tolerance.
Example of a condo with garage
P1040217 on Flickr
[url=https://flic.kr/p/Sa1YtY]P1040218[/url on Flickr

My wife is not very supportive but she does have 2 1/2 bikes (tandem). All my bikes are now known. The last one was "hidden" amongst the herd for nearly a year and was discovered recently, after it was built up, it hung with the rest and then noticed. We getting passed it.

I rarely say "no" but it has not had an impact in a change 45 years.

If and when you buy a house that you can control what you are getting, see if you can finagle an additional space, like a third garage.
P1000599 on Flickr

Still a work in progress in layout. With the garden tractor, there is now thoughts of a shed in the back!

sloppy12

I just act like I cant hear.

mdarnton

My most recent better bike was stolen some years ago and I replaced it with a single speed that I didn't ride much. In April I started riding again. It went so well that I decided to get a better new bike a couple of weeks ago. By that time I'd lost so much bulk and packed down my legs to muscle that my wife was cheering me on. And when the weather was better she had started riding with me, too. Win, win!

mstateglfr 

You have 1 bike and want to go to 2?...2 bikes really doesnt take up much more room than 1. Just store em in opposite directions and its like an extra couple of feet width wise.
In a condo, I could see getting frustrated quickly if the bike count increased over 2. In spite of all the 'n+1' joking around here, its a hobby and the collection side is(for me) secondary to actually riding. I dont understand why people collect bikes they wont use that arent historical grail bikes, but im getting off topic.

Its a condo- you dont have much room to begin with. Ride both LeMond bikes, figure out which you like more, and get the good components on that one. Sell the other. Then next time, maybe talk it thru before trying to clutter up a small co-living space.

JaccoW

She currently has one bike I built for her (Gazelle Lausanne), one beater that she doesn't use anymore but should be sold and one modern bike she bought herself (Pelago Stavanger Commuter).

She is happy I enjoy riding and working on bikes but she sometimes does wish I was a bit more careful with my money and didn't fill up our tiny shed with bikes (4 bikes + 1 tandem + 2 frames in the shed) but she doesn't care about the two bikes standing outside under a cover that are my daily commuter.
Though she doesn't quite appreciate me going on a ride with her on recently built bikes that require some... finetuning.

3speedslow

It’s not the bikes. Time to have a truth conversation with her. My wife never did and we are separated and divorcing. Nothing funny about it.

capt_velo

Sleep with the bike in the bed. The spouse takes the sofa. Problem solved.

Dfrost 

Wife-to-be and I met literally in the middle of the 200-mile Seattle-to-Portland ride in 1993, then became good friends training for a one-day version of the STP in ‘96. We starting dating later that year, including her invitation for me come along on her first ever tour across the north edge of Washington state. Our honeymoon was a 3-week bike tour in SE France. So she is also a serious cyclist.

Our house is modest with no garage, so we’ve agreed to two bikes each. If a new one comes in, there needs to be a plan for one leaving. But we are both pretty solid on the current ones. Helps that I take good care of them in a small shop area that she’s carved out for me, and get plenty of wrenching fun by volunteering at Seattle’s bike non-profit (during non-pandemic times) Bike Works (https://bikeworks.org). When we aren’t riding together, she encourages me to get out with riding buddies (friends from BW).

We use a wall-mounted rack for two of them to minimize footprint, and stack the other two front-to-back in a bedroom.

tpadul 

my wife doesn't mind at all because I have put all the bikes in the basement, we have a new home with a 1,300 sq foot unfinished basement and lots of storage space in the basement. Since the summer I've now accumulated about 6 or 7 of them.

eja_ bottecchia

You must be a youngster, my wife and I have been married for 44 years. Cycling has made the time seem to go faster.

tgot 

I'm going to stay away from marital advice and just talk about my own situation. I like biking, my wife knew I liked biking, I had three bikes in a no-garage apartment when we were dating.

Then we starting having children, and with my wife working alternate weekends I explored every "ride with kids" option. We now have a house with good storage by Bay Area standards, but a family of five puts pressure on things.

She had been communicating that we had too many bikes and bike like objects (more later).

Then, at a party where wives were teasing husband's about quirks, the bikes came up. I sensed that an opportunity was present when she said to the party audience "I can't believe how many bikes we have! How many is it?"

Me: " You are absolutely right dear. We don't need more bikes than we have now. I'll count them up. But, you don't count the two strider-bikes...."
Her: "Yes you do!"
Me: "Well, you don't count the two trail-a-bikes..."
Her: "Yes you do!"
Me: "Well, you don't count the tricycle..."
Her: "Yes you do!"
​​​​​​...
Me: "Ok, Ok, then I'll do one in, one out, staying below....FOURTEEN!"

Since she and the kids have one each, I can have ten. Nine, unless I'm willing to part with the tandem.

I'm only at three plus two halves (frames and parts).
So the horizon of Spouse-negotiation keeps me somewhat honest, but I've got more permission than convenient storage for full-sized bikes. I could put them under the house, but then they'd only be convinient to ride in our 36' x 36' cement patio. Worked for strider-bikes!

That reminds me, I've got a pink 20" wheel coaster brake bike I need to put out with a FREE sign...

Jeff Wills

I might be aging but I refuse to grow up. I also appreciate that she facilitates my cycling habit.

Essthreetee

Luckily my wife and I are supportive of each other’s interests. Neither of us do anything that puts the family in any unnecessary predicaments and we surprise each other with small tokens of affection. She is my best friend and partner in all things. She has never complained of any the bikes that come through and has often assisted in color choices.

gaucho777 

My bikes resent my wife but they are understanding about the situation. What was the question?

non-fixie 

I got my wife some bikes and let her keep them in the living room. Now only the dog complains.

bwilli88 

My wife has been a quilter for over 35 years. Lots of unfinished projects and projects she will never have time to finish.

Phil_gretz

I sell a lot of bikes. Each time I sell one, I hand the complete stack of bills to my wife to deposit. I also keep my number of bikes to a reasonable level. At least, I think that it's reasonable.

I also make considerable effort to consistently listen to my wife and to love her fully. I think that this helps a lot.

garryg

I have over 20 bikes in the garage again,wife never complains. They keep me busy and she knows i do not lose money on them.

dmarkun

She stays out of the shop and I stay out of the kitchen. She doesn't ask about my UPS packages and I don't ask about hers. It's been a good peace-keeping arrangement for 40 years.
I do all of the car repair, house painting, wallpapering, gardening, yardwork, plumbing, appliance repair and firewood splitting.
At Christmas time she says: "I haven't seen a painter, repairman or plumber for another year, are you sure you don't need any bike parts or tools?" She calls it making an investment.

Tomm Willians

I’m in the flip position where if anything I’m trying to control her bike purchasing fury 🤣🤣
We have an immense garage and under house storage not to mention two of her favorite bikes stay inside the house so I’ve no advice for you.

jaxgtr

My wife started down that trail of tears....I sort of had to put my foot down that if she brought in anything new, meaning she was going to have to buy more storage bins, carts, spacing sucking stuff like that, something was going to have to go. This however was when both my kids were at home. Once they moved out, I converted one of the bedrooms to her craft room, created a custom closet, desk, storage, etc. The deal however was that if we did this right, she should have plenty of storage in her room, and nothing should migrate out in my office, closet or our bedroom. I also insisted that stuff that had been in storage bins, drawers, boxes, shelves and the attic that had not seen the light in the last 10 years had to go or be sold. She has borderline hording tendencies, so it was a rather tough discussion and situation for her. I have a real issue with clutter and like things in their place. We are truly on opposite sides of the somewhat same spectrum.

We worked through the mountain of stuff she had, making a tough decision and ended up selling a huge amount of the "inventory" that helped pay for some new tools she had been wanting. So all in all, was really proud of her and have to say, she has kept the room organized and kept it all in its place. Now if she wants to do quilting she can, as she has a proper place to do it, and storage capability for the materials needed.

conspiratemus1

She should be thankful you don’t collect grand pianos. Or pipe organs.

Mogens

My wife likes the bikes, though I have a very modest habit compared to most here. She’s long noticed that my pastimes (woodworking, bikes, photography, music, etc.) are good for my mental health. I could never have made it through the last four years politically without them. There are some unspoken rules: hobbies shouldn’t impact our family finances or space. So I pay for things with random bits of money that pop up or by selling things off. When I married I committed to a partnership, so everything we do involves mutual consideration. We’re business partners also, so we’ve developed pretty good patterns of communication.