You know, I walk into my house, and there are five bikes in the dining room along with one tandem. Two more in the laundry room, and five more or so in the basement. My sink usually has a bike part or two in it, and my kitchen table usually has a tube of grease and a nice assortment of tools on it.


Being single does have a couple of benefits!

I have nothing much to contribute. I'm single.
I just have me, to convince me.

me#1: How's that one any better than the one you already own?

me#2: Its not any better, but it looks nice and Friday is pay day!

me#1: okay, buy it!



Note: I, most of the time, stay below the $150 limit, that makes it easy. I don't complain too much.

Barbies? Your wife is what, nine years old? Talk about robbing the cradle...

At least it isn't the Homeless doll. https://www.bikeforums.net/foo/590992-homeless-doll.html

https://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/...s-topicgallery

That said, my wife does complain about the sheer number of bikes, which have exceeded the confines of the garage and are now lined up in the alley. She dislikes that they make it impossible to reach any storage on the wall. But I don't like it either. On the other hand, she has alerted me to a bike in the trash and another at a yard sale. She does appreciate the before-and-after of bike restoration. And she especially likes the sale. I haven't bought dinner with bike money, but on the other hand, when our daughter suddenly needed a piccolo for marching band, I had the cash on hand to buy one on the spot.

It's all about the delivery. Light humor, but a subtle reminder of courtesy.

"...yeah, but you won't use it, you'll just work on it and talk about it."

Man, does that sound way too familiar...

My wife has horses, so I'm the one that complains.

Wife bought a Columbia at a sale for $10 and I felt obligated to clean it up. I squeezed $50 out of it.

When asked why the wood shed was full of bike parts: "spare the air"

Hey, I think I can make 75 bucks on that one works every time.

After a particularly intense argument about something unrelated and bikes were brought in by his wife, this line, used by my childhood friend, reverberated in our circle of friends for years and was added to the balls hall of fame: "yeah, well, those bikes ride better than you."

I loved that boy...

Well now, a sure fire way to make my wife laugh.

Your home girl was one of the greatest additions to San Francisco. I adored her.

I have a summer bike...I need a back-up for it when I'm over-hauling it.

I have a winter bike...I need a back up for that one. In case I have a problem with it, I don't want to ride a summer bike in the winter.

I have a rain/snow bike...I need a back up for that one. Can't ride dry weather bikes in the rain.

I have a Saturday "cruiser". Look, I don't need a back-up for that one. Aren't you happy.

Oh, the five extra frames? Just in case I bent or crack the frame on one of the "working" bikes.

Nope she has the high dollar ones Several of her Barbies are probably worth more than most of my bikes

Aaron

Two things are key to having a bike collection. One is to have enough bikes in one place, that to her, it is a crowd, but she doesn't notice the exact number. Up to three, she can still see them as individual bikes. When you get past four or five, it becomes "all those bikes". Second, you have to keep the bikes out of her way. Nothing will raise her frustration level more than if she has to park outside in bad weather or squeeze past them to get through the hallway. These two rules apply to any income level, but if you are short of funds, then spending money on bikes better be to help with the situation or no excuse is going to help.

My wife's dad was a golfer and her brothers still golf, so I can always use that. I don't spend all year what they can spend in a weekend of golf. She also scrapbooks, so I have fixed up a room in the basement for her stuff. With all the tools and supplies, I figure it has cost about $50 a page for the pages she has made so far.

Our pre-nuptual aggreement had a "cycling comes first" clause. It was my one and only stipulation.

And at least cycling represents independence and health.

Barbie represents a cookie cutting mold of subserviant, unhealthy women.

Just a little secret...Eventhough it probably doesn't make the most sense, frames without wheels don't really count as bikes. At least I've gotten away with this warped logic.

I now keep a few sets of wheels, and move them around various bikes. It saves some on storage. I don't have many bikes - just a bunch of frames.

I liked the sound of that - until I remembered that my Claud Butler's 74 years old !!!

You mean the "Girls Next Door" aren't the girls next door?

Great idea, and one I kind of stumbled upon...I strip them when they arrive, and they store easier if I keep all the wheel sets in one place, and the frames in another, and only I know how many bikes there are....

Collect bikes of all the same color. Then it will be less apparent to the casual observer how many you have.

I find that being seen bringing a new one onto the property is the problem. Once its there, it seems pretty benign. Therefore, avoid being seen bringing them in. Nightime, storage at work, hiding them in the basement, and off-site storage are all worth considering.

We all know there is a slippery slope between a pile of parts and an actual bike. Legally speaking a bike is complete. I would not suggest you lie, but I do suggest you look with clear eyes at how many "complete" bikes you own. I own just one bike, for example.

jim

Off topic -- Not intending to derail this thread -- but I have to say, I learned recently that the main audience for that show is not men, but women aged 18-34. My son's girlfriend is a big fan of the show.

Back on topic -- I do have so many bikes that I was able to hide a new acquisition amongst the others. For awhile. My wife isn't that unaware, unfortunately. She eventually spotted the new one and is now on to me.

Don't get me wrong, she is very pleased when I sell a bike at a "profit" (that is, labor is free). She's also pleased that our daughter likes the vintage Schwinn Collegiate 3-speed I bought nearly pristine at a yard sale for $10. But she'd like to see fewer bikes in the garage and none in the alley.

Eye rolling is an intense sign of contempt. I personally would have a very hard time maintaining a relationship with someone who treated my preferences so rudely.