I'm thinning my herd...
 

Right. That's what I told myself about a week ago. As mentioned in another thread, I'm too busy with kids and house and job right now to take on more projects. I have a garage full of about 10-12 bikes, 5 or 6 which I ride and want to keep. So here's what's happened since I made the declaration to myself to get rid of some stuff:

Father's day is coming up and I don't need my motobecane grand jubilee (an awesome bike) because my px-10 is going to fill that spot when it's done, so I'm going to give that to my dad.

-1 bike

One bike in my garage belonged to a friend. I'm returning it to him since the work on it is done.

-1 bike = -2 bikes total

another friend returned a bike that i let him borrow a bit ago.

+1

oh look, a very old looking track frame for cheap on craigslist!

+1

oh look! a Carlton Flyer on Ebay!

+1

Then today, this Raleigh Sports pops up on CL, $40, half mile from my work. There is a bike rack on the back of my jeep.

+1

it turns out an older fellow owns the sports and we get to talking. he's into vintage cards, toys, and shows me all of his stuff. We talked for an hour. As it turned out the Sports was in pretty rusty bad shape (with a brooks saddle in ok condition) but I felt bad not buying it after talking to him for so long so I did.

As I'm driving back to work, I'm regretting picking the damn thing up when I look to the right into a big field and see some people setting up a yard sale for this weekend. I immediately see a large row of bikes across the yard. I literally said to myself in the car "Go$% damn it!", knowing I had to stop.

$35 for a great condition Trek 612? 512? 712? Not sure but it's got campy hubs, great paint, higher end parts. Sold!

+1

$35 for a Cadex all shimano 105 equiped, early carbon fiber large frame with campy rims. Great!

+1


Let me do the math...

No. No I won't do the math.

In any event, I need to pick up my son after work and there isnt much space left in the car. I already warned my wife , but of course stressed the importance of these bikes as good flippers, which to her means a nice dinner or something new :)

I'll be posting pics of the trek and cadex on the catch of the day thread soon.

p.s. did i mention i also have won the following on ebay recently?

duopar triple mech
ta cyclotourist double
unused vintage cannondale panniers (gladly a friend is taking these from me)
stronglight 90 crank

and there's a few more odd's and ends.

so in short, this is the last time I will resolve to cut down on bike stuff. or at least next time if i do I'll wear blinders from that point on.

methinks I need to drive around Phoenixville and the environs more :)

Yeah, I started on a campaign to cut the number of bikes in the basement in half. Instead I'm up by two.
It's got to be a disease.

At my house 16-5=15

I actually succeeded in thinning my herd. I sold 9 personal bikes over the winter and just finished selling a ton of parts at the T-Town swap meet. I am down to 4 bikes now (including a tandem for my son and me). While it is hard to stay away from the deals (I saw that Raleigh as well) It feels good to be free of the the excess stuff.

Like you, I have kids and a house that need quite a bit of attention. Having less stuff allows me to ride more often and enjoy what I have rather than searching for the next deal and feeling pressure to do something with the accumulating pile of stuff.

That said, I am happy to continue to send you links of stuff to buy so I can live vicariously through you........

You're not the only one who does this. There's a certain other forum member wearing 3 blue stars who sends me links quite often while I'm at work with "You definitely need this." tagged on the end. Thankfully, most of the time I can resist. However as we speak the flooring is going into my bike room. Which means there's no longer a need to keep most of the room fairly empty....

I have to admit that I do the same with another member in the SF Bay area...I love spending HIS money :)

holiday76: Gee sounds like you've got some problems, or maybe you found the secret to aquiring a lot of bikes, maybe it goes hand in hand with that expression "You'll never find it if you're looking for it".

soo.. ive got 2 bikes right now.. I really need to start thinning the herd out.

ok, lets see what I come across now!

Though always interested in what others have to say, the above comment, which I feel borders on being profound, sums up the thread.

I rarely laugh out loud (when my wife is around, I mean) but this one did the trick. Thanks.

Of course, she wanted to know why I was having fun. Now it will take several hours of discussion, probably with a meal at Swiss Chalet thrown in, to help her see why new math is just to difficult for older people, like us to feel comfortable with.

I vowed I wouldn't buy any more bikes for myself this year since I have "too many". I said this after figuring out I built/bought 6 bikes for myself last year. A few were purchased to replace other bikes that I did end up selling. At the start of this year my tally was 14 personal bikes. I bought a vintage trackbike on Ebay that was semi local to me, +1. I ended realizing it was slightly too small for me so I resold it -1. Someone answered my WTB bikes post on CL with a 72' PX10 in my size +1. A friend says would you be interested in a Schwinn Volare in your size that a friend of his has. He just wants to sell it for what he has into it. Hell yes I do +1 I actually am picking that bike up tomorrow as it was driven from Arizona by a former forum poster on here. He is back in the mitten state with my Volare. :beer:

So now N=16 and I said I wouldn't buy anymore bikes for myself. I guess I have a problem.

You still have room.

any of those treks in a 51-53?

It's actually working here. Thinning is ongoing and successful.

A lot less to worry about, and parts cache is going down, too.

No sympathy here. I am on vacation for crying out loud. Had to modify my inside the van bike rack to fit three bikes, plus I have the crate full of Dura Ace stuff, plus I might just get that Merlin on the way home, plus the trainer I picked up, and the machinist's tool box chock full of way cool micrometers, dial indicators, depth micrometer, etc., I did bring a second bike rack just in case, so I should be able to make it home...

I did pass on a sweet deal on a plumbing tool box, neat old box, full of tools.

And of course, there are garage sales tomorrow.....

yes. the trek turned out to be a 1981 52cm 710. cyclone mkII parts, campy hubs. unforuntaly a small non structural dent under the top tube but otherwise in great shape.

I'm feelin pretty good: Last night BF member supton stopped by the house. He left with a Raleigh Sports, two framesets, cranksets, BB, headsets, as well as various SA and Raleigh odds and ends, a Brooks B-72 for his Sprite, and also a front suspension MTB fork for a buddy from his church. He gave me some great tips on replacing the battery pack on my wife's electric MTB. It was a great trade!

No, no, they breed.

If I can be of assistance, let me know. I'm always here to talk or help and I don't live far away

That has always been my excuse. Too cheap to have them neutered.

Seriously, let me know if you have anything in a 57-59cm range...I need a summer project. Also, if you have a smaller framed bike (50-52cm) that I could turn into a shopping bike that my wife could use to ride to Wegman's.

I'll be around all weeked...let me know if you're up for a ride on the trail.

Pete

If I have some nice parts lying around, I have a compulsion to make them into a bike. I am trying to ignore the current project I have on my brain's back burner:
finding a cheap mixte frame for my leftover 27" wheelset and Brooks Countess saddle. "I don't need another bike. I don't need another bike. I don't have enough time to ride all the ones I already have. I don't need another bike...."
But of course if the right one comes along I'd be able to justify picking it up.

You're well equipped, for sure. When N Korea nukes us, I'm heading to your place...

Your track bike is too small for you, but I could ride it. Hint. Hint. Hint.

I'm topped out at 11 right now and thinking about ditching my basket/porteur to bring it back down to 10, but then that one day in 12 weeks will come along when I want to bring 24 bottles of beer home and don't want to stuff them into panniers and I'll think "damn why did I sell the delivery basket bike?", so I will build another one... sign... my newest co-worker (A nice lass from Oz) said today "I could have 10 bikes!" and I said "I do, 11 actually." to which she replied "NO!?" I went on to explain I wasn't kidding, she said "well, there is a bike for every occasion". I agreed.

Seems like a good thread for bike confessional.
My name is Wildwood and I lived for several years with only 6 personal bikes - 2 modern road (Campy 10spd), 2 vintage road (both 1984s), rigid MTB and tandem.
Then came the "affordable Fuji deal" that would be a singlespeed.
Then a clean '72 Schwinn roadie just like a buddy in college had.
Then the mid-80s Bianchi Limited that complemented the vintage Peugeot and Centurion.
Read the Reynolds 531 Appreciation Thread too many times. Gotta have 531...
So the affordable 1973 Raleigh was found on CL.
Eleven is too many, as there are 5 others for son, daughter, wife.
Sold the Fuji and the Schwinn - only slight sellers remorse.
Father forgive me
but I really need vintage Austro-Daimler, 59cm, nice but not museum
(...or any vintage friction shifting complement to my Japanese/French/Italian/English ensemble)
Life is gooood.