Try as I might, the number of bikes in my collection seems to remain pretty much the same. I have been trying to reduce the size of the collection but to no avail. I sell three and three more show up. Recently, a Bianchi touring bike, near mint and just my size, found its way into The Old Shed.

Though not interested in the bike, at first, I did take it out for a short, which turned into a long, test ride. Not bad and I just might add a Touring Bike to the collection. Then again, I say that about every nice bicycle that comes my way.

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That's a nice bike!!!!

Bet it rides great, and looks to be quite practical as well.

I started the riding season thinking I was going to really clean up the collection as well.

I've been somewhat successful, as my 11 year old counted the framesets and bikes that have been sold since January.

11, ...yep 11.

Problem is I have purchased 5 bikes in the last two weeks. 2 for me, and 3 for friends that were looking for one sort of a bike or another.

I've chosen to not worry one bit about this, and I hope you have zero concerns as well.

Now, how big is that nice looking Bianchi anyway?

Randy...did you post pics of that auto-moto porteur? I'd like to see that one.

Hi randyjawa -
... I would say you have tremendous self-discipline: 3 - 3 = 0 net growth.

So far this season, I've sold-off 8 bikes,
and I've added 14, so I'm +6.

- It's a disease, but rather than getting depressed about it, I say to myself that adding the Raleigh Gran Sport, the Trek 614, the Moto Grand Touring, etc, is not the WORST thing that has ever happened to me.

Another beautiful bike, there's always room for one more of those!

I keep telling myself I'm going to downsize as well. This time last year, I had four bikes. Now I have seven. If it's nice and my size and not a repeat of a bike I already have, why would I sell it? Who cares if it means I'll probably never be able to wear out a set of tires?
This topic seems to keep coming up lately around here. Is everyone having spring cleaning urges or something?

Nope.

Just pure guilt.


......and a spiraling home remodeling project.

......and a custom frameset that will arrive when I am least able to afford it.

Randy - how do these bikes continue to show up? I don't have this happen to me very often.

I have 11 plus a frameset. I use 8. Of those 8 I use 4 frequently (at least monthly), of those four I use 3 weekly (which ones of those 3 changes seasonally) and one daily. I could make due with fewer bikes, but I love all of them. The 3 that are not used frequently are each too unique and special to part with, they are extremely rare and/or had a lot of time and effort put into their builds. Almost none of the 8 are unsellable. In fact, I have a new frame waiting for a bit of paint and brazing work to be done to replace the daily rider. The mountain bike, touring bike, road bike, cross bike, sport touring bike, polo bike, basket/porteur bike and fixed gear could all be rotated out if a superior candidate comes along and they will most definitely as some of them become dated (MTB for example), but the numbers should hold at 11 for some time.

I believe he heads up a bikes for humanity or similar bike drive in which he fixes and stores bikes till they can be shipped to lesser developed countries... MTBs are best suited for this purpose and I believe some well deserved perks for his volunteer efforts are nice road/touring bikes.

I think the key is limiting storage space, I have room for maybe 4, there are 3 here right now...

Limited space helps greatly, I live in a small apartment - 2 bikes (both which see regular daily use) and 2 frames right now. I figure I have room for one more max unless I kinda get creative with the space. I passed on a fairly good vintage mountain bike at a garage sale this past weekend only cause I know I would ride it maybe 2-3 times a year as im just a dedicated roady I guess.

Garage and basement purge in progress. Except for the coffee breaks.
I parted company with two bikes in the past week and added one, so it's slow going.

First of all, let me say that I have become pretty picky these days. I no longer seek lesser bicycles, opting to purchase only those of mid to high end quality. I will leave the lesser bikes to the novice bike hunters springing up in Thunder Bay. For the past many years, I was the only guy hunting the area. Lucky me!!!

How do I find bikes? I offer a pretty good account of what I do in a feature article I wrote for MY "TEN SPEEDS" And I do do this and that is not a lot of do-do. How To Find Vintage Bicycles.

Also, I am an organizer of Bicycles for Humanity and that has proved to be a boon to me, and all other players I might add. Our group sends bicycles to Africa and, to date, we have sent just over 2,700 decent bikes over seas. In addition, we have send spare parts from another 2000 bikes. We have also purchased and donated four shipping containers that were converted into bicycle shops in Namibia. You will be able to read more about this when I next upload information to MY "TEN SPEEDS.

The Bianchi is 53+cm and fits me well. Cr@p! I honestly do not want another bike at this time but I am so tempted to keep this one for the rides to and from my summer cottage, some 35 miles from Thunder Bay.

The AutoMoto should be here next week. Just one more reason why I do not need the Bianchi. I will start a thread when the bike arrives so as to allow others to have a better look. I am looking forward to AutoMoto Day!!!

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Several great bikes, Saronni "Tipo Sprint", ALAN "Super Record", Marinoni "Squadra", Bianchi "Velope", AutoMoto porteur and some I can't even recall on short notice. Which ones do I keep and which ones do I let go? I should add that these are the bikes that fit me. You should see some of the ones I let go like a near mint Gitane Super Olympic. Anyway, downsizing is hard to do - waaaaa:-)

Now that's a bike...