Is it possible to go through a mid life bike crisis ? I just spent the weekend going thru all the bikes and "stuff" that I have and thought ---wot am I doing ? I have more bikes than my LBS has, my backyard looks like a bike graveyard, I spend what little spare time I have jumping onto the comp to check this forum just in case I have missed something, its getting rediculous,people (mainly family ) think I,m crazy, is it just me ? or we all crazy and dont know it ? somethings gotta give,do I give it all away ? and take up "stamp collecting" ? or do I just need a HOLIDAY ?

Maybe you can pair down you collection and go for a few top quality bikes, and just one beater for rough going. That is unless that's what you're doing already and you have a grave yard of 50s to early 70s Cinelli bikes in your backyard.

So in other words, you're going to have to get some more bikes.

Some advice my uncle the antique dealer tried to give me 40 years ago, was to have fewer items, but better items. So when I collected coins, rather than having a pile of half worn out coins, I would have been much better off just having one or two top notch coins (easier to sell when you get out of the hobby too, anyone want to buy some worn out coins?). I remember him offering me a silver stein (I was collecting steins and mugs at that time, want to buy some?). He offered it to me at his cost, said it was a smokin hot deal. He told me "twenty". I said, great, I'll take it. $20. He said, no, $20,000. At that point, I stuck with the low end stuff.

When he passed away, a lot of his collection ended up auctioned off at incredible prices, such as $70,000 for one vase. He had some amazing stuff.

On bikes, I would be much better off consolidating into a handful of great bikes. We'll see if I finally take his advice.

+1. There is a difference between collecting and hoarding. I have one good bike for each "style" of riding - one performance road bike, one touring bike, one recumbent, one trike, one mountain bike. If I come across something nicer I will keep it and one of those will be sold. Piles of bikes are a money, time and energy drain.

The trouble is that every bike is a compromise. Want to go fast? Want comfort? Want to carry stuff? Want to look cool? Want to stay drier? Gosh, how can anyone live with only one (and all of the stuff you need to have to keep it going?)

-G

Hi Ozneddy, I had similar thoughts today although I did dramatically thin out the herd recently as you know. I got rid of anything that wasn't my size (ridable) no matter what it was worth or how rare it was.

Geez I missed them.

Recently I have started collecting again. Bought some old Super Record stuff with a new build in mind and I have re-purchased a bike I sold.

I still miss all the components I collected over many years.

Yet, today, I was thinking "Is it all worth it?" Just like you are thinking now.

My only advice is to give it a little time before you get rid of anything. It's hard to recover what you might let go. I know what you've got and you have some amazing Aussie bikes.

Best of luck Oz,

Gary.

Of course we're crazy (some of us even know it)

"Came to believe in a power greater than ourselves to return us to sanity"

"There is one who has all Power, that one is Merckx, may you find him now"

...wait, am I doing this right?

There coming to take me away ha ha there coming to take me away ha ha to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time and I,ll be happy to see those nice young men in their big white coatsssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss-----HELPPPPP

Wisdom.

I have the craze as well, my wife cried about it when I bought a Paramount Waterford on vacation. I have since broken her in and she has finally she has come to terms with it. My friends call me the bike Whisperer and think I am crazy as well. As Wrk101 mentions go for quality over quantity. I have been trading up, buying a couple mid grades at garage sales, selling and pooling the money for higher grades.

Like others have mentioned, quality over quantity.

I recently had a similar 1/3 life crisis and sold 25 bikes + spare wheels and boxes of parts to a flipper for $300. Most were low end junk, some were decent. I got hosed but I feel like a weight has been lifted. Ive trimmed the fleet and might still ditch a Merckx...

I've also recently sold some "mid grade" bikes that were in beautiful condition just to pare things down and get some $'s together for my custom build. It never hurts to list items for what you would be willing to part with them for, then pull the listing in a couple weeks if no interest. I have some bikes I flat out will not sell, but once I made that short list in my head I was willing to float the other stuff on CL. Some of it has moved at a tidy profit. For me selling three bikes to fund one I'd be happy to ride anytime is a decent trade. Having a plan helps with solving the problem.

Pick your best road racing bike, your best sport/touring bike, your best mountain bike and one utlilty/beater bike. Make sure they are all 100% functional. Sell or give away everything else. Giving a bike to someone will make you both feel good. The main idea is to get rid of what is making you unhappy.

Selling means SELLING not holding out for some forum/fantasy/top dollar/nonsense/ so you don't have to actually get rid of it price. In this case, it sounds like a bunch of low-end projects, so you will not miss them. Then go for a ride everytime you think you want to buy another bike and ask yourself if it will truly be any different.

Ozneddy, start reading the C&V forum. They'll help you with your N+1 problem.

That used to be me, when I lived in Houston. The only thing that keeps me from doing that now? The living room in a one bedroom apt is only so big?,,,,BD

jimmuller, not quite getting you !

reply to original post-
is the bike hobby a distraction from something else?

I get used bikes almost free all the time- thing is to be active and get them complete and flipped.
but sometimes you get a bike that may live or die and it sits around.

2x a year is the local scrap drive-lasts a bit more then a week.
this is the turning point of the collection.
get rid of as much unuseable parts as possible....because many better bikes will come home that week.

I have been starting to complete the project bikes in order to flip them in the upcoming week.
I like to get 4 listed at the same time.

mike

EUREKA ! I figured it out, I dont "Flip", I need to let my babies go !

Do you have pics of any of these if you were getting rid of them? Where are you located?

I bought a frame this weekend from a very nice guy who was going through something like this--he was trying to get down to 10 bikes. He had 7 custom frames built for him, so those were staying. He needed to figure out which 3 others he was going to keep. The 1983 Trek 600 I bought didn't make the cut.

Maybe you should do the same? Evaluate which bikes you ride a lot for one reason or another, which ones you couldn't possibly part with because they're so special, and start selling the rest?

I've decided to cut the number of bikes in the garage. Probably going from 10 roadies to 5. My reason is not because I feel overwhelmed or mid-life crisis, but just a need to downsize and simplify.

...Ok, but where is the problem? ...Seems all right by me. - It's the same here...

ride more, collect less.

Same thoughts here, hopefully i'm not at mid life yet though

Just restored what is my best bike and looking at all the other bits and pieces and deciding to get rid of them. I will keep the Bottecchia, Jim Bundy, Hillman, Abeni track bike, mid 90s Diamond Back Axis and Spokesman Touring bike. All the others will be going to Ebay or other good homes. I did pass on a few recently and it does feel good, and chucked out some of the cheaper ones that i'd never use, but had to pick up originally because of this addiction. My wife will have my old Technicomps and the kids just get bikes as we need them (great rubbish tip around here - i just picked up an old 24" bike that I will keep for them, just in case they are interested, and as its for them it doesn't count as part of my collection)

On a side note, i am taking the family on holiday to the Gold Coast (Seaworld), then sunshine coast next week. Pleeeeaase don't have a garage sale sign out on the higway saying "Bargain Italian/Australian racing bikes" I won't have the trailer and will still be weak from only just coming to this cleansing realisation

You,ve got a "Hillman"