Some random thoughts on hoarding...

I told my wife that for my midlife crisis I could either collect/hoard bikes and bike stuff OR I could go buy a red Mazda Miyata, get my ear pierced and get a tattoo, the choice was hers. She chose the bike habit and I think that she regrets it now.

As far as which bikes to keep and which bikes to unload you could use the standard "Ride/Wife Comparison Test" or RWCT as I like to refer to it. For each bike that you have ask yourself this question "Do I ride this bike as much as I ride my wife?" If the answer is yes, keep it. Otherwise, it might be a good candidate for craigslist, ebay, garage sale, etc.

The debate around hoarding and collecting usually neglects one of the most fundamental questions in life which is this: Is it possible to have too many bikes?

Answer: Theoretically, yes but in practice no. I've explained to my wife several times that the only way that I could have too many bikes is if I had ALL the bikes. I don't have all the bikes, therefore, I don't have too many bikes. It's a simple principle.

I have somewhere between 15 and 20 bikes right now but my storeroom at work is so big it's not an issue. At home, I keep one (very clean) road bike in the great room, ready for commuting or a weekend ride, one or two MTBs in the woodshed. The rest are all in my hidey-hole back at work, where most of the wrenching is done anyway. I'm the boss (small hotel, not bike shop, BTW) so it's no problem; other than I really need to get that stuff organized and get rid of a lot of it.

Apart from a really good 29er hardtail MTB and serious touring bike, I don't even *want* any more bikes. But if you pass a garage sale with a minty vintage Waterloo Trek for $30, you are required to buy it, even if its the wrong size for you. It's the law, and you will comply. But since most of what I have on hand is just old junk that I got for free or nearly free, which I fix up to ridable condition, then give away, I'm officially a "Charity Flipper", not a hoarder.

If your wife thinks you're hoarding, maybe you should make little white informational plackcards to post on each bike with the year, country of origin, a brief history etc printed on it. That way, you're not hoarding; you are "curating a collection."

A marriage proposal might take care of this... unless you have already sealed the deal with another woman.

I currently have 11 bikes. Am I a hoarder? Maybe. Come spring I will be selling 2-3 of them. I have sold many bikes the last couple years. As my 'collection' increases in quality it becomes a lot harder to part with them. I have a couple that aren't worth a real lot but they are unique (Viscount) or somewhat rare in the Twin Cities area (Miele). Those are on the list to be sold. At least I ride all of them so none of them are just parked.

I have a problem with older Treks, I cannot turn down a good deal. Currently have ten,
five 80' s road bikes and five mtn, all steel. The only redeeming factor is I can ride any of them
as all are road ready. Of coarse I also have two LeMonds I can't part with.
I did recently flip a 08' Trek I had no affection for.

I couldn't agree more, this happens on so many levels with items of our youth, by the way I am a collector not a hoarder.

Glenn

The more I reflect on this, the more I realize that we've been looking at this issue entirely wrong. Hoarding has become such a derogatory term and it need not be that way. Hoarding should be viewed as a skill that take years to develop and refine.

most of my parts horde is now in the For Sale section of this website.

I'm gonna be right behind you....

Mmmmm... Yummy, shiny aluminium stuff.

I used to semi-hoarde small Campy parts ....waiting for things to wear out. Still waiting. Of course, I don't use them as much as I used to. Which makes my parts stash last that much longer. They were handy to have though on my recent resto/overhaul.

Hmm, time to sell all of them, I guess.

I tried the niche approach. Lets see, I will limit myself to just Panasonic built Schwinns, just the nicer ones. OK, so I get a 1973 World Voyageur. Then a 1986 Peloton, then a 1987 Prologue, then a 1991 Paramount Series 5, then a Paramount Series 7. And I still need a Volare. Oh, and the Peloton is the wrong size... And am I really going to push out the Colnago and Tommasini? And the Trek touring bike? Etc...

I've got to try another approach.

No one ever considers having a huge art collection to be hoarding. Hang those Fantastic Vintage Bikes in giant shadowboxes, and you’re now a curator.

Being mostly broke works for me.

You can only collect stuff from local builders. That seems to cut down the buying.

There are a lot of great vintage Puget Sound built bikes I would like to have in the garage.

I've heard 4 basic constraints on hoarding bikes here in this thread:

a) Lack of adequate storage space
b) Not enough time to ride and/or maintain them
c) Honey objects to hubby's obsession
d) Not enough funds

Seriously. Is there anyone here who would still be "thinning the herd" if they had unlimited space/time/money - and a little encouragement from their better half?

again, if you have dozens of rusting bikes in your back yard, basement, garage, or shed... and you're not operating a full-time bicycle repair business... you have a problem.

Yes, but how often do they go on craigslist in your size for a decent price? Not often, I reckon.

This!! Thanks for the laugh. Great advice.

I've been working on that plan as well, part of my buy high, sell low strategy.

All kidding aside, there are three ways I have used to manage the $$ side.

1. No single bike can cost more than an entry level bike at the LBS. This caps my single bike spend to $800. I have never crossed that mark, or even gotten close. This keeps me from chasing after some super $$$ bikes.

2. Bikes pay for bikes, parts and tools.

3. I am very patient, waiting for a deal, and not really stuck on any particular brand or model.

I had a girlfriend whose father, raced Abarth cars (hopped-up 1960’s Italian coupes). Her mother thought he had 2 or 3 Abarth's until she visited his workshop (conveniently 30 minutes’ drive from their house). I suspect he was sleeping on the couch for a while after she made a surprise visit and found 9 Abarth bodies.

I’ll be thinking of him tomorrow when I drive out of Culpeper, Virginia with or without an old Raleigh Sports …I’ll be thinking, “I’m so happy my winter project addiction is so much cheaper than that girlfriend’s father’s!!” That’ll be my third bike. And I’m fascinated by hoarding.

It sounds like a lot of hoarders here are going to be sellers soon. I need to start checking the for sale thread.

I already added 2 projects for the winter, a Paramount and a LeMond. I was pretty happy the past couple of years maintaining just 4 bikes, but it is so hard for me not jump on a good deal. I would love to say I am done, but that would be fooling myself.

Yup. Ditto. Sold most of my bikes. Only seven left now. Okay, eight.

I guess I could do with two. One primary, and one as reserve for the occasions where I haven't got time for repairing the primary.