Many of you already do this, but I want to further extol the virtues of using more than one bike to commute. Yesterday I took this to work loaded with stuff and on the way home drop by the grocery store and bought about 25 lb worth of stuff, including a giant cabbage that probably weight five pounds.



You can imagine what the ride was like. The bike itself is already heavy, with rack, fenders, 32mm tires, and a large backpack.

Today I brought this:


Thin lines, 23mm tires, small backpack with very little in it. Nimble. Quick. Light. Complete opposite of yesterday.

My point is that having the option to ride more than one bike to work keeps things interesting for me and motivates me to get out in the morning. And this time of the year there's no restrictions on what bike you can and can't take

Absolutely. My Bianchi Volpe weighs 34 lbs with no luggage. It has

• 2 bottle cages
• hub dynamo
• bolted on lights
• spoke light
• rear rack

My Lemond weighs about 20 lbs. It has only a bottle cage.

My goal with my not-yet-finished Raleigh International is to be light-ish but still utilitarian. I hope to keep it to 28 lbs or less.

It's fun to have options. 4 bikes here, nothing weighs over 26 lbs. 2 have gears, 2 do not. 1 has fenders, 2 have drops, and they are all fun to ride.

I'm a big fan of n+1 commuting. Although I have a couple of bikes that I commute on most frequently, I ride all of them to work on occasion. Riding to work nearly every day can get boring when your routes are limited, and taking different bikes is a nice way to mix it up and add some spice. When I ride my Italian racer (De Bernardi), I average about 1-2 mph faster than my touring bikes. Sometimes I have to carry a lot of clothes, gear, food, etc., to work, and I ride one of my touring bikes with the panniers loaded up. I ride one of the fendered bikes on days when the roads are wet or rain is more likely, but on dry days I typically ride on of my faster, lighter bikes with no fenders. I commute on the Bob Jackson and Waterford most frequently, followed by the Ritchey, Soma and De Bernardi.

I've got three: Big utility MTB with rack and fenders, stripper road bike, and light utility commuter.

My stable also includes this one:


which I ride when it's wet out but don't need to carry a load of crap.

And this one:

Which rarely gets ridden because in fair weather I'd prefer to ride my vintage steel. This is a weekend rider. Unfortunately I rarely ride on the weekend.

I do have one other 1980's type MTB which I use to ride around with the kids and to lock up around since it's not something that a thief would want to steal.

Any bike I own is never truly mine until it makes a commute (excepting the 3 knobby tired bikes). It's kind of my litmus test for determining if I want to keep it or move it along to Craigslist. I have a carbon Fred Sled, and I have a very ncie Raleigh Competition GS. Both of those get occasional commuting use but not when it is raining or if I have to carry a lot with me. I'm looking to sell off a Miyata - I just don't like the feel of it loaded. Waiting to see if dad wants to buy it off me because it fits him pretty well. I'm on the lookout for something I can make different from my other rides, still fit fenders and not mind riding in the wet (I could use my Comp GS but I don't want to ride that one in the rain, and the gearing isn't overly friendly to the type of hills I encounter on my route).
Anyway, I have my:

Peugeot - racks, fenders, retro modded to a 2x9 w/ integrated shifters. Rides really nice, but HEAVY. In the 35 pound range.
Trek Soho SS - Minimal. Not even a bottle cage on it. Used in conjuncture w/ messenger bag. Used on commutes where I can ride from the wife's office, or shorter jaunts. I don't think I would want to ride it on the full commute, but it's so light and low maintenance I am in no hurry to move it along. \
Raleigh Sports - Another HEAVY bike. Typically do not ride it from home, though will on occasion. It lives most of its life at the office, and is my go to bike to get around the city during the work day.
Cannondale Synapse - group rides, weekend rides, and occasionally I'll commute on it when I need a change. I use a Carradice Barley which gives me enough room for a change of clothes, mostly will plan on eating lunch out when riding this one.
Miyata Seven21 - cool bike with lots of low gearing options for hills, but no room for fenders. If it were the next size up I would probably keep it for awhile longer, but it's next on the chopping block.
Schwinn Prologue - this will never be a commuter. Current gearing is only race/flat land friendly. Also, it's currently not assembled. I keep going back and forth over selling the frame, fork, headset, and seatpost as is or building it back up and riding it for a bit before selling. Either way, I'm 90% sure it will end up on the chopping block.
3 knobby tired bikes - These will also never see any commuting roles.
Schwinn Suburban - Where to even begin with this beast?! First off, it is currently extremely unsafe. The brake pads are pretty much worn down and are not effective, it's covered in rust...I mean patina, and needs a complete overhaul. Underneath all of that though is a bike that still functions very well (as long as you don't need to stop on a dime). It's in the project list. I use it in the neighborhood to go to the pool, or pick up Chinese take out. I never bother to lock it up. It's a great beater.
Kabuki Submariner - mostly assembled, needs a spoke replaced. A friend has shown interest in buying it off of me. I'll certainly let him. If it wasn't so damned heavy a frame it would be a really nice bike. Hopefully he follows through on converting it to a 700C and I can keep the 27" wheels.

I think that's pretty much all of my bikes. Apart from 2 of the knobby tired bikes, the Synapse and Raleigh Comp GS, everything else was <$100 craigslist finds, or bought from a friend, or free.

I've got six bikes, although I probably need to get rid of one or two of them. I've commuted on all of them at one point or another, and commute on everything but the Felt fairly regularly.

Diamondback Insight RS - I call it the "battleship". My wet weather/cargo hauling bike from about March through November.


2015 Kestrel Evoke 3.0 - Carbon frame, full Shimano 5800. Sweet ride. I commute on it on nice days during the summer and whenever I want to tack on additional miles before or after work.


2010 Windsor Clockwork - Fixed gear fun bike. I don't ride it as often as some of the others because I live on top of a huge hill.


2002 Giant Boulder SE - My dedicated winter bike. It only gets ridden once the snow/ice hits in late November and gets put away as soon as the roads are clear (usually sometime in March.)


2008 Felt S32 - Triathlon bike from back when I was still competing (before they discovered my heart defect.) It doesn't get ridden very often anymore so I really should sell it, but I have a lot of memories attached to it.


1981 Panasonic Sport - This was my main summer ride up until last year when I bought the Kestrel. It's had a ton of upgrades since this photo was taken, and pretty much the only thing left that's the same is the frame, fork, seatpost, stem and both derailleurs. It's a sweet ride but I just don't need two road bikes, so I'm planning on selling this one too.

Will you EVER finish that International???

I switch out between my Cannondale (main commuter), Hardrock (for days when I have the time and energy for a MTB commute), and my Paramount (which is faster than the Cannondale, for some reason, but lacking any commuter features). I've tried it on my 3-speed Priority but it was just too slow and the gearing was too high.

All my bikes, especially the Cannondale, are steadily being tailored to my preferences... or fussed with, if you like.

I thought he had finished it.

Okay, a question for those of you with more than four bikes, where do you store/keep them all? In the winter my two non-fendered bikes are in my basement and the two winter bikes are in the mudroom. Actually, that's how it is all year, but it's a hassle to bring up the fair weather bikes every time.

I've also got three kids' bikes and a wife's bike.

As a mostly year-round cycle-commuter, in training:

I have a high end carbon Specialized-S-Works (my Lamborghini) for nice weather and paved roads




My Cannondale Mountain bike (my Humvee) for bad weather and icy roads (I don’t do off-road cycling, but I can)



And I’m considering good quality (?aluminum, BMC) for wet roads and rain, from about March through December, and dry winter roads as my (?) Mustang.

What's with the NDS pics, Jim?

Love the Hum-V, but would like to see disc brakes on it.

Mostly in the garage, alternating directions. One lives at work. Wife also has 2 bikes and there is another in the process of being built up to sell that I didn't list. It's not elegant. 2 of them on are a floor to ceiling stand, my carbon one hangs from the ceiling, and my commuter has a stand it uses. The rest take up a good amount of space, but I will loosen up the stems and twist the handlebars inward on some of the lesser used ones. At some point, I'll be building a new shed and will transfer all of my knobby tired bikes to it.
I need to clean and reorganize the garage soon. Another option is going to be getting some wall hooks and hanging most of them on the garage wall

I've heard of some people using bikes as decorative pieces in rooms around the house, you know, like art work but functional. I might try to sell that idea to the wife. I've been eyeing a Spec. Tricross for a long time now, and I think it'd look great hanging next to the kids' piano.

Storage can be a problem with several bikes. A few years ago, I installed a large pegboard on my garage wall with a row of bike hooks attached. I can hang about 5 bikes on the wall that way and I also have a couple of floor racks that will each handle one bike. This is a lousy photo but gives you an idea of my set up. It's a pretty efficient way to store multiple bikes without taking up a lot space.

I have six bikes of my own, my son has two and my wife has one. I purchased one of these: Amazon.com : Bicycle Parking Storage Rack

That rack holds six of them (three on each side.) Above that rack I have hooks hanging from the ceiling where I can store three more. The bikes hanging on the ends are pretty easily accessible, but the one hanging in the middle is a little less convenient. During the summer that's the spot where my winter bike hangs. During the winter I swap that one down and hang one I'm not riding for that season. It works pretty well because that space above the rack is pretty much unused anyway. If I really wanted to get aggressive I could probably fit three more bikes up there but I'm already over my limit of how many I need.

I'm blessed to have a fairly large garage. I placed my rack and hangars in the back of the 3rd stall. The front portion of that stall is taken up with my motorcycle and my lawn mower.

I don't know what NDS pics are. That's my only access (and was gone for a few days recently).

My LBS mechanic has suggested disc brakes for the Mustang

I have a friend who does that. Granted, two of his bikes are Cinelli Lasers (and both just moved to the art museum as a temporary exhibit), one of which has never seen any pavement, nor have had the brakes applied to the brake track. He has a few other high dollar bikes as well that he switches around what is hung where.

NDS = non drive side.

i currently have a stable of 4 bikes that i can commute on, but 95% of the time i'm either on my dedicated daily commuter or my dedicated winter beast when conditions call for studded tires.

i also have a light and fast titanium road bike and a SS 20" wheel folding bike in my stable, but i don't commute with them very often these days now that my commute is a only ~5 miles one-way.

back when i had a much longer 15 mile one-way commute, i rode the road bike with a backpack as often as the weather allowed because i was much more obsessed with "making good time" back then.

I keep mine hanging along one wall in the garage using a Rubbermaid FastTrack system.



My wife has been OK with this because she had a '68 Charger (the front fender of which you can see in the pic above) filling half the garage. Recently she decided she wanted to get a motorcycle, so I had to find a way to condense my bikes. I added a second level of FastTrack rails and hung the bikes offset, which allows me to fit nearly twice as many. Then she decided to get rid of the Charger and moved her Harley to the other side of the garage so I have my half back. It accelerated the N+1 process dramatically. In the past four months I've gone from 7 to 11 bikes (plus a frame that I'm working on restoring), in addition to my wife's bike and my daughter's bike.

At this point I can't even really claim that they are all serving different purposes unless you count things like different country of origin and different components on the vintage bikes. You should have to sign a release waiver to get into the C&V sub-forum. It's dangerous!

I read somewhere that if you have multiple pairs of shoes and rotate them they last longer than the same number of shoes would last if you just wore one pair every day until they wore out and then got a new pair. I'm not clear how that works, but experimentally it seems to be true. Maybe it gives the rubber time to decompress? Anyway, I'm working on the theory that the same thing will work for bike parts. There may be nothing to it, but I feel like it would be irresponsible not to try.

I only have 2 bikes but I'm enjoying having more than one. One is sportier-feeling, smooth ride and the other is my grocery fetcher/night on the town ride.