Hello, I'm Jon, And I Have A Problem...

I think I'm addicted to building bikes. Worse, I'm addicted to owning bikes. I can't even answer people when they ask how many I have, because I have lost track.

And, I'm not talking about all of the bikes lying about, waiting to be built and sold. I mean, I can't really tell you how many of my own bikes there are.

So, as I periodically do, I have been trying to make a list of must-haves, so that I can get rid of the rest. I have a good bit of money tied up in these bikes, not to mention the storage space that they take up.

I guess that when it comes to "must-have", I could get rid of everything other than my all-rounder; the 650b Stumpjumper. Narrow slicks, and it's a road bike. Wide knobbies, and it's a mountain bike. Throw a rack and fenders on...commuter.

But, I can justify (in my mind, at least) having bikes for specific uses. I have no conceptual problem with having one each of a mountain bike, road bike, fixed gear, commuter and classic (either a cruiser or a 3-speed). Add to that what I call "souvenir bikes", bikes that have no real use but are uncommon enough to want to just have them (the Formula 1, the high-wheeler, the pink Gary Fisher, and the vintage Iver Johnson), and that's 9 bikes. Probably 15, or so, less than what I have now.

But, and this is the problem, I have a hard time picking what type of bike in each category to have. Let's take mountain bikes, for instance. I can think of 36 different iterations of mtb, without factoring in such things as frame material, components, etc.

This illustrates what I mean (click for big, if you actually want to read it):


And, that's just mountain bikes. Each type of bike listed above has a similar range of choices. How do I pick just one of each?

Well, the Stumpy can fill the role of road bike, and also a 650b, geared rigid mountain bike. Add the geared 29er (with a suspension fork to throw on when I feel the need) and two categories are filled. Of course, that means I sell the KHS softtail. Hmmm...

The Peugeot is the only fixed gear I need. So, the LeMond goes on the block.

The commuter is a no-brainer. The new Raleigh Supercommuter stays. I have a set of disc 26" fixed-gear wheels onto which I will mount the snow tires, so that the Super can also be my snow bike, during the winter. So, the 700c orange Ghetto Rockhopper and the chrome Schwinn can be sold.

I suppose that I might cheat the list a bit and keep both the drum-braked Schwinn Cruiser 5 and my Hercules 3-speed. (I have to keep the 3-speed for reasons I will reveal, soon.) The box-bike Murray grocery-getter can go away, in that instance. It's on long-term loan to a neighbor, currently, anyway.

The pink Gary Fisher frameset can go on the wall. I have decided to retire it before it breaks. So, I can use the parts currently on it to build up something else to sell.

The Miami Vice bike goes to Tennessee to stay at my Mom and Dad's house.

The other "souvenir" bikes can stay as they are. I ride the F1 and the high-wheeler, sometimes, and the Iver Johnson is just too cool to part with.

So, with 8 bikes I can fill the 9 slots. I'll sell the 24" BMX cruiser, as well, since I never ride it, along with a couple of old-school mountain bikes (although the Nishiki with elevated chainstays may attain "souvenir" status...)

Now, to commit to the theory and actually act upon the plan!

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