Pre-Rules
[rule number=12/]
That is a very reasonable opening salvo for the Rule about bike ownership. Three is good and certainly a minimum, and we are talking road bikes here, if there was any doubt. They naturally become ordered: the #1 is ichi-ban, top dog, go-to bike for every and all rides. #2 was the old #1, it sits on the bench, always ready. By the time you get to bike #3, there is a good chance old #3 doesn’t get ridden too often, except commuting, but is that any reason not to keep #3 updated, upgraded and ready for action…just in case?
My #3 is my thirty year old steel bike. It was my #1 for many great years and great kilometers. It stayed behind on the mainland, stabled in an unheated space at my parents, waiting for me to visit them and her. And you better have a bike when visiting your parents. Sometimes the #3 has to do this kind of work. But now the Bella is back with the rest of the crew and needs to be reborn hard.
I already upgraded the steel bike whenever I could. It would not be acceptable to show up for the strade bianche granfondo on this machine despite its age. The carbone ergo levers and the 8 speed Jan Ullrich vento wheels would most likely be met with moustache twisting disapproval. I don’t want a classic steel bike with six speeds and downtube shifters, FFS. I want mine with lots of modern gears, fast wheels, better handlebars and a nice new paint job.
Besides Rule #12’s unwritten clause stating your partner needs to be on a slightly more awesome bike than your own, the upgrade-downward cascade effect cannot be left unmentioned. Upgrading your or your partner’s #1 bike’s components can mean a shower of quality components now cascade down the line. When I upgrade my wife’s Campagnolo Chorus 11 speed to Record 11, one, she will be a full gruppo above me, flying overhead in the clouds. That frees up the slightly beaten up Chorus 11 gruppo for my slightly beaten up #3. My wife is happy, I am happy, bikes are happy, the equation balances out.
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I know this is besides the point, but does the rule truly only talks about road bikes? This means I lose 2.5 bikes just by reading this article. What's this for a stupid Tuesday...
As for the unwritten clause, I couldn't agree more! The wife needs the most awesome bike!
@bea
Yeah, I was also upset by that. Can I count my track bike as a road bike? And my commuter is technically a road bike, it just has flat bars. There we go, that's 3.
My wife's bike is not worse than mine, and for now that will have to do!
Numbers numbers bummers... This site is getting too much into numbers... 90inch vs 7.08m.
Now even more confusion takes possession of me:
My #1 is the nr 1 Blue Koga
My #2 is the nine-bike Indian Red Steel Koga (also for Eroica and clad with fenders in winter)
My #3 will be the new Koga Nemo track bike (I hear ya @RobSandy!)
My #4 is the Koga MTB
My #5 is the steel Raleigh commuter still in the NLs.
And then I have the #6 which is actually my wife's Koga but it's on the turbo now.
I wish someone would simply ask me the question "what rule for numbering your bikes would you like to have".
I'm a firm believer in n+1 but things have got slightly out of hand.
I have two bikes. #1 is my stunning 2013 SuperSix HiMod with Red 10 and carbon tubular climbing wheels. #2 is the never lets you down 2011 CAAD 8 with a mix of 105 and Ultegra and a mish mash of parts that have taken my fancy over the years. Only the frame and the seat pin remain of the original bike.
I've aslo got a 2007 Cannondale Prophet but I'm not counting that as #3 as Angus has been using more than I have recently. It's become part of the Collective which is the amorphous mass of bikes that are loosely assigned to the rest of the family and is formed of:
We're also watching a few cross bikes on eBay at the moment as Angus' has grown out of the two bikes he has been using.
How do you quantify them? By the actual number of bikes (9) or the number of roles that the Collective supports (13)?
So far the only components that have been cascading down have been the odd wheel (current shortage) and QR skewers. Keeping track of the work that each one requires is becoming a full time job!
This affirms my need to get my third bike ASAP. Thanks, @gianni for the enabling.
@Gianni - There's something nasty lurking in the shadows under that there saddle...........
Of course it has to be three road bikes.
One is the race/best bike.
Two is the spare/old race/best bike (like, what are you going to do, sell it?)
Three is the winter/hack bike. Two or Three may also be used on a turbo and left set up if space permits, or as in the case @Chris describes loaned to favoured family members.
To have fewer suggests a certain lack of application in one's life as a Velominatus.
Three bike minimum? And all road bikes? What fantastic 1st world problems we contrive.
@ChrisO
I have this. They are the same bike with different wheels.
Or a certain lack of funds. However, I think this is fine as long as one aspires to extend your bike collection. I think if I was truly satisfied with my current stable I really wouldn't think myself worthy of the V-Jersey.
I think I've said this before but....
#1 #1 bike
#1 #9 bike
#1 Steel bike with modern group set
#1 Classic Italian Vintage bike
#1 First ever road bike