Rule #12 and the Cascade Effect
[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.
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
3 is a good start indeed.
#1 Supersix Evo .. doubles up as (T)TT bike
#2 Pinarello Assolo with 9speed Chorus .. only thing left of the original bike is the frame, bottom bracket and saddle. Winter bike and my son’s ride in summers.
#3 is the former #1, 2014 CAAD10. It’s got cracks in the chainstay so is the indoor trainer bike now.
then the shed is shared with the missus’ CX, my daughters CAAD3 and an old Gazelle frame that will get new components somewhere in the next couple of year ….
@Teocalli
Fortunately my no.1 = no.1 also = no.9 = anniversary Eddy Merckx MX Leader = Columbus MXL steel w/ 2014 Campagnolo — first Pinarello Montello RR frame = crashed = sitting under workbench — no.2 Eddy Merckx needs 26mm tires for its maiden voyage
happening Thanksgiving Velominati — and to all a good bike!
@bea
Sorry @bea, Eddy was pretty clear on this. Actually he wasn’t so clear on this but…you have some work to do.
@RobSandy
Yeah, I think you are safe with track and commuters, it’s the MTB bikes we cannot be counting here.
Er, I have 14 bicycles I could ride at any given time with just some air in the tyres…is that wrong? 17 if I include my family’s rides…
@Teocalli
Hell yes, an EPMS. This photo is an old one. I cannot be held responsible for my bikes when Frank was still in short pants.
@Neil
Yes Neil, N+1 is a bitch, for truth.
Related to the Bella in the photo, that paint job and “Bella” on the downtube were all a result of me having it repainted and the original decals no longer being available. I tried to reproduce them but they looked like crap so the painter added the Bella himself. I’m about to repaint the frame again and after despairing the lack of a proper head badge decal I found a guy on Etsy who makes some amazing personalized etched metal head badges. I’m getting one of these!
@Oli
Wrong, nay, it’s so right.
In my experience, “n+1” is a universal truth which manifests wherever one has an equipment-related passion. The same issues of categorisation (“Do my [travel guitars / mountain bikes / angle grinder] belong in the same class as my [ti bike #1 / strat / skill-saw]”?), the same merciless assault on one’s bank balance whenever one passes a [bike store / music store / hardware store], the same inexorable hunger to fill the void left by the failure (to date) to acquire that urgently needed [Colnago / ES-335 / drop-saw]. Unfortunate and regrettable – but immutable and inevitable. May as well accept it. Or so I assert to She Who Must Be Obeyed.
@G’phant
G’phant me boyee, nice to know you live.
the same merciless assault on one’s bank balance whenever one passes a [bike store / music store / hardware store], the same inexorable hunger to fill the void left by the failure (to date) to acquire that urgently needed [Colnago / ES-335 / drop-saw]. Unfortunate and regrettable – but immutable and inevitable. May as well accept it. Or so I assert to She Who Must Be Obeyed.
You are wise. good sir…a merciless assault indeed…Unfortunate and regrettable – but immutable and inevitable. Yes, we are doomed. I hope SWAMBO buys it.
@Gianni
But wait, weren’t you the Keeper who extolled the virtues of the EPMS in a full-on article a year ago or something???
Now I know that Frahnk has loooong legs and most pants are; ergo, short pants on him but I think that you’ve got to own this one, Mate!
@Teocalli
@David van Dijk
I like where this thread is going!
New #1 (frame shipped but not arrived yet): Hampsten/Eriksen Ti with 11 spd Campag SR.
#2: 2005 Merckx Scandium Premium with 10 spd Dura Ace-Current #1.
#3: 2006 Lemond Steel Poprad (Cannibal Orange) with 105–Current rain/commuter/trainer bike.
#4: 1993 Team Motorola Steel Eddy Merckx with all original 8 spd Dura Ace.
Wife has two bikes that are decent and my oldest soon has a decent MTB bike. All other kiddos have generic younger bikes. 11 bikes total on the homestead.
Stop with your massive stables, making me feel inferior.
I have my multi-purpose Nr#1, Felt F75 which I use for commuting, long rides, racing, TT, turbo, with 1 set of ‘ran/training’ wheels and one set of ‘best/race’ wheels.
I have my flat bar/road wheels heavy-as-shit Giant which I use for commuting (my commutes on this are sometimes hilly 25kms though).
And I have my new track bike (which is actually quite retro).
Obviously, I NEED an aggressive carbon racer with Ultegra and deep section wheels.
Obviously, I also need a half-decent TT bike.
I’ve also spotted a gap for a cross bike – not to race cross, but to use riding easy singletrack MTB with the Velomini and to take as a holiday bike, as it would be able to do everything. Obviously, I’d then need 2 sets of wheels, 1 for the road, 1 for the dirt.
I really don’t want much.
Back in the day I was collecting guitars and I eventually reached what I considered to be critical mass. And that is this; a new guitar could be brought in to the house and be completely unnoticed by any other members of the household. There were that many of them.
Reaching critical mass with bikes? Well that’s a little different endeavor. Not any more or less expensive mind ya. You can find and collect a $300 or $10,000 guitar as easily as you could a bicycle. It’s just that guitars come in cases and are easily tucked in to corners and closets or simply hung on the wall. Bikes on the other hand quickly relegate cars to driveways. And then everything else that would normally be in the garage gets left out back. Because my ’17 bike purchases will all be upsized replacement bikes for the young lady of the house we’ll not be probing the critical mass theorem of bikes. Everyone will know these bikes have entered the stable. But then we can return to normalcy in ’18 and explore achieving critical mass.
Cheers all
Hmmm.
My old system – #1 bike but that wasn’t race bike because I would probably cry right on the spot if I crashed it. Colnago EPS, my old C40 co-chairs this position as well.
#2 was race bike – fast bike but OK to ding and scrape up. In my case this was, and still have, a Wilier Alpe D’Huez
#3 is bad weather road bike
#4 Cyclocross bike (currently Alan Carbon)
#5 time trial bike (Teschner Aero Pro)
That system is superseded now to include every vintage Italian and Eddy Merckx steel racer I can get a good deal on and my total n is somewhere around a dozen now.
@Buck Rogers
10 roadbikes and mtb’s in Switzerland and 6 commuters in the Netherlands for the whole family. Is a bit much for a family of 6 indeed. To my defense, colleagues visiting from abroad used my roadbikes for the Friday lunch ride.
Yesterday, a colleague of mine asked me how my cycling went. So I proudly showed him a pic of the new trackbike. It was only when he saw it was a Koga, that it was a trackbike and not a Trek (road)bike.
@G’phant
^This is true. As a bass player, I have a Musicman Stingray, a Fender P Bass and a Guild B30 AGB.
As for the road bikes:
#1: Giant Defy Advanced Pro w/ hydraulic disc brakes (you knew this was coming)
#2: Giant Defy Advanced (upgraded caliper brakes and wheels)
#3: Marinoni Fango SSCX also used for daily commutation (upgraded drive train and wheels)
@Buck Rogers
That’s a righteous, fully compliant, stable.
@Randy C
Should you ever renovate your house you will find numerous opportunities to ensure ongoing concealment of your collecting manias: large cupboards can be built in a music room so that guitars can be smuggled in unnoticed, part of the garage can be turned into a dedicated workshop in which power tools can multiply undisturbed, and this can necessitate the construction of a shed in which to house the bikes, which can thereafter safely breed away from prying eyes. Such, at least, has been my experience. Whether it is prudent to remove constraints on the potential for self-impoverishment is a question I suggest not be contemplated too closely. Far better to just get out and ride, then stay in and play / build.
@Gianni
Rumours of my demise were exaggerated. Unlike reports of my fatness and lack of fitness.
right now, i have one complete bike and a box of parts i am hoarding for my next build.
#1 is a Haro/Masi Gran Criterium. lugged, oversize Reynolds 525 tubing, 105 groupsan, Ritchey components. i saw it hanging in my lbs, and the name caught my attention. (the names Masi or Gios will catch the attention of any vintage steel bicycle freak) i took it for a ride, and that was THAT. this bike is better than my old Serotta Atlanta, or my Merckx Corsa. it is stiff enough, and SUPER lively. easily the most FUN bike i’ve ever owned.
#2 will be a Ritchey Road Logic. i’ve got everything i need except the frame. this one will be Ultegra groupsan, Ritchey components.
is this thread moving in the direction whereby sharing my domestic money laundering techniques might be a relevant post?
@freddy
That will ALWAYS be a relevant post…
@Cary
FYI – Ritchey is offering 20% off on frames for Black Friday..
@ChrisO
I’m lucky, I have one great bike who can do it all!
@Gianni
I’m not so sure my commuter can be counted… (in your eyes it’s probably worse than a MTB)
I still can’t get over it, we have 17 bikes in our garage (we’re a family of five, the boys are all under 10, I ignored the bikes which are too small or have no pedals) and only three of them can properly be called A Bike.
And with 17 bike-like-things in the garage, you can guess where the car is…
@freddy
It will give you instantly the recognition-badge of being a guest-contributor.
@Clean39T
thanks. this is great information!
How about n+86? www.paddle8.com/auction/robin-williams
I have this bike, and a few others, but Robin was the Merckx of Collectors
@G’phant
@KogaLover
Ok, I’ll open the window a crack to give you guys a peak at one of my best techniques, but before I do, I’d like to say that without my partner, as the CFO of our family, I’d probably be on the street corner with my hand out saying, “A looney for the bus, sir?”
That said, I’ve learned that there are some things in life (such as guitars and bicycles) that supersede all others and because those in control may not understand this (and it’s not worth arguing about), utmost secrecy is required (meanwhile, my wife probably knows all about my dirty little tricks and let’s it go because, hey, love is like that and my shenanigans don’t really make a significant impact on our financial situation). In summary, it’s the second part of Rule #12 (s-1) that is probably the most important: let’s try to keep our relationships healthy.
Enough preliminaries. Here is the scoop on Domestic Money Laundering Technique (DMLT) #1:
My employer is part of the Canadian Savings Bonds program. An employee can sign up and get X amount of dollars deducted from one’s pay every two weeks. The interest earned is negligible, however, the money is diverted and set aside before it arrives in our bank account where our family CFO has full control. As everything is electronic and the host of payroll deductions that Canadians are subject to is very complex, it goes by unnoticed. The kitty slowly accumulates week after week. Once or twice a year, I’ll make a withdrawal and have a manual cheque mailed to my employer’s address. I take this to the bank and get it cashed on the spot–no record. The cash goes into the secret hiding place (again, for all I know my wife knows exactly where this is and exactly how much is in there). When an upgrade to say, Bike #2 is required, the money is there to make it happen and the cascading upgrades to the other bikes down the line fall into place accordingly as described by Gianni.
It’s important to say in conclusion, like with all petty crime, do not get greedy, keep the increments relatively small. Just be patient and let the magic happen in the background. DMLT #1 is just one way Rule #12 has prevailed in my household.
-fff
@freddy
My CFO has similar control and but for that, likewise, I’d likely in the “a paper bag, you were lucky….” pickle. However, I used to have a special allowance that went into my own account called Squirrelled. Somehow that account got absorbed into some central project or other but has now been replaced by Ferreted that is all mine – but is also rather empty after project Gios.
@Teocalli
Yes, “bottom of lake–it was a luxury.” My “Coffee” allowance has been helpful over the years, trickling into the kitty in support of Rule #12 activities. I get pushback when I put a Timmy’s medium, double-double on M/C from time to time. All part of the dance.
@Teocalli
project Gios was a helluva project, tho. i can’t think of a better way to drain an account.
You NEVER can have too many.
#1 Colnago C-59 SR eps
#2 Jaegher Interceptor SR ’15
#3 Jaegher Ascender SR ’15
#4 Lemond 86 TDF SR eps
#5 Colnago Master SR ’11
#6 1984 Schwinn Paramount Dura-Ace 8 speed SIS DT
#7 Cannondale Synapse SR ’11
Saddle bag?
@EBruner
Oh My! Now THAT is quite the stable!
(but why both an Interceptor and an Ascender? [besides the obvious answer “B/c I can”]–I looked at Jaegher when I was getting ready to lay down some money on a new frame and I really liked the Ascender and it seems to do everything the Interceptor does ands more. Just curious as to why two Jaeghers and not a Merckx or De Rosa or Pinarello or whatnot).
@freddy
Thanks, what worked for me thus far is the following: I live in Switzerland and if I export something from the EU (eg Netherlands) to Switzerland (which is not part of the EU), I can claim the 21% VAT on the EU-product back. I need to however pay 8% VAT for importing into Switzerland, but the net effect is 13%. On top of that, my employer has a CO2-reduction programme which means they co-pay 50% of bicycles, washing machines or even Tesla’s etc (up to a limit of 5000 CHF over a number of years) that help to reduce carbondioxide emission. Like that the net spend for a new bike is about the same as buying a used one.
@Buck Rogers
Oh, I don’t have a real answer. I dig them, 100% bespoke, not made in Asia, Kurt is a great guy to work with, etc. Both my Jaeghers are the last frames I have bought, and other than vintage, I doubt I buy a mass produced frame again. I think I would rather spend my money with an artisan. And in there US at least the chances are slim to none that anyone else will line up at an event on the same frame as you.
-Eddie
#1 Wilier Cento Uno SR
#2 Wilier Gran Turismo
#3 Wilier Mortirolo
#4 Boardman CX Pro
#5 Ritchey Breakaway
#6 Surly Pacer
#7 Salsa Fargo
#8 Surly Ogre
#9 On One Inbred
#10 Cannondale Mtb Tandem
#11 Ridgeback Mtb beater
#12 Kona beach cruiser