Pre Rule #26 photo
Words of advice for the lads: If your girlfriend is a very good cyclist and you two are going to get engaged, a nice racing bike is not a substitute for a ring. I tried it. In my cyclo-centric male brain, she needed a proper racing bike a lot more than she needed a ring. I made my case and lost. She did get the ring and the bike and me so I’m not sure it was total victory for her.
I mail-ordered the frame from Palo Alto Bike Shop. They were selling fine unbranded Italian steel frames. I built the wheels but denied her a gruppo. The unwritten subtext of Rule #12 is s’s (spouse’s) bike must be marginally nicer than your own. But I was unaware of that Rule back then so her bike was a functional Suntour groupsan. For the record, her next two #1 bikes are both nicer than mine. The Palo Alto bike was eventually repainted De Rosa pink, upgraded to Shimano, and ridden into the ground. Fast forward too many years and that bike is still hers. It is bike #3 and resides five thousand kilometers away, used each year when back visiting family. Now even the bike is losing its old home.
What am I going to do with my bike?
Ship it out here, obviously.
No, that’s too expensive. I’m going to sell it here.
WHAT? But it’s your pink bike, you can’t just sell it. It’s your pink bike…(muted sobbing deleted)
This is another debate I’m going to lose. She has all reasonable arguments on her side. Me, I leave no bike behind. I have two bikes back there and when my mother’s house sells, I’m shipping them both out here. Will they be ridden much? Hell no but that is not the point. These bikes have been my brothers-in-arms and I’m not leaving them behind. We have been together in the trenches for much too much time for me to abandon them. Is this a male thing? Do women have such emotional attachments for inanimate objects? Or is it a Velominati thing? Either way, my Bontrager hardtail mountain bike and my Bella steel road bike are going to join the rest of the stable out here. They may not see much action but I can still tune them up, keep them ready if and when the orders ever come down.
How does this all end? Obviously it ends up with me, as a failing eighty year old at my sunset years yard sale telling some puke he is not worthy to own any of my old bikes and he can fuck right off. Then, later, my widow will bring them all down to the police station to be sold at auction, for ten dollars each.
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@Gianni did your budget not run to Rule #34 compliant footwear?
@RobSandy
Whole post is so true. When my dad past away, I reluctantly did not take his 2 (city) bikes with me, since I already had too many. I have 3 Koga's in Switzerland (+1 for the VMH) and the 4th (Raleigh citybike) waits for me in the Netherlands for the upcoming summer holidays where it will see some action, but of course I will ensure my #1 joins me on the trip over. The Raleigh's frame's too high for me but I still ride it. When I was living as a student in Amsterdam, many of my bikes were stolen, except the 1982 steel Koga that is now the Nine-bike. The only bikes I threw or gave away were those that became too small for the kids.
And I probably should not have bought the MTB but a CX instead.
@Gianni
Any pics of the pink bike after rule #26 application (framepump, valve stem caps
@wilburrox
In 30 years time, carbon frames are all broken anyway, so only steel will survive then
@KogaLover
I do wonder what the longevity of the resin in the carbon will be before they start to delaminate. At that point their green credentials and recycleability is somewhat suspect.
This brightened up my morning.
I live in a sad state of affairs where my wife is not only not a Cyclist (with a big C), but she is adamant that "you won't get me on anything with two wheel", thus ruling out her desire to be a cyclist (with a little C). I think this stems from losing confidence in her ability to stay upright when she borrowed a friend's roadie that was easily three sizes too big for her and fell into a hedgerow within 10 metres of the front gate.
I hold out hope though. If her confidence is lacking in the handling of the bicycle, then the solution is simple: we get a tandem and I pilot it! It'll be an uphill struggle convincing her this A Good Idea, but I am determined to approach this proverbial hill like Il-frikkin'-Pirata!
VLVV
@Julez
If you go ahead with this ill advised tandem fantasy we'll be writing missives speculating on the size of your "C".
Keepin' it real.
@kixsand
Love this
Alas my first trek with gruppo and my bridgestone mb3 never made it past college with me. Trek given to neighbor in Boulder who was a proper cyclist and I hadn't a clue at the time. MB3 stolen off my back porch in Austin.
I also sold my Fuji hybrid this year to fund N+1 endeavors. Sad to see it go but it was never a 'lifer'.
Now I have 2 Condors and can see a flock of at least 5 that will stay with me for a long time.
Also my Dad's Graftek from like 1985 and his US Postal Trek will make there way to my stable. I am not in a hurry for that - though it will be a special way to remember him when he's gone.
Judging by the comments here it's the wives that need replacing, not the bikes!
My fiancée rides a fancier bike than me, a pretty little colour-coordinated, carbon, all Dura Ace Argon 18 with a white saddle and tape. She won't let go of her old starter bike with Sora and crosstop brake levers, though, and though her satisfaction from the #1 keeps the n+1 desires at bay, she merely awaits for the right bike to shuffle the rest of the stable down.
The key is finding a new use for every bike. My Alu frame serves as my only road bike, but when a new #1 comes it'll be the Nine Bike, and when that happens again it'll become a commuter. No shortage of uses for a bike with fender and rack mounts, clearance for 30+mm tyres and DA7800 that just won't die.
got my wife a second bike recently (with the prophet's name on it no less) she says she doesn't need it!!
a week later - "why wont you sell that bike to her new cycling buddy?"
I wrestled with this dilemma for a week and knew that the "right" answer would be to sell it.
But there is No Way its leaving Our Stable. My daughter's first proper road bike can be a Merckx!!