How many bikes should one own?
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One obviously, at least.
A popular answer is "N+1", where "N" is the number of bikes you currently have. This is wrong. More than 5 bikes for your personal use makes you a bit strange. |
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If you rely on your bike for commuting, then a spare is very useful for those mornings when you wake up to find the bike has developed a puncture overnight. The spare bike could be another of the same type, or different. A small wheel shopper bike is often chosen as a spare as they adjust to fit almost anyone and can be lent to friends or house guests.
Some people have winter and summer commuting bikes. The winter bike can have a hub dynamo, hub gears, heavy tyres and full mudguards. The summer bike can have lighter tyres, no lights, and derailleur gears.
A purpose made touring bike is a good idea. It can keep its front rack on all the time, and won't be worn out by the daily grind of commuting. It also functions as a backup commuting bike.
If you live somewhere it snows, then a mountain bike with knobbly or even metal studded tyres may be fun for a few days a year.
If you often travel by bus or train, a folding bike can be handy. In my opinion, the Brompton is the current best buy, and Dahons are also very good. The Helios P8 is so good that it doesn’t feel slow like most small wheel folders. Large wheel folders are a bit pointless.
A "hack" bike for leaving outside shops or pubs is handy too. Don't make the mistake of having something too cheap and nasty for this role!
So a sensible collection for one person is:
1. Summer commuting bike
2. Winter commuting bike
3. Touring bike/backup commuting bike
4. Folding bike
5. Hack bike
That's for your ordinary fairly keen bicycle user. If you don't mind being a bit strange you could also have:
6. Road bike, for racing or just going fast in the countryside
7. Recumbent
8. Tricycle, for icy roads or heavy loads
9. Tandem
Fixed wheel bike used to be on this list, but then they became trendy.
Some people have winter and summer commuting bikes. The winter bike can have a hub dynamo, hub gears, heavy tyres and full mudguards. The summer bike can have lighter tyres, no lights, and derailleur gears.
A purpose made touring bike is a good idea. It can keep its front rack on all the time, and won't be worn out by the daily grind of commuting. It also functions as a backup commuting bike.
If you live somewhere it snows, then a mountain bike with knobbly or even metal studded tyres may be fun for a few days a year.
If you often travel by bus or train, a folding bike can be handy. In my opinion, the Brompton is the current best buy, and Dahons are also very good. The Helios P8 is so good that it doesn’t feel slow like most small wheel folders. Large wheel folders are a bit pointless.
A "hack" bike for leaving outside shops or pubs is handy too. Don't make the mistake of having something too cheap and nasty for this role!
So a sensible collection for one person is:
1. Summer commuting bike
2. Winter commuting bike
3. Touring bike/backup commuting bike
4. Folding bike
5. Hack bike
That's for your ordinary fairly keen bicycle user. If you don't mind being a bit strange you could also have:
6. Road bike, for racing or just going fast in the countryside
7. Recumbent
8. Tricycle, for icy roads or heavy loads
9. Tandem
Fixed wheel bike used to be on this list, but then they became trendy.
