What determines your bicycle of choice? Avid cyclists tend to have more than one bike, so I've been thinking about why we choose, what we choose. And often, one bike is ridden more than others in the stable.
There can be many factors at play: length of ride, terrain, type of ride, climate, and comfort. Do you ride 10 miles or less? Is it hilly, rolling, or flat? Is the riding purely for exercise or are you shopping en route? Do you need fenders and rain gear or do you live where it's predominantly dry year-round? Are you comfortable with drop bars or prefer an upright posture, wider tires or skinny, etc.?
Since I ride mostly for exercise on flat terrain, but love to be able to haul stuff, whether that's tools, a thermos, or be able to stop for groceries, my Peugeot Saint Laurent ticks all the boxes. It's stable with wide tires, easy step through mounting, has fenders, and sports panniers with front and back racks. It's my most useful two-wheeled machine. And yeah, it's an older bike, one I don't mind locking to racks.
What is the bicycle that you gravitate towards, and why?
Ha! This is an interesting question, and one I do think about.
ReplyDeleteThe bikes I tend to reach for the most now are my Raleigh Superbe and my Brompton. They are set up as more the utilitarian/commuter riders, which is what I do most often.
I have to make a point to ride my custom Bantam, as that's more the designated fun/adventure machine. I can use it for commuting, but the other bikes are a bit better at that.
Best,
Shawn
https://urbanadventureleague.wordpress.com/landing-page/
Since I can rarely decide, I let the odometers tell me what to ride. If a bike hits a 1,000 mile increment, it goes to the back of the line. That said, The Mule, my 1991 Specialized Sequoia, is my do-it-all bike. Racks front and rear. Low gears and lots of them. Fits like a glove. Can't ask for much more than that.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting way to approach this!
DeleteI forgot to mention: Often what determines what bike I use is what bike I'm set up for. Each of my bikes now have unique bag setups, so a lot of times I'll go with whatever bag/setup I used last, especially if I'm feeling lazy or don't have time.
-Shawn
https://urbanadventureleague.wordpress.com/landing-page/
I get this! I have one tool pouch that I move between bikes...so I may ride one bike for a few days before, ultimately, switching back to the Peugeot St. Laurent primarily for most rides.
DeleteSadly due to income and storage room in our one bedroom apt. we can only have 1 trike each so they have to do it all. I have rear racks and panniners but also I built a utility trailer for hauling food and larger items. LOL, the bottom half of our front room is our "garage", 2 recumbent trikes, utility trailer, workbench and gear rack. IF we ever can again afford a larger place and a bit more income, we'd get more "dirt/off road orientated recumbent trikes with knobby tires to use on the lower and upper halfs of the Pikes Peak Greenway, it's our longest north/south trail but those sections are dirt/gravel with some deeper sandy spots that our "street tires" don't work well on!! The Terra Trike Terrain model or the AZUB Ti-Fly X model would be a lot of FUN! :)
ReplyDeleteI had a road bike, a touring bike, a winter commuter and a summer commuter. In 2016 I got an e-bike that I use for documenting bike events by filming while I ride.
ReplyDeleteI sold the road and touring bike in 2020 and last year I purchased a Priority Onyx for riding around town.
Do you favor one bike or do you ride all equally?
DeleteAn intriguing question. I'm late to the discussion, but I think for me it changes over time, and sometimes even seasonally. I think it depends on what my riding focus is at any given point. When I'm very focused on road riding, it will be my road bike, when I'm more focused on transportation/utility riding, it will be that bike, etc. I would say that if we're counting mileage as the "what I ride most" indicator, it will be the tandem or the road bike (it kind of changes, depending on whether we both have time to ride or not). Honestly, I think after a certain amount of time, if I find I'm not riding a bike, I like to move them on to someone else because it feels wasteful to me, so while some may see more time than others, I really do like to try to ride each of them. :)
ReplyDeleteI get picked on by my family because I rarely ride my Riv Clem-entine, the most expensive bike I own! As beautiful as it is, it's the heaviest, longest, and not the most spritely of rides so I tend to leave it in the basement unless I have a tour planned. It's best for long rides and/or steep terrain.
DeleteI really don't think I gravitate towards one bike. I tend to just rotate thru (most of) them and rarely does it end up being the right bike for the ride, weather or task. Nova on the other hand does. Out of her 3 bikes she nearly always rides her "gravel" bike because it's the most comfortable and versatile of her 3.
ReplyDeleteI think the variety of bikes keeps me from burning out and I admittedly crave the attention of my peers and having a variety of bikes to share on social media I hope keeps them from burning out on my constant posting of photo and videos. I often wonder how different biking would be for me without social media.
That's an interesting take on why you ride all the bikes in your garage. :)
DeleteI don't really have one "go to" bike, as each one is set up for different kinds of riding. But when I want to go out for an hour late in the afternoon just to get some miles in, I'm likely to ride my fixed gear Mercian.
ReplyDeleteThe simplest bicycle is often the easiest to ride for a short jaunt.
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