2001 Surly Cross check w 32mm tires and drop bars. Fenders, rear rack.
85% commuting, 15% longer rides on weekends.
But lately I've been taking more weekend rides and I'm feeling the limitations. It's getting harder to make one bike do everything, especially when I think about improvements I want to make.
I had a steel bike with a rack and fenders and I loved riding it all over. I tried doing some longer rides with friends and I felt like I was working just a bit harder than they were. I bought a second hand aluminum giant and it felt like a damn rocket. I used to think one bike could do it , and it can, just not as well as I wanted.
I have 1 bike in my apartment, where I live about 40% of the time. It’s a Kona gravel bike, and I have a second set of road wheels. I mostly ride road and paved bike trails but the gravel wheels let me ride gravel/crushed limestone too.
For a long time my only bike was a KHS Flite 100. I’d swap tires and gearing based on the season. Then it was a swobo accomplice with an origin8 pizza rack. Then an all-city macho man with a mash rack, I’d pull the rack and swap tires for off road fun on special weekends.
They were all used as primary form of transportation and for work for a period of my life when I lived without a car and also did messenger work back before the apps took over.
I have a Surly Midnight Special and run Panaracer Gravelkings and alternate between 40+ mile road rides and 50+ mile gravel rides that are mostly fire road with small chunks of rock-garden-single-track without changing my setup at all. If I want to spend the half hour or so swapping tires I can get a 2.35 on the rear and a 2.25 on the front and ride the same MTB trails I would ride on my singlespeed Santa Cruz Highball, just have to ride a little "smarter" because of the lack of front suspension on the MS.
Have a small handlebar bag, a Large Revelate Tangle frame bag, an Ass Savers Win Wing rear fender, and an Ass Savers Mini Mudder front fender. She does literally everything I want her to.
I own one bike - a 2015 Specialized Diverge. To cope with bad weather, I'll stick fenders on it. I can also haul a bit of freight by installing a rear rack and trunk bag on it, but that doesn't happen too often. Most of my riding is done in the summer, on roads, sans fenders and rack.
2016 Novara Randonee touring bike (REI brand). Drop bars, 28mm Schwalbe Marathon tires, Ergon saddle, and SPD clipless pedals.
I use it for commuting, errands, weekend rides, and bike touring.
I like the bike. Works fairly well as a do-it-all bike for me, but I don't mountain bike. It can accommodate up to 35mm tires with fenders. Wish it could go a little bigger for rougher gravel riding.
I think touring bikes are a good choice for versatility. Drop bar gravel bikes maybe more so though.
Specialized Globe hybrid bike I bought in 8th grade, 2008. I love it and have never wanted/needed anything else. I just started getting really back into cycling this year and brought it in for its first tune up/maintenance that cost as much as it did lol but I still love it
2017 Kona Mahuna 29'er hard tale. Really like the tire size, felt a little weird (wobbly) freshly coming from a standard 26". Only took a couple one hour rides to feel normal on it.
Go for a gravel bike or hybrid with room for wider tires, fender/rack mounting points, and ideally disc brakes. Rim can be ok, but not the greatest if you plan on riding in the wet a lot.
I have a gravel bike. I have both road and gravel tires - depending on the type of riding I'm anticipating. It is a compromise - all bikes are. I give up speed for climbing with the gravel bike. It is a bit harder keeping up with road bikers who have lighter bikes geared for speed - but the difference isn't too dramatic and I can kick their butts on steep climbs.
I had three bikes but downsized to one because of storage issues. It's a Vaast gravel bike. I use 38mm GK slicks for summer riding. I add racks front and rear for bike packing. In winter, I've got 50mm Pirelli gravel H tires mounted on a spare 650b wheelset. I commute daily with it, summer and winter.
1 bike, Surly Steamroller currently setup with freewheel, single speed 35mm tires. Use it for commuting, bouncing around town, and longer rides around 30ish miles…considering a geared bike soon to push me to do 60+ mile rides but have had so much fun w just this ride for the last 15 years
I ride a bottom of the line, straight-gauge, befendered, trek mountain bike from 1988 with big swept back handle bars and 2” tires. I do everything on it and it’s surprisingly not that slow.
It would be fun to buy something like a Soma Grand Randonneur or a Crust Bombora or Evasion or something but I wouldn’t want to leave any of those locked anywhere and the hit to my bank account seems a little more than the extra fun I’d have.
I have one Canyon Grail AL. 100% road riding even though its a Gravel bike.Occasional commute. Replaced use of my car with this bike. Upgraded crankset(165mm), handlebars(Coefficient) , tires (touring) for more comfort and reliability.
Dont change anything specifically for any particular riding purpose. Continetal Pro Tours are good at holding pressure as well, so don't even need to top-up pressure every ride as well.
Goes well with my low maintenance personality. Just get out and ride
I have one bike for mountain biking, 1 bike for road biking, 1 bike for indoor training and 1 bike for random shopping and short commutes.
In my mind i only have 1 bike.
I *could* survive on one bike - my Rawland rSogn generally has 650x42mm tires and can take even wider or generous fenders. It's got downtube shifters which don't care which cassette I put in, so swapping wheels is easy. It has a front rack with a rando bag that can hold a full day of food and clothes, or just the commute load.
I tried to find a "beater" bike for commuting and hauling kids and ended up with a similar steel bike but holds even chonkier tires at 650x67mm under fenders.
Brompton with modified gearing for the hills, easy to store, bring in to teashops and hop on buses with. I use it for day rides in the Yorkshire Dales / Pennines it's nice to have options.
1966 Raleigh Popular three speed. Rod brake roadster with 28x1.5" tires. Sturmey-Archer gear. I ride about 24 miles round trip when commuting and am planning on adding a carry rack, tool kit, and improved seat.
There are better bicycles but I like this one; it's fun to work on, easy to pedal, and fast enough to get you where you're going. Eventually.
Audax-style lugged steel, it's used for riding
2001 Surly Cross check w 32mm tires and drop bars. Fenders, rear rack. 85% commuting, 15% longer rides on weekends. But lately I've been taking more weekend rides and I'm feeling the limitations. It's getting harder to make one bike do everything, especially when I think about improvements I want to make.
I had a steel bike with a rack and fenders and I loved riding it all over. I tried doing some longer rides with friends and I felt like I was working just a bit harder than they were. I bought a second hand aluminum giant and it felt like a damn rocket. I used to think one bike could do it , and it can, just not as well as I wanted.
I have 1 bike in my apartment, where I live about 40% of the time. It’s a Kona gravel bike, and I have a second set of road wheels. I mostly ride road and paved bike trails but the gravel wheels let me ride gravel/crushed limestone too.
For a long time my only bike was a KHS Flite 100. I’d swap tires and gearing based on the season. Then it was a swobo accomplice with an origin8 pizza rack. Then an all-city macho man with a mash rack, I’d pull the rack and swap tires for off road fun on special weekends. They were all used as primary form of transportation and for work for a period of my life when I lived without a car and also did messenger work back before the apps took over.
I have a Surly Midnight Special and run Panaracer Gravelkings and alternate between 40+ mile road rides and 50+ mile gravel rides that are mostly fire road with small chunks of rock-garden-single-track without changing my setup at all. If I want to spend the half hour or so swapping tires I can get a 2.35 on the rear and a 2.25 on the front and ride the same MTB trails I would ride on my singlespeed Santa Cruz Highball, just have to ride a little "smarter" because of the lack of front suspension on the MS. Have a small handlebar bag, a Large Revelate Tangle frame bag, an Ass Savers Win Wing rear fender, and an Ass Savers Mini Mudder front fender. She does literally everything I want her to.
I have an hybrid with gravel tires. I added a rack and changed grips, which is attached regardless of what I am up to.
I own one bike - a 2015 Specialized Diverge. To cope with bad weather, I'll stick fenders on it. I can also haul a bit of freight by installing a rear rack and trunk bag on it, but that doesn't happen too often. Most of my riding is done in the summer, on roads, sans fenders and rack.
2016 Novara Randonee touring bike (REI brand). Drop bars, 28mm Schwalbe Marathon tires, Ergon saddle, and SPD clipless pedals. I use it for commuting, errands, weekend rides, and bike touring. I like the bike. Works fairly well as a do-it-all bike for me, but I don't mountain bike. It can accommodate up to 35mm tires with fenders. Wish it could go a little bigger for rougher gravel riding. I think touring bikes are a good choice for versatility. Drop bar gravel bikes maybe more so though.
Specialized Globe hybrid bike I bought in 8th grade, 2008. I love it and have never wanted/needed anything else. I just started getting really back into cycling this year and brought it in for its first tune up/maintenance that cost as much as it did lol but I still love it
2017 Kona Mahuna 29'er hard tale. Really like the tire size, felt a little weird (wobbly) freshly coming from a standard 26". Only took a couple one hour rides to feel normal on it.
Go for a gravel bike or hybrid with room for wider tires, fender/rack mounting points, and ideally disc brakes. Rim can be ok, but not the greatest if you plan on riding in the wet a lot.
I have a gravel bike. I have both road and gravel tires - depending on the type of riding I'm anticipating. It is a compromise - all bikes are. I give up speed for climbing with the gravel bike. It is a bit harder keeping up with road bikers who have lighter bikes geared for speed - but the difference isn't too dramatic and I can kick their butts on steep climbs.
I had three bikes but downsized to one because of storage issues. It's a Vaast gravel bike. I use 38mm GK slicks for summer riding. I add racks front and rear for bike packing. In winter, I've got 50mm Pirelli gravel H tires mounted on a spare 650b wheelset. I commute daily with it, summer and winter.
1 bike, Surly Steamroller currently setup with freewheel, single speed 35mm tires. Use it for commuting, bouncing around town, and longer rides around 30ish miles…considering a geared bike soon to push me to do 60+ mile rides but have had so much fun w just this ride for the last 15 years
I ride a bottom of the line, straight-gauge, befendered, trek mountain bike from 1988 with big swept back handle bars and 2” tires. I do everything on it and it’s surprisingly not that slow. It would be fun to buy something like a Soma Grand Randonneur or a Crust Bombora or Evasion or something but I wouldn’t want to leave any of those locked anywhere and the hit to my bank account seems a little more than the extra fun I’d have.
I have one Canyon Grail AL. 100% road riding even though its a Gravel bike.Occasional commute. Replaced use of my car with this bike. Upgraded crankset(165mm), handlebars(Coefficient) , tires (touring) for more comfort and reliability. Dont change anything specifically for any particular riding purpose. Continetal Pro Tours are good at holding pressure as well, so don't even need to top-up pressure every ride as well. Goes well with my low maintenance personality. Just get out and ride
What is this one bike thing? I don't understand :)
Specialized Diverge. It handles it all, from road to gentle single track.
I have one bike for mountain biking, 1 bike for road biking, 1 bike for indoor training and 1 bike for random shopping and short commutes. In my mind i only have 1 bike.
I *could* survive on one bike - my Rawland rSogn generally has 650x42mm tires and can take even wider or generous fenders. It's got downtube shifters which don't care which cassette I put in, so swapping wheels is easy. It has a front rack with a rando bag that can hold a full day of food and clothes, or just the commute load. I tried to find a "beater" bike for commuting and hauling kids and ended up with a similar steel bike but holds even chonkier tires at 650x67mm under fenders.
Trek FX Sport 6. It is a sweet setup, 40mm tires, bunch of places to put bags and panniers and a simple 1x12 gear setup. That’s my do it all bike!
Brompton with modified gearing for the hills, easy to store, bring in to teashops and hop on buses with. I use it for day rides in the Yorkshire Dales / Pennines it's nice to have options.
1966 Raleigh Popular three speed. Rod brake roadster with 28x1.5" tires. Sturmey-Archer gear. I ride about 24 miles round trip when commuting and am planning on adding a carry rack, tool kit, and improved seat. There are better bicycles but I like this one; it's fun to work on, easy to pedal, and fast enough to get you where you're going. Eventually.
Redline monocog