Your latest bike purchase?

[Phatboing]

2000 miles is as good a time as any to beginning coveting the next bike.

My last purchase was a Salsa Colossal Ti, because speed.

A longer-winded explanation is that all through Freezing Saddles, I noticed that I was adjusting all my bikes for a more aggressive fit, so I decided that my body's changing and while I don't fully understand these changes, a fast bike for riding fast would help. My original plans for a swift pavement bike went .... in a different direction:



(this is now my all-thing-doer)

It helped that I don't have a car and could thus shamelessly rationalize myself into that purchase.

6500 miles of road riding, commuting, gravel grinding, and touring later...

O.o

How long have you had it? It feels like not very long ago I was watching Volagi's very first promo video for the Viaje.

I did try the Viaje and Bikenetic, and was very bummed that the fit was all wonky, because it's so pretty.

[vvill]

The last bike I bought was in Nov 2013 - I got a proper SS/FG bike. I'd been riding a lot of miles (mostly commutes) single speed using my old hybrid firstly with a RD used as a chain tensioner, and then with a nicely built wheel based on an older generation White Industries ENO eccentric hub ($100 from craigslist) but I decided I wanted something with horizontal dropouts (this also has 120mm rear spacing). I also wanted something that was nice lugged steel and a more classic (but not retrogrouchy) look - I plan to own it for ages, and the bike is about 20 lbs stock, which is about as light as my other bikes. All my other bikes are aluminium (or aluminium/carbon mix) and as much as I love how they ride, I've always preferred round straight tubes aesthetically. (Wabi cycles is run by one of the original founders of Performance Bike, so it's basically steel SS/FG bikes at close to Performance Bike value levels but more personal service.)

The only possible regret so far is that based on riding so far I'm not a huge fan of all the stock build components. They are good value, but I will probably end up upgrading bits and pieces, so I probably should've just bought the frameset and wheels: although that would've cost the same, so... whatever, I guess. I do find I tend to "protect" this bike more - I don't really ride it in the rain and I've hardly commuted on it because I don't want the paint to all chipped up on racks, so I guess I like it too much?

[jrenaut]

I have found, as I add more things to my Volpe to make it a better commuter (rack and panniers, fenders, etc), that while i love the Volpe, I'm really craving something very simple. Hence the fixie, which will have a front brake and a rear blinkie and NOTHING ELSE.

[KayakCyndi]

How long have you had it? It feels like not very long ago I was watching Volagi's very first promo video for the Viaje.

I did try the Viaje and Bikenetic, and was very bummed that the fit was all wonky, because it's so pretty.

First ride was January 5, 2013. To say I've had fun with that bike would be the worlds biggest understatement. The fit wasn't wonky for me at all. Fits me perfectly -- not entirely sure what that says about me.

[Phatboing]

First ride was January 5, 2013. To say I've had fun with that bike would be the worlds biggest understatement. The fit wasn't wonky for me at all. Fits me perfectly -- not entirely sure what that says about me.

Awesome.

The wonky fit is all me, I'm sure. I fit on short bikes with long-ish top tubes, and road bikes like that are bloody hard to find. I also cannot be trusted with generous tire clearances or utilitarian things like rack braze-ons, because fat tires and racks and thing-schlepping would be inevitable (case in point).

[Subby]

I feel like I talk about my "story" on here all the time, but my first ever road bike ride was New Year's day 2013. I was hooked and few months later I bought a 2006 Orbea Onix off of Craigslist. Lots of happy rides and commutes followed, but after my second major crash and 4th broken bone/1st damaged organ, my wife insisted I get a more commuter friendly bike. So I bought a 2007 Kona Major Jake CX bike off of eBay. I had a love/hate relationship with it, but after getting the shitty canti brakes replaced with mini-Vs and putting on new wheels, the bike is an absolute DREAM for commuting. It goes fast enough running 32s and has both brifters and bar interrupter brakes which is nice for going through the city. I can put 38s on it and go gravel grinding with Dirt and Friends and I can hopefully use it to CX Cat 5 with guys like vvill and vince.

As for my next bike, I have caught FG/SS fever and am going to get a PureFix as soon as I can scrape some money together.

Specifically, I want this: http://purefixcycles.com/products/th...rmo-fixed-gear

[83(b)]

In '09 I had most of my bikes stolen. An old Trek 2200, an older Gary Fisher mountain bike, and my wife's nice new Trek 7.3. The only thing they missed, to my great relief, was my '98 Litespeed Unicoi, which was a stripped down frame at that point.

I've since rebuilt the Litespeed as a city bike with decent cargo capacity. About two years ago it got an electric assist and became my daily commuter. It's nickname is "the Embarrassment of Riches."

My wife got a Civia Loring to replace her Trek.

And finally, I picked up a '04 Lemond Poprad off of Craigslist that's serving as my all-purpose recreational bike. It's gotten a few new parts like a carbon fork, mini-v brakes, and a compact crank, but is otherwise running the cobbled together 9 speed drive train that the previous owner bolted on. I really like this bike, but have been tempted to try something carbon for a while now. I've also never owned a bike with disc brakes and covet the ones on the Civia. But there can be no n+1, we're in a small house and no more bikes will fit in the living room.

[Greenbelt]

Have been resisting the urge to buy a new bike; instead, adding cargo capacity to current fleet.

[KayakCyndi]

Yummy ... Pizza.

[vvill]

As for my next bike, I have caught FG/SS fever and am going to get a PureFix as soon as I can scrape some money together.

Specifically, I want this: http://purefixcycles.com/products/th...rmo-fixed-gear

I think FG is *really* fun but I haven't found it practical enough (for my poorly developed FG skillset) to commute on. Right now both my one geared bikes are running SS, although that may change sometime. Luckily it only takes about 5 minutes to change.

You should also consider a SSCX imo because you can then race SSCX (I think dcv and I may try that this season), or do a gravel grinder single speed (or FG like Dirt/Bilsko if you want), or ride studded tires SS (or FG if you're Dirt), or even... plan to ride the entire C&O on one gear in one day. I think they'd make great low maintenance commuters too.

I do think more "story" is needed for really explaining recent purchases since many of us have several bikes. So, for me: about a year before I bought my SS/FG I bought a disc brake equipped Kona Jake. I've done a couple of CX races on it, and a bunch of memorable gravel grinders - both of those are a ton of fun and this is definitely the bike I would not give up if I could keep one! In hindsight I would've preferred a tapered head tube and better FD routing but those are minor points, not real issues. Before this I bought a folding bike with full fenders for multi-modal/rainy commutes and use as a travel bike. Mid 2011 was when I got my first road bike - before then I had a hybrid and a beater MTB, both from 2005/6.