How Many Bikes Can You Have Before You're Considered A Hoarder?

Just picked up yet another Craig's list deal on a second recumbent bike, bringing my personal total up to 4 bikes--5 if you count the tandem--6 if you count the mountain bike I've loaned my son and am probably never going to see again. Dh has 3 bikes and our garage is starting to look like a bike shop. Each of the bikes has some special quality that the others don't have and is absolutely indispensable. None of them (except the tandem) was very expensive. A couple of them--including the new recumbent were older bikes that had essentially never been ridden and cost a fraction of what a new bike with similar components would cost. So I guess I'm asking for validation of this apparently compulsive behavior...:D

I think you've come to the right place for validation! My DH just bought his third bike. A Surly disc trucker. I have two, a Dolce Elite for summer rides and a Jamis Aurora for commuting and the other nine months of the year up in the PNW, ha. So we have five now.

You've found some great bargains though. That makes it easier to justify!

We are doing Chilly Hilly Sunday. I was hoping the weather would be nice enough for the lighter Dolce...alas, it looks like it will be the heavier Jamis with the fenders and wider tires.

Yeah, I knew I wouldn't be alone here, was just feeling a little guilty. I have to go to another forum for absolution regarding my art/sewing supply habit....
Have fun doing Chilly Hilly. I've only done it once and Dh and I have both decided we don't like dealing with the Ferry. We'll manage to find chills and hills over here.

I seriously know someone who has over 50 bikes. He collects them and restores them and rides them. After I learned that about him I no longer felt guilty about our 6.

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Originally Posted by thekarens

I seriously know someone who has over 50 bikes. He collects them and restores them and rides them. After I learned that about him I no longer felt guilty about our 6.

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See, that's what's missing; The actual knowledge to restore these things. That would feel like something productive. Still feel guilty...

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Originally Posted by lauraelmore1033

Yeah, I knew I wouldn't be alone here, was just feeling a little guilty. I have to go to another forum for absolution regarding my art/sewing supply habit....
Have fun doing Chilly Hilly. I've only done it once and Dh and I have both decided we don't like dealing with the Ferry. We'll manage to find chills and hills over here.

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The ferry ride is the best part, LOL. Cyclists pretty much take over a whole ferry boat, and that feeling of being with your own "tribe"!

You'd have to really have a big house/garage for 50 bikes, whew.

Hahahahaaaa!!!! Sorry. Preachin' to a choir of enablers!

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Originally Posted by zoom-zoom

Hahahahaaaa!!!! Sorry. Preachin' to a choir of enablers!

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:D:D:D:cool:

First of all the correct number of bikes is n + 1.

For example I currently own 4 bikes and have a 5th on order. I will sell one of the other bikes when the 5th comes in but begrudgingly. My house spouse has 7 bikes. We don't have any tandems. So that's 11 bikes between the 2 of us and I could justify more for sure. You don't need to worry about hoarding, yet.

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Originally Posted by Wahine

First of all the correct number of bikes is n + 1.

For example I currently own 4 bikes and have a 5th on order. I will sell one of the other bikes when the 5th comes in but begrudgingly. My house spouse has 7 bikes. We don't have any tandems. So that's 11 bikes between the 2 of us and I could justify more for sure. You don't need to worry about hoarding, yet.

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That is so reassuring!

At one time we had 9 bikes hanging in the "bike house." Two went to DS #1.
We are now down to 4, 2 each. I want to get a dedicated commuter, now that I am working 5 miles from home. Because I have a 10+% climb up to my house on the way home, I've scoped one "off the rack" Trek that has the gears I need, but the smallest size may be too big for me. I've looked at Sweet Pea, but not sure if I want to spend 3k for this kind of bike. It will be perfectly fine to ride my Guru with the Arkel Trail rider or my pannier, but I am still working out if I can bring my bike in and leave it locked to the stairwell, which is in an area that is only for employees, out of sight.

Yeah, n+1 is always a good answer. I'm a bit more pragmatic. If you ride them, no problem. I'll even grant an allowance for bicycles with sentimental value. For example, I still have my Baby Jogger because it saved my sanity. Ten years ago. I think I'm ready to give it up to a good home now, but for some reason I just couldn't bear to part with it even after it was no longer useful. If storage is an issue AND the bikes are unused, then it's time to think about giving a few to good homes. Or if finances are tight. Otherwise, go with the n+1 rule and stimulate the economy a bit. ;)

Personally, I like the idea of just having one or two bikes that cover all the bases, but that can be hard depending on how many different types of riding one does. It does make things a lot simpler as opposed to having a bunch of different bikes. That said, if you can afford them, have room to store them and ride them, I can't really call it a problem. After all, I can think of a lot worse things to collect than bikes! :)

How about the "you're hoarding" number is one more than you can afford and/or put to good use? Says the woman who probably qualifies as a hoarder to some.

I'll confess that between the 2 of us we have 11(*) with one on order and feel good about it. When we downsized, we gave away 4 to the local bike advocacy group because they fell into the hoarder category. So at one point we did have more. We pruned to what we use regularly.

(*) Each of us has/will have...a primary workhorse 3 1/2 season commuter, a winter snow-tired commuter because we live in snow country, a backup fair weather commuter (OK, that may be excess, but it sees about 300 miles/year), a nice S&S coupled traveler, a go-fast (OK, again, probably excess), and a cheap bike on the trainer (OK, that again may be excess but I don't worry about damage). I am a hoarder, aren't I? (oops)

My own perfect number is the point where the number of bikes I can (and actually will) use for different purposes meets the number of bikes I am capable of maintaining. Too many bikes means too many parts to keep track of.

I have three at the moment, a do everything commuter, a road bike and a mtb with a front shock. I would like a dedicated winter bike, but I've tweaked the commuter just right and prefer using it for everything. The only hassle is the segue between seasons and judging when to switch tires, so I end up riding for longer on studs just in case. So my perfect set-up would be two identical commuter bikes, one for winter and one for summer :-) A full suspension would be great fun too, but that would mean I'd never use the other mtb.

I'm sure I'd love having one of those transport bikes as well, but then, I do have a trailer and the attachment thingy permanently on my commuter so it's not very hard to go shopping as it is.

eta: which reminds me - I finally cannibalized the parts off my old and beloved Trek "loaner bike" and threw the frame away, because nobody was ever going to use it. I shall have to edit it out of my signature.

We have 8 bikes in total --4 per person. And I have 3 bikes in a completely different city. Long story. But it is a 2nd home.

I would have more where I am but my storage locker can only accommodate 2 --his and mine. So I cannot buy another bike because of lack of space. No, I have no interest storing a bike up in condo..my place is small and don't want possible scratches maneouvering bike. We don't store bikes up in our home. All of them in storage lockers that we own.

So why have I hung onto bikes that I don't even see daily in my location....? The folding bike is definitely used for touring and for rides with dearie. I don't like locking up the Dahon folding bike for hours in public places, because of possible theft. A folding bike now (especially more expensive models) in Vancouver BC is much more common now and hence worth stealing. So I ride occasionally a hybrid bike for errands in Vancouver and leaving locked up for hrs. outside stores, etc.

I don't feel guilty since we haven't owned a car for decades.

What is this "hoarder"?

:)

Well, if those two people knocking on your door are a city public safety employee and a clinical physiologist then you may be a bicycle hoarder. Hopefully none of us are at that point…….(and as Wahine wrote)..yet :)

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Originally Posted by roo4

Yeah, n+1 is always a good answer. I'm a bit more pragmatic. If you ride them, no problem. I'll even grant an allowance for bicycles with sentimental value. For example, I still have my Baby Jogger because it saved my sanity. Ten years ago. I think I'm ready to give it up to a good home now, but for some reason I just couldn't bear to part with it even after it was no longer useful. If storage is an issue AND the bikes are unused, then it's time to think about giving a few to good homes. Or if finances are tight. Otherwise, go with the n+1 rule and stimulate the economy a bit. ;)

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In all seriousness, I can truthfully say that I ride all of my bikes and all of them have a specific use. In fact I've ridden all 4 of my bikes in the span of 3 days. I think that was a record. But I do truly believe that if you own it, you need to ride it. If you don't ride it, you should find a new home for it.

But then again, this is an opinion from someone who rehomes clothes if I've not worn them in a year unless they have significant sentimental value. I don't like clutter.

I think my better half comes close to being a hoarder. There are bikes under the basement stairs that are still packed in the boxes he put them in when we moved here 4 years ago. It bothers me that I have to sell one of mine to make room for another one because he is unwilling to part with bikes that he hasn't even ridden in over 20 years. He has trouble getting rid of other things as well. You'd think he'd at least be willing to sell his track bike considering that a) he hasn't ridden it since about 1991, and b) there is no velodrome in the city we're now living in.

My partner and I have finally reached saturation point with 10 (6 mine, 4 his). Two of mine really need to go, one being a city bike that isn't suitable now that I live in hilly Bedfordshire, the other being my road bike now surplus to requirements with the recent arrival of the custom road bike. If I can find good homes for them soon, that'll leave the custom road, the vintage road, the commuter cross bike and the Brompton. Those 4 get regular use and I can't think of anything else I need.

My boyfriend has 3 road bikes, plus the tandem (which I consider more his than mine as he uses it at least once or twice a week as a cargo bike). His road bikes all overlap in purpose but get used for different situations: one is the year-round commuter that gets all the abuse, one is his "best" titanium bike, and the other is a decent aluminium-framed Specialized that can pinch-hit for either of the others. He toys with selling the Spesh, but it does fill in nicely for those long-distance rides where he may have to lock up his bike out of sight and doesn't want to worry about his best bike.

We're planning our first cycle tour. It's obvious which bike I'm taking but he could take any one of his 3. Which makes him think maybe one should go. So we could be down to 7 by the end of the year.

Plus, the 2 teenagers each have a bike -- which never get ridden anymore. So still a garage-full.

In fact, we found out from a local boy that we're known as "the house with all the bikes". Doesn't help that our garage door is often open just when the local bus goes by! So we've installed multiple sets of motorcycle anchors (in cement) and 19mm thick chains throughout the garage to secure all the bikes. :p

We have a nonprofit bike shop here that teaches bike maintenance to kids and lets them earn bikes by working in the shop. They also sell used bikes to raise money. So it was easy for me to get rid of my old road bike when I bought a new one -- they were very happy when I donated it to them.

I'm in the minority here. I have two bikes, both get ridden though the mountain bike does not get ridden very often. I have no need for any more bikes, no place to store any more bikes, and plenty of other things to spend my money on.

I have not yet reached the point where I feel I have too many bikes. I do have two houses and some of my bikes are there. I can't carry them back and forth all the time. I watched others ride the fat bikes this winter and I think I need one of those. I am also sure I will need a touring bike in the future.

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I can't carry them back and forth all the time.

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This is why we have bikes in 2 different..provinces. And yes, I deliberately and happily gave away my 5th bike (which I rode for 14 yrs.) to a sister in Toronto. I borrow it whenever I visit my extended family there. Think of this solution, if you want to give away a bike and visit a friend/relative often in a different city far away AND someone in the family is the same size as you, consider the option also.

Oh - you are FAR from hoarding status my friend! Wahine said it best - n+1 (says the woman with at least 18 bikes in the two person basement). They all get ridden/raced, and all have a purpose! I do feel a bit badly that the brand new Cannondale Evo I bought in August last year has seen fewer miles than my Charge Cooker Maxi (fat bike), but I intend to rectify that if we ever get spring/summer in New England ;).

SheFly

I have 3. The road bike sees the most use. The CX bike was largely purchased as a rain/nasty surface road bike, and there's the Iguana, which is supposed to be a commuter/grocery-getter/casual ride bike. I haven't had time to ride much of late (CX bike's on the trainer, road bike is gathering dust) and I haven't ridden the Iguana at all. (Godzilla needs some TLC, you see.)

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Originally Posted by Catrin

What is this "hoarder"?

:)

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Ha! So true (says she with 4 bikes in her stable, some used more than others but all used, all have their own unique purpose)!

As Wahine says, if you are using them, then you aren't hoarding them. If they are just sitting around, find them a new home.

I sold 2 bikes last year because they definitely weren't being ridden much and needed to be loved by someone else. We also just sold our tandem, because, well, I'm a control freak and don't want to be a stoker anymore. ;-)

Now I have 5 bikes and they all are useful to me. (Though, truthfully, I don't ride my Santa Cruz very often at all. It sure was fun in the snow a few weeks ago, though.) I have a 6th on order. And I really need a cheap "commuter" that I can ride into town and leave chained up on the street without worrying about it. Something old, ugly and beat up that no one would take a second glance at.

I've been feeling a bit guilty to have ONE bike that I am currently not riding. I am ignoring that though, I love my full-custom Gunnar even if I am not currently riding her. That will change when I am ready.

I am not a hoarder, but I am a bike luster.

Unfortunately, lusting is also costing me money (4bikes in 3 years but then I sell my old ones). I am almost glad that my short height limits me to much fewer options (I would love to try Wahine's Titanium "softtail" and/or buy the Cannondale Scalpel 29er carbon with the SRAM XX1, but I am much too short).

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Originally Posted by Susan Otcenas

As Wahine says, if you are using them, then you aren't hoarding them. If they are just sitting around, find them a new home.

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Agreed. I try to keep myself at 2, although I currently have 3(Waiting for spring to put on C/l)