Your first love...

[Roadtrip]

Being someone who started riding as an adult, I own my "first" bike, Stella a 2010 Trek Pure and I've found myself somewhat attached to her.

The practical part of me says don't keep the bike just because. Let it go to a new home, to someone who would really enjoy riding the bike, instead of seeing Stella sitting in the garage or even the basement collecting dust.

I'm not the bike collector type and honestly we could use some extra cash, plus I'm not all that sure that the bike is exactly fitted for the type of riding we're doing now. We have quite a few hills nearby and the new bike tackles those with so much ease it's my go-to bike. The heavy "comfort" bike CAN get up the hills, but it's not all that fun, so it would be reserved to bike trails and the like.

My mom saw the bike at Christmas and really liked it and said she would like the bike and would pay me for it over time (she's disabled and has limited funds coming in), but if I needed the cash now and found a buyer to go ahead and sell, so I'm sorta liking that idea. I'd sell the bike and still be able to ride the bike when I'm back home and I'd know she had a good home.

Anyone else have an emotional attachment to a bike?

Shannon

[OakLeaf]

Bici no, moto yes.

Based on my own experience, you will have regret no matter which way you go. Better to have the regret of having sold it, than the regret of having your first love turn into a pile of rusty, mouse-turd-covered scrap metal that you have to look at every time you go to ride your "good" bike.

[Catrin]

I just learned how to ride a year ago & was faced with this choice this summer when it became increasingly apparent that my Trek 7.6 FX WSD would never be comfortable for a ride > 20 miles. It didn't quite fit, and my fitter wasn't confident that it could ever really fit me - it was just too big and my physical 'issues' didn't help. I chose to cut my losses and sold it. It was nice to have the money to sink into some other things I needed/wanted for my LHT and I no longer had walk past the Trek. I did, and still have, mixed feelings about selling her, but am glad that I did.

[Owlie]

Yes. I expect that in the future, I'll be making this choice for my current bike. I thought about upgrading it, but that costs about the same as the bike. Granted, I have other options (trainer bike, fair-weather commuter, backup go-fast bike) once I get another go-fast bike.

I think, though, if I need the money (and it isn't being used as a commuter), I'd go ahead and sell it.

[DebW]

I have the frame from my 1974 Maino hanging in my basement. It's a road bike of Columbus straight-gage tubing that I bought while working in my first bike shop, and we had many many miles and wonderful adventures together. Given that it needs a 5-speed freewheel and has a couple dings in the frame, it's not worth anything to anyone but me. It could be built up as a single-speed if I wanted. But for now, it hangs there and I have good feelings about it every time I go in my basement.

[ame]

I have my first "real" bike - a fluorescent green/pink Schwinn that definitely dates me. I still ride it on occasion - but in town and not as a mountain bike anymore (since at 11 my body was much more forgiving). I got my first speeding ticket on that bike - I'm never giving it up. That said - I have to sell a road bike since I'm up to 3 now, and it's killing me.

[Biciclista]

didn't you say your mother wanted it?
Goodness, keep it in the family!

[hebe]

I have to say that I don't love my first bike as much as I do my second! I am keeping the first one though as a shopping/on-road bike, and as one to learn things on. Could you use yours on a trainer through the winter?

[Roadtrip]

didn't you say your mother wanted it?
Goodness, keep it in the family!

Yup, I'm thinking that's what I'm going to do and as a bonus I can still ride her when I go home!!

[makbike]

I second it - keep it in the family!

I still have the first bike I purchased while in college. It is a Univega Grand Turismo and I will never, ever get rid of it. I absolutely love this bike. There is something very special about my heavy steel frame Univega. I do still ride it as it makes a great training bike. Heck if I can get that 32 lb steel frame up the hills around here I know I can get my feather light Orbea up them as well. I also use my "steel barge" as my trainer bike in the winter months. It greets me every day when I go into my living room during the cold winter months here.

[Crankin]

The bike I feel the most attached to has been in our family since 1999, when DH bought it as his first mountain bike. It's a bright yellow Voodoo Hoodoo hard tail. DH set it up for me to start riding on in the fall of 2000, even though it's a medium; I rode it on the road, with slicks for about two years, when I got my first road bike. So, from about September 2002 to 2006 it sat in our basement or bike shed, ridden once or twice by my oldest son to his summer job, and once or twice by a guest. When we moved to this house, I wanted an around town bike, so DH worked on it for me, I got a rack and pannier, new brakes, saddle, and the gears had to be upgraded. I used it for 2 years, going to farm stands, appointments, minor shopping, until we bought our Jamis Codas. In 2008, we gave it to our older son, who also let it sit for about a year. Then, in 2009, he took it out on the bike path by the Charles River and that was it. He was hooked. He started commuting and all around riding and used it all the time until last winter, when he got a single speed commuter and we also gave him his brother's classic steel Serotta road bike which had been hanging around since 2003. He still uses the Voodoo when riding with his wife, but right now he's in a little hiatus from riding. So, that bike is still going strong at age 11.

[indigoiis]

When I was thirteen I got a Huffy Strider for Christmas. Actually, I traded my sister for it - she got my Mom's hand-me-down Raleigh which she promptly turned in to an Art Bike. But that Strider was awesome. I called it Chrome Cruncher, because I rear-ended some tourist's car in front of Touro Synagogue in Newport at that light, and the tourist's car's bumper was actually dented (the bike was unharmed.)

Looked kinda like this one...

[blackhillsbiker]

I had a beautiful green Cannondale comfort bike that got me back into cycling. I was rehabbing my back, so she was perfect. As I got into better shape, I wanted something I could ride more aggressively. My lower back started complaining about doing hills on a completely upright bike. I got my Kona Dew and felt increasingly bad about leaving the C'dale in the garage all the time. A good friend of ours was frustrated about the used mountain bike her hubby got her at a yard sale. It didn't fit her and she didn't enjoy it. I ended up selling my beloved bike to her. She loves it and I get the double joy of seeing her ride in the evenings with her hubby (a big grin on her face) and knowing it went to a good home. Now I'm ready to graduate from the hybrid Dew to a road bike. For now, the Dew will continue to be the commuter since I can't put a rack and fenders on my roadie. We ride more, and our bodies change. Pass on your beloved first bike to someone else who needs to discover the joy of riding. Your mom sounds like the perfect candidate.
Deb

[limewave]

When I was 14 yo I saved my money and bought a Bianchi Nyala. I rode that bike everywhere: to work, school, friends, just to get away . . . It was my first taste of freedom.

9 years later, I was severely obese and unhappy. I found the bike buried in my parents garage. Dusted her off, put some air in the tires, and began to ride again. And lost 150 pounds.

Then I met my husband and we did many bike rides around the neighborhood. He took me on my first single-track ride and I suffered greatly on my Nyala. I cried in pain as I climbed the last big hill, not willing to give up.

Then I fell in love with cycling (DH too) and more bikes came into the garage. And then babies followed. It was time to say good bye to the Nyala. We needed the room and some money.

It was a piece of junk. Rusty and falling apart. I thought it was going to be easy to sell it. However, I cried for days. I even went through a period of depression. I still miss her.

[Cataboo]

I always think that I'm going to regret having sold a bike or miss it - but truthfully, I've never ended up regretting it - because usually I'm selling them because they didn't quite fit or weren't right for me and because I've got a replacement that is better. About 3 of my current bikes are perfect for me - and if I ever had to sell them for money, yes, I'd be really upset about having to sell them.

I vaguely regret that my childhood 10 speed isn't still around so that I can make a singlespeed out of it, but...