Is this it????

[mimitabby]

Lisa there are NOT MILLIONS of bikes better than mine. Maybe hundreds, but NOT millions.

[sandra]

sigh. she's not talking about YOURS Mimi, she's talking about MINE.

[elk]

for me it is an evolution of discovery. I love my hybrid....but it didn't take too long for me to realize what the limitations of the bike are. (slow and heavy and not so lean on hills.) I also have really strong body memories of what a steel road bike was like to ride...a craving as it were....

I think there was no way to know until I jumped in and started having cycling experiences...And sometimes it takes a while for things to sift out....

[sandra]

You are right where I was last July when I decided that my faithful old Giant Cypress DX was too heavy and slow. I needed a road bike. I made that purchase, loved it and sold my hybrid. A few months later I missed the hybrid. Then I purchases the mixte. Welcome to mixte fever!

Is it possible to have ONE bike that does everything you want? For me, I don't think so, or at least I don't know what it would be.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Is it possible to have ONE bike that does everything you want?

Depends on how many different things you want!

If you live in a flat place and don't want to ride long distances or on rough trails, and just want to ride around town doing errands... then one bike can do all that.
If you live in a hilly area, don't care about speed, and like to ride rough fire roads and wooded mountainous trails, then you can have one bike that does it all for you.
If you only want to go super fast on only paved roads, then one bike could do it all for you.

For myself- I only need to go medium fast, do occasional long distance riding in comfort, and be able to go over rough gravel roads as well. My bike does all that for me.
My next bike will do the same things....because that's just the kind of riding i do!

[mimitabby]

If you live in the city and don't have occasion to ride on trails much, a road bike is just great. put fenders, a rear rack and it and a comfy seat on it and you've got a bike for all purposes.

But it didn't stop me from wanting to have a Mixte bike!

[sandra]

I think that one won't work for me. When I ride the rails to trails I want a bike that is a little lighter with skinny tires so that I can go faster and go to the next town and back.

When I'm riding in my neighborhood, I ride all the way around the lake. The road bike is too lightweight because I find myself mostly coasting. Also, across the dam and spillway there is a short area of grass. The skinny tires of the road bike are dangerous.

I once tried the road bike on an old country road where dirt and sand had washed across. Need wider tires for that too!

The mixte would come closest if I had to choose only one. I have mixte fever!