Culling bikes and builds, decisions?

[ishaw]

I'm in a nice position where I have a nice collection of bikes I can ride and also a stash of parts/possible builds.

However all this is getting in the way of me riding, and also taking up valuable space.

I need to have a cull for these reasons, but I'm not sure where to start in deciding what to keep and what to let go.

I'm sure a lot of answers will be around what kind of rides I do but the truth is that at present I don't really, which I want to change in 2016.

I'll be hanging on to a road bike (only have one so that's an easy decision), but with the retro bike collection I'm not sure where to begin. I can make excuses for keping all of them, some personal, some practical and some where the heart rules the head. Being indecisive at the best of times doesn't help either.

So, how do I be ruthless? Part with some, keep some others?

The collection consists of:

GT Team Rts (the last bike I'll probably ever part with)
GT STS
Dynatech torus
Dbr axis tt
Saracen tuff trax elite
Cannondale cad 10 black Inc (the road bike)
Pipedream Scion (my modern bike)
MacMahone The Sword (another modern hard tail)
Airnimal Joey (heavily pimped commuter)

Then we have the projects:

GT STS
Amp B5
Litespeed obed fs
Orange p7
Nuke proof reactor

And then enough parts (forks, wheels and components to build the projects with much left over).

Oh and the specialised fsr I have for sale already.

 

[unit3]

Re:

I had this exact problem.

What worked for me was actually getting a trusted retro mate round to my cave and going through everything with them.

It also helped that we could work out a deal where he brought a fair amount from me all in one, albeit at a slightly reduced rate but a job lot none the less.
This enabled me to decide on what I wanted to concentrate on build wise, and make plans from there/get wheels in motion.

 

[Rodrigues]

Is the priority doing more riding or clearing out space?

If it's the latter then work out how much space you need, and then sell any bikes or parts which exceed this based on your own criteria (personally for whole bikes I would choose the ones I love to ride, for parts those which are needed for the bikes I decide to keep).

If it's the former then are you 100% sure selling this stuff will allow you to ride more? Personally I'm not completely convinced. I think having lots of projects can do this, but just having lots of bikes? My advice would be to stop the projects, don't sell anything, and just commit as much time as you can to riding. You might also work out which bikes you keep going back to in the process which will help if and when it comes the clear out.

Good luck dude

 

[xxnick1975]

Re:

Keep

GT Team Rts (the last bike I'll probably ever part with)
Dbr axis tt
Cannondale cad 10 black Inc (the road bike)
Pipedream Scion (my modern bike)


Sell

Dynatech torus
GT STS
Saracen tuff trax elite
MacMahone The Sword (another modern hard tail)
Airnimal Joey (heavily pimped commuter)


or do what i did and put them all (but for the rts and the dale) up for sale and see what sells

 

[Mike Muz]

Re:

I'm having the very same dilemma myself. Not thinking about space, more the fact I don't ride them all enough to justify to myself keeping them.

I'm thinking, keep the bikes I ride most, let the others go.

But to sell as a whole, or strip and hope to sell all the bits and pieces? :?

Mike

 

[legrandefromage]

10 bikes max, rotated depending on weather and ride requirements. After nearly drowning in bicycles it's what I do now.

Too small, gone

Too big, gone

Too damaged, gone

 

[ishaw]

Cheers for the feedback. I think there are a few candidates that fit the too small or don't ride categories. So these will be a good starting point. Obvious when you think about it, overthinking is easy to do.

One thing that is stopping me riding, and also stopping me riding some specific bikes is the space and hassle of digging them out.

Maybe a garage assessment is needed to work out a way of storing them better so they are easy to access/choose from. Unlocking the pile and getting to the Sts is so much hassle I always pick the scion when I get time for a ride.

Suggestions on how to achieve this are more than welcomed.

I'd also be interested to know why some found it easy to pick the keepers vs sellers as that's the struggle for me, especially as the built bikes are how I want them.

Two bikes in the fold that are similar in terms of spec build wise and frame material are the dbr axis tt and the Dynatech torus. Both m952 in the main, one rigid, one suspended. Why is one better than the other?

Similarly the sts and B5 are both full suss. I'm sure each have their merits and pitfalls too. In terms of the better frame though, which would be considered that (similarly the Litespeed)?

Should I keep a 'hack' bike like the saracen or p7, or be poncy and keep a higher end one for that (bike snob kicking in)?

 

[The History Man]

Winter hack and then start with the similar ones. Really hard choices ahead. All of mine are ride ready in no more than 5 mins. Which would you reach for of each type?

 

[jimi911]

I was there a couple months back - got a storage locker 5 minutes from my house. Problem solved! Well maybe the space wasn't the problem - was the guy filling it

 

[ishaw]

Winter hack and then start with the similar ones. Really hard choices ahead. All of mine are ride ready in no more than 5 mins. Which would you reach for of each type?

Reaching for anything but nearest the front is a problem.

As for which would I pick for each type, the above applies mostly.

Another angle I keep considering is building the best example of each type from what I have, but I feel that they are already there or thereabouts.

Maybe the first hard choice is dbr vs Raleigh. Once the frame decision is made I can then decide if any parts need to be swapped over then sell (or even swap on to other 'keepers'. That's going to be even harder, but I'm sure help and opinions from here will assist.