'Keeper' bikes - what and why

[No Longer Registered]

RC-200f7. Keeper - Owned since new for 11 years. The sentimental aspect is definitely the attraction. I've spent weeks in the Alps riding singletrack on it. It has accompanied me numerous weekends away around the UK exploring and enjoying the company of good friends, many a 'misjudgment' and 'spills'. This bike to me is a icon of good times, to others it is just a nice bike.

 

[reanimation]

I'm a hoarder and a sentiMENTAList, but this thread has made me realise i could live without any of em! :shock:

thats a shocker. I don't really enjoy my modern Identiti enough but its so ace to look at! The Muddy Fox I think i'm having a bit of a mojo loss, blame the weather. and the SC full suss isnt even buildt yet, sell em all :O

strangely probably my Free Agent BMX with sweet Salt hubs. cos its so fast, not cos I ride it all the time

 

[P20]

Cheers Kona Paul

Got newer,older and more expensive bikes, but the only definite is rather surprisingly my old mango M2
In frame only mode again now, but comes out periodically for a rebuild and to remember just how well it translates my feeble efforts into speed.

I can fully understand wanting to keep an M2. My M2 Pro is knackered, due to the split in the frame(still riding it though) keep looking for a cheap M2 frame to replace it. I've had 5 Stumpjumpers now, two of which were M2's, they are just great

 

[dirtjumper_dmr]

My dad's 80's Carlton road bike with campag record and shimano 600 stuff - thats a keeper, mainly cos he'd kill me if i got rid of it

My DMR Trailstar - I can't begin to tell you how much i love this bike, its awesome i know it's modern but it's perfect as far as i can see.. jump/DH/XC/4x/street, with a few minor tweaks it can do it all, THE true all-round bike

 

[Xesh]

If some ?@~"£$ hadn't nicked it I'd still have my Saracen Trekker comp. It was the first decent bike that I'd had bitd and I spent a year saving my paper round money for it. I'm not sure what year it was but I got it in '91 as a frame and forks. At the time it seemed to be lighter than my mate's SM800.

If anyone knows where I can get one let me know.

 

[scant]

this conversation comes up time to time. would need to be pretty dire financial or other weird reason I guess for most people to part with their beloved bikes? I only ever sell when I either find something either better condition than I already have, or I just dont have any love for a particular bike anymore.

perhaps obvious, tomac would be the last to go, purely as its highly unlikely I'd ever find a replacement.

 

[boy"O"boy]

For me it's got to be my black Aluminium "O".
At the age of 16, this was the 'nuts' for me. Part reward for GCSE results, part hard graft at the local 'pizza hut', it was used/abused/upgraded for several years before it got nicked at Uni.
Restoring an ebay whim back to 'my' spec got me here. Now I've got 3! ... it's the black one that's not going to part company with me ( sorry orangeretro!!) as it has so much setimental value now.
It's as near as I'm going to get to the mythical 'formula'

Cheers,
boy"O"boy

 

[jango]

My WCF, just because it was my first.....and in that time many have come and gone....but none have surpassed.

 

[Archangel]

My Team Storm Klein Adroit would be the last to sell from my stable. I would need to be in a serious need of cash to let this one go. It has been a dream from 1993 when I first saw adverts of Tinker riding one like mine.

Second would be my almost totally NOS Spesh Epic Ultimate. Basically all the others could go if the price was right.

 

[Crayons]

Tricky, but I think the last to go would probably be the Pace – I'd been after one for so long (ever since I started riding really), so I can't see myself parting with that one. I couldn't bear to let the Team Comp go either as there's so much history tied up in that bike.

Question is, how many of us really collect for financial reasons? We see loads of effort and time poured into resto jobs on this site, I can't imagine the owners are doing it for the financial gain – could you really let go of anything you'd put so much into?