Cycling Weekly - 2nd bike survey

[huw williams]

So - imagine you wanted to buy a second bike. Could be any number of reasons like saving wear and tear on your 'best' bike, having a 'winter only' bike etc

Would you want and absolute shed and pay peanuts for it or would pride dictate that you got something half decent?
How much money would you spend on it?
What would you expect for the kind of money you'd be spending?
How much CAN you spend on a 'second' bike before you end up buying what most people would consider to be a 'first' bike?

[MJ_1993]

As long as the wheels turn and it doesnt fall apart, i'll take it. Retro bike is a possibility...

[Keith]

For any one discipline, I reckon you only need two bikes. A "best bike" and a "winter bike". One "best bike" - you want to train on the bike you also race on so you know it intimately . Your "winter bike" should be good enough to train on, but not so nice that you're "precious" about taking it out on the salty roads. Also, any more than 2 bikes each for me & Michelle, and we'll have to buy a bigger shed!

So to answer the question (at last ) I'd spend around £600 on replacing my winter bike. It's the first road bike I've bought since I was a wee nipper, and is too big for me. (P.S. anyone got a 54cm Allez frame they want to sell so I can swap the running gear?)

K

[Andrew G]

2nd bike should also be a winter bike and preferably take full mudguards. Cheaper to build up and second hand or discounted "old" (i.e. 2 year old) stock that shops are getting rid of is a great way to do it. Can then be built up fairly cheaply with durable and more rugged equipment than nice carbony bits.

Price is a variable depending on how much money someone has and how much use it'll get. You could build a perfectly good bike up for £200-£300, but there is nothing wrong with spending more than most people spend on their best bike if you have the money. If it's going to be used most days through late Autumn to Early Spring plus any wet days then it'll have a lot of use so the price v miles VFM changes.

[Dombo]

2nd bike has to be different enough from the best bike that you do not compare too much and not want to ride it. For example, my first road bike was a £120 steel machine of unknown parentage from ebay. It was blue and introduced me to the joys of riding with the club. It had good wheels - Pete Wise Ambrosio elites on Rx100s, Shimano 600 14 speed with bar end shifters and campag brake levers coupled to centaur brakes. However, once I had bought the Lemond Buenos Aires, 10 speed Ultegra triple, steel/carbon frame, blah di blah, and ridden it a few times, the ebayer lost its appeal. Even as a commuter. So I sold it.
My planned second road bike will therefore be a fixed/single speed, probably a Langster or similar, £350 or so, tough as old boots and perfect for my flat commute or winter rides.

With regards to mtbs, same applies, the 2nd bike should be a beater, no suspension but perfect for flinging through the woods and having fun. Last thing you want is to be griping that the £50 all steel suspension forks on the second mtb aren't as plush as the £500 Fox Talas on your best mtb.

[Jon H]

2nd bike should be different to the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th bike.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote="Jon Hemming"]2nd bike should be different to the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th bike.

[MJ_1993]

You setting up a team?

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote="Mo Jaffer"]You setting up a team?

[Amy]

The perfect number of bikes for a cyclist to have is x+1 - x being the number of bikes s/he already owns plus the new one s/he intends to buy

How about going the other way? I've just bought a new best bike so that my old best bike (much maligned by Huw ) can retire to being a winter/bad weather bike.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Good plan Amy...that's how I started out

[MJ_1993]

Ebay is right up your street Paul...no doubt about it.

I do believe we have hijacked Huw's thread. Sorry

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote="Mo Jaffer"]Ebay is right up your street Paul...no doubt about it.

I do believe we have hijacked Huw's thread. Sorry

[Mike I]

Well, it all depends. What's your first (or 'best') bike and what do you want your second bike to do?

Your second bike has got to be good enough that you'll actually ride it, but not so good that you can't tell the difference when you get back on the best one. I suspect most second bikes are used for commuting or in bad weather, so it needs to be fairly robust and easy to maintain too. Electronic and/or 11-speed shifting is definitely out for now at least. Fixies are good, and so is steel!

I reckon the upper limit should be the lower of about a third of what you spent on your best bike and £800. As with any bike, though, the temptation to upgrade is always there - along with the risk that the gap between first and second bike narrows. Sometimes, the only way to deal with this is to get a new best bike. Before you know it, you've 21 of the things! Hooray!

[TimN]

I confused about the best bike and regular bike thing, so you send lots of money on a bike to not ride it much and not much money on the bike you ride lots?? i can see the point but is it not better to buy one bike and ride it until the wheels fall of then buy an better one?

I have three bikes, a carbon Wilier, an old Spesh Hardrock MTB and a full suss Stumpjumper. i commute on the wilier, the hard rock needs new forks and drive train and the stumpy just hangs on the wall most of the time. i feel like i need "winter bike" or a "commuter". Using the bikes for work scheme i think it might be cheaper to buy a new bike than fix the hardrock. i feel like getting a:

Fixie Peace Maker ( http://www.mosquito-bikes.co.uk/htdocs/ ... name=bikes ) or a;

Iro ( http://www.irocycle.com/)

but then i could get a Scandium hard tail ( http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLq ... 155c002909) but then i don't ride my MTB enough as it is,

i might just save the money and buy a xbox thing, it is chilly ridding bikes in the winter anyway.

any one cares or has any opinion on what i should buy let me know, my mrs has got to the point that she just wants me to buy something, bored the pants off her.