CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!

I'm a bicycle 'collector' (I think I'm an addict.)

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  1. chdot
    Admin

    It's less than 24 hours since I bought one.

    It's not really the last-minute-ebay-buzz. Though two other people tried to outbid me in the last few seconds.

    I don't need another bike. In fact I really must sell 3 or 4.

    But they don't make bikes like this anymore.

    And I haven't had a blue bike for at least 10 years.

    And I will ride it - just not very far/often.

    And it's not really like any of my other bikes.

    And the pictures weren't very good so I'm not quite sure which bits I'll want to change.

    And it only cost what some people pay for a pair of tyres.

    But it does have the magic Reynolds numbers.

    And it should arrive in the next couple of days.

    Oh the excitement.

    Is that addiction?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. DaveC
    Member

    Yes/No.... errr I don't know, but I do know I'm with you!

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. DaveC
    Member

    Oh yeh, gonna give us a link so we can see what you got? :O)

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. kaputnik
    Moderator

    Addiction - When you can give up something any time, as long as it's next Tuesday.

    Or so said Lemmy.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  5. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    If it is addiction it must be one of the gentlest and least harmful ones going.

    My name is chdot and I'm a seconhandbikeoholic.

    I have the opposite problem. I've only ever owned two bicycles. Both have lasted fifteen years and both have been pressed into service for rides they were never designed for.

    Now, in my head, I'm designing the Ultimate Commuter and the Ultimate Trail Bike. n + 2 = 3.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  6. wingpig
    Member

    Do you ever get to the point where you find it impossible to set out on a journey through indecision as to which bike would best suit it?

    If the adult me had the shed-garage space available to the child-me I'd probably have started picking up secondhand bargains, but as I'm limited to what will fit in a small shed accessed from a narrow path I'm fairly safe.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  7. SRD
    Moderator

    anyone tempted?

    "Uniquely Abused' Boardman Team Carbon 2012 Road Bike size M

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331408837605?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

    Posted 9 years ago #

  8. chdot
    Admin

    "gonna give us a link so we can see what you got?"

    No.

    I want to really see it first.

    There are a few unknown unknowns.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  9. chdot
    Admin

    "in my head, I'm designing the Ultimate Commuter and the Ultimate Trail Bike"

    Posted 9 years ago #

  10. crowriver
    Member

    Oh chdot, I know how you feel.

    I'm resisting the temptation to buy any more: the garage is full, and so is the stairwell!

    Posted 9 years ago #

  11. Stickman
    Member

    Two years ago I hadn't ridden a bike since I was a child.

    I now own four, and look admiringly at nice bikes that I pass. eBay is a constant temptation.

    Just over a year ago my wife couldn't ride a bike.

    She now owns two, and is thinking about a third.

    What is it about bikes?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  12. Dave
    Member

    They aren't very flexible?

    I have five and SWMBO has three. As we have a double garage with no car in it, there's plenty of room. Only a sort of self hatred prevents me from filling it up with more. A TT bike, obviously. And a fat bike. And a cross bike for getting up some speed on the trails. And a big cargo bike. A tandem. I'd quite like another couple of recumbents too.

    All of which would cost less than most of the cars parked on the street outside, so I suppose it's quite a tame sort of habit?

    Posted 9 years ago #

  13. chdot
    Admin

    "What is it about bikes?"

    I think you (pl) are beginning to understand!

    Posted 9 years ago #

  14. chdot
    Admin

    "
    X=N+1 (where X is number of bikes needed, and N is number of bikes owned)

    "

    Posted 9 years ago #

  15. SRD
    Moderator

    @stickman - that is impressive!

    Posted 9 years ago #

  16. Arellcat
    Moderator

    "
    If we start to distinguish between want and need, our happy 'correctness' goes out of the window; that is to say, correctness tends towards optimality. We might, therefore, look for an empirical solution, N, to the equation

    N = n + (Fd * Fe)

    in which the absolute desirability factor, Fd, includes subjective things like the price of a bicycle (or multiple bicycles) divided by expected mileage, peer group rarity, size, total inertia, and total rolling resistance; and the enabling factor, Fe, ranges from -1 to +1 and includes measures of household or relationship stability, price divided by expected salary, security of rarity, and available space.
    "

    I currently have four working bikes, one bike in pieces and probably enough bits to build another bike if I had a frame to put them on. I may also be working on acquiring another bike that will replace one I already own.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  17. chdot
    Admin

    "I may also be working on acquiring another bike that will replace one I already own."

    That's a good trick...

    Posted 9 years ago #

  18. gembo
    Member

    Addiction has two components. Dependence such that you will suffer withdrawal should you cease the activity and tolerance such that you need to increase the intensity to create the same effect

    Posted 9 years ago #

  19. Dave
    Member

    If I plot the cost of my bikes they follow a geometric progression from the first proper one (£200 EBC model) ever upwards*.

    Even rebased against earnings there's still a clear progression - tolerance in action?

    * excluding my free off CCE folder.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  20. Roibeard
    Member

    All of which would cost less than most of the cars parked on the street outside, so I suppose it's quite a tame sort of habit?

    A colleague reckoned I could sustain a reasonable habit at Edinburgh street prices, for what I've spent on bikes over the last five years or so...

    Robert

    Posted 9 years ago #

  21. steveo
    Member

    Yeah but you're on the really hard* stuff man!

    *Titanium

    Posted 9 years ago #

  22. chdot
    Admin

    Posted 9 years ago #

  23. crowriver
    Member

    Hm. Crushed box not promising. Hope the bike has survived okay!

    Posted 9 years ago #

  24. chdot
    Admin

    Bike uncrushable...

    Posted 9 years ago #

  25. firedfromthecircus
    Member

    Oh dear. That box does not look good! Always a moment of despair when your next bike arrives. I know, for I have the same problem! lol

    I'm in double figures with another couple of frames in the loft, and having just sold my last motorbike (was up to four at one point) I seem to have the urge for another!

    In agreement with a previous poster though, of all the habits I have had, collecting bikes is by far the healthiest. ;-)

    Posted 9 years ago #

  26. chdot
    Admin

    It's official -

    "

    Stockpiling possessions and collecting obsessively can tip into Hoarding Disorder, a condition recently recognised as a diagnosable mental health condition. Martin tells Claudia Hammond how his growing collection of cars, trucks and bikes awaiting "renovation" was growing out of control, and how a self help group for hoarders helped him to come to face up to his problem. NHS Clinical Psychologist Sophie Holmes describes the need for services to provide help and support for this often hidden group of people and tells Claudia about the success of the self help group set up with the Mary Francis Trust in Surrey in supporting those struggling with hoarding problems.

    "

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04tjfxc

    Posted 9 years ago #

  27. crowriver
    Member

    I'm a bit wary of medicalising eccentricities into 'disorders'.

    "NHS Clinical Psychologist Sophie Holmes describes the need for services to provide help and support for this often hidden group of people"

    Aha, so it's a pitch for state funding. That'll explain why the NHS budget just keeps growing...

    Posted 9 years ago #

  28. chdot
    Admin

    "

    We also know that it is an obsession, one which will keep you fit and sharp way into later life. Cycling doesn’t mangle your knees and ankles like running and football, and on the continent you regularly see men in their 70s and 80s rolling along the country roads on beautiful old machines.

    "

    http://www.high50.com/wheels/robert-elms-i-like-to-ride-my-bicycle

    Posted 9 years ago #

  29. Dave
    Member

    I'm suffering an acute case of n+1 vulnerability at the moment.

    I quite fancy a new mountain bike, as my first (and only) one is now eight years old and has never really been my ideal. I was thinking of entering some off road races to distract me from thinking about entering PBP.

    I'm tiring of the maintenance-free commuter (now running fixed and consequently tedious to ride) and have been toying with the idea of a cross bike to make my winter commutes a lot quicker. Might also be able to take it to play at high speed in the Pentlands, depending.

    Finally, I was at Laid-Back-Bikes this evening and there is an all-carbon M5 high racer in there. Limited run, very dangerous. This bike is to me what the Dodge Charger in the original Fast & Furious was to Vin Diesel.

    I suppose in truth none of the above would be n+1 since it would be one in, one out (I certainly have no sentiment for bikes)

    Posted 9 years ago #

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