Dream Bike

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

I also don't think this has to do about the perfect bike, it has to do with the fact that we are huge consumers and buying something new and shinny makes us feel good. Some can contain it more than others. Some also have more money than others.

I may have some life changes coming soon that will drastically change the time and money I can commit to this hobby.

And that'll probably be a good thing.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by tuscanyswe

I will tell you what i usually end up telling most of my friends the last couple of years.



With them its usually about women and tinder but in your case we just substitute the women for bikes and tinder for paceline or the internet bike world.



How the hell are you going to find something special if you are on to the next one before you have even decided what you think about the last one?



You cant eat icecream all day every day and expect it to be special..





Make a bigger event of your next bike, i think you will like it more. If thats sitting down with Dave K for a chat or googling bottle holder screws in brass to match your gold colnago logo or whatever you may come up with, dont matter, either will be good for you imo .)

I'm very thankful I met my wife before all the online dating craziness (especially what’s blown out in the last 5 yrs - I feel for peeps who are stuck in all that now). In 10 years of marriage (and two and a half of dating before that), I've never had an urge to upgrade or try a different frame. I don’t really believe in the soulmate thing, but I do believe in making a commitment and doing the hard work to grow together over time instead of apart. Bikes are really the only place in my life where I play around like this...I’ve even had the same crappy iPhone for years!



You are right though. And hence my comments about the next thing being either staying with one or two of what I've got, or clearing house when one or two customs get done.



I'd like to turn my obsession to finding interesting places to ride, instead of just interesting bikes to ride in the same old places.

[bking]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

I'd like to turn my obsession to finding interesting places to ride, instead of just interesting bikes to ride in the same old places.

Yep, I finally got to this same place...with a house full of interesting bikes.

[m4rk540]

Volume or quality. It's difficult to apply connoisseurship to both. My associates who own tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, worth of bikes do not ride a lot or expect to find a perfect, singular, Platonic ideal. These guys don't obsess over millimeters. Most have dropped top dollar on pro fits at the local high end shops. And that's it. As for the gentlemen, who ride 20K yearly and upgrade monthly, these guys expect a perfection they'll never attain. At the risk of appearing judgmental, I'd rather be in a position of indiscriminate consumption, buying for the sake of spending, than chasing "marginal gains."

[KarlC]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

I think Clean will keep trying bikes and eventually he will realize that his perfect bike was already his and he sold it a while ago.

Originally Posted by rallizes

yes, the pegoretti marcelo

Originally Posted by Clean39T

If custom made for me with a head-tube that isn't a periscope...there was a lot I liked about that bike though.

Why did you not just cut it down to size ????

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by KarlC

Why did you not just cut it down to size ????

Nope. Sold it to a Paceline member who wanted the extra stack and is currently enjoying it. No gain, but also no pain.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by KarlC

Why did you not just cut it down to size ????

because that would mean keeping that bike and he wanted to try another bike.

I think it was smart not to cut, it would have made a sale of that bike much harder.

[tuscanyswe]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

because that would mean keeping that bike and he wanted to try another bike.

I think it was smart not to cut, it would have made a sale of that bike much harder.

There are quite a few out there looking for pegs with slightly shorter headtubes tho. I would never be able to fit like i want on a stock peg in my toptube size unless i cut down the ht. But i think many myself included would prefer headtube to come down a bit and the tt to go up a bit as to meet that visual sweet point and that is harder to do with just a saw .)

Originally Posted by Clean39T

I'm very thankful I met my wife before all the online dating craziness (especially what’s blown out in the last 5 yrs - I feel for peeps who are stuck in all that now). In 10 years of marriage (and two and a half of dating before that), I've never had an urge to upgrade or try a different frame. I don’t really believe in the soulmate thing, but I do believe in making a commitment and doing the hard work to grow together over time instead of apart. Bikes are really the only place in my life where I play around like this...I’ve even had the same crappy iPhone for years!



You are right though. And hence my comments about the next thing being either staying with one or two of what I've got, or clearing house when one or two customs get done.



I'd like to turn my obsession to finding interesting places to ride, instead of just interesting bikes to ride in the same old places.

Yeah i feel for those ppl to trying to meet someone these days. It seems a lot harder. If i were single i would not touch tinder for fear of becoming like most single ppl i know, caught in a swamp that is .)

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

because that would mean keeping that bike and he wanted to try another bike.



I think it was smart not to cut, it would have made a sale of that bike much harder.

If it weren’t for the HT, I’d still be on the Pegoretti. I loved everything about that bike other than the way the front end looked and not being able to get the bars lower.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

If it weren’t for the HT, I’d still be on the Pegoretti. I loved everything about that bike other than the way the front end looked and not being able to get the bars lower.

then you should have absolutely have cut it.

seems to me that another peg is in your future

[KarlC]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

then you should have absolutely have cut it.

seems to me that another peg is in your future

+100 .... especially knowing the price he likely got it for.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by KarlC

+100 .... especially knowing the price he likely got it for.

Well yeah, but I wouldn’t have found it for $1500 if not for the PSA here - I got to experience it for a bit - and I passed it forward to a PL’r for what I paid for it. I don’t consider that a loss...

I doubt I’ll have another Peg. But when I talk to my chosen go-fast builder, I’ll definitely be mentioning what I liked about it. I have no doubt that Hampsten could give me the Pegoretti ride quality without the wait and with the tweaks I’d want.

[rallizes]

Has that Marcelo appeared here since you sold it?

I’d be curious to see the build

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by rallizes

Has that Marcelo appeared here since you sold it?

I’d be curious to see the build

No, but I've heard from the new owner recently, and they are enjoying it - which makes me happy

[AngryScientist]

i've thought about this a lot, and the concept of a "dream bike". I own an alarming number of bikes, and i now own bikes from almost every builder i admire or have wanted to try a bike from. there are only one or two custom builders who i will jump on immediately if any of their bikes in my size ever surface on the used market.

there is also a VERY limited number of bikes i would ever consider buying new. the used market is just too good right now, and the cost of new bicycles is crazy when compared to what you can get gently used. i'm short, but normally proportioned otherwise and fit on stock-ish bikes just fine.

i have completely shifted my focus, and there are a couple of other avenues that will demand any disposable income or "play money" i've got now, and bike purchases are behind me, for the most part.

what i've discovered after buying a bunch of bikes is that, for me, there is no dream bike. they are all just bikes, as long as they are reasonably well built and good fitting. even the best race bike is going to be a crappy gravel bike, and the niftiest gravel bike is going to be a mediocre road bike. what is ideal for the 2-hr fast group ride is not ideal for 8 hour leisurely century, etc etc etc.

i also think that for us amateurs, its a fools errand to totally sweat the details. i'm trying to focus much more on what i can do to improve myself over what i can do to improve my machines. when there is good fitness and form there, nothing else matters. thinking about slack seat tube angles, or bar drop or head tube length are all just distractors from riding. unless something is causing an injury - it's good enough.

the best riders i know, generally speaking have one or two bikes. cannondale or trek or something. they can still ride the wheels off of me. the bikes could fit them better, could have better wheels, could have better geometry or brakes or tire clearance, but none of that matters when their legs and lungs are stronger than mine.

so yea, i think there is nothing wrong with chasing a dream bike if that is what you find enjoyable. buying stuff, and trying new things is fun, nothing wrong with that, and no need to justify it. it is what it is. As long as we are not lying to ourselves into thinking that we need something more, we dont. But we are adults. we are allowed to make our own decisions and allowed to have fun. there is nothing wrong with enjoying ourselves.

But i'm done looking