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More bikes is not better


AustinBike
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Getting ready for a west coast road trip. Was trying to decide on bikes. Having more bikes actually makes things more complicated. Between tires, gears, wheel sets, forks, etc. I cannot find the right combination of “best for the rides” and “least likely to care if it is stolen.”

I just spent 2 hours swapping things around and I still don’t know if I made the right choices. Very frustrating. Old man problems.

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18 hours ago, AustinBike said:

Getting ready for a west coast road trip. Was trying to decide on bikes. Having more bikes actually makes things more complicated. Between tires, gears, wheel sets, forks, etc. I cannot find the right combination of “best for the rides” and “least likely to care if it is stolen.”

I just spent 2 hours swapping things around and I still don’t know if I made the right choices. Very frustrating. Old man problems.

This is the proof to the +1 theorem.  You need exactly one more bike that you just described.

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Well, what I needed was the component selection. The problem is not which bike to take, but do I need to swap tires, swap wheels, swap forks, etc.

My Frankenstein has an extra 1.5" of steerer tube coming out (the one I thought about cutting 2 weeks ago...) and the brake pads are noisy so I might need to swap with those on another bike because I do not have any spares....

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  • 2 weeks later...

What I learned for this trip is a. Don’t worry about bike theft and b. Focus on not cheaping out.

I was trying to bring the cheapest bike instead of the right bike because I was worried about theft. As we are going to have the bikes in the room with us, I decided to use a good fork and the right wheel set. After fighting for 2 days on cheap wheel options, new Ardents with a King/Stans wheel got me set up in 15 minutes.

Now I just need the weather to cooperate. 

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I was wondering why you were so concerned about theft. are you taking the bike to a theft-prone place? Are you going to leave it outside every night with a shoestring for a lock? common sense measures like using a good lock when you need it, and keeping the bike indoors and out of sight should keep any bike as safe as is practical. anyone who is really determined to steal a bike will find a way, but they're far more likely to go after the easiest target, even if it's a crappy bike.

What are you brining?

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I've heard people concerned about keeping bikes in a hotel room, but after keeping bikes in hundreds of hotels over the years, I've never had cause for concern. However, if I leave room with bikes in it, I always turn the TV on (kinda loud but not neighbor complain loud, just so you can kinda hear it at the door), and I always put out the Do Not Disturb thingy. 

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We've tried just about every combo, and two bikes for each of us seems to be our sweet spot. Modern FS trailbikes are so good, you can do just about anything with them. Even hitting the DH park. Just bring extra tires etc. We have secondary big travel bikes for when the shuttle / lift trails get stupid and steep. There's no replacing a super-slack, long wheelbase big hit rig in those conditions. Especially with my poor line choices😆

For CTX, seems a modern full suspension 120-130mm downkuntry or trailbike is about perfect. Throw in a good gravel bike for the days of summer or when heading to flatlandia for a trip.

We've rolled all four bikes in & out of numerous hotels and BnBs troughout the USA and Canada over the last couple of years with zero issues. We also have a bad ass case hardened security chain we use to secure like pee-wee when we park the car for a post-ride lunch. Even at that, we still park in eyesight of the dining area or close to the front door, backed up to sidewalk.

 

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1 hour ago, ATXZJ said:

Even at that, we still park in eyesight of the dining area or close to the front door, backed up to sidewalk.

My Saris SuperClamp rack comes with a janky opportunity-theft prevention cable. Probably a screwdriver could defeat it. A couple of years ago we locked up my 5010 and Jessica's Hightower and went into Rudy's for some post-ride brisket. We parked and sat where we could see the bikes like we've done a thousand times...but an odd thing happened. Even though the bikes have different geo, from our particular viewing angle and distance, we were both suddenly convinced that my bike wasn't on the rack at all. We reasoned that no way someone would take just one of them. But it was so disconcerting that I had to go out and look! Sure enough, from just the right distance and angle, her bike entirely masked mine on the rack. It was confusing. 

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58 minutes ago, Barry said:

My Saris SuperClamp rack comes with a janky opportunity-theft prevention cable. Probably a screwdriver could defeat it. A couple of years ago we locked up my 5010 and Jessica's Hightower and went into Rudy's for some post-ride brisket. We parked and sat where we could see the bikes like we've done a thousand times...but an odd thing happened. Even though the bikes have different geo, from our particular viewing angle and distance, we were both suddenly convinced that my bike wasn't on the rack at all. We reasoned that no way someone would take just one of them. But it was so disconcerting that I had to go out and look! Sure enough, from just the right distance and angle, her bike entirely masked mine on the rack. It was confusing. 

Been there man. Bike paranoia knows no limits 🤣

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4 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I was wondering why you were so concerned about theft. are you taking the bike to a theft-prone place? Are you going to leave it outside every night with a shoestring for a lock? common sense measures like using a good lock when you need it, and keeping the bike indoors and out of sight should keep any bike as safe as is practical. anyone who is really determined to steal a bike will find a way, but they're far more likely to go after the easiest target, even if it's a crappy bike.

When I travel to Colorado, I lock the bike to the 1Up using 1Up locks for peace of mind while driving and for pee stops. Any other stop and I bring out the Vulcan case-hardened security chain which requires power tools to cut. I stay in Best Westerns with indoor doors, and the bike goes in with me. Never had an issue, touch wood.

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8 hours ago, mack_turtle said:

I was wondering why you were so concerned about theft. are you taking the bike to a theft-prone place? Are you going to leave it outside every night with a shoestring for a lock? common sense measures like using a good lock when you need it, and keeping the bike indoors and out of sight should keep any bike as safe as is practical. anyone who is really determined to steal a bike will find a way, but they're far more likely to go after the easiest target, even if it's a crappy bike.

What are you brining?

Friend here in CA recommended locking the bikes in the hotel room. That is too much for me.

My Kona would have been ok if it were stolen, more worried about the Vassago, but at this point it will not be out of my sight.  Big concern was visiting brother in law in Santa Monica, but we will most likely not take bikes based on weather.

 

 

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On 2/20/2023 at 8:35 AM, AntonioGG said:

This is the proof to the +1 theorem.  You need exactly one more bike that you just described.

My wife modified that rule to n-1 which is one bike less than what will get you divorced.

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3 hours ago, hurronnicane said:

The only recurring nightmare I’ve had in the last 30 years involved getting my bike stolen.  

That was why I obsessed so much about the bike choice for this trip. Tried to get the best (cheapest) combo. Ended up just building out the best bike and that turned out to be a faster choice to build (fewer hassles) and mostly a more fun bike to ride.Weather is getting drier and I hope to be able to hit trails this week.

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