I remember about eight years ago counting the bikes in my garage. Between downhill bikes, cross country bikes, commuter bikes and bikes for every need in between, I had 14 bikes at the time. Granted I rode a lot then and used every bike regularly, but that is a lot of bikes to own, maintain and store.
Back then the bikes were limited by the technology of the day and were not ideal in multiple disciplines.
So we either needed lots of bikes or we had to limit how and where we rode.
Jump forward to the present and we are lucky enough to have efficient and light weight “all mountain” bikes. The advancements in suspension, wheel sizes, component materials and geometry have given us bikes that do almost everything, and these bikes do it very well.
You can ride one bike that will take you through the Snowden trails like a pro on Saturday, up to the mountain bike park on Sunday, and then you can ride it to work on Monday. If you want to hit the jumps mid week or do a big gravel road ride, you are good to go.
Now keep in mind if you are going to race down hill, cross country or road bikes there are still very specific bikes that will give you further advantages.
If you ride one discipline all the time you will be better suited to get a bike specific to that need, but if you just love to ride, anywhere, any style and any time, you can do it on one bike, and you can do it well.
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’.