Wednesday, January 4, 2017

2016 in Review

It's that time of years when bloggers get together, clean the last of the Christmas food out of the fridge, and make some sort of end of year list. This year, I'm going to look at what bikes and frames I've bought and sold over the year:

In January, I sold my Mukluk fatbike. I still think about a fatbike every now and then, but the wide Q factor and overall slowness of the fat tires didn't work too well for me.



I also sold my Velo Orange Camargue. I liked the handling and features of the Camargue, but the short head tube and stiff tubing spoiled it for me.

Not done yet, I ended January by buying the Jones Plus:

January was busy, so I took February off. Back in action in March, I sold my Ritchey P-29er:

Great looking bike, but my Karate Monkey handles better and rides better. Don't ask why, it just does.

In April, I bought another vintage Trek off CL:

Not my finest purchase. It was pretty beat up, the freewheel was shot, and the rear end is a bit misaligned. Anyway, it's currently being turned into a fixed gear, since I miss having a fixed gear bike. And I had zero interest when I tried to sell it.

Took May off for moving and my Grandma's funeral in Iowa.

In June, I spent $50 on my '98 Rockhopper:

I'm really enjoying this bike. Currently set up as a townie, I keep fighting a desire to change it over to a vintage-y mountain bike and relive my biking glory years of the late 90s. I could show them kids what V brakes and 26" wheels can do!

July was quiet again as we moved into our new house.

In August, I picked up a Trek 330 from an iBOB that had braze ons for 650B wheels:

In September, I sold my New Albion Privateer:

It was a nice enough bike, but nothing special. I want special.

October was quiet again.

I sold the Trek 330 in November. It was special, but I was in a fit of downsizing.

That fit didn't take, because I also bought this State Pulsar in November:

Three bad rides on the State, and it had to go. Life's too short. It went out the door in December, to make room for my second Niner SIR9 that I made into a B+ conversion:


Let's not forget the bikes that made it through the year without being bought or sold:

My KM (though in danger with the Niner in the house):

and my $25 Raleigh Technium:

That's it! A dozen transactions, six frames bought and six frames sold. The old bike joke is the correct number of bikes is n+1. My equation is something more like n=4+/-2. It's not the overall quantity, it's how they come and go.

Happy New Year!

2 comments:

  1. When you got the Ritchey P-29er, I thought you'd keep it for as long as your Cross Check. By formula! It seemed to be everything you want in a MTB: steel, traditional-sized tubes, nice colors/paint job, 700c wheels, single speed'able. I thought you really enjoyed the ride, but above you mention it was beatable. Guess I had about of not paying attention. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Looks like the KM may be a better analogue to the Cross Check :)

      Delete

New Bike: my $100* Jones LWB**! (2012 Specialized Expedition)

 * The frame was $100 on ebay. I probably could have found a complete bike locally for not much more if I wanted to be patient, but this cam...