The one bike for most purposes?

[P Walsh]

I was out and about yesterday on a titanium framed audax style bike. But today I will be commuting to work on my general purpose bike, a Thorn Club Tour (much modified) that I use for touring, commuting and leisure rides of up to 30miles. It's the bike I use most and I'm quite fond of it. I even went up Mont Ventoux on it in August, though I did take the guards off for the day.

No bike will do everything. I would not want to audax on it, and its offroad abilities are limited to fairly good tracks.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

if i had to resort to using one bike (especially if it's a steel tourer..) i'd probably give up cycling altogether

It all depends why you cycle, I guess.  My main objective is to get places without using too much baggage e.g. something with a motor.  Commuting is one example.  I'd ride almost any kind of bike to avoid car commutes.

I did the raid Pyrenean on a steel bike wiv 'guards.  Out of 18 of us, only 3 had steel machines.  I was usually half-way down the field, end of day and on the last day we had a bit of a contest and I was 3rd much to the carbon fibre fans annoyance!  A good steel bike is still a good machine.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Right tool for the job is the best approach given money, space, knowledge and enthusiasm (and an accommodating partner). But many rides need more than one tool; you might be riding both on and off road, both fast and slow, over hills and on the flat. You might even start off unladen and pick something up halfway. Or it might be a long tour in the middle of which you have a day of unladen riding and on that day wish your heavy tourer was a little more responsive. It might even be a credit card tour in the middle of which you decide you fancy some camping. Or just a commute with a shortcut across a field. There are also occasions when the right tool is out of action for some reason and you need something that's not specialised in a different direction.

[Kim]

And let's not forget BloodyTrains.  There's a whole industry devoted to bikes that solve that particular problem, and it's astounding what some people manage to do on them.

[velosam]

Why would you want one bike for everything? Isn't it better to have the right tool for the job?

It'd be nice...but when moneys tight and ones a grown up, there must be priorities. Personally, its bills and taking care of my girls

what he said and they grow fast so continually need new bikes!

[DrMekon]

if i had to resort to using one bike (especially if it's a steel tourer..) i'd probably give up cycling altogether

This.

I got a Domane Disc 4.5. It's an amazing bike, and feels so reassuring. The big tyres feel like they have a multiplied effect from the suspension. I imagine the SLR feels like a fatbike, albeit an 8kg fatbike with drops. Additionally, thru axles - they make a bike feel so laterally stiff, you feel like you can carve corners at insane speeds. I am current 4th out of several thousand going down Norwood edge, despite the fact the tarmac is currently screwed, and it was just me messing about on a commute. It's like comparing an enduro bike with a hardtail in terms of descending safely. The discs are immense. 160mm rotors with hydraulic calipers - there is always more stopping power than you need - until you hit gravel then all bets are off.

Is it one bike to rule them all? Not at all. If I want to kick to keep up with quick mates on a club rides, I take my jittery, hectic 7kg Madone with light wheels, a 120g carbon saddle and bars and a seatpost so stiff, you feel everything. However, I could take the domane on gravel rides, and for audaxing it is a beast. However, I wouldn't go bikepacking offroad on it like people do on Shand Stoaters or that Ti Kinesis that takes 40mm tyres.

If there was one bike to rule them all, this might be a bit closer.

[tom_e]

I like the idea.  I even go so far as to have one bike for most purposes (two wheelsets, mind).  But it isn't perfect.  I do have a cheap bike for when it needs locking up someplace dodgy.  No Domane is going to fix that.  And a mountain bike for proper off-road.  If you have one purpose in mind then a bike optimised for just that will do a better job.

But as has been said above, resources are limited.  Storage is limited too.  And I can only ride one at once.  Can't be bothered to maintain loads either.

Rim brakes make it easy to swap wheels, for a range of purposes.

Don't understand what this is supposed to mean.  As opposed to roller brakes?

[Kim]

Rim brakes make it easy to swap wheels, for a range of purposes.

Don't understand what this is supposed to mean.  As opposed to roller brakes?

I'd assumed disc brakes, which seems wrong, as they make wheel-swapping quick and easy, and allow for greater tyre clearance.  With discs you can even swap between wheel sizes.

[tom_e]

Rim brakes make it easy to swap wheels, for a range of purposes.

Don't understand what this is supposed to mean.  As opposed to roller brakes?

I'd assumed disc brakes, which seems wrong, as they make wheel-swapping quick and easy, and allow for greater tyre clearance.  With discs you can even swap between wheel sizes.

That is my experience.  Hence my feeling I might have misunderstood.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

There aren't many carbon-fibre disk wheels with disc brakes and disc brakes don't work very well with radially-spoked front wheels.

[Biggsy]

Can the Domane easily take mudguards and 28mm tyres?

My 2015 Domane has fittings for mudguards and came with 25mm tyres ready-mounted.  I believe it would take 28s.

In that case I'd expect it to be a reasonable answer to Velosam's "more than adequate at most things" requirement, assuming "most things" is restricted to road and path riding.  I'd want a rack as well, personally, but so many cyclists seem happy enough with just a saddle bag.

[Si S]

Rim brakes make it easy to swap wheels, for a range of purposes.

Don't understand what this is supposed to mean.  As opposed to roller brakes?

I'd assumed disc brakes, which seems wrong, as they make wheel-swapping quick and easy, and allow for greater tyre clearance.  With discs you can even swap between wheel sizes.

That is my experience.  Hence my feeling I might have misunderstood.

The images in ESL's link show V-brakes to help with clearances.

My answer to the OP was this:



The steerer has been cut a bit since but you get the idea, clearance for 35's with guards. Currently running 28's. I'm still finding it's limits but so far I've done a couple of hilly audaxes on it, general utility work, commuting, trails and a bit of singletrack.

I suspect I can go bigger than 35 by reducing the wheel size and will play in the next few weeks but is it truly a do it all bike?

No I don't think it is, you couldn't TT on it and I wouldn't launch it down a black run (although I have put the Trek 1.7 down a red run  ) and I'm now thinking about a CF summers day flying machine.....I just like having shiny toys, they don't put pockets in shrouds.

[citoyen]

If there was one bike to rule them all, this might be a bit closer.

I like that. Very nice. Is it just an illusion caused by the oddly shaped chainstay or is the bottom bracket very low?

[velosam]

I should have been more specific.  So actually a do it all bike for me would exclude touring and really difficult off-road stuff, downhill and fast club runs (mainly because I can't do fast and don't belong to a club!).

However it would include light off road, commuting and the odd jaunt for fun.  While the theory of wheel sets etc makes sense I just can't be bothered with the faff of changing cassettes and chain just for a wheel change for a day/ weekend.

I do indeed have a tourer, and to be honest I never thought of it as such. Its great in winter and reassuring but lacks a little vroom-vroom (which could just be crappy legs) compared to the steel racer which although quick is more tiring.

[DrMekon]

If there was one bike to rule them all, this might be a bit closer.

I like that. Very nice. Is it just an illusion caused by the oddly shaped chainstay or is the bottom bracket very low?

BB drop is 70mm, which appears to be the high end of normal for road bikes. Loads of detail here - https://opencycle.com/up/

The killer for me is the price.

[citoyen]

BB drop is 70mm, which appears to be the high end of normal for road bikes.

Yes, high end of normal, but not excessive.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I should have been more specific.  So actually a do it all bike for me would exclude touring and really difficult off-road stuff, downhill and fast club runs (mainly because I can't do fast and don't belong to a club!).

However it would include light off road, commuting and the odd jaunt for fun.  While the theory of wheel sets etc makes sense I just can't be bothered with the faff of changing cassettes and chain just for a wheel change for a day/ weekend.

I do indeed have a tourer, and to be honest I never thought of it as such. Its great in winter and reassuring but lacks a little vroom-vroom (which could just be crappy legs) compared to the steel racer which although quick is more tiring.

One bike for some purposes. That's doable!

[tom_e]

However it would include light off road, commuting and the odd jaunt for fun.  While the theory of wheel sets etc makes sense I just can't be bothered with the faff of changing cassettes and chain just for a wheel change for a day/ weekend.

Not trying to push it on you, but there is no need to change cassette or chain each time you swap wheels.  Just swap the wheels - takes seconds.  There is a bit of homework to set it up, yes.

Doesn't sound like it's essential though - you seem to be talking about quite a sensible bracket to cover with one bike.

[Kim]

There aren't many carbon-fibre disk wheels with disc brakes and disc brakes don't work very well with radially-spoked front wheels.

More than there are TT frames with clearance for fatbike tyres, I'll wager.

More seriously, anyone considering a do-it-all bike is likely to be occupying some middle ground.

[Phil W]

This is the bike you had as a kid. We put cow horns and knobbly tyres on ours and called them tracker bikes

Yes we did call them tracker bikes, and I lived nowhere near you, and probably a different generation ad well. Funny how names stick. I had a rear rack on mine, and I had a big Japanese radio that picked up police radio when the Ariel was up. I used to ride around the woods, with it bleeping ' Oscar Charlie 1 to control......bleep'

I'm from Stockport way, so don't know if you lived anywhere near there.

[Karla]

If there was one bike to rule them all, this might be a bit closer.

You've got to be joking: most people on here would require at least fifteen spacers and a ten centimetre shorter stem on that!

[DrMekon]

Ha. I had to get a slammed headset top cap, remove all spacers, and am currently trying to get hold of a 17 deg stem to flip instead of the flipped 7 I have on my Domane. I hate being sat up in the wind. It's taken several hundred quids worth of physiotherapy and about 20 minutes a day practice to get back to that position post hernia surgery, and doubtless the weight loss has been helpful, but I can't stand feeling like I'm riding a Dutch bike.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Samuel D]

So even among people who find merit in owning just one bicycle, there is little agreement on what that bicycle should look like. In part that’s because we each ride differently, but partly it’s because we also value different things on an emotional and philosophical level.

To wit, I wouldn’t want that Vroomen effort for anything I do, never mind everything! It seems to consist of every on-trend fad you can list, wrapped into a €2900 package. Boke.

[Ningishzidda]

If there was one bike to rule them all, this might be a bit closer.

You've got to be joking: most people on here would require at least fifteen spacers and a ten centimetre shorter stem on that!

And mudguards.

[P Walsh]

No mudguards? No rack? Bin it!