If you could only choose one

[HaYWiRe]

I think I would find road harder than MTB. I could live with my Stache for everything I do, but I think I'd "need" a summer (carbon, <8kg) and winter (28mm+ tyres & guards) road bike.

Id find one road and one mtb easy, as I have two bikes I alternate for very different purposes, but I feel even my "summer" road needs 28c + as I'm no sports racer and my local roads need nuking from orbit they're that bad.
But I only ride for enjoyment, I tour and explore both off road and on. So comfort takes priority over racing

Maybe that's why my XC bike gets the most use, less restrictions on where I can ride so I can go where the mood takes me even if it does mean going there much slower


Oh and you know the rules! Not one frameset, but one whole bike setup, no wheel or drivetrain swaps (mwahaha)

[benp1]

If I was being entirely honest, I'd have to select my Pinnacle Arkose as it's the bike I can't live normal life without - I use it for commuting, doing the shopping and running errands

My other bikes are mostly for fun, and I could just about do some of that on the Arkose. I could convert those bikes to commute and run errands on but they wouldn't be as good, nor as fun for when I want them to be fun

[whitestone]

[Oh and you know the rules! Not one frameset, but one whole bike setup, no wheel or drivetrain swaps (mwahaha)

Still my Solaris. But I think you should allow adding/removing bottle cages, frame bags and the like as they aren't materially changing the underlying machine.

[Solo]

One of my road bikes just brings me so much joy to ride and own.

But ok. That aside. I'm still on my Solaris then. I have a route that requires about 4 miles of road to get to (then that again home) and it does a decent job of munching that.

Off road it does all I could ask. Pootle when I need to. Mile munch. Play around and have fun on it.

Yep. Solaris it is.

I'm not even compromising on the look.

[Gilbo71]

Mine would be my Jones Spaceframe with 29er+ front at the minute, but fat front does push it very close in terms of fun factor just a little bit more hard work on the ups.

Just going out for a ride so this might change in a few hours.

[paramart]

bought the stooge to have 1 bike does all, and it did, but variety is the spice of life so rebuilt the scandals, then got a fat bike, and still got my 5, all good in there own environment,
but the 1 bike for me would still be the stooge if i could get it set up right

[Motorman]

Surly moonlander running 26x4.8" and 29x3" wheelsets. Works for me - North Scotland, beach and sandy trails on my doorstep, head inland to the boggy trails around speyside, then onwards to the Cairngorms.

[TheBrownDog]

Ive tried to live with one bike and it just doesn't work. Back in my roadie days I had a Thorn Audax 853 that I used for touring, commuting, training, carrying my son, continental sportives, shopping and a couple of races. I wish I still had it, but it went in exchange for a proper road bike and a proper touring bike.

These days, if I emptied our garage and shed and could only have one, I think I'd be going for a steel 27.5+ with a 120mm fork. Not ridden one as yet but seems to me it would be a great do everything/compromise bike: most of the grip of a fat bike; most of the dash of a 29er; most of the fun of a trail bike. I could NOT survive without a set of 29er wheels and some touring or CX tyres and I'd need rack mounts at the back and to be able to swap in a rigid fork like an ECR for touring/commuting/shopping.

Im thinking about building some 27.5+ wheels for my Fatty. It struck me recently how similar in shape and geometry it is to a Stooge or indeed, how similar the Stooge is the to Fatty. I doubt they have the same rider characteristics as the Fatty frame is extremely stiff. I made the mistake of fitting some 29er wheels to it once and it rode like an ironing board. But some 3inch 27.5+ wheels. That might make an interesting bike.

[ctznsmith]

My one bike would be:

Ti or Steel

Clearance for 29er tyres but as we're only allowed one wheel set probably running 40/42c tyres.

Rigid but designed to allow the use of suspension forks.

Have gears but an EBB or sliding drop outs so I can single speed it when I fancy a change.

I pretty much own this bike already (minus the ability to single speed it neatly) and just keep rebuilding it in different ways. I ownly own two bikes in total currently.

[danielgroves]

My inbred 29er.

I can run it with road tyres, or with mountain bike tyres. I can run is single speed, or with gears. I can run it with metal racks or soft luggage.

Basically, if it has to, it can do it all.

It's my only mountain bike, yet I did LEJOG on it last year.

The other option (in my case) would be my (still pretty new) Salsa Vaya.