I got my road bike about 13 years ago, a year after my daughter was born. This custom bike has a history of competing for my attention...
For about 8 years it was just the two of us. Her, decked out with Ultegra 10sp and some hand built hoops; me, logging in weekend rides and weekday mornings before work. A dedicated road cyclist, watching the druggies in the TDF, which in Canada was like the only broadcast of cycling out there.
I got my first CX bike 6 years ago. I used it as a winter bike, at a couple of events (Paris 2 Ancaster), and maybe some rail trails. I used it maybe 10-20% of the time. At some point I sold it and went back to dedicated roadie. My road bike figured it was a fling, and would end--she was right (sort of).
A few years ago I got another CX bike, even got a second wheelset for it. Was a matte black Felt...very pretty. Not as classy as the road bike, but I can tell this was becoming a problem (for my road bike, now about 10 years in my life..wondering if things were coming to an end). Never baby ;-)
After owning the Felt for 6 months I maxed out on tire width at about 33-35mm and wanted more. Was reading about gravel and watching YouTube videos, I wanted to explore more areas further from home. Sold that and bought a Bombtrack with 650bx47mm tires. The year I got it the road bike was...unimpressed to say the least. She got out maybe one a week with me. Had some issues related to very tight muscles and attributed it to gravel riding. Sold the Bombtrack and all of last year it was just me and the road bike. I got her new wheels, and later in the year a new groupset. She was on top of the world. We had a great year.
Got my muscle issues sorted out and after over a year of no issues I splurged 4 months ago on a new gravel bike. Brought her home and thought I heard an f-bomb dropped (not $%&*!&#^ again!).
Really enjoyed riding in the winter with the new gravel bike and her 40mm tires, with the road bike on the trainer. Winter was nice and only used the trainer 10x in 2021.
We hit a boiling point this morning. I had been riding with a friend once a week on our road bikes for weeks now that the weather was good. Had a long ride planned for today, but last night the government instituted a new restriction and we decided not to ride...and wont be for a while. This morning I went downstairs...I knew where I was leaning, and the road bike knew it too. Had a great gravel ride; 3rd ride in a row on this bike...maybe 7 of the last 10. And of course the gravel bike needs more attention after a ride, so the road bike is feeling our relationship splitting apart.
I try and tell the old girl that I'm just going easy on her, as she's not getting any younger. But she knows...
Fun read. Similar experience with my HT (the road bike got dumped when the younger, more adventurous gravel bike came along). I just looked back at the last six months of Strava postings - 64 hours on the gravel bike and 11 on the MTB. No doubt which one I'd pick if I had to be monogamous.
I had an S-Works Roubaix that I bought back in 2006, when I worked at the LBS. I absolutely LOVED that bike. It fit me to a T, was silly light and super responsive. I suck, but it made me feel like I didn’t.
I rode that bike for years and loved it. I had no interest in a new bike.
My Slate was a complete impulse buy. As I started riding it, I realized it fit my “completely-random-make-it-up-as-you-go-along” riding style really well and opened up even MORE possibilities of where to ride. There were fit issues, to be sure, but it was an eye opener.
After a few occasions where I railed a downhill on the road, on the Slate and was able to stop with no drama, the brakes on the Roubaix started to feel lacking... (I’ve ridden hydro disks on on MTBs since 2000 or so, but it wasn’t an apples-to-apples comparison quite like the direct comparison between Ultegra hydros and Dura Ace rim brakes was).
”If only I could put disk brakes on the Roubaix....” I started looking around. Two years ago, I ended up with a new Roubaix - Ultegra Di2 and hydraulic brakes. It was fast, smooth and very capable, but being a bit heavier than the S-Works version, lacked that “snap”. Last year I rode the hell out of the Slate. I got out on the new Roubaix a bit, but reached for the Slate 80% of the time, the old Roubaix not at all).
This year, so far, it’s been the other way around. For some reason, most of the time I’ve gone out, it’s been the new Roubaix. I have no idea why, or if this trend will continue.
I’m just fickle and weird, I guess.
(Happy ending: The S-Works Roubaix got sold to a co-worker who is absolutely in love with it).
After this morning's ride the gravel bike pulled me deeper into the abyss...
Last couple of rides were on the road bike. As always, really comfy; snappy in the corners and quick acceleration. A couple of days ago I took her out after dinner. Rain was in the forecast but the radar showed nothing certain for a couple of hours. After an hour in I turned around and was like "shit, the sky just north of my town looks dark and I can see rain falling...oh, and is that lightning". So I motored home and as I pulled up onto my driveway it just started raining. Roadie came through!
I planned to ride this morning, rain or shine. I woke up earlier than I expected and it was foggy, ground was very wet, but no rain falling. "It's just my gravel bike, she's made for this type of crap". So we had a wonderful 1.5hr ride before work. I pumped up the tires a bit as I was going to stick to paved roads, though not the best in town. I was wet from the get-go and so was she. But funny thing, I got home and looked her over...just wet in spots and a quick wipe down, with a few extra minutes spent on the drivetrain and all was good.
That's one difference, for me: I ride the road bike hard to avoid the rain (cause I'm a sissy), but I take the gravel bike out in a wet fog knowing it was going to be a shit-show.
Sounds familiar. I have a lovely light rim-brake road bike whose only flaw is that it can only fit a 25 in the rear. On bad pavement -- common around here -- it's easy to get into the No Fun Zone. But then we get on smooth pavement and I'm smiling again....
Lots of good memories there. She still does her part -- this summer we did one of my biggest days ever on a bike, a century with 12k of climbing. It's not her fault that standards have changed.
Resale value for bikes like that have plummeted, and buying a new road bike as nice is not in the budget. If I had to I'd be fine with just the gravel bike and a second set of wheels. For now, she'll stay in the fleet and keep generating grins when there's smooth pavement to ride.
Brake tip: I swapped the old Shimano calipers for the 8000s that have the steel bridge. Big improvement -- now it's one-finger braking for most normal situations.
I forgot about this thread; I just re-read it. Funny thing is I sold that gravel bike that was causing tension in the household 😆
That road bike that wasn't getting a lot of love in the spring, turns out she just fits me so darn well (like a glove), and the gravel bike never fit as good, so as the season went on I was riding roadie more and more. At one point I told gravel-gal, I'll give you one more chance to fit me, she didn't and was sold within a week (for only a minor $ loss).
I've now added another gravel bike to the revolving door. I'm working really hard at swapping parts to get the fit just right. So far it's better than previous gravel bike but not yet perfect. It's this time of year (winter) that draws me in though, I hate riding indoors and wouldn't think of taking roadie with her 25's on possibly dangerous roads, so she stays on the trainer and gravel-boy gets to go out and play. I'm really hoping for a long term commitment here. I do wonder if roadie messes with others in the household when I'm not looking...little change in saddle fore/after or tilt, maybe even messes with the height. But I can't turn on her, she's been with me for like 14 years...and I buy her new parts now and then to keep her fresh.
