Agree with lconley about the entire resource issue compared to owning a car. I would also say that I have just about one bike for each decade of my life, with some of them old enough to have been purchased in said decade. The reality is that these bikes are a small bop in my impact on the planet compared with the very real impact of my doing a lot of other things, like driving to Costco and buying stuff flown in or driven to the store, throwing out all of the packaging, charging my EV car. I don't feel very guilty when I take my unused parts or old bicycles to Gearing Up bikes, who trains kids to be bike mechanics refurbishing the frames and parts I brung them.
On Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 9:58:06 AM UTC-4 brok...@gmail.com wrote: > In order to achieve a true “Fellowship” of Rivendells, the number would be > 9. 🧙🏻♂️ > > On Mar 30, 2023, at 9:46 AM, lconley <lco...@brph.com> wrote: > > Of all the things in life that I feel guilty about or fret over, owning > too many bikes is not among them. There is maybe 250 total lbs of steel > among all of them, 750 lbs of of material total. If you own an average > American pickup truck or SUV, you have consumed more resources than me and > a Honda and all of my bicycles. The current total is 23 (10 Rivs), 25 (11 > Rivs) if I include my wife's. I am down from 30+. My longest owned is a > 1973 production Paramount P-15 that I purchased new in December of 1975. I > haven't bought a bike/frame in almost 3 years. My current goal is to get > down to 15 or less - at that point all of them can be hung on the walls of > the garage (except for my wife's recumbent trike) so that I can get the > rowing sailboat into the garage and out of the storage unit. > > Thinning the herd is difficult. I find it easier to give away bicycles > that to sell them for some reason, but I am running out of bikes that I > will give away. > > Laing > > On Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 7:14:29 AM UTC-4 Steven Sweedler wrote: > >> John, a breath of fresh air. Steve >> >> On Wed, Mar 29, 2023 at 9:33 PM John Rinker <jwri...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> At the risk of taking this discussion in an unintended direction and >>> opening a can of worms that, in my mind, has been opened for quite some >>> time now, I find this question of how many bikes one ‘needs’ to be an >>> interesting one to consider from a variety of perspectives. (Full >>> disclosure: there are currently 7 bicycles in my shop- 3 of mine, 2 >>> belonging to my wife, and one is my daughter’s. There are also two very >>> nice frames). >>> >>> Considering this question from the perspective of our current resource >>> crisis - you know, the one in which there are too many humans desiring too >>> many things that our planet has too few resources to sustain- helps me to >>> greatly appreciate the bicycles I do ride, but also causes me question if >>> my ownership of any more than one bike contributes to the imbalance of >>> desires vs. resources. Anyone else bothered by this? >>> >>> Another perspective through which I look at this question of ‘how many >>> bikes does one need’ comes from my many years of living in developing >>> countries in Africa and Asia where the ownership of a single bicycle can >>> have significant ramifications for a family in terms of economics and >>> education. In many of these places, that there would be one bicycle for a >>> family of 7 (or more) would be considered a luxury. And so, to ask myself >>> how many bicycles I *need *causes me to cringe slightly and immediately >>> takes my mind down the road of resource distribution and equity. >>> >>> Finally, as an educator, I’ve always made it a point to help my students >>> understand the difference between *needs* and *desires, *and the >>> implications of each on our habits of consumption. Of course, in the >>> context of this group and this particular thread, I’m well aware that we >>> all agree that we are speaking about our desires rather than our needs, but >>> still, it’s another perspective from which to come at this question. >>> >>> I’m sure there are other perspectives that might make this consideration >>> interesting and, of course, remind us all how fortunate we are to own and >>> ride so many lovely bicycles. >>> >>> I know, nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition! (Monty Python anybody?) >>> >>> Cheers, John >>> >>> On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 5:53:28 PM UTC-7 Ian A wrote: >>> >>>> The problem is, there is always justification for another bicycle, like >>>> the relatively new bikepacking designs (Jones Bikes for example) which >>>> also >>>> do a very good job of displacing conventional touring bikes. Or a foldable >>>> Brompton, just because. Then there is sentimentality, like my beloved >>>> Marinoni which has taken and continues to take me on so many touring >>>> adventures, but which I would not be shopping for if looking today as I >>>> want ever more tire clearance from a frame. Then there is the poor, abused >>>> commuter which gets ridden so much and so often, it becomes an old friend >>>> and thus impossible to give up. Then there is the lightweight randonneur >>>> and the back up randonneur. The back rando doesn't seem to ever get >>>> ridden, >>>> but what if something happened to the primary rando? N+1 is real. N-1 is >>>> pure fantasy. >>>> >>>> Willet: Ecuador has some made taxes on imports of most products, but >>>> Pasto in Colombia is only 50 miles from the Ecuador border. You could very >>>> gradually bring your bikes in one at a time! >>>> >>>> IanA Alberta Canada >>>> >>>> On Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 6:45:16 AM UTC-6 Tom Palmer wrote: >>>> >>>>> Hi all, >>>>> I recall an article by Grant about the number of bike a person needs >>>>> with justification. I think it was 7. >>>>> Any idea which reader it was in? >>>>> Thanks! >>>>> Tom Palmer >>>>> Twin Lake, MI >>>>> >>>> -- >>> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >>> "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>> >> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b20e8de0-8be6-4fc7-bca7-143d70b4d79en%40googlegroups.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b20e8de0-8be6-4fc7-bca7-143d70b4d79en%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> Steven Sweedler >> Plymouth, New Hampshire >> > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e18ee8c0-082f-4f78-bf73-9e986aa407c5n%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/e18ee8c0-082f-4f78-bf73-9e986aa407c5n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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