Yesterday on the Paceline, we discussed the bikes we’ve put the most miles on. You have one, too, obviously. Maybe yours was a matter of necessity, like you were young, and it’s what you could afford, and you just happened to ride it to the moon and back. Or maybe you got lucky and found the perfect bike (like finding a life partner), and subsequently you didn’t feel the need to get anything new after that.
Mine is a custom Seven Axiom SL. A straightforward road bike, straight 1-1/8″ steerer, 25mm tires, rim brakes. Ultegra build. Mavic Ksyrium Pro Exalith wheels. These are just specs though. The magic of this bike is in the tubeset, the handling, and the perfection of its fit. It was the third bike I bought as a member of the “bike industry,” and a bike I still ride all the time.
I will likely never own another road bike.
Your most ridden bike ever might be a mountain bike, which would be interesting, because the technology of mountain bikes has evolved so rapidly over the last two decades. If you’ve held onto a trail bike for more than five years, you’re likely behind the technology curve, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
In fact, sometimes the bike you’ve turned to the most often only really makes sense to you. Asked to explain, maybe you can’t. It just speaks to you. It just feels good and familiar. You feel capable on it in a way you don’t, even on a newer bike with a snazzier spec. There’s a je ne sais quoi, an x-factor, a secret sauce that suits your taste buds like no other.
So there it is. What bike have you pedaled more than any other, in your whole life, and what is so freaking great about it?
I can not be sure but I believe the bike I have logged the most hours on is one I have not ridden in a long time. 1989 Wicked Fat Chance. 89-96 it was my only bike—mtb, commuter, road bike all in one and I rode it almost every day. I have several bikes today and they are all excellent but my riding time (more like 2-4 days per week now) is spread across them and no longer includes commuting so I can not imagine the hours logged are piling up the way they did on my Fat Chance.
The bike that I feel like I pedaled the most on was a custom Hunter singlespeed that I had in the early 00’s. It was light, snappy, and just about perfect. The fit was spot on, it climbed like a rocket, and descended as well as any hardtail of that era. Trying to free a stuck seatpost ended its life unfortunately. I’m not sure if I actually rode it the most miles in my life, but it was the bike I liked best and rode the most in the time of my life when I was piling on the most miles.
I would guess it was my namesake bike. A 1999 Lemond Zurich, in blue. Campagnolo Chorus Record mix, Mavic Ksyrium wheels, Flite saddle. Raced it to many 2nd and 3rd place medals, rode countless miles of elevation in Salt Lake and areas nearby. I replaced it with a Tete De Course which was the finest bike I have ever ridden yet sadly was stolen from my garage. If I had kept it I guess that would be my most ridden whip. My Ritchey Logic which is my main non vintage bike has been with me since 2016 yet age, cancer and other life thingees keep the yearly miles to much less than the salad days bikes.
I don’t know. The best bike you have is the one you are riding as the saying goes. If this is quantified by miles* then my years on my Specialized Tricross and the Kona Jake the Snake win. I built these up to race CX, but most of their time was spent with me pretending to be a roadie. I have neither of them any longer and haven’t owned a road or CX bike in the ten years since. I got burned out on the road scene. Too much attitude, seriousness, too many shitty drivers and having fantastic trails that made me not miss much of any of it out my front door put the nail in that coffin.
As for my ride or die otherwise, I’m not nostalgic and I am not a collector. I don’t get precious over stuff. Everything I have in the bike realm are things I use routinely and when something comes along that I think will improve my experience then I get it and give away/trade out/sell whatever it is replacing. In that framing, my ride or dies currently are my Banshee Paradox and my Santa Cruz 5010 MX.
Lastly, I’ve owned one custom frame and like you it was ’00 single speed from Spot. That thing was a blast, but it was of it’s time (26″/V-brakes) I built it every way to Sunday, but eventually let it go as it made more sense for someone else to enjoy it than for me to make it into something it was not. Having a custom frame was a nice experience, but I feel like it would be lost on me as it is the bastion of road or road-adjacent (curly bar) bikes. Maybe I’ll get one when I grow up. I don’t know.
To Serotta bought in 98. Sweet Ti quill stem. F1 fork. Ultegra. Wearable parts all replaced. But the rest will last longer than me.
Ti Serotta
My ’03 IF Deluxe. Many, many races and then many, many casual off road rides with my buddy Clark. Now it is my go to gravel road cruiser. It just fits me.
Although I do rotate different full suspension bikes into my rides , my most ridden (and favorite) bike is the Seven titanium mountain bike I got in 2015. It fits like a glove, handles perfectly, and I love the classic looks and craftmanship of it.
A close second is my Richard Sachs although I’m not spending much time on the roads lately.