I saw a trek 1.5 road bike at the lbs store today for the same price I paid for this bike and i thought oh wow that looks really nice too, it was white and black as well but if I had that I prolly wouldn't enjoy riding on trails as much as I do with this bike I guess the only way to have perfection is to have two bikes but it's not not ideal cause what if i'm out riding one bike and then I wanna go on a different terrain? But I cant get the look of the 1.5 out of my head. I don't really like my chunky looking fork but what can do I about that I guess, cause i like being able to unlock it on the trails. I wonder if I could get a carbon fork that is more like a road bike styple that can take disk brakes that still gives good shock absorption but i wonder if that would even be as good as the fork i have now, i donno i'm so confused. I think I made up my mind to get aero bars for this bike, i'll prolly get some when i get paid in a few days so i'll have to rearrange my stuff a little, do you think i should really get aerobar brake levers? are there such thinks as inline brake levers for those? I may wanna put V brakes on my bike as well and I'd make it so my top bar and drop bar levers work the V brakes and the aero bars work the disk brakes
i found the only bike i own that can go most places (it does not work for all-mountain and freerides) is my cyclocross bike. cross bikes have semi-road geometry and a ridgid front fork. they roll on 700cc tires and you can run disc brakes on them or not if you prefer rim grabbers. you could run both i suppose. they almost always come with drop bars and tires that are wide enough for trail rides and even some singletrack if you ride well enough but they have slim enough rubber to still travel very well on the pavement. most have a fork that can take some bumps but a suspension fork is still ideal for off road travel. while i currently have bikes for everything.... if i had to get rid of all of them but one i would keep my cross bike.
list of my bikes and what they are for
1 Wilier Cento1 2010
road bike Campagnolo Record groupo
2 Cervelo RS 2008
back-up road bike Campagnolo Record groupo
3 Commencal Meta 5.5.2 2009
all mountain full suspension SRAM
4 Kona Kula Primo 2007
hardtail cx mtb Shimano xt
5 Specialized Allez Steel 2010
commuter primary transportationCustom
6 Commencal Absolut CG 2010
dirt jump and park ride ss with bb5 brakes
7 Salsa Chili con Crosso 2007
old commuter/ transportation/ light trails/ some road
that is my top 7 (in random order) bikes of the 11 i own...
if i could only keep one the Salsa would be my pick... the Wilier is the nicest but it does not work off road. my Kona Kula Primo needs some upgrades to be my only bike.. and the Meta 5.5.2 is not suitable as my only transportation.
i honestly would never get down to having just one bike but if i did well the Salsa is it... because of versatility... have ridden her to school then to work and she has more road and off road miles on her than any two of my other bikes combined.
i do not think anyone needs this many bikes (including me) by the way. i don't drive or even have a license and love bikes therefore when i see one for sale at a discounted price i usually jump on it. the only bike i own that i paid anywhere close to MSRP on was coincidentally the Salsa.