I get asked that one fairly frequently. The answer is not a simple one. You see, there are these things in my shop. (I maintain my own personal shop at home, not to be confused with the Tech Dept at the bike store.) The things are bins, boxes, hooks, shelves of bike parts. There are things that are not bicycles now, but once were. Some of those things have become bikes again. My FrankenFixie is a prime example of this. That bike started out as a mountain bike. It has become a bare frame (not a bicycle) on several occasions, and come back to life differently each time.
I have been known to attack a project to build a bike. There was a specific concept that I had in mind at the beginning. But… Before the dust settled, two existing bikes became something else, and the inventory had increased by two bicycles
Then too, some of the bikes on hand are, at any given point, becoming “donors,” surrendering part to other projects. At some point, these are no longer bicycles.
“Well, how many bikes do you have that are actually rideable?” I am sometimes asked. Then I have to think. Do I include the totally complete bike that needs a new chain, rear wheel work, and a new front tire? I suppose it could be rideable, given an hour’s work.
But then there’s the Projects. You see, I’m an inveterate tinkerer. I get these ideas. And then a Project starts. Sometimes, these projects have been started because I stumbled on a cool new wheelset. Sometimes, it’s a frame that could become something neat and different. I started one project (now gone) with a saddle and a nifty handlebar. Should I include any projects I have underway? They will be bicycles soon.
“How about just an estimate?” my questioner might ask. Okay. Well, there’s the two fixies, the singlespeed, and the two road bikes I ride fairly regularly. That’s five. Then there’s my daughter’s first road bike and the tandem. I should add the go-fast super road bike. I don’t know, nine or ten. But I have an idea for this travel bike see, and…
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