NSMB - Help me with bike keeping

(in light of Andrew's recent Hayes Dominion article, I have an update)

In the spirit of the recent thread about bike shopping.

Through a lack of self control, I've ended up with more bikes that I feel comfortable keeping. I therefore need to sell some. Problem is that I am having a hard time selecting which one(s) to let go. I've given two bikes to charity recently, which has eased my conscience but I need to further trim the stable.

Current bikes from least to most rear wheel travel:

1. Knolly Cache (60cm frame, short stem) with a gravel/monster bike build - Force brakes to TRP Spyre

2. Knolly Cache (58cm frame, longer stem) with a commuter bike build - Rival hydraulic

3. Chromag Primer (hardtail) with 160mm fork - Hayes Dominion A4

4. Forbidden Druid (130mm travel) with 150mm fork - Hayes Dominion A4

5. Banshee Prime (135mm travel) with 160mm fork - Hayes Dominion A4

6. Banshee Titan (155mm travel) with 170mm fork - Hope Tech3V4

7. Knolly Chilcotin (167mm travel) with 170mm fork - Hayes Dominion A4

I am leaning toward selling the Titan but I kind of love that bike, so I'm not keen on getting rid of it. Select up to three options in the pole above and share your wisdom below.

I haven't completed the poll because I don't know enough about you or the bikes - but off the top here goes:

1. I'd lose one of the Cache's.  It would come down to which frame fits better and/or which build is most practical for you - be honest with yourself!

2. The Druid and Prime are pretty similar in terms of travel. So maybe they fill the same niche? I really don't know, but If it were me I'd lose the Druid because I am not a huge fan of high pivot bikes.

Otherwise I'd need to know a bit more about which model year/version the frame is - if an older frame has outdated geometry I'd be more inclined to get rid of it.  For the riding around here I'd argue geometry has a more meaningful impact than suspension travel or the component specs.

A bike with great geo, budget (or no) suspension, and lower tier components could be way more fun to ride than a bike with outdated geo and high end suspension/components.

Basically, if it were me I'd prioritize fun and practicality.

I'd get rid of the Forbidden as they are so trendy. High pivots have been around forever but people are acting like it's sick new technology. Kinda minor but....I found having to lube my chain every ride to keep the idler quiet on my recent high pivot bike pretty annoying. On the plus side, resale value is probably good! 

Deleting one Cache seems like a no-brainer. 

Which leaves killing off either the Titan or Chilcotin (for me) as they are too similar. Depends if you like the look of the Knolly or not!

I‘d keep a three bike stable. The Titan as a proper bike, you seem to love it. 

One faster, lighter mtb with faster tires. 

One commuter to reduce time in the car and max ride time. 

So I‘d pick the most efficient mtb apart from the Titan and put fast tires on. Maybe sell four and get one additional really light and different one to the Titan instead.

Firstly, nice collection!

Secondly, I think you need to keep 4...

I'm a Banshee Prime Owner so I'm biased but I don't think you need 2! Pick whichever Cache you use/like the most.

Worth putting a lighter 150mm fork and faster wheels on the Chromag to differentiate it from Prime/Druid?

I would keep:

Current bikes from least to most rear wheel travel:

1. Knolly Cache (60cm frame, short stem) with a gravel/monster bike build

3. Chromag Primer (hardtail) with 160mm fork

5. Banshee Prime (135mm travel) with 160mm fork

7. Knolly Chilcotin (167mm travel) with 170mm fork

Or

1. Knolly Cache (60cm frame, short stem) with a gravel/monster bike build

3. Chromag Primer (hardtail) with 160mm fork

4. Forbidden Druid (130mm travel) with 150mm fork

6. Banshee Titan (155mm travel) with 170mm fork

Posted by: Ride.DMC

I haven't completed the poll because I don't know enough about you or the bikes - but off the top here goes:

1. I'd lose one of the Cache's. It would come down to which frame fits better and/or which build is most practical for you - be honest with yourself!

2. The Druid and Prime are pretty similar in terms of travel. So maybe they fill the same niche? I really don't know, but If it were me I'd lose the Druid because I am not a huge fan of high pivot bikes.

Otherwise I'd need to know a bit more about which model year/version the frame is - if an older frame has outdated geometry I'd be more inclined to get rid of it. For the riding around here I'd argue geometry has a more meaningful impact than suspension travel or the component specs.

A bike with great geo, budget (or no) suspension, and lower tier components could be way more fun to ride than a bike with outdated geo and high end suspension/components.

Basically, if it were me I'd prioritize fun and practicality.

Mostly the latest versions of each bike actually, so all pretty modern, links supplied below to geo charts if you are interested

1. Knolly Cache (60cm frame, short stem) with a gravel/monster bike build - https://knollybikes.com/en-ca/products/cache-steel#geo-specs

2. Knolly Cache (58cm frame, longer stem) with a commuter bike build

3. Chromag Primer (hardtail) with 160mm fork - https://chromagbikes.com/products/primer

4. Forbidden Druid (130mm travel) with 150mm fork - has a -1.0 Cane Creek Angleset installed (correction previously erroneously stated -1.5) - https://www.forbiddenbike.com/products/druid-xt-complete

5. Banshee Prime v.3 (135mm travel) with 160mm fork - https://www.bansheebikes.com/prime-v3

6. Banshee Titan v.3 (155mm travel) with 170mm fork - https://www.bansheebikes.com/titan-v3

7. Knolly Chilcotin (167mm travel) with 170mm fork - https://knollybikes.com/en-ca/products/chilcotin-167#geo-specs

Sell the commuter bike and use the gravel for both. Sell the Druid as the Banshee Prime is a better bike. Just my two cents

Keep the hardtail, sell the rest ;-)

Keep 1-4 and 6 or 7. 

Ditch #2 for a beater if you want to raise some $$. Ditch it and use #1 to raise cash and save space.

Now our conversation this morning makes sense when you said you have a too many bikes problem. 

Keep one Cache, set it up for commute, gravel, and fondo.  

Keep Chromag for riding around with the kids. 

Keep Titan. 

Sell the rest. 

A set of fast light tires/wheels that can be swapped back n forth from Primer to Titan and adjusting either bikes fork up or down 10mm can change the spectrum of each. 

Heavy tires 170mm Titan for shred. Light fast tires/wheels and -10mm Titan for trail. Heavy tires and 160mm Primer for ht shred. Light fast tires/wheels and -10 Primer for xc/trail.

Posted by: earleb

Now our conversation this morning makes sense when you said you have a too many bikes problem. 

Keep one Cache, set it up for commute, gravel, and fondo.  

Keep Chromag for riding around with the kids. 

Keep Titan. 

Sell the rest. 

A set of fast light tires/wheels that can be swapped back n forth from Primer to Titan and adjusting either bikes fork up or down 10mm can change the spectrum of each. 

Heavy tires 170mm Titan for shred. Light fast tires/wheels and -10mm Titan for trail. Heavy tires and 160mm Primer for ht shred. Light fast tires/wheels and -10 Primer for xc/trail.

Agreed

N+1

Buy a Pinarello Dogma.

Posted by: rnayel

In the spirit of the recent thread about bike shopping.

Through a lack of self control, I've ended up with more bikes that I feel comfortable keeping. I therefore need to sell some. Problem is that I am having a hard time selecting which one(s) to let go. I've given two bikes to charity recently, which has eased my conscience but I need to further trim the stable.

Current bikes from least to most rear wheel travel:

1. Knolly Cache (60cm frame, short stem) with a gravel/monster bike build

2. Knolly Cache (58cm frame, longer stem) with a commuter bike build

3. Chromag Primer (hardtail) with 160mm fork

4. Forbidden Druid (130mm travel) with 150mm fork

5. Banshee Prime (135mm travel) with 160mm fork

6. Banshee Titan (155mm travel) with 170mm fork

7. Knolly Chilcotin (167mm travel) with 170mm fork

I am leaning toward selling the Titan but I kind of love that bike, so I'm not keen on getting rid of it. Select up to three options in the pole above and share your wisdom below.

How often are you riding each one as a percentage? For me I like having a big FS bike, a small FS bike, a hardtail usually hanging on the wall as backup, and a gravel bike. You have a lot of bikes where their uses overlap a lot. I say keep 1 or 2 (depending on usage, maybe blend them into one bike), keep 3 then pick between 4/5 and 6/7.

One of the Caches, one of the trail bikes and one of the enduro bikes? Maybe keep the hardtail as a backup backup :)

It looks like you dont like the stock ride of the Druid if you are putting a -1.5 angleset on it, so I would say you could part with that. A Druid with a 64 degree head angle seems kind of out of scope for me. That is Dreadnought territory. You seem to have a soft spot for Banshee, so if it were me Id say it would be easier to let go of the Chilcotin than the Titan especially since you have only had the Chilcotin for a couple of months.

Spring is the best time to sell bikes, but used bike prices are dropping quickly, so I would unload them ASAP to get your best buck out of them.