One bike to do it all?

Long wheelbase setting. Zeb Ultimate, Vorsprung Telum coil. NSB cranks. Hope GR4 brakes. WAO dh rims laced to Profile Elite hubs. DH casing Conti tires. Beefy build and it's an XL frame. I haven't weighed it, but there's no way it's under 40lb. It's never going to be the quickest uphill, but at 260lb, neither am I. Lol. 

One thing I'd love to know is how many people have hardtails in their stable. And how many are collecting dust or actually ridden?

Yeah, I understand what you are talking about and can relate. Realistically that is my trajectory as well. Rather than returning one day to multi-bike quiver I can see myself using a high-quality e-bike for both riding and commuting, whilst investing most of my personal time left into quality (in my case that means outdoor) time with my family. Have you gone full-power eventually (or from the start)?

Three bikes currently:

Yeti SB120 Lunch Ride
Commencal Meta HT V2 Hardtail
Swobo Sanchez Fixed Gear

The Yeti sees most of my riding. It's pretty sick and copes well with my local trails (mostly xc-ish) and sidehits ridden as hard and enduro-y as I can.

The hardtail is for the times when the Yeti is down and also to keep the full suspension cleanish during winter (because our winters are a sloppy, shitty mess).

The Swobo is for commuting to work and any road cruises I want to do. It's a bike I bought in 2008 and have done almost no maintenance on. Clean the drivetrain, make sure nothing looks messed up, and go cruise.

I'd be happy with only one mtb because our terrain around here is mostly xc-ish that I try to turn into enduro any way I can. As it is, there is some amount of downtime every year because of shock service, etc. so having the hardtail around is nice. I'm thinking of getting rid of the fixie to make room for a gravel bike but it's hard to part with a bike that was cool back when it came out and I've literally never seen another one in-person in my life. The tire clearance is too tight, the fit isn't exactly right, but it's too damn sick to let go I think.

I used to ride a mulleted 2019 trek remedy as a do it all bike. 160/150. Bike park and all day epics. Bikepacking, it was a great bike for do it all being based in SF/Tahoe. 

Now: 
Norco Torrent Hardtail with 29 x 2.6 tires: Bikepacking, Bay Area Trails
Norco Revolver: Most trail riding in Tahoe / Bay
Norco Sight: Enduro trails / shuttles / bike park
 

Its a little hard to code switch and choose the right rig! But riding a Revolver on mellower trails is so much better than the Enduro bike. 

Cool thread.

I often have multiple bikes just so I can keep one rideable when the others are broken.  

Right now:

2006-ish SC Nomad

2016 Kona Precept 130

2003 SC Bullit

2002 SC V10.1 

2005 SC V10.2

I just disassembled my 2020 Ibis Ripmo AF and selling off the parts.  

I want a hardtail, but I'm approaching 40(?!) and I fear my body can't take it... haha

I think the sweet spot is XC/trail type bike and a park/DH type bike.  If I didn’t have lift access i probably would just have the XC/trail bike.  

Still have one.   It worth enough to give it u and instill fun to ride time to time at local trails.  It good for a change of pace. Definitely doesn’t get the same amount of use as others but I always have that bike that I can take on a beach ride or Xmas lights ride or things like that. Not something I would want to use other bikes for. 

Ideal one bike to do it all is an efficient 160f/150r with reasonable parts spec and a few sets of tires, or two wheelsets. No high pivot as it won't pump and play was well on the tame trails. Used shocks are cheap, keep an inline air shock on hand to swap in with XC tires if you have an event or riding trip that you want to shave some weight. Coil for everything else. Tires are really what makes a difference in making a bike feel faster and more efficient on xc/tame trails. 

been riding mine more and more.

I did until I cracked the frame in a crash.

Canfield EPO built up as a 27.5+.  Loved that bike, could ride even some of the rowdier trails in Phoenix with it.  

I feel bad kinda giving up on my hardtail project halfway but I still love riding it. I've been trying to convince myself to start doing some dumb long ride epics on it since it's not something I care to do on my FS. I need to man up. Tis the season in SoCal. Don't have to worry about the heat. Doesn't help that some of the big dumb rides have been closed since the fires. Might have to start from a different spot. I need to do a... Vital bike check thingy of it. Just a shame because it's not quite done. The potential is THERE! 

Two bikes for me and I am very happy with them for the area I live in. 

YT Izzo, perfect trail bike for my immediate local area

Orbea Wild, also a fun bike for my immediate area and I use it for bike park days as well. 

Let the hate of using an e-bike at a bike park commence. Cheers! 

4 Bikes

2022 EVIL Insurgent for Park/freeride days (20% of riding)

2025 Pivot Firebird, enduro racing only (10% of riding)

2023 Pivot Firebird, enduro and full spirited rides (60% riding)

2017 EVIL Calling, trail duty, and slow pedal chill days (10% of riding)

Built up a Banshee Enigma after I cracked my previous hardtail. It's in heavy rotation on the low elevation and valley trails during winter. It's a different kind of riding that keeps riding fun, makes mellow trails fun again, and ups the skills for techy moves, jumps and slabs.

I've been on hardtails forever, and until I got my Tyee this summer I struggled to get on with full suspension bikes. 
Now I'm thinking about going back to a smaller and rowdier hardtail (used to ride a M size 160mm Dartmoor Primal, now on a M/L 140mm Jeronimo Txabardo), and getting a downcountry fullsus for the long rides.

Interesting topic. I'll star by saying that I feel very privileged to own multiple bikes, but lately I've been feeling the urge to change my setup. I currently own an ebike (SC Heckler SL), an enduro (SC Bronson w/ Cascade Link bumped to 170mm f and r), and a all mountain (Deviate Highlander II). I feel all three bikes are in the same travel bracket and are meant for the same type of riding. I'm thinking of selling the Deviate and getting something with less travel but can still be used in the chunky Phoenix trails. Something like the Scor 2030, Revel Rascal, or Ibis Ripley. Is this a good idea? any other bike recommendations?

I've got 3 bikes:

1. Bullit e-bike

2. Trek Session for DH

3. Canyon Torque. TBH I should sell this one, the e-bike is way more fun to ride uphill and downhill. 

If I could only own one bike, it would without question be the Bullit. I can ride anything on that bike and have fun. 

2018 Trek Remedy. With the suspension they were running that year the bike felt like it had endless rear travel when you wanted it, but it was still playful and plenty jumpable. 

42 and riding a hardtail and a rigid bike on the regular. Doesn’t beat me up any more than the squishy bikes do, just gotta ride differently. Til the day I die I’ll be in the “everyone needs a hardtail” camp. 

Fun to have a fleet of bikes (got 5 mountain bikes and two road bikes), but damn it’s a lot of work. Rare that one of them isn’t needing some kind of maintenance.

I’m currently rocking two bikes influenced by the bike shops I’ve worked in

-2024 Trek Slash which sucks a lot of the time but I love getting myself in over my head and this thing has my back always

-2025 Spec P3 that i bought and promptly smashed my face in on the next day

I used to have just a Transition Sentinel but whether it was due to my brain dead suspension setup at the time or my lack of skills I always felt undergunned for the enduro riding here in SoCal. As a one bike quiver though it’d probably be my pick right now. 

That being said the evil voice in my ear is whispering for me to buy a Spec Epic Evo at the shop. I don’t need another bike but the idea of gnarly bikepacking routes and all day epics in the mountains has captured me. I’d still spec it like a down country bike but I could also see it being the bike I take out when I’m too lazy to pedal my lead weight up the hill.

Ebike is tempting too but I’m afraid I’d never ride my normal bike ever again and I just don’t have that fear with the xc bike. That and add another $1k minimum makes it a bit out of mind for now.

More bikes is my answer. I always prefer to have the proper tool for the job.

On*One Inbred 29er fully rigid 2015

BC Original Podsol hardtail,130 fork 2019

Propain Hugene V2 140/140 2023

Specialized Stumpjumper Evo 150/140 2020

Cervélo R3 2014

I try to ride each one at least once a month,diversity of type of riding and terrain is one of the things that motivate me after 36 years in the sport. My DH racing days are behind me,and with no bike parks around here I can't justify a DH bike.

I used to be in the one bike camp (Whyte G150, then Nukeproof Mega), but I ended up building the Mega up burly enough for enduro racing that out was less fun on the local trails. Now i run a Raaw Madonna and YT Izzo. The Izzo has sent me over the bars when I've tried to treat it like an enduro sled, but as long as it's dry and I can carry speed, the Madonna is still great fun on the local trails as I can behave like a total hooligan. But if trails are running slower, the Madonna is a pig to have to continually accelerate out of slow corners. If I wasn't racing, a single 140-150mm trail bike would be fine. Only thing I would say about a multi-bike stable, especially if you standardise drivetrain manufacturer and wheel size is that there's always a complete set of spare parts that can be robbed off another bike if you break something and have a ride/race/trip coming up

I would have all the bikes if I could afford it. But currently riding an Ibis Ripmo V3. 

This is why working in the media would be sick. I love when I can rent a random bike that I wouldn't usually look at or outright can't afford (lookin at you Ohlins Stumpy). But that is a ) out of pocket and b ) very limited in time.

As a smooth brained BMXer I learned a LOT about mountain bikes thanks to free demos at the YT mill. As well as free demo days at Skypark. Worth their weight in gold. And legitimately changed how I viewed MTBs in terms of geometry and travel numbers (and wheel sizes).

“Park” bike for park riding.  Trail bike for trail riding.

park bike is built for hard miles.  Trail bike built for what makes sense.  

Pays for itself in the long haul.  Especially considering what you can get a decent used bike for anytime there isn’t a pandemic.  Park bike doesn’t necessarily need to be a dh bike.  Just something to take the work load off your trail bike.  Dh bikes are the most fun though.

One bike: a big, heavy monster truck of an enduro bike I call the Earthmover. (XL Commencal Meta V5 Ohlins with the coil.) Here's my rationale:

-I can only really afford one bike. 
-I want to ride Enduro and park laps. I am not skilled enough to forego any mechanical advantage that I can get. (Thus no underbiking for me.)
-I truly don't care if I'm fast on the climbs or if I have to hike-a-bike in sections. 
-I prefer to straight-line down gnarly sections, rather than ride playfully or hoppy. Don't need a quick frame geo. 
 

only one. going to work, shreddding in Mottolino.

don't have money to live the other way.. (