So many bikes, so little cash

Well, I should first start of by saying it's not like I'm broke. I've got a decent job and have been very fortunate.

The problem I have is that I have this never ending obsession with owning new and different bicycles. I want to try them all. To test them. You can't get to know a bike and how it feels in a bike shop or even on a short test ride.

The other problem is that my taste in bikes is probably like most anyone who would be reading this. Not BSOs that can be had for $199 at Walmart. I'm talking a decent "budget" bike that run $1K or more. Face it, any decent bike that has any components worth speaking of is going to set you back at least one g-note. That figure by some standards is cheap. I could very easily list 10 bikes in my memory I've seen that are over $3K and have seen some sub 15lb machines that run you up in the 10 to 15 K range.

So really, my bikes are cheap aren't they? That problem with the wanting to try them all comes into play here. I would say I've spent around $7K on bicycles in the last 3 years. The problem is, I could quite easily spend $7K more in the next 3 years buying bicycles that are very different and I genuinely think would be so different to the point of justifying keeping the bikes I have now and getting the $7K worth of new ones. They're all different and fill a different niche.

Here's a few questions I'd like to put out there.

1. Do you or would you sell bikes that you currently have that you like, but don't "love" to finance the purchase of new bikes that you're curious about. I mean very curious about.
2. Have you found a bike that you absolutely would hate to get rid of.
3. Do you think you ever could find that just one bike that you think might work for every area of your riding?
4. If so, what bike and why.

I knew a guy I used to motorbike with who changed out his ride at least twice a year. Here in Calgary with such a short riding season, that's often! He would just buy a bike, ride it, make some notes, tweak it mildly and then move on to the next one. His wife always commented that after 23 years of marriage, she's just glad he feels that way about motorbikes, not her.

Part of it is contentment also isn't it? I think it's incredibly important to be happy with what you have. If you are not, you will forever be lacking, because you will never have it all. No one will ever have it all.

I'm getting very close to finding a bike that I absolutely would hate to get rid of and I think it's my sequoia. I still need to put many more miles on it and I've only had it about 2 months, but so far, it just feels so good. It almost feels so good that I don't need a recumbent. The recumbent feels so good too. I wish I could just take 1 month off of work and ride my bikes all day, everyday. I think by the end of that month, and day and after day comparison, I'd have a clear mind.

In fact, I'd probably decide I need to keep them both, and just buy another bike.