Years ago I bought my first roadie, bought spares, bought a spare frame even, built a second bike out of it. Theoretically I have enough bike between the two to never need to buy another bike again, maybe.
Except that I don’t use this/these bikes any more. I bought a tri bike for races, I stopped commuting, I started doing 99% rides indoors, I bought a touring bike so now I’m commuting again I use that. I don’t need a roadie any more and I have two stinking up the place.
In the UK, if it’s a decent quality kids bike, sell it on - they hold their value really well. Otherwise …. push it a bit further towards the back of the garage and tell yourself you’ll do something with it one day (viz my TT bike, at least 1 old road bike … )
I sold my TT when it was clear I wasn’t going to be riding it more than 1-2 months a year. I loved that bike and today I wish I had kept it at the time.
I sold my first road bike when I bought a new one. Today I wish I had kept it, store it at my parents place for Christmas/summer riding when I’m visiting a few days.
I sold my gravel bike because of space. I still don’t have more space but wish I could do gravel races.
Sell on ebay/facebook, or, if you don’t think there is any value and you want to get rid, give it to a charity that’ll fix it and give to someone in need of a bike. The real problem is the bikes you don’t need, but like!
Yeah, that’s the reason we hang on to things right?
I could “repurpose” them as my teenagers bikes but they don’t ride…
If I don’t chuck them or sell them I guess I need somewhere else to put them at least. The garage is my pain cave, and if its not functional its not coming in.
I like to try and sell/pass down my stuff to juniors or beginners. Not least because I’ve personally benefited from it on more than one occasion, but also because it can be a bit easier than selling over fb marketplace/general classifieds, especially if you get in touch with a local club. As much as I’m a sentimental sod I’d prefer they be used to having them rot in the back of my garage, and selfishly it feels better than pawning them off to a random person lol.
Not to mention seeing a 15 year old fly past you on your old bike is actually kinda cool
I could easily justify selling my road bike, but the space it takes up, and the amount of money I’d get for it, doesn’t translate. If it sits on the hook for an entire year without using it, I’ll revisit selling it for less money than I’d like. As of now I’m going to keep it for riding the occasional indoor roller session and for crushing some outdoor VO2 max sessions near the house, at least that’s what I keep telling myself…
I’ve got a TT bike I don’t use, it’s in boxes in my workshop. It’s a 10+ year old Cervelo P2 that has been repainted, so it has next to zero value. Haven’t ridden it since pre-covid. The way I figure it, is that there is so little value it isn’t worth selling, and I ‘might’ ride it again some day if I hop in a TT or a stage race. I’ve got that space in the house, that’s probably the only thing saving it from the garbage.
Do you love bikes or do you love your bikes? If it is the former, I’d sell the bikes you don’t need. Bikes are tools. If you are attached, you might want to keep e. g. one of the road bikes if it means something to you.
This is such a good answer. Yeah, this is something I can get behind.
(viz my TT bike, at least 1 old road bike … )
