Real Life: Bike List

As a slight break from my Space Marine biker list, I thought I'd cravenly give in to popular demand (OK, one demand) for pics of my real life bike army.  So without further adieu...

This is my fixie.  I use this for riding around town, going to the bar, getting groceries, commuting to work etc.  It's a 2007 IRO Special Edition frame.  The leather Brooks saddle is pretty clutch and is the most expensive part of the bike.  The idea is it's a simple steel frame bike, very simple and easy to maintain.  Incidentally, it is very trendy and when combined with a hooded sweatshirt and a PBR tallboy, it gives me enough hipster cred to make it with girl who normally only date guys in indie rock bands.

This is my 2009 Motobecane LeChampion Ti road bike.  It has Ultegra components and a compact crankset.  This is what I do most of my training rides on.  The titanium frame is amazing and I love it, even though carbon fiber is the rage now.  Titanium has all the advantages of steel in terms of a comfortable ride, but it has none of the drawbacks.  It's much lighter than a steel frame, but actually stronger.  And unlike steel, it doesn't rust or corrode.  You could leave it at the bottom of the ocean for 20 years and when you pull it up the frame will look as good as the day it came off the delivery truck.

Here is my 2007 Cervelo P2C.  This is my time trial bike.  I usually do intense interval training on it.  As you might guess, it's also my time trial bike for when I do races that have a time trial component.  It's really, really fast.  It has Dura Ace components and a Selle SMP Stratos saddle which is really comfortable considering the body position you ride this bike in.  The disc wheel is for aero dynamics, which is all important in time trialing.  To give you an idea, the bike itself cost $3,400 new, $600 for wheels, and $300 for the saddle.  Not a cheap hobby, especially considering I race this bike about twice a year and do training rides with it twice a month.  But it is definitely the crown jewel in my stable of bikes.

People always ask, "how many bikes does a person need?"  And the answer is the same as what you give when people ask about wargaming armies, "however many you currently have, plus one."