The story goes that a reporter once asked John D. Rockefeller "How much money is enough money?" and that he replied, "Just a little bit more.". This has been translated in "bikese" to "How many bikes do you need?" to which the answer is "just one more"

The alternative is a bike that can do it all; the ∞ bike.

But does one exist? Or could one be assembled?

Thus is the point of this page.

In order to answer this question, it is neccesary to understand what capabilities need to exist in the statement "do it all". What is "all". Ahh yes; or in coloquial terms - There in lies the rub. So, what is the rub? That depends on the person. And since I am writing this article, I get to be the person, or stated my way, I get to say.

So what sayest I? I sayest:

The bike needs to have most attributes or capabilities of a Road Bike, a Gravel Bike, a Touring Bike, and a Mountain Bike. That's a lot of capabilities. But can I simplify this? For example. When I say "Road Bike", do I mean a bike that could be raced at least somewhat competitively, at least at the lower levels, or do I mean a bike that can be riden on tarmac, with groups that while fast(ish), aren't "Racer Wanna be's"? Even to the question: When I say race, do I mean European style stage racing, or US style criterials? When I say "Mountain Bike", do I mean a Trail or Cross Country bike, or an agressive Downhill Bike. When I say Gravel Bike, do I mean closer to a Road Bike, or Mountain Bike? WillI be racing on either the Gravel or Mountain Bike? Does Touring Bike mean one designed to ride around the world (expidition) or week long "Inn to Inn" trips in the summer, with 40-50 mile days?

That's a lot of teritory! But, as I said above, I get to say. So what do I say? First, I have no intrest in racing. Period. On road, on gravel, or on mountain. It doesn't matter. That includes things like Strava "King Of the Mountain" titles. I am simply not interested in racing. Second, and related, while I want some stability, but I don't want a bike that wants to keep its line so much that it can't turn sharply when needed. I want to be able to do some easy single track, but I'm not out there to beat myself up offroad; I just want to get some excersize, breeth fresh air, and have fun socially. I have many miles of fully loaded touring under my belt, but I'm past that stage in my life. I still want to tour, but in 1-2 week trips using Motels and Hotels, and eating in cafes - i.e. "Credit Card Touring", and preferably on flatter terrain. That doesn't require as "stout" of a bike, nor does it have to have as much in the way of mount points. But it does need to be able to get to the start of, and back from the end of trips with a minimum of hassle. And last but not least, it needs to be usable as a run around, go to the gym, go to the store, utility bike.

So, with that stated, it needs geometry that is somewhere in between my super stable Randonee, and a full race bike. It needs both flat and drop bars. It needs both ridid and suspension forks. It needs close enough gear spacings to be able to pick the right cadence when riding with fast(ish again) road riders in my local socially oriented bike groups, but at the same time, having low enough gears to get me and some Credit Card Touring gear up reasonable hills.

But wait you say, that's imposible; Especially the bits about drop and flat bars, and rigid and suspension forks. You could also argue, the bit about road (thinner), and mountain bike (fatter) tires. But modern (bike) technology to the rescue. When S and S Machine shop created their "Bicycle Torque Couplings", they also created Cable Splitters that allow, well, the cables to be split, so it's possible to have two different types of bars, that can both be used without having to go through the hassle of re-cabling. One of the options from "Moneran cycles does this. here is a quote from <.>Dirt Rag Magazine:" that talks to this."...The Moneran people have developed a nice little piece of engineering that make a bar change extremely easy...". Then, using a "top top" stem cap, the change can be made in just a few minuets.

And while were at it, above, I did say "But it does need to be able to get to the start of, and back from the end of trips with a minimum of hassle". My Bike Friday does that by folding, but it can also be done using S and S couplers as talked about in the previous paragraph.

So that covers switching bars, and easy transport. What about having both a suspension fork, and a rigid fork? Assuming the bike is built with a threadless headset, as pretty much all bikes are now, and that the frame has enough clearance for a "suspention corrected" rigid fork, and disc brakes, which are wheel and tire size agnostic, we should be there.

So I now have a regular (rigid) fork for road, gravel, and touring, and a suspension forks for offroad/mountain biking. And both flat bars for mountain, and gravel biking and utility riding if desired, and drop bars for road and gravel riding. by using S and S couplings, the bike can be split so it can fit into a suitcase that can travel of airlines with no fees. In theory, a Bike Friday (in particular their new All-Packa) model could work as long as having big tires (up to 2.8 inch) could substitute for a suspention fork, and Bike Friday could fit at least short cable stops so that cable splitters could be used.

Now if I can live with compromized handling, which is doable given my lack of interest in either road racing, or hard core mountain bike "shreading".

Of course many will say that a Gravel Bike comes as close to a "Quiver Killer" as any bike, of course with a second set of wheels for the road, but that may or may ot solve the dilema.

But then I could always just accept reality. That means, A Road bike, A Touring Bike, an Around town / likely folding bike, a Gravel bike, a dual suspension down hill Mountain bike, a "Cross Country" Mountain bike, a...