Cheating on your bicycle

[GirishH]

Hello and happy new year to all..

Is this is a rhetorical question, or a real one?

Do you ever feel so attached to your bike that riding another feels like cheating?

I know many people here own multiple bikes and are perfectly fine with that. I ride just one - MisterGordo aka my fatbike. So, last week borrowing a friend’s bike for a few days felt like betrayal.

My dilemma was simple: "cheat", or lose the chance to see a new place and get some exercise along the way.

Just curious—how do you navigate these feelings with the machines/rides that have simply become part of our identity?

Thanks

[SPINMAN]

That's funny. I took two new bikes out for a test ride from my local bike shop. They were not measured right ,but It felt nice to get on a new/different bike

[Flowrider]

Interesting thought @GirishH , we do get something of an emotional attachment to our bike, and we even give them names.

I think, especially for the reliable ones, they've got us through so much without much drama, like, I guess, your MisterGordo. Anything that gives us ('unconditional') support and that we're very familiar with, we get attached to.

I would guess you'll never sell MisterGordo. Why not? It's just a bicycle, an inanimate object that has no feelings.

But you do...

[JJMarsh]

(01-01-2026, 09:30 AM)GirishH Wrote:  Hello and happy new year to all..

Is this is a rhetorical question, or a real one?

Do you ever feel so attached to your bike that riding another feels like cheating?

I know many people here own multiple bikes and are perfectly fine with that. I ride just one - MisterGordo aka my fatbike. So, last week borrowing a friend’s bike for a few days felt like betrayal.

My dilemma was simple: "cheat", or lose the chance to see a new place and get some exercise along the way.

Just curious—how do you navigate these feelings with the machines/rides that have simply become part of our identity?

Thanks

It’s not cheating - it’s just exploring! Riding other bikes can deepen your love for your own. Your fatbike will be there when you return, ready for more adventures.

[ReapThaWhirlwind]

Only cheating on my bike by riding my other bikes ^^;

[JJMarsh]

(01-01-2026, 09:30 AM)GirishH Wrote:  Hello and happy new year to all..

Is this is a rhetorical question, or a real one?

Do you ever feel so attached to your bike that riding another feels like cheating?

I know many people here own multiple bikes and are perfectly fine with that. I ride just one - MisterGordo aka my fatbike. So, last week borrowing a friend’s bike for a few days felt like betrayal.

My dilemma was simple: "cheat", or lose the chance to see a new place and get some exercise along the way.

Just curious—how do you navigate these feelings with the machines/rides that have simply become part of our identity?

Thanks

Get that "cheating" feeling with bikes. Think of it as a fun fling that makes you appreciate your main ride even more.

[GirishH]

Haha, @JJMarsh and @Flowrider...when I started this thread, I was too attached to MisterGordo. But after cheating twice—with two different cycles—I’ve realized I’m more attached to cycling than to any one bike.

It’s the pure freedom and adrenaline that cycling gives me.

It could be MisterGordo or a clunker borrowed from my nephew—it doesn’t matter.

As for selling MisterGordo, I’d never considered it. Now, though, I do think about getting a used bike when I visit Rajasthan—the Indian state famous for its camels, deserts, and palaces. Since MisterGordo is back in Nepal and I want to explore Rajasthan on two wheels, I don’t really have a choice but to rent or buy a second-hand bike.

And since I’ve already “cheated” on MisterGordo twice, I feel much more comfortable cheating with a third bike—even though MisterGordo would have been the perfect ride for the deserts of Rajasthan...:-)

[Flowrider]

Ultimately, @GirishH suggests that MisterGordo is a bike he's very familiar with and highly dependable, having travelled extensively together over challenging terrain. It has reliably accompanied him without many issues.

In a way, he's personified the bike, as these are qualities we often look for in a person, especially in a partner.

[GirishH]

@Flowrider, "personifying" cycles—or I might like to "cycle-fying" a person…

For some 3 months, I rode with cycling buddies during my South America trip. We all rode at different speeds because the three of us had very different types of bikes. I was the slowest, but I had the most fun bike..


We, the humans, weren’t always reliable or dependable in the way the other may have expected.

But our cycles never failed or disappointed us. They stayed with us no matter what we threw at the poor “cycles.”

We humans fought like cats and dogs at times… but our cycles never lost their "balls"..

I guess whether it’s a partner or a riding buddy, it’s hard to find such a calm, “understanding” person. But in a cycle? Yes.

Maybe that’s why I was—and still am—so attached to MisterGordo, even though I cheated twice over the last two months and probably will again soon. MisterGordo will still be the one: reliable, steady, and it's gears still held together by that humble keychain ring..

[meamoantonio]

I chanced upon a latest and greatest Tarmac SL8 vversus my steel neo vintage bike, I’d probably get one if I was liquid enough and could pedal 50kph for an extend number of hours then sure . So i guess to answer your question, probably no, but it does feel good to dream

[GirishH]

Feels good to dream..:-)? @meamoantonio

I am already living that "dream" life of cheating on MisterGordo and it's been an uneasy but a good transition.. mentally and physically...:-)

(01-31-2026, 08:17 AM)meamoantonio Wrote:  I chanced upon a latest and greatest Tarmac SL8 vversus my steel neo vintage bike, I’d probably get one if I was liquid enough and could pedal 50kph for an extend number of hours then sure . So i guess to answer your question, probably no, but it does feel good to dream

[Flowrider]

..."or I might like to "cycle-fying" a person…" Classic @GirishH ! well put