People the world over collect the strangest things and cyclists are not exempt from the dangers of spurious hoarding.
I personally have more mudguards and racks than I have bikes to put them on and I'm forever on the search for the perfect portage solution for every occasion — pizza racks, bikepacking bag supports, expedition racks, I've faffed about with them all.
Matthew, our resident roadie tech expert, is a self-confessed hub fetishist, with a drawer full of luxurious flanges available for him to fondle at any given time.
No one in the team is immune. Aofie has never been able to throw a single one of her many, many water bottles out and Oli is a keen collector of saddles.
It isn’t just new, shiny things that infiltrate our storage spaces en masse and we’re often left questioning why we have a box full of chain offcuts and a zillion burst inner tubes languishing in a cupboard, solemnly waiting to be repaired.
Outdated tech is also bound to be found in musty sheds and the excuses for holding on to this obsolete guff usually follow one of two paths. Hoarders either fear that they may inadvertently throw out an exceedingly precious piece of retro kit or worry that it's maybe worth keeping that roller cam brake even though it's useless… just in case. Maybe you could use that old Cat Eye computer as an egg timer?
If you fall foul of the aforementioned habits, you can rest easy knowing that you almost certainly haven't quite reached the intervention-prompting heights of the legendary Disraeli Gears — arguably the most extensive collection of rear derailleurs out there.
What are you guilty of unnecessarily keeping or collecting? How do you justify your shockingly unnecessary accumulations of rubbish? Or what is the unsung bike part that you refuse to get rid of simply because it’s just so darn pretty? Let us know below.
