Does Ridley’s new Grifn all-road bike really put an end to N+1?

To answer the question posed; no. Couldn’t do a bmx race on it.

To be N+0 it also has to have a decent commuter capability. Good mudguard attchment and clearance, pannier rack mounts, and a pedelec option as a minimum.

I'll stick to my stable of 3 for now. GT Grade Carbon Elite for gravel days, GT eGrade Bolt for commutes, and Specialized Crux Sport E5 on the turbo trainer and for dicking about in the summer.

The bike looks nice but there is less clearance between seat stay and tyre than on my time trial frame! It looks more suitabe for the road. And as commented previously, a clamp on front derailleur? One would normally find them on cheap steel framed bikes and certainly not on a carbon frame.

With a total of 7 bikes, I feel that I may just have enough? My most used and most useful started life as a Dawes Galaxy but now has a Spa Cycles titanium touring frame as my legs broke the old frame! The rest I use for fun/exercise. I even have 2 spare carbon frames just in case. If I'm not careful, they may end up as an additonal couple of bikes one day!

What happens if someone steals it? It presumably becomes a "Nicked Grifn". Try reporting that to the Met Police, and you may get a funny handshake.

Plus I thought band-on front derailleur hangers on carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic bikes were a mistake the industry had learnt to avoid.

I have an X-Trail and it covers quite a few bases, but could be better as it lacks rack mounts.

But the idea of one bike just doesn't work, as I found when the OEM freehub died and I waited weeks for parts. I bought a spare wheel, but realised that what I really wanted was another bike, so that if ever I have a problem, something else can be pressed into service even if not ideal for it.

Even this gravel and road idea with different wheels isn't great. My X-Trail is configured for winter and commuting. To go gravel riding, I need to own a second set of wheels, tyres and cassette. Then the mudguards get in the way and the chain may be the wrong length for the different gearing. I just can't see how you can cover both winter road and gravel easily with one bike.

It might have clearance for tyres, but that gravel set up has zero clearance for wet conditions.  I did a climb in the week that started with crossing a gently sloping field before it went into the woods and proper steep.  By the time I got across the field, there was so much mud and leaf litter clogging EVERY part below my butt, it must have weighed another 5kg.  

Sorry, it may sound boring, but a "do everything" bike would have to also be capable of commuting in all weathers, for me, so mudguard clearance would be critical. Nope from me

My bicycle as it has evolved is similar to that, albeit much heavier and lazier.

I have tried in past times an extra vintage road bike (horrible experience), a single speed (amazing to look but one size smaller and me being lazy) and an MTB (too much dirt cleaning, much less speed) that were bought all used and all sold a few months ago. Their main problem was that for a predominantly commuter like me with occasional touring, they required too much time and space while if you focus on a single bike, you can better fine tune it.

So is this Ridley the N+1 killer? With 40mm clearance and carbon frame and fork that need hopes and prayers after each fall, definitely not for me.

Whilst that's clearly a very versatile bike, the N+1 'rule' can never and will never be made obsolete. There are just too many variables. Whilst this bike (and the many others very like it) could be all the bike that many people will ever need, for others there are such a wide range of uses that one bike could never cover them all. If your hobbies or lifestyle are varied enough, you might need a folding commuter, a cargo bike, a road race bike, a CX/Gravel bike, a downhill MTB, an XC/Trail MTB, even maybe an eBike or two. I currently have three (road, trail MTB & CX/commuter) and if I could afford it (sadly I can't!) I would still find a use for more, particularly an eBike for commuting.

One comment about that specific bike with those tyres fitted, it looks to have VERY limited tyre clearance between the tyre and seat tube.

990g unpainted frame weight (size medium) - quoted twice in this article but no painted frame weight, because can you buy it unpainted? 

no built up weights

Please do your readers a favour and give some buyer insight rather than copy paste

I am actually on the cusp of committing blasphemy in that I am planning to reduce my 3 bike stable to 2. I have my summer bike (a restored 2008 Colnago with modernish Chorus groupset) and 2 others (winter bike Ribble Audax and first "proper" bike Kona KonaKona which never gets ridden). No 2 and 3 are being sold to be replaced by a fast gravel/ allroad commuter (using a Ragley Trig frame) which will be panniers and racks in the summer, mudguards in the winter and 30-35mm tyres.

Alternatively buy a rim-braked CX bike and two wheelsets for a few hundred quid and have all the fun and 'adventure' of this overpriced tat. 
 

Dear oh dear. 

Don't understand why brands quote the unpainted frame weight, given that Ridley doesn't seem to be selling it unpainted. If you follow some of the custom painters (e.g. Fat Creations) then the factory paint jobs they strip off often weigh hundreds of grams, so add significant percentage to that unpainted weight (particularly when brands over-paint this year's colours on last year's unsold stock).         

This looks great. At the start of the year I built a bike of similar concept for myself and I've loved riding it. It has 40mm tyre clearance so I've been able to swap in knobbly tyres for gravel events although I've mainly run 34mm Pro One road rubber. I think the one bike concept is valid especially with a second pair of wheels. That said... I have more than one bike. Well why wouldn't you?!

GRX on a bike that can barely take 40 mm tyres? Seems pretty pointless.

Nope, the Domane did that a couple of years ago. And it's more versatile than this in terms of tyre clearance.

The trouble is you end up with N+2 wheels as you want different tyres on different days.

If it puts an end to N+1, why are Ridley still selling no fewer than 15 other models? 

That's a very silly question!  Nice as this may be, it's not a cargo bike, a folder, a tandem, ....  We all still need more than three bikes , including at least 2 kinds of cargo bike:)!