purist cyclists

[davefb]

Not just cyclists, seems to be anyone on an internet forum!!!!

this is very very tame to some forums i've been on, to cut to the chase..something like..

'you BLANK BLANK BLANK your mum is BLANK BLANK BLANK, obviously the nvidia gt220 is at least 3% faster than the ATI hd8450, what sort of BLANK thinks otherwise'

for about 15 pages...

however, i feel a lot of why it is like this is summed up by..

http://xkcd.com/386/

 

[snorri]

Crikey! i wasnt expecting all that

I don't think anyone was, but there had been a few similar posts just before you joined us, but yours was the one that broke the camels back.

Good to see you are still with us, I was beginning to think you had taken fright, bought a motor bike, and roared off as far as you could go!
.

 

[Jaguar]

roadies on their expensive ...bikes kitted out in racing gear, who look down at me on my heavy hybrid. I take great pleasure in burning them off

Me too (but it doesn't happen often) ...http://www.youtube.com/user/galaxytourer1#p/c/67FD3C330BF97ACA/25/aEvdWJzjcCM

 

[youngoldbloke]

You can play football wearing jeans, Teeshirt and trainers; run, wearing boots and cargo pants; play tennis using a cheap racquet from Argos - and you may be brilliant, world beating - that's fine, but you may get more pleasure wearing more appropriate clothing, and better equipment; and your performance may improve - isn't that fine too? - so isn't the 'I ride a £49.99 BSO wearing jeans and a hoodie and I'm as fast as anyone wearing poncy lycra that doesn't wave at me' just a kind of snobbery too?

 

[the_bing]

i ride a 1999 spesh rockhopper, 100mm front forks and conti slicks fitted. my mate rides a 2010 trek madone 5.3 dripping with carbon (and very nice it is too). i still kick his arse on hills (mwa haha) but we're both paid-up members of the 'Hello!' club; we say hi to anyone else on a bike (and sometimes horse people too!) we pass on the road, lycra roadies, old dudes and dudettes, dads with kids learning etc. etc.

i find 'proper' cyclists are just pleased to see other bike users, no matter their steed or apparel. i know i am.

go out and be free.

 

[jimboalee]

You can play football wearing jeans, Teeshirt and trainers; run, wearing boots and cargo pants; play tennis using a cheap racquet from Argos - and you may be brilliant, world beating - that's fine, but you may get more pleasure wearing more appropriate clothing, and better equipment; and your performance may improve - isn't that fine too? - so isn't the 'I ride a £49.99 BSO wearing jeans and a hoodie and I'm as fast as anyone wearing poncy lycra that doesn't wave at me' just a kind of snobbery too?

Inverse snobbery.

Let them look, let them pass you with a sneery 'mornin' and then you rip past them with a loud gusty "MORNIN" and disapear off in the distance.

The cycling equivelant of the 'Aunt Sally'.

 

[youngoldbloke]

To get back to the OP ...... just been looking at OREC official rules of the euro cyclist on Facebook here's rule 23:

23. One shall NEVER, under any circumstances, acknowledge the presence of a cyclist riding a bike costing less than 2000€ in ANY public place. This may be severely detrimental to one’s image. If such a situation cannot be helped, it is CRITICAL that the Euro Cyclist regard his “acquaintance” with a patrician mixture of disdain and SEVERE condescension.

- maybe thats your answer - there are over 13000 members after all

 

[lpjr]

i ride a 1999 spesh rockhopper, 100mm front forks and conti slicks fitted. my mate rides a 2010 trek madone 5.3 dripping with carbon (and very nice it is too). i still kick his arse on hills (mwa haha) but we're both paid-up members of the 'Hello!' club; we say hi to anyone else on a bike (and sometimes horse people too!) we pass on the road, lycra roadies, old dudes and dudettes, dads with kids learning etc. etc.

i find 'proper' cyclists are just pleased to see other bike users, no matter their steed or apparel. i know i am.

go out and be free.

Good answer. Agree with you completely. But just to out do you on your bike I have the 98 Rockhopper and it has still got the original brake blocks on. But I have to admit stopping on steep hills has become a serious issue. Chain is a bit slack and gears do not run true. But other than that what a great bike.

 

[gavintc]

On the club run this morning, there was a wide range of bikes, from repainted old steel frames with cheap wheels to high end machines. No one commented on either and we rode at a good pace. Personally, I was quite impressed that the young lad on the cheap steel framed bike acquitted himself well and was there for all the sprints and increased pace.

 

[jimboalee]

To get back to the OP ...... just been looking at OREC official rules of the euro cyclist on Facebook here's rule 23:

23. One shall NEVER, under any circumstances, acknowledge the presence of a cyclist riding a bike costing less than 2000€ in ANY public place. This may be severely detrimental to one’s image. If such a situation cannot be helped, it is CRITICAL that the Euro Cyclist regard his “acquaintance” with a patrician mixture of disdain and SEVERE condescension.

- maybe thats your answer - there are over 13000 members after all

Another reason why UK shouldn't be part of the EU.

Some British of lower than expected intelligence get sucked into the 'Euro' bad manners way of thinking.

 

[bigsean]

I don't think anyone was, but there had been a few similar posts just before you joined us, but yours was the one that broke the camels back.

Good to see you are still with us, I was beginning to think you had taken fright, bought a motor bike, and roared off as far as you could go!
.

No I'm still here, and here to stay enjoying my bike (even though i return from every ride drenched in sweat and aching all over)
Anyway, motorbikes scare the crap outta me......i'll stick to pedal power thanks

 

[Firestorm]

Anyway, motorbikes scare the crap outta me......i'll stick to pedal power thanks

It works the otherway too, I picked my bike (30 yr old Pug) up from having a service and rode it for the first time in close to 20 years on Saturday, i also have two 1000 cc motorbikes and the Pug scared me more than the big bikes !!

There is also this nodding culture amongst motorcyclists , but the differences are well defined.

Harley riders only nod at other Harleys
No one nods at scooters

Although a number of the "Sunday" bikers, all matching leathers helmets and bikes tend to nod only at their own kind and look down their noses at older or smaller bikes.

 

[jimboalee]

Being ignored or looked at indignantly by another cyclist is one thing.

Being filmed and then criticised on Youtube is another.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

No one ever acknowledges my existence when I'm on my Strida

 

[jimboalee]

No one ever acknowledges my existence when I'm on my Strida

Paint it pink and put streamer tassles in the handlebars.

"What are you looking at me for, you nosey c**t? D'ya want a smack in the teeth?"