baron von trail 

We're Americans. We don't need to know no stink'n second languages.

smittie61984

Hahahahaaahahaha. That's funny right there I don't care who you are.

Who cares what people wear? I see people spend $200 on a sweater that says "The North Face" despite that person will never see the northern face of Mt. Everest and that $200 sweater they bought couldn't protect them from hypothermia in 50degree weather. But it makes them happy so yay for them.

Now in my case, I'm so slow that people are forced to look at me for extended periods of time. Which is why I need good looking gear and a good looking bicycle. Gotta give people something decent to look at. Plus my fat butt has plenty of room for advertising space if anyone is interested. I like Pearl Izumi.

sd_mike

Odd, was talking about what one wears, not the ride. My opinion of the frame is that it has too much branding on it. One big brand name would be sufficient. Does my car have TOYOTA in big letters all over it? No. Either way, not really the point is it. The original beef was the cyclists in race kit that don't race, aren't sponsored, yet pretend they are in a race. If cars were covered in logos like that Specialized frame, they would look rather ugly. Wear whatever you want, I just don't wear ad covered cycling gear if for no other reason than I've found better gear cheaper.

joejack951

In what way(s) other than in your imagination?

caloso

How do you know they don't race? Do you pull them over and ask to see their USAC license?

sd_mike

So, every other cyclist I see out there in fully ad covered gear races? Must be more popular than I would have thought. No, I don't ask. Some probably do race. However, go to a local bike shop. Notice the gear, mostly ad covered jerseys that are quite expensive. Commercialism seems to have quite the grip on cycling. Sad. But hey, seems like it is in most everything else.

UnsafeAlpine

Do you walk by the sports store in the mall and think the same thing? Do you look at someone wearing a local university shirt and think about commercialism?

apricissimus 

I think you should stop each cyclist wearing logos and such and ask them if they race. If they say that they do not, chastise them. Be sure to use appropriately stern language. I'm sure they will appreciate knowing that other people are bothered by what they wear.

joejack951

Actually, no. I'd bet less than 10% of the jerseys at any of my LBS's are "pro" style jerseys with advertisements other than the manufacturer. I'd make the same bet about most any online bike store. The most expensive jerseys on the market (Assos) have zero advertisements on them.

baron von trail 

Logos: There is one dude who has really earned the right to wear logos. He is a Ukrainian posting on the "1000 mile month" thread over in the long distance cycling forum. This guy has got it going on. He can wear any logo he wants.

smittie61984

But what if it's a sports car like a Honda S2000, Nissan 350z, Chevrolet Corvette, etc that had race style graphics or stickers on it?

I ride motorcycles and this right here is one of my favorite motorcycles. It's a Honda CBR1000 Repsol edition. There is no mechanical difference between the "Repsol" edition and a normal CBR1000 but I love the way it looks.


And I do ride my sportbike aggresivly in the mountains. It doesn't mean that I think because I have what I consider a cool looking bike and matching gear that I am a Valentino Rossi dragging knees through corners...


Oh yeah. I ride a Trek "Discovery Edition". I got it used for $400. Does that make me a Lance wannabe?

apricissimus 

BF member 10 Wheels has similarly prodigious mileage totals. I haven't seen an update recently, but I think he's well over 1000 miles per month so far in 2009,

baron von trail 

That's not a bike.
This --- is a bike:

It'll get the ugliest of men the hottest babes; that other thing will just get you killed.

Fissile

HD riders, the third in the triumvirate of poseurs, along with Hummer drivers, and Lance wannabes.

baron von trail 

Mostly I see meth-heads with greasey, balding hair and fat bellies that somehow manage to get hot babes, half theire age, sitting on their tail. A few have jobs, but most of the ones I come in contact with work off-the-books and live with the pack in some run down shack.

Occasionally there are the three-piece suit-wearing posers, who ride on weekends. But, for the most part, here in the Midwest and further west, HD riders are for real, and pretty hardcore. I wouldn't F with them.

Fissile

Never having been to the Midwest, I'll take your word for it. Around here, HD's are the favorite ride of lawyers, accountants, orthodontists and cops. The cops even have their own "hardcore gang" they call the "Blue Angles" or some such crap. I hope they all end up with the mother of all road rashes.

baron von trail 

Out in Cali, I hear HD riders eat cops for lunch.

We have an "HD Hangout/crash pad" a few miles from where I live. I have...er, gotten lost there a few times back in the day. The only time they come in contact with lawyers is when they get raided. Most never heard of orthodontists (or dentists, for that matter), would never go to an accountant or even use a bank because a hole in the wall will easily suffice. Almost all of them are bat-schtit crazy.

lukasz

The biggest change I've seen has occurred in the past two weeks. I've noticed a rash of riders who choose to track stand at lights, mostly on dork-a-licious fixed gears (I did see one dude in team kit doing it). Maybe these are the fair-weather cyclists that have not seen the road all winter and have forgotten some manners or are just really eager to assert themselves now that it is warm.

Not that track standing at lights is aggressive but it is kind of a pompous show (I find it funny that people think it is some kind of great skill when you can easily pull it off on a geared bike) since it is completely unnecessary, and I don't think I saw a single person do it all winter.

UnsafeAlpine

I do it all the time. I do it because I enjoy the balance it requires and it's fun to be able to feel the bike move both forward and backward because of my leg movements.

I have yet to do it when it's 5 degrees and snowy, though. At that point, I just don't care.

cudak888 

Great - now someone has a beef with trackstanding.

Its difficult to believe that any of you care one bit about other cyclists in any positive light.

-Kurt

baron von trail 

We like other cyclists just fine. It's only the show-offs that so many of us find annoying. You gotta admit, riding bicycles does bring out both the best and the worst in people.

aMull

Are you for real? Trackstanding is a fun thing to do while you wait for a light, you also don't need to unclip, plus you get going faster. Too bad you can't do it though

apricissimus 

I often take the long way home rather than the most direct route. I know that it is completely unnecessary, so I'll stop having fun on my bike forthwith.

caloso

Trackstanding is completely necessary to extend the life of my left cleat.

CB HI

Reaching a new low, raging on cyclist that track stand.