Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - etiquette, and what not.

ok, so I have had a few awkward moments with fellow bikers. the other day i was treking up the williamsburg bridge and i passed a dude on a pista going pretty slow for what its worth, and i looked back and just smiled as like a "hello there fellow fixie rider"-smile, and i may be wrong, but i'm pretty sure he interpreted it as like a "ha! slow poke!"-smile, cause the next thing i know...im riding pretty fast and he is riding on my ass, normally i just let people pass, but for some reason i felt like hauling ass and "beating" him at our unproclaimed race(...btw, if you are out there on this forum, sorry i'f i came off as rude, and if you for some reason just realized you were late for something and needed to go fast)...but anyway...i normally just like smiling at and acknowledging other bikers esp. fixie riders...but i don't want to be rude or look like i'm trying to show anyone up by passing them or pulling a trackstand at a light. anyone ever run into this...found any appropriate passing etiqutte? or ..yeah...

A nod is pretty appropriate for any situation.

I usually just shove an old pump in their spokes, but only if they pass me
:p

I give the "hand still on the bar" wave.

I usually just shove and old pump in their spokes, but only if they pass they pass me
:p

hahaha! its a battlefield, everyman/woman for him/herself!

i just like to pass gas when I'm overtaking. (adding insult to injury) makes the roadies remember not to draft;)

I give the "hand still on the bar" wave.
Yeah me too.

I tend to just throw an arm up in the air and yell something ridiculous...like "way to ride a bike" or "whoooo!!!" or something to lift spirits and/or make me look like an ass...

-jason

I swerve at them and scream "No brakes! No brakes!"









And I don't even ride fixed.

...a gentle pat on the rear as you pass them generally gets their attention...maybe not so much for those racers in diaper pants...

I like the wave from the brow.

I think it could have just been that he realised he was losing his pace or something and then decided that he'd pace himself to you since you appeared to be going at a pretty good clip. I'll stay with the occaisional roadie who passes me if I'm on my geared bike.

i....don't really say anything if i'm riding my track bike.

if i'm on my roadie and i'm i'm in the hills, i tend to wave at just about everyone, and i'll say hello, or some other generic pleasantry. but try to start a conversation and i'll either drop back out of earshot, or surge ahead...mostly it's the latter.

i'm not a very social guy unless i'm working.

Stand out of the saddle, tilt the mini-brim of your skull cap, and hit em' with the full "Ciao!", coupled with a big wave. I guarantee there won't be a person who will draft you after some sh*t like that.

I always wave or at least nod to the fixies I see on the road and actually anyone on a bike in general.

I usually say either

Buon giorno
Salve
Mandi
or Ciao

Depending on which town I'm in and how old the rider/s are.

Roadies in full pro-team kits scare me- and they are considered a huge fashion faux pas even among roadies. I passed a guy mashing along (with his knees splayed out) in a full super Mario zebra kit with the matching zebra-stripe team bike and matching Mario facial hair... I think he even had the Aqua-Sapone TT booties... anyway, he started "racing" me as a good hammerhead will, then had the nerve to criticize my cadence- until I explained to him there was no shifting or coasting
:eek:

i think we all need to be more like the courier in boston who screams WOOOOOOOOOOOO (or the occasional "wheres da partay atttttttttt", usually on fridays) everytime he passes another messenger. he rides that red toys-r-bike with socks over the pedals. i'm sure you other boston guys know who i'm talking about. whenever i see him and he woos at me, i can't help but return the favor.

nuqneH?

I'd say be friendly but get used to that reaction (finding them racing you) IME it takes years sometimes for some cyclists to find that being passed is a matter of relative pace and not a critical statement on the size of their genitals. :D

i was riding home one day and this guy on a road bike started riding along side me, asking me about my fixie. turns out he has one too, etc. etc. anyway it was a friendly conversation. then we come to a pretty steep hill, and so i offer him: "well, you can go ahead on up this hill" figuring that he can just downshift and spin his way up that sucka.... but then i beat him up the hill..... oops. apparently he wasn't as strong as i thought.. i felt kinda bad, but he just said "you da man!" and rode off.

so i was going up the manhattan bridge on the way home yesterday, like i always do -- ~15 up the hill, ~25 down. i pass this guy on the crest as i'm getting up to speed. i'd been pacing myself so as not to be a jerk on coming up to him. he looked over his shoulder i'd say every 30 seconds and was wobbly as hell. when i finally overtook him i zoomed by, and i guess this was his cue to race me down the bridge.

the guy sat on my wheel.

i asked him what the hell he was doing, and he replied simply "i like to go fast." obviously not fast on the uphills, though. either that, or he likes to swerve around to take both oncoming and outgoing lanes also.

i think he's the same kind of person that doesn't let people off the train or elevators first, just pushing their way in. it still bothers me, i'm not sure why.

i think we all need to be more like the courier in boston who screams WOOOOOOOOOOOO (or the occasional "wheres da partay atttttttttt", usually on fridays) everytime he passes another messenger. he rides that red toys-r-bike with socks over the pedals. i'm sure you other boston guys know who i'm talking about. whenever i see him and he woos at me, i can't help but return the favor.

I used to see that guy all the time and I always wondered what his deal was so I asked a messenger buddy of mine. Rumor has it that he was in prison for a long time and when he got out the only job he could get was as a courier. Supposedly, the guy is just so happy to have a job that he just sings and shouts all day long. I always see people shout "Brooklyn" at him and he comes back with a "WOOOOOOO".

you talking about the guy on the big trike?

Man, where did I see him just the other day? I noticed the socks and was like, nice.

Anyhow, he can't be a courier if he was in the clink. You gots to pass a criminal background check to mess in Boston. People with a record have to be cabbies instead.

Personally, I think we all need to be like the guy who rolls around the South End and Jamaica Plain sidewalks on the adult trike hooting at the top of his lungs. Clearly he's not all there, but that dude's alright in my book!

you talking about the guy on the big trike?
No, but that guys is pretty funny too. Years ago I worked in Kenmore at Burrito Max and I would see him every day. He's got more of a Whooooaaaa, Whooooooaaa, Whoooaaa thing going on. There really is nothing funnier than seeing that guy plow through a mass of confused Red Sox fans.

You gots to pass a criminal background check to mess in Boston.

I have heard this before too but I know for a fact that people(at least one) have found a way to work around this.

yeah, you can definitely work around it if you have a criminal record.... but that's bulletman as he's known around town

I'd say be friendly but get used to that reaction (finding them racing you) IME it takes years sometimes for some cyclists to find that being passed is a matter of relative pace and not a critical statement on the size of their genitals. :D

That's a relief! People pass me all the time :D

I think we all need to be a little more like Mr. Butch, but riding a bicycle of course.

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper87/stills/8m8n7c22.jpg

For those who would like to learn a little bit more about this fine gentleman go here:http://www.postwarmedia.nl/pwpages/pwclipspages/pwclipsbutch.html

yeah, you can definitely work around it if you have a criminal record.... but that's bulletman as he's known around town

Tell me more. I passed this dude sometime last summer. He was hollerin' at me, "I know why you go so fast. You're bulletman, bulletman!"

the guy on the trike is a little less personable than the man i speak of. i actually had a conversation about "where the party was at" with him yesterday. he was a nice guy.

as far as background checks: i don't believe they did one on me when i got licensed. they didn't even check my id, i could have had any name i wanted on my license.

i absolutely love hearing "WOOOOOOOOOOOOO" coming from the other side of the semi passing me on tremont and knowing that guy is over there saying hello.

ahh, the bulletman. those socks are so gross. it was really hot at the beginning of the week, and i heard he'd decided to ride barefoot, hence, socks on the pedals. he's a complete lunatic, but it's still good to hear "AAAAAAAYOOOOOH" bouncing off the sides of buildings from blocks away.
And of course, Winnie Wednesday.

speaking of etiquette, what's the proper thing to say/do to someone you see riding their MTB the wrong way in the bike lane on mass ave with one hand on the bars and the other dialing a cellphone?

i just like to pass gas when I'm overtaking. (adding insult to injury) makes the roadies remember not to draft;)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I have done that myself :rolleyes:

speaking of etiquette, what's the proper thing to say/do to someone you see riding their MTB the wrong way in the bike lane on mass ave with one hand on the bars and the other dialing a cellphone?

wait until you're almost passing them and burst out barking like a rabid doberman.

speaking of etiquette, what's the proper thing to say/do to someone you see riding their MTB the wrong way in the bike lane on mass ave with one hand on the bars and the other dialing a cellphone?

"Hang up and drive! On the right side!"

A nod is pretty appropriate for any situation.

You can even go crazy and say something like "hello".


marty

speaking of etiquette, what's the proper thing to say/do to someone you see riding their MTB the wrong way in the bike lane on mass ave with one hand on the bars and the other dialing a cellphone?

just hit them with your lock, point at the bike lane on the other side, and say "bike lane" very forcefully...or just play chicken with them...that tends to get there attention...of course, you could always try explaining to them the safety hazards of riding with a cellphone, and why cellphones suck in general, and that they should be on the other side, but mtn bike riders are dumb (obviously, or they'be be on a road bike, at least) and they won't get it...so again...the bike lock it is..

-jason

you could always try explaining to them the safety hazards of riding with a cellphone, and why cellphones suck in general

Walking around Osaka, it was shockingly common to see salarymen, moms out shopping, or kids riding down the street, phone in hand. It got even more interesting when it started raining, then they'd all have umbrellas, too. Baka desu yo.

Admittedly, getting hit by a bicycle hurts less than getting hit by a car... So riding a bike and using a phone can't be the worst possible thing.

So riding a bike and using a phone can't be the worst possible thing.

No, that would be driving a shriner covered in pink rubber spikes backward through a shopping mall with your eyes closed while singing "I'm a little teapot" as loudly as possible and doing all the accompanying hand gestures. And talking on the phone.

but mtn bike riders are dumb (obviously, or they'be be on a road bike, at least) and they won't get it...

Tell me more about this, Mr. "Thug Murder".

Tell me more about this, Mr. "Thug Murder".

uh oh...i think I just got called out...I just meant that a dude in a bike lane (and thus in the city) should be on a road/track frame, for efficiencies sake...I rode a mtb for about a year before I realized I was wasting my time and picked up an old road bike for cheap, then spend a **** bunch on it (making it not so cheap). if you can ride a mtb in the city with no qualms, i envy you...i couldn't do it...

-jason

I often ride a mtb in the city, but I use slicks, and frequently treat the curbs and potholes like an offroad singletrack, so its nice having the extra beefiness of the mtb.

I see your point though, many people commute on mountain bikes just because they know how to ride them and think that road bikes are for lance armstrong and other 'pros'. They don't understand that the knobby tires slow their butts down, and that the upright position doesn't help them on the street. Plus their bikes are all clean and shiny, indicating that they've never actually touched mud or rain. Silly people.

peace,
sam

nuqneH?

hahahahhaha

that's usually the response I get from most people around here

I have an obnoxious amsterdam bell bolted to my bag strap. Just after I pass, i'll give a short ''ba-ding'' as a tip of the hat.