Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - messenger couture (longish)

yesterday, three interesting things (to me at least) happened inside of a half hour...

first, i passed a bike messenger on my commute home. he looked too cool for words, on a track bike that was as beautiful and self-assured as he was. he was so fluid; like poetry in motion. i couldn't help but smile. as i nodded in appreciation, he with his furrowed brow rolled his eyes and turned his head up and away in a look of seeming disgust as we passed each other on the two way street.

not five minutes after that, on my way to a grocery store, i spotted two very attractive young humans riding their bikes in the same general direction... it was a guy and a girl on two of most beautiful looking track bikes i've ever seen (one looked like a circle A and the other like an old benotto). everything about their bikes was top-of the-line and the riders were equally invested: very skinny, attractive faces, strategically placed tattoos, punky attire, cool messy hair. outside of the the grocery store, there were bike posts. we kind of arrived at the same time. so visually pleased by this sight i was ready to interact with them. their faces seemed closed and uninviting to me. they spent about 15 minutes trying to figure out how to lock their bikes together, but to no avail because i went in, did my shopping and came out to find them there again exactly where i had left them, only now in a quandry about which top tube would get dinged if they locked-up a particular way. finally, they abandoned their project and hit the old dusty trail.

in my own departure, not three blocks from where i had been, a car sped up behind me, slowed down, sped up again, and rode along my left side. i glanced over at the driver as he edged his vehicle even closer to me... disoriented, i was being pushed towards the curb. my wheels scraped along where the curb and street met, and front wheel lodged itself into the drain. i was thrown to the ground. laughter was heard, then an engine rev as the vehicle sped off. could have been worse. fork bent, front wheel out of true, damaged drop bars and a few scrathes.

and i ask, does $250 sound pricey for a "messenger" bag?

um. what.

Where's that bunny with the pancake on his head?

Enjoy

... so basically you were snubbed by "cool" messengers at a grocery and later got hit by car.

Sucks to be you, man!

Just kidding. Hope you're okay. Be careful.

Were you in Brooklyn, going to the Co-Op? That seems to be a general attitude around these parts. Sorry about the run in with the car. My friend was clipped with a side view mirror the other day, in Williamsburg. He ended up with a broken hand (4th and 5th metacarpals).

stoopid drivers!!

-m

The other day I was doing a run in downtown Philly riding along market street. I ride a bit of a beater converted fixie and I'm a pretty conservative rider as I am a bit paranoid of getting hit( no medical insurance, etc). I was in the far right lane and at an intersection when a cab to my left started to turn in. I had slowed down to let the cab go when out of nowhere this other messenger on a totally hot bike and looking too cool for school(yeah that's right I said it) blew past me nearly taking me out and WHAM! right into the side of the cab, which then also nearly took me out. I looked back and asked if the guy was OK but he just looked confused and picked up his bike.
I'm not sure what the moral of my story is but maybe being a bad ass messenger on your hot new track bike isnt so awesome when you are too busy looking cool.

Too bad about the crash. I don't think going messenger will make you invincible.

RFM

Where's that bunny with the pancake on his head?

Enjoy

*snif* i miss oolong....

... so basically you were snubbed by "cool" messengers at a grocery and later got hit by car.

Sucks to be you, man!

Just kidding. Hope you're okay. Be careful.

the car didn't hit me.

Sucks to be you, man!

Just kidding.

oooooolong long gone what does this mean?

you shoulda somehow done some damage to the car before he ran you off the road...

that's nice.

There he is....


http://gallery.consumerreview.com/webcrossing/images/ihavenoidea.jpg

best picture EVER.
seriously

here's the wikipedia entry for him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oolong_(rabbit)

and here are a ton more pics http://www.fsinet.or.jp/~sokaisha/rabbit/rabbit.htm

http://kyle.lbsites.com/My%20Pictures/HAPPY%20BUNNY/Happy%20bunny.jpg

Here’s my take, this coming from an average fixie rider who is in the military, rides CM,.. but doesn’t really fit into any or even part of said subcultures.

Messengers work hard. Well most of them anyway. They are tight nit, mostly. You are, an outsider. You may have caught someone on a bad day. Some messenger’s may feel that anyone outside of their community is.. an outsider. They may be a bit stand offish. Just as you, or I am when someone we are unfamiliar with attempts to come up and make friends. I’m a bit wary of people naturally, and have to work at being friendly/responsive. I don’t always wave to a fellow cyclist. I’ll stop and help change a tire, been known to interfere in bike vs. car altercations. But generally, it’s me and destination. Is the messenger snubbing you in particular? Does he know you? Perhaps not. If he knew you would he talk to you, hang out? Perhaps not.

Riding a fixie doesn’t entitle you automatically to being cool with others.

Niether does having some specific bag.

My limited experience with couriers is that they are friendly; work hard, party hard. They did talk to me and were pretty cool. But I’m not doing the miles with them, and if I don’t share the same day to day experience (aside from playing in traffic for fun or as part of a commute), I don’t share that much in common. So, it’s a bit hard to bridge that gap.

You didn’t get a wave. Deal with it. Not that big of an issue.

Now, about the girls: you seem to snob it up on them too.. did you offer to help? Nope. So you’re just about the same boat as dude above.

Double standard.

Now about the car…. As they say, perhaps violence begets more of the same. Or not. But learn to ride and deal with those who will do wrong, in the manner fit to your personality, moral standard, and laws of local state in mind.

Did you drop your pie when you went down?
Tell me you didn't drop the pie!!!

Enjoy

i havnt experienced messengers up their own arses. but then our city isnt big enough to form large sub cultures, so messengers mix with the rest of society.
seems it only happens in places with large bike orientated cultures, and big bike scenes.
it does suck, anyone on a bike is fukin wicked in my book, and noone should look down on anyone.
(the only cyclists who annoy me are the liberals who dont want to run red lights at critical mass, god thats annoying)

i havnt experienced messengers up their own arses.

i WISH i hadnt written that....urgh

I dont know why but that bunny with the pancake on his head is still cracking me up like 5 minutes later.
wtf

i WISH i hadnt written that....urgh

There's this handy little 'Edit' link in posts you have written....

You can even delete them!

Ain't technology great?

I dont know why but that bunny with the pancake on his head is still cracking me up like 5 minutes later.
wtf

he was cracking up segments of teh internets for a long time...

I must of missed that...but then this is the first time ive had regular internet in over a year.
way to go bunny

messenger dissed you
saw two hotties with a lock
mean car broke your bike

Enjoy

I must of missed that...but then this is the first time ive had regular internet in over a year.
way to go bunny

sad to say he died a little over 2 years ago, there are some REALLY sad pics of his final moments here http://sokaisha.hp.infoseek.co.jp/030108/030108.htm

Yea, I think death is least funny when it happens to bunnies.
Oddly enough "Lapin aux Olives Vertes" is one of my favorite dishes.
You're nobody till somebunny loves you.

Enjoy

When I messengered, I didn't start hanging out with messengers for like two years. By then everybody else had seen me a million times and thus I was familiar. But not familiar enough to breed contempt. Eagerness feels kind of insecure and clingy, and tends to push people away, I think. It is like John Faverau's (sp?) character in Swingers, who called that gal like five times within 1 hour of meeting her, and she called him back to tell him never to call her again.

Messengers are like other people, no? Some are friendly and interested in meeting new people. Some are insular, introverted or whatever. We have good days and bad days. Sometimes the bad days are very, very bad.

There is one messenger I've been seeing on the street for almost 15 years. We know each other by face. But the only interaction I ever had with him was when he was trying to rush me so he could lock up to the place I was unlocking from. He shoved me. That was about it. Do I think he is a jerk, no. Does that mean all messengers are pushy and in a hurry all the time, no. So try to avoid blanket generalizations. Not everybody in the world wants to be your friend, and especially if you only want to know somebody becuase of the category they fit into, that is kind of shallow, eh?

Guess it is time to learn to Bunny Hop your track bike, ha ha!

Wahhhh!!

http://sokaisha.hp.infoseek.co.jp/030108/haka.jpg

dude....?!?

He shoved me.

Did you drop your pie?

Enjoy

No, but I probably lost something. I think it was my legendary cool. But I found it later thanks to my radio network of messenger friends.

as much as i loved loved loved the bunny picture, lemme say a couple things i've observed with regards to messengers (specifically LA ones)... please know that i'm not trying to speak for all messengers and all cities. this is just what i have seen and concluded.

i lived in the same house as a messenger for a long time (we just moved out) and at first he was super-stand-off-ish and didn't want to let me in on his world. eventually we became really close and here's a synopsis of the way he's explained the whole messenger thing to me (of course this is just one person's opinion told second-hand, like i said before):

being a messenger is ridiculously hard, even though most messengers do it for love of it. they are often treated like vagrants or thieves (almost every day he'd have another story of some secretary who wouldn't let him in or a security guard giving him sh1t). their job is all about respect and maintaining that respect. fortunately for my friend, he was a hellofa good cyclist, and was regarded highly by his peers and his boss. but there is definitely a hierarchy, and slower messengers will get left in the figurative dust by the faster, more daring ones. things can get really messy, especially with some messengers' relationships to dispatchers being stronger than others, etc. lastly, their job is dangerous, which makes them stick together much like a team climbing mount everest would. the messenger community is one of the most tight-knit i have observed, even across city lines.

about the whole "i'm too cool for you because i'm a messenger"--i definitely think there are those who really believe that (as in any group). however, upon becoming close to the one particular messenger and hanging with his messenger friends, it became almost a joke to me that--it seems as if most of them want other people (esp. other cyclists) to think that they're really bas-a$$ just cuz it's funny. another messenger (who's regarded as really hard-core and nutty) put it this way... (*in an intentionally affected, rough voice*): "yeah man. i'm a messenger. i ride brakeless and i'm afraid of emotional commitment because i might die at any second." then he started laughing because we both knew that that's how most people perceive him. he thinks it's hilarious, and he'd rather keep that aura of mystery and toughness then not.

sorry for the long post--but basically just wanna say... yeah, there are those truly annoying peeps who will make you feel like trash because of their own insecurity. but in my experience, messengers have that facade of steel because it's the norm, it's sort of expected of them. but in reality most of them are super-chill and think it's funny that they are regarded i such a way. i am a brand-new fixed gear rider and i've had more than a few messengers give me tips and talk with me for extended periods about gear ratios and such.

(*sigh*) i love messengers. :D

i spotted two very attractive young humans riding their bikes in the same general direction... it was a guy and a girl on two of most beautiful looking track bikes i've ever seen

Just a clearin up thing...some oyall seem to think it was two chicks, but appears to be one rider of each gender.

Not significant though I suppose.

being a messenger is ridiculously hard, even though most messengers do it for love of it. they are often treated like vagrants or thieves (almost every day he'd have another story of some secretary who wouldn't let him in or a security guard giving him sh1t). their job is all about respect and maintaining that respect. etc...etc...

Same can be said of strippers

Enjoy

another messenger (who's regarded as really hard-core and nutty) put it this way... (*in an intentionally affected, rough voice*): "yeah man. i'm a messenger. i ride brakeless and i'm afraid of emotional commitment because i might die at any second."

gold.

groupies!

http://sokaisha.hp.infoseek.co.jp/030108/haka.jpg

dude....?!?

i THINK they're carrots...

here's a good read -- mike dee's essay about 'track bikes on his newish blog:
http://courierdispatch.blogspot.com/2005/04/track-bike.html

here's a good read -- mike dee's essay about 'track bikes on his newish blog:
http://courierdispatch.blogspot.com/2005/04/track-bike.html

ok, why is it that all the "cool" looking messengers, always give me the hairy eye when they spot my cheap 80's road conversion, but every morning on my commute in from brooklyn to midtown i always have a friendly chat with the "other" messengers - the ones with the purple bags covered in stains, the dudes with the rubber bands around their pants, the ones who ride slow on bikes creakier than a 40 year old ball players knees. is it insecurity, do they hate themselves, what gives? its just a bike.

some ppl think disdain the type of ppl go out & waste a bunch of $ buying a true track frame (and hence, know nothing about bikes) vs. building up a fixie yourself from some frame they dug out of the back of their LBS for zilch (and hence, know all). it's one camp against another.

By the way, No one is impressed with road bikes with a fixed wheel jammed on the back. It might be a good idea for a beginner to slap together and see if they like riding fixed before they go out and spend a lot of money, but don’t expect anything but snickers from any true disciple. Even if you go to one of the little track bike boutiques that have been popping up and get a real bike, don’t try to race me over the bridge or in traffic, because you ain’t gonna beat me. You might even get yourself killed by an SUV..

what a prick.

in my own departure, not three blocks from where i had been, a car sped up behind me, slowed down, sped up again, and rode along my left side. i glanced over at the driver as he edged his vehicle even closer to me... disoriented, i was being pushed towards the curb. my wheels scraped along where the curb and street met, and front wheel lodged itself into the drain. i was thrown to the ground. laughter was heard, then an engine rev as the vehicle sped off. could have been worse. fork bent, front wheel out of true, damaged drop bars and a few scrathes.



My recommendation to deal with game playing cars- TAKE THE LANE. I'll do a quick nod to let the car know that I know he/she is there, but that bastard will have to hit me before I hit the curb... and as soon as he makes contact with me, it is HIS/HER responsibility. You are no less likely to be run over if you yield and they pinch you into the curb and you fall into traffic.
:eek:

You know, sometimes I think that the fixie messenger kids don't know the truth. I am sure that some of them do know the truth but choose to avoid it on principle (and that's cool). But now I'm thinking that there are a large number that don't know the truth.


The truth:

One can ride faster, much more efficiently, and much more safely on a road bike with gears and brakes.

You know, sometimes I think that the fixie messenger kids don't know the truth. I am sure that some of them do know the truth but choose to avoid it on principle (and that's cool). But now I'm thinking that there are a large number that don't know the truth.


The truth:

One can ride faster, much more efficiently, and much more safely on a road bike with gears and brakes.

Yeah, but then you have to know how to maintain gears and brakes.

You know, sometimes I think that the fixie messenger kids don't know the truth. I am sure that some of them do know the truth but choose to avoid it on principle (and that's cool). But now I'm thinking that there are a large number that don't know the truth.


The truth:

One can ride faster, much more efficiently, and much more safely on a road bike with gears and brakes.
:eek:

The truth:

One can ride faster, much more efficiently, and much more safely on a road bike with gears and brakes.

Take your road bike to the track and test your theory.

A fxied gear is just a specific tool for a specific job.

Take your road bike off road...

Take your road bike to a time trial...

here's a good read -- mike dee's essay about 'track bikes on his newish blog:
http://courierdispatch.blogspot.com/2005/04/track-bike.html

Mike Dee seems like a bit of a ****. Is he about 20 or so?

But what I don't understand is why would you expect strangers to want to talk to you? Do you go up to people on the street and look at them meaningfully and then feel snubbed when they look away? I HATE talking to people I don't know. It isn't because I'm cool, I can assure you -- I'm 32 + beer gut + 2 year old kid + systems analyst. Not cool. It just seems very junior high school to me to misunderstand people's being introspective and focused (I sure am on my bike) for being somehow a slight on you. It has nothing to do with you... these people don't know who you are and they don't care. I mean I guess I can understand certain circumstances where people are social the way you seem to want them to be: long distance hiking, the winnebago scene, things like that, but in a city most people prefer to mind their business and fo you to mind yours.

In 1984 the track bike gained a special place in the hearts of all NYC bike messengers when one of their own took a silver medal in the 200meter sprint at the Los Angeles Olympics. It was Nelson Vales who showed the world what one dedicated messenger and his bicycle could do.

"Vails", assphlegm.

It's "Vails".

Insecure mother****er can't comprehend that maybe some folks just found out how much fun this sport/hobby/means of staying in shape can be. He ought to thank whatever deity he worships that he lives in a place where people can just grow up riding fixed like the rest of us grew up riding geared bikes.

It's not like anyone really wants to emulate messengers. I just want to ride, and I appreciate nice bikes- geared, fixed, singlespeed, whatever.

250 isn't bad for a messenger bag...




i kid. that's a lot of cash. unless it has lots of stash pockets. get some nice bike parts instead! and keep it in its packaging -- it keeps its value better that way.

i agree with a lot of people's comments on meeting new people. i'll be friendly sometimes, surly others and it'll all depend on how hard my day was. most of the time in the mornings i'm stupid tired and slightly late for work, and when i'm heading back i'm stupid tired from work and want to take it easy. i'll admit i'm a bit more friendly to gals than guys, but if you've got an interesting bike i'll probably try to talk bikes anyway. i bug my non-biking friends talking about bikes all the time, so...

it's interesting the striations and subgeni of different cycle cultures and how people want to fit in with one or another. i'm in new york, thinking about ***** like not trying to get run down and whether or not the guy i'm closing in on is gonna act erratic; if i have the spare cycles i might say hello but if i don't it's not a snub. take it easy and have fun.