General Cycling Discussion - I hate when you say "bike" and people assume motorcycle

I'm thinking it could be mostly a U.S. problem, since cycling isn't as popular here as it is in many other countries, but perhaps they have the same problem.

Example:

(I'm in a resturaunt)

Waitress: Wow, you look like you got some sun today.
Me: Yep, I rode 80 miles on my bike, mostly hills. Forgive the silly bike shorts tan lines.
Waitress: That'll do it. Can I get you something to drink?
Me: Yeah, I'm beat. An iced tea, and lots of water. I need to rehydrate, and could you bring some bread? I'm starving.
Waitress: Will do. What kind of bike do you have?
Me: Trek OCLV
Waitress: I've never heard of that, but my brother has a Harley.
Me: That's not a bike, it's a motorcycle. Bikes have pedals.
Waitress: Oh.... OH!

Uh, why would I be tired and starving if I'd just ridden 80 miles on something with a motor?? Plus, how many motorcycle riders get "bike shorts tan lines"? How many times have you had someone assume that bike meant motorcycle? For me it's almost every time, unless of course they know me.

Uh, why would I be tired and starving if I'd just ridden 80 miles on something with a motor?? Plus, how many motorcycle riders get "bike shorts tan lines"?

Ever ridden a Harley? Ever seen what the passengers typically wear?

I like to use the term "pedal bike".

well, most bike rides of either type tend to be planned around FOOD!!! :)

I like it when, after you specify "pedal" bike, they become more interested and smile.

I like it when, after you specify "pedal" bike, they become more interested and smile.
They usually look at me like I'm some kind of freak, heh.

I once had a similar thing, except person X was just somebozo (personX) listening in on my conversation with my friend. Now mind you this was at a Tattoo Shop, and person X was waiting to get some work done. My buddy was already annoyed with the guy.
ME: "was able to fix my bike, and went riding over the weekend."
PersonX: "OH you gotta Harley?"
ME: "NO, Mountain Bike."
PersonX: "OH is that like the Motocross, or dirt, or MX bikes?"
ME: "No a MTB is a bicycle."
My buddy: "So how far did you ride?" (I could see it in my buddy's face that he wanted personX to Shut up)
ME: "ehh...about 50 miles."
PersonX: "Your crazy..." From here it was that usual response of how "if I ride that far, I'll just drive."

Being that my shop name ends with the word "Cycles", I have had to field more than a few inquiries from the public asking motorcycle questions. One day I watched 10 or so motors pull into the lot. A big dude in leather kicked his stand down, got off and came in. All the others just sat around idling and lookin cool. His first question was, "Where are all the bikes?" I looked at him like he was brain dead. He was standing next to a whole row of them.

When I finally convinced him I only sold bicycles, all he said was, "Well, you ought to change that name then". And he left. Maybe he's right. But I can't now. I had too much fun the time he came in. I look forward to another "biker" encounter.

God, did you hit the nail on the head.

It drives me nuts....I can't say "bike" without somebody thinking I mean a motorcycle. I usually say bike then quickly correct "bicycle".

"Where are all the bikes?" I looked at him like he was brain dead. He was standing next to a whole row of them.

:roflmao: :roflmao: Priceless.

The word bicycle seems not to cause confusion.

Motorcycle = motorbike = bike. Both are commonly called bikes. I do not view this as a problem, but just a need to express what I am saying better. Something similar is a physician is called a doctor, and a person with a docterate of education is also called a doctor.
View this as an opportunity to talk about your enthusiasm, rather than as a problem. I do not expect people to be able to read my mind, even though my writing appears that way sometimes.

Velocipede!!!!! When Will You People Get It Right?!


:p

My boss at my workplace knows I ride a road bike, but he refers to it as a "ten-speed." I always picture dangling thin bar tape flapping in the wind and corroding stem shifters when he says that.

Wow, you guys sure have it rough trying to explain that you ride a bike that doesn't have a motor. I just say bicycle and don't get angry. Life's too short to find hate in something so trivial.

My boss at my workplace knows I ride a road bike, but he refers to it as a "ten-speed." I always picture dangling thin bar tape flapping in the wind and corroding stem shifters when he says that.

Hey now! My 10-Speed Nishiki does not have flapping bar tape or corroding stem shifters. Just a slight ding on the top tube from the prior owner.

You know, I know how you feel. Heck, on Tuesdays, when I stop by the local diner to grab take out, the lady there always asks me how far I went on my road bike, she should know by now that Tuesdays are mountain bike days....and on Saturday, when I get back from the 60 miler to the beach, she sometimes asks me if I got dirty by the lake...and you know, that's a road bike day that we don't go by the lake. I sure wish she could get it right.

When some one askes about my "bike" I always have them clarify since I ride both bicycles and motorcycles so it does not bother me. :D

:beer:

They usually look at me like I'm some kind of freak, heh.
I get the same thing

On NPR this morning, there was a story about a "bike" convention going on in Arizona. Both my roommate (who hasn't touched her bicycle since moving it into the garage last year) and I (rabid two-wheeled commuter) had a double take when they started talking about the size (large) and age (old) of the "bikers."

As I was trying to picture what kind of bike rally this could possibly be, my roommate mentioned, "You know, when I hear the word bike, I picture a bicycle, not a motocycle." It hadn't even occurred to me that there were multiple versions of "bike" before she mentioned that.

My boss at my workplace knows I ride a road bike, but he refers to it as a "ten-speed." I always picture dangling thin bar tape flapping in the wind and corroding stem shifters when he says that.
Don't forget the exposed, dry-rotting brake cable housing leading from the tops of the levers down to the center-pull calipers. Or the extension levers on the bar tops. :roflmao:

Don't forget the exposed, dry-rotting brake cable housing leading from the tops of the levers down to the center-pull calipers. Or the extension levers on the bar tops. :roflmao:


That just described my step-brother's 1984 Murray!

When some one askes about my "bike" I always have them clarify since I ride both bicycles and motorcycles so it does not bother me. :D

:beer:

Me too! I generally specify 'pedal bike' or 'push bike'.

'Course, if I'm talking about riding on the street my cow-orkers generally know it's the bicycle (motorcycle is mostly a track thing)

Don't forget the exposed, dry-rotting brake cable housing leading from the tops of the levers down to the center-pull calipers. Or the extension levers on the bar tops. :roflmao:

All of my cable housing is in good condition. Ok, I need to replace the stock levers with the extension on the side.

Yip, happens all the time... partly because I don't like the word "bicycle". Some how to me "bicycle" sounds like a kid's toy, but "bike" sounds more serious.

I had a whole conversation with a friend about wanting to get out riding longer distances & how I'd like a road bike for that purpose. He was empathising with me & said he'd like to as well. As our conversation progressed, he eventially mentioned something about getting his son into riding as well. He said when his son is old enough, he'd like to get him a bike, but he'd probably go for an off-road type rather than a road bike.

I thought some of the comments he was making sounded a bit strange, but brushed it off (he imigrated from Holland several years ago but there's still the occasional term he's not familiar with).

It wasn't till I was home later that day that I realized he was talking about motorcycles! I thought it was odd when he commented that he didn't know I'd be interested in touring on a bike (he knows I commute to work year-round). :)

I had that happen before. In a class I overheard another student say she had a hard time finding bike gloves. I said I liked ones with thinsulate. Then when class ended we went outside, and she got on her motorcycle (parked right next to the bike rack no less). I said, "Oh, you have a big bike" and she said something along the lines of "Oh, you have a little bike." Pretty funny.

We once had a guy call the shop asking for some part for a motorcycle. I told him we are a bicycle shop and he said, "oh." Then he asked me for the number to a motorcycle shop.

I once responded to a cager b1tching about arrogant 'bikers' taking up public roads on a non-bike forum. I started out by saying "first of all, biker means motorcyclist", then went on to tell her how wrong she was. I got flamed mercilessly for that.

I've given up on most everyone in the very small rural town (<2000 pop.) I live in. I ride motorcycles and a bicycle, but nobody seems to be able to comprehend it; they just know me as the mailman.

I've been riding the only Ducati in the area for 10 years now. Every so often (but regularly), someones asks me when I got the new motorcycle. And every so often, somebody tells me that their wife/husband/sister/etc. thought they saw me riding down the street on a bicycle! Egads!

I guess they can only picture me in my postal uniform.....

When I do mention "the bike," most people do tend to think "motorcycle." It doesn't bother me at all.

Good riding,
desmobob

Man am I glad I don't have these problems...

All the time. From my wife, family, co-workers...
Two wheels are all I got, but I 've got an example of most varieties.

You know, when you go into a "resturaunt" and are probably waited on by "Mabel" or "Marge", you gotta expect that when you say "bike" they hear "Harley" (Keep in mind in a lot of "resturaunts", Japanese lookalikes are also "Harleys" even if they really are just generic cruisers). Did you try the biskits'n'gravy? And what flavor did they try to force on you in your ice-tea? Raspberry or peach? Of did you manage to get some regular iced tea out of them and the required funny look like you're a Communist?

I hate it when someone uses the term "Asian" and people assume they're only talking about someone from China, Korea, Japan, etc.. What am I - chopped liver?

http://www.answers.com/topic/asia

I get the reverse mostly, people think I'm talking bicycles when I mean MCs

You know, when you go into a "resturaunt" and are probably waited on by "Mabel" or "Marge", you gotta expect that when you say "bike" they hear "Harley" (Keep in mind in a lot of "resturaunts", Japanese lookalikes are also "Harleys" even if they really are just generic cruisers). Did you try the biskits'n'gravy? And what flavor did they try to force on you in your ice-tea? Raspberry or peach? Of did you manage to get some regular iced tea out of them and the required funny look like you're a Communist?

You know what I totally hate? When I ride my Harley-Davidson into the parking lot of some vegan "restaurant" and I walk in and immediately "Jazmin" or "Akasha" starts asking me whether I ride "fixed" or "single-speed" and whether my "bicycle" has a front brake or not. And I'm all like, "do you guys have any real food?" and they try to push some crap like broiled seitan stew on me and they keep looking at me funny like they're trying to figure out why my messenger bag looks like an Eagle Creek backpack. So I'm all like, "it's a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Mo-tor-cy-cle. It burns gasoline" and instantly I've got ten anarchists in balaclavas linking arms around me and going "Whose vegan restaurant? OUR vegan restaurant! Whose vegan restaurant? OUR vegan restaurant!" Plus, don't even get me started on trying to get any "tea" out of these people that isn't green.

OK, I don't really have a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. But I'm still pretty masculine. Ladies? Hmm?

You know, when you go into a "resturaunt" and are probably waited on by "Mabel" or "Marge", you gotta expect...
I'd rather be waited on by Mabel or Marge at the flea bag hotel then be lectured at by some smug "whatever" with no name who must think her mission in life is to post on a bicycle forum her contempt of everybody who doesn't fit into her fantasized clique, as well as her scorn of everybody else's business and lifestyle.

I just spent 5 days in the black hills and sunday in Sturgis S.D. There wasn't any question whatsoever what "bike" mean't.

http://www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com/2004pics/08_11_04/index1.html

I hate it when someone uses the term "Asian" and people assume they're only talking about someone from China, Korea, Japan, etc.. What am I - chopped liver?

http://www.answers.com/topic/asia
He He,I have a funny story about that, but thats a topic for another discussion.

I usually say "bike", 8 out of 10 times it usually followed by a clarification about which bike I'm talking about. I just don't like to say bicycle, it just sounds like a kids bike.
Heh I miss the old days of "Velociped", or "Velik". :(

I run into that same problem too.

I've starting replacing "biking" with "bicycling" to avoid the misunderstandings.

But sometimes it's funny go on and on with the conversation as they're thinking of motorcycles and I'm talking about bicycles. Then somewhere down the line they go "Oh, you mean bicycles."

You know what I totally hate? When I ride my Harley-Davidson into the parking lot of some vegan "restaurant" and I walk in and immediately "Jazmin" or "Akasha" starts asking me whether I ride "fixed" or "single-speed" and whether my "bicycle" has a front brake or not. And I'm all like, "do you guys have any real food?" and they try to push some crap like broiled seitan stew on me and they keep looking at me funny like they're trying to figure out why my messenger bag looks like an Eagle Creek backpack. So I'm all like, "it's a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Mo-tor-cy-cle. It burns gasoline" and instantly I've got ten anarchists in balaclavas linking arms around me and going "Whose vegan restaurant? OUR vegan restaurant! Whose vegan restaurant? OUR vegan restaurant!" Plus, don't even get me started on trying to get any "tea" out of these people that isn't green.


LOL!!!!!!!!! The two scenarios end to end would be great on Saturday Night Live.......

Don't forget the exposed, dry-rotting brake cable housing leading from the tops of the levers down to the center-pull calipers. Or the extension levers on the bar tops. :roflmao:

... and the rusted spokes, and those Yellow-sided tires. What's with the yellow-sided tires? Everybike, low or high-end from 10yrs + seems to have them.

LOL!!!!!!!!! The two scenarios end to end would be great on Saturday Night Live.......

Truth be told, I don't even know how to ride a motorcycle. But I'll put my comedy sketch-writing skills up against those of any hairy old biker, any time.

I'm thinking it could be mostly a U.S. problem, since cycling isn't as popular here as it is in many other countries, but perhaps they have the same problem.

Example:

(I'm in a resturaunt)

Waitress: Wow, you look like you got some sun today.
Me: Yep, I rode 80 miles on my bike, mostly hills. Forgive the silly bike shorts tan lines.
Waitress: That'll do it. Can I get you something to drink?
Me: Yeah, I'm beat. An iced tea, and lots of water. I need to rehydrate, and could you bring some bread? I'm starving.
Waitress: Will do. What kind of bike do you have?
Me: Trek OCLV
Waitress: I've never heard of that, but my brother has a Harley.
Me: That's not a bike, it's a motorcycle. Bikes have pedals.
Waitress: Oh.... OH!

Uh, why would I be tired and starving if I'd just ridden 80 miles on something with a motor?? Plus, how many motorcycle riders get "bike shorts tan lines"? How many times have you had someone assume that bike meant motorcycle? For me it's almost every time, unless of course they know me.

Because you used a generic multiple meaning word "bike" you got a generic typical response.

Continue to try and impress waitresses with your mileage but use the word "Bicycle" and there will be no misinterpretation of your statement.

I prefer to just shut up and ride ;)

Because you used a generic multiple meaning word "bike" you got a generic typical response.
Understood, but I was more wondering whether in other countries (where bicycles were more "accepted") if they assume bicycle over motorcycle for the word bike.

It doesn't matter if it's a waitress - that was just a handy example. When you get used to talking about bikes with riding partners or shop guys, it gets stuck in your vocabulary. Someone asks you what you're doing this weekend. You say "I'm going on a ride" and they assume motorcycle for that too. You say, "I need to stop at the bike shop on my way over" and they assume you're buying something for your motorcycle.

The point is that, unless you give specific context (and even when you give a little context), people assume motorcycle. Is there ever a time (or place) when people assume bicycle? Perhaps this doesn't apply in many other countries because in other languages they might not have a generic term that applies to both.



I prefer to just shut up and ride ;)
Or troll Internet threads ;)

Originally Posted by wildjim
I prefer to just shut up and ride


Or troll Internet threads ;)
That was your point in starting this thread wasn't it? You hardly needed to troll for a solution to your "hate" problem.

The solution was obvious all along - Speak clearly if you really care to be understood.

Not just a US thing.
Happens in Australia a lot too.

lolololololololol!!!!! Yeah, I hate it too. It's funny when they realize you're talking about a bicycle though, then they feel stupid and sorta stumble away :P

While I used to ride BMW's years ago today NOTHING p!sses me off more
than brain dead people who think "Bicycles" are toys and real "bikes" are
motorcycles. Let them get their smarmy a$$es out there and pedal a bit
to see that it take real human effort to propel a bicycle and any idiot
can twist a hand grip on a motorcycle to make it go. :mad: :mad: :mad:

God!! This P!sses me off!! :fight: :fight: :crash:

While I used to ride BMW's years ago today NOTHING ****** me off more
than brain dead people who think "Bicycles" are toys and real "bikes" are
motorcycles.

Yeah, I would never buy an x-mart bike, but it drives me nuts that they are always in the toy section and not the sporting goods!

Yeah, I would never buy an x-mart bike, but it drives me nuts that they are always in the toy section and not the sporting goods!
Maybe x-mart is more interested in locating their bicycle section where the people who DO BUY bicycles there expect to find them.

When I talk of riding my pedal bike I use the term cycling.

When I talk of working on my pedal bike I use the term mountain bike.

When I talk about riding or working on my motorcycle I use the term dirtbike or bike.

The only thing that pisses me off is when people who ride quads call thee sorry excuse for a motor vehicle a bike...BIKES HAVE 2 WHEELS!