Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - totally serious question that'll sure get a lot of flip remarks--but anyway. . .

seems there's always a lot of talk and mention and all about "hipsters". what do ya'll really mean when you refer to the rubric "hipster". is it kinda like justice brennan's quip about pronography--you can't definitively define it but you know one when you see one? really. and specifically what is a "hipster" vis a vis cycling? are all fixed riders hipsters per se relative to say road or mountain cyclists? what up?

can't believe ya'll are silenced! i see ya saw the question! c'mon! what ya mean by "hipster"? kind of a neal cassidy like character? or maybe maynard g. krebs? i thought everyone'd be fallin' all over themselves to answer this definitively! what up for real! let's put this question to bed. i'm going out for a li'l ride. :) :) :)

if we're gonna reduce folks to social stereotypes, we should at least be somewhat clear on the terms. ;)

can't believe ya'll are silenced! i see ya saw the question! c'mon! what ya mean by "hipster"? kind of a neal cassidy like character? or maybe maynard g. krebs? i thought everyone'd be fallin' all over themselves to answer this definitively! what up for real! let's put this question to bed. i'm going out for a li'l ride. :) :) :)

if we're gonna reduce folks to social stereotypes, we should at least be somewhat clear on the terms. ;)
Shhh!

People like it vague, so they don't implicate themselves.

aiight! i'll start. viv a vis bikin' a hipster never wears spandex "official" cycling clothes. streetwear is worn on bikes at all times. a jersey may be ok as long as it doesn't have a buncha logos and **** all over it. but NEVER are tight black cyclin' shorts worn. NEVER! :D :)

I'm reclaiming hipsterism as a form of positive, uplifting, unifying cultural expression.

I asked the same question awhile back, after being called a hipster/hearing the term thrown around repeatedly. The stock definitions seems to fall along the lines of "latter generational hippie/beatniks." It has morphed into a subculture that parodies itself unintentionally when underground cultural trends, et.al. hip-hop, trucker hats, thrift store shopping,punk ,exotic coffee connoissuers, etc. are brought to the mainstream, and lose credibility as they are co-opted by latter generational art students jaded by the empty cultural reality of upper-middle class surburbia, whom move into a re-gentrified urban city center seeking a more meaningful existence. This plan often backfires, however, as the last bastion of the arbiters of cool reject their apt pupils in favor of seeing their beloved culture re-marginalized, with the hope that it would re-emerge as an authentic expression of whichever particular message is valued.

The Village Voice published a seminal cover feature a couple of years ago titled "The Death of Hip". This article, in retrospect, did more to bring awareness of the co-opting of subcuture by the mainstream than any moden blog could, and thus emerged a sort of intellectual backlash in the independant media toward this 21st century archetype of "culture vulture" that is dubbed ' the hipster'.

MTV recently ran a series of animated shorts called " Delusional ________", which features modern stereotypical figures (the aspiring, untalented actress...the insensitive, yet innocently brutal jock,etc.). It was, of course, inevitable that the subject of 'hipster' would be lampooned. But, in lieu of any real pychological content, MTY simply offered a portrait of a young white male with an upper crust accent, wearing a too small t-shirt, a trucker cap, and a white belt. His ironic statement? "..First of all I'm not a 'hipster', and I was definitely the first to wear a white belt." The unintended irony not being present in the text, but in the fact that MTV -once the arbiter of cool, but now the prolificator of mainstream **** of authentic expression- should be self aware that any knowing hipster would recognize the patterns associated with the term (such as owning a white belt), and disassociate himself violently from it. A true hipster would proudly display his black or brown belt, painfully self aware of all the accruemonts that would strip him of street credibility.

The world of fixed gear is as fiercely protective of it's beloved secrets winding up as no more than a backdrop for an Ashlee Simpson video as the martial arts once defended it's culture from being swallowed by Hollywood after Bruce Lee introduced Gung Fu to the West. Naturally, now that the enemy has a name, we see an increase of labeling and attacks from the center, but more often from would-be hipsters themselves -ridden with guilt, shamefully self-aware, and willing to do whatever for that all important street credibility. Even if that means buying a track bike with no brakes, simaltaniously possessing very little in the way of skills.

I'm new here, but I live in a liberal college town (Austin), so I think I can confidently comment on what a hipster is as I see one every 15 seconds while on UT campus. Hipsters are indeed Maynard G. Kreps, circa 2005.

They generally wear tight pants, canvas shoes like "old school" converse, thick white belts, tight t-shirts, etc. Their favorite major is communications, and their favorite band is Stereolab.

They consider any music that has even a tangental relationship with pop to be utter crap, and seem to feel real physical pain when in proximity to such music. In short, they're music/theater/film snobs who, while uninformed about world events around them, feel the need to share their ill-concieved political viewpoints in between telling others why their taste in music/film/(bikes?) suck.

But it's really is ok, because they're just 20 year olds and they'll grow out of it. The trully sad thing is the 30+ year old hipsters.

Anybody who happens to be talking to a girl I'd like to talk to.
To quote Vanilla Ice from the movie "Cool as Ice".
"Ditch that zero and get with the hero."

http://www.catbirdseat.org/catbirdseat/bingo.jpg

At first glance it is easy, at second glance it is harder.
People wear what they wear and look like they look for different reasons, even if they all appear to fall into the same mold.

As for fixed being associated with hipsters, I think it is fairer to say hipsters associate themselves with fixed gear riding, but that there are a lot of people out there that ride fixed who are not hipsters. Sheldon Brown for example. And me: I wear spandex proudly. Its way comfy.

so wait, cause i live in the burbs i'm auto-classified as hipster? i resent this classification system and demand a rewritten submission of said classification system!

It seems to me that within the fixed community, the hipsters are the ones who ride fixed, brakeless because it's cool, but may not posess the actual skill to ride with no brakes. They are the people who ride some weird ratio to get more attention. But to say that anyone wearing tight pants, a white belt, and a tight sweater is a hipster, is basically stereotyping about 50% of my school, or any other art school as a huge hipster community. It seems that hipster now-a-days is just another word for poseur or the kid you see in those videos they show you in 5th grade that is smoking to be cool.

seriously.... at some point tight jeans start to ****ing hurt.... i cant imagine riding a bike in them.

I generally stay away from this fray.
However, if you are at the LBS and trying to get some tubes, only to be forced to wait cuz some kid is there w/ a new cycling cap, tight pants w/ a muffin top, a crisp Chrome Kremlin ( orange or gray must be on sale somewhere), yet he owns NO bike or has ANY idea of what he wants. Congrats, you've had a sighting. :)

some tight pants have lycra in the fabric. I imagine theyre closer to wearing spandex than you think.

Well, I still haven't put a brake on my bike, but it's only cuz I've been too lazy to buy a cool lever, so until I do that (if I ever do it) I'm sans brakes. And eff tight jeans, I would like to maybe possibly have kids someday.

tight pants w/ a muffin top

Well played. I've been championing that one for a while!

Well, I still haven't put a brake on my bike, but it's only cuz I've been too lazy to buy a cool lever, so until I do that (if I ever do it) I'm sans brakes. And eff tight jeans, I would like to maybe possibly have kids someday.


tight pants actually raise sperm count. it's amazing that we don't see more of the anomaly known as the "hipster baby."

someone post a pic of a muffin top.

http://www.rogueengineering.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/acces/muff_top_300.jpg

To me, a hipster is someone who does something/acts a certain way/dresses a certain way because he/she believes that society thinks it is a cool or an attractive attribute. Meanwhile, if someone does those same things because they see it as functional, or because they themselves TRULY believe in it/like it = not a hipster.

heh. yeah. ask a stupid question....

a quick find, but not the best
http://www.geocities.com/ryala/FatMe/Tummy/TummySide170105.jpg

The world of fixed gear is as fiercely protective of it's beloved secrets winding up as no more than a backdrop for an Ashlee Simpson video as the martial arts once defended it's culture from being swallowed by Hollywood after Bruce Lee introduced Gung Fu to the West.
i like that. comparing fixed gear riding to kung fu. hell yeah.

seriously.... at some point tight jeans start to ****ing hurt.... i cant imagine riding a bike in them.

The BMX scene has been championing the girl's jeans/tiny tshirt look for some time. And those fellows flippin' go off on a bicycle.

according to oprah (blame google, not me) muffin top is also called "dunlap syndrome." when your belly done lap over your jeans.

http://images.oprah.com/images/tows/200511/20051115/20051115_202_350x263.jpg

Nevermind :).

Yea... I totally see girls with that. It always made me wonder : /.

hahahahaha. dunlap. thats funny.
yeah, okay. i totally buy that as part of the hipster definition. lotsa male hipster dunlap in seattle.

i'm almost ashamed to be posting on this thread (though i don't think i scored any bingo points) but i feel that i should say that i think that the "muffin top" or whatever is a bit sexy on ladies. more than a bit.

skinny girls are no fun.

It's really popular to thrash hipsters in this forum so I am curious, if there is a message to be sent out to every bike riding hipster what is it? Do you want them to stop riding their bikes and begin driving their car everywhere again? I am middle class, I live in the suburbs, I ride a fixed gear, I ride brakeless, I wear vans and I don't wear biker shorts or jerseys so after reading this thread it turns out I'm a hipster and that members of the bike culture (all of you, the culture I felt that I was a part of) chastise me. I've been riding bikes for a while now, I run a bike kitchen through my side yard, I put on monthly themed bike rides in my quaint suburban town BUT maybe I should drop it all and get a car? If there’s anyone that I want to get social advice from it’s you guys, the people who (I think) love the idea of a growing bike culture, so let me know. If your goal is not to scare every hipster out of (your?) bike culture then what are you trying to do by criticizing all of these people who ride bikes?

some tight pants have lycra in the fabric. I imagine theyre closer to wearing spandex than you think.

yeah, girl's jeans are comfy for riding, and aero.

i also like riding in shants, though (i just had to say that).

It's really popular to thrash hipsters in this forum so I am curious, if there is a message to be sent out to every bike riding hipster what is it? Do you want them to stop riding their bikes and begin driving their car everywhere again? I am middle class, I live in the suburbs, I ride a fixed gear, I ride brakeless, I wear vans and I don't wear biker shorts or jerseys so after reading this thread it turns out I'm a hipster and that members of the bike culture (all of you, the culture I felt that I was a part of) chastise me. I've been riding bikes for a while now, I run a bike kitchen through my side yard, I put on monthly themed bike rides in my quaint suburban town BUT maybe I should drop it all and get a car? If there’s anyone that I want to get social advice from it’s you guys, the people who (I think) love the idea of a growing bike culture, so let me know. If your goal is not to scare every hipster out of (your?) bike culture then what are you trying to do by criticizing all of these people who ride bikes?

the hipster thing's kind of dumb, if you ask me, but i think for the most part, people would say that doing that stuff either makes you an extraordinarily motivated hipster or someone who cares about it as more than a fad and therefore not a hipster, regardless of whatever similarities you might share on the surface with hipsters. i'd prefer to think of hipster as referring to a lack of dedication and trend-hopping, rather than anything defined by any external factor. i'm sure white belts will be totally UN-cool in a few months. chuck taylors (which i've worn for half my life, thanks a lot, but no more now that nike owns them) will just be chuck taylors again. and i'll never again have to defend that pair of spandex-infused girl's jeans i frequently wear. those things will remain, but what really defines "hipster" in my mind is that they only want those things because they're cool at the moment, that they're elite. get everyone on a track bike, and the hipsters will vanish.

in other words, you seem to care too much to be hipster, and i don't care what you wear or what music you like, if you're in it for the trend or the elitism, that's when you're a hipster. anyway. that's cool **** you do. keep doing it.

It's really popular to thrash hipsters in this forum so I am curious, if there is a message to be sent out to every bike riding hipster what is it? Do you want them to stop riding their bikes and begin driving their car everywhere again? I am middle class, I live in the suburbs, I ride a fixed gear, I ride brakeless, I wear vans and I don't wear biker shorts or jerseys so after reading this thread it turns out I'm a hipster and that members of the bike culture (all of you, the culture I felt that I was a part of) chastise me. I've been riding bikes for a while now, I run a bike kitchen through my side yard, I put on monthly themed bike rides in my quaint suburban town BUT maybe I should drop it all and get a car? If there’s anyone that I want to get social advice from it’s you guys, the people who (I think) love the idea of a growing bike culture, so let me know. If your goal is not to scare every hipster out of (your?) bike culture then what are you trying to do by criticizing all of these people who ride bikes?
I'm gonna use an example from my experience way back in high school, with punk rock. Nobody is born with a mohawk except for that child/accessory attached to Angelina Jolie's hip.Kids got into the scene, and the scene grew.We all started somewhere, and that somewhere often happens to be funny and goofy. We got teased, and we teased others. Gradually, those who could take the heat matured and were able to shed their "poseur" ( insert hipster) status. Those that couldn't found another place to fit in.It's just the way it works, I think.

personally i always thought "Hipster" = "Sucker" - like you'll believe what other people tell you and take it too far without thought.

the hipster thing's kind of dumb, if you ask me, but i think for the most part, people would say that doing that stuff either makes you an extraordinarily motivated hipster or someone who cares about it as more than a fad and therefore not a hipster, regardless of whatever similarities you might share on the surface with hipsters.

yeah, hipster is in the motivation. if youre doing something cos youre a ****** and you think people will think think good things about you, then its bad news bears. thats a bad reason to do anything in life, not just the bike thing. even if you dress like all the people everyone has described on this thread, and will describe over and over again everywhere on the internet, if your motivation is pure, then youre untouchable by even the most elitist purist out there.

i own a white belt because, well, i think it's funny. i mean, the whole hipster thing is based largely on irony, and, in a way, on being kind of silly. i, and a lot of kids i know, dress like a hipster because it's funny. i guess it's like we're putting on a costume, i.e. dressing up like we're trying to be really cool and then laughing at each other. and i think that's how a lot of people see it. but then i guess there are a lot of kids who really ARE trying to be cool.

i just see it as a style, just as laughable as any other trendy kid thing. the kids who are DEAD SERIOUS about being a hipsters are the ridiculous ones.

I hate fat things.

yeah, hipster is in the motivation. if youre doing something cos youre a ****** and you think people will think think good things about you, then its bad news bears. thats a bad reason to do anything in life, not just the bike thing. even if you dress like all the people everyone has described on this thread, and will describe over and over again everywhere on the internet, if your motivation is pure, then youre untouchable by even the most elitist purist out there.

+eleventy billion... see my earlier post.

whered brunop go? i mean, he was calling us out, right? so here are the answers. what do you think, brunop?

Techone and I just had a great ride tonight. Man, I love fixed gear bicycles.

PS: riding in shants? damn, that's hot.

hee hee, exactly why i couldn't let that thought cross my mind and not put it down.

still trying to get some people together to ride here instead of just going by myself, but it's still fun to ride. i'm a little under the weather and yet i'm jonesing for a ride, even in the cold, rainy, bad for me weather. ah, dilemmas.

show me your shants.

There have been a lot of good descriptions of a hipster so far. But I think we're forgetting a major quality of being a hipster: hating hipsters. It is kind of like homophobia in that respect, (a lot of homophobes may just be trying to make up for their own homosexual thoughts). I think someone posted this in yet another hipster thread:
"No hipsters to be found at total hipster party" (http://blaggblogg.blogspot.com/2005/07/no-admitted-hipsters-found-at-total.html)

Basically, riding a fixed gear bike is TOTALLY inescapeably hipster. BUT, you will not find any hipsters in this forum. There are no hipsters to see here.

I think reducing it to "doesn't wear bike shorts" is hard, because it depends, do they wear Diesel jeans and a Chrome bag for utilitarian reasons or because they think it makes them look like a badas$. And honestly, who will admit "I ride that all overpriced heavy NJS equipment because it makes me feel like a badass".

whered brunop go? i mean, he was calling us out, right? so here are the answers. what do you think, brunop?

i was out ridin' a li'l. and it was sure cold here in nyc today. brutal even! some good, even thoughtful, stuff here. i was just curious is all. thanks for discussin' it. i wasn't callin' anybody out! :) :)

but i was hopin' my boy shants'd comment. :) :) :) :D

shants is too smart to talk about hipsters. which makes him the least hipster of all of us.

I live in the suburbsif i remember correctly, according to the above scholarly post, hipsters move to gentrified inner city neighbourhoods. you're alright.

hipster...the antithesis of pie

seems there's always a lot of talk and mention and all about "hipsters". what do ya'll really mean when you refer to the rubric "hipster". is it kinda like justice brennan's quip about pronography--you can't definitively define it but you know one when you see one? really. and specifically what is a "hipster" vis a vis cycling? are all fixed riders hipsters per se relative to say road or mountain cyclists? what up?

I don't know about hipsters, but I know that it was not Brennan but Potter Stewart, concurring in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964), who claimed to know obscenity when he saw it.

Mocking muffin tops is less about mocking people with some substance to their body, than mocking people who insist on wearing pants that are too small for them.

Well, we obviously wanna talk about muffin tops more than hipsters, so let's just hijack with lots more pics :)

http://www.yesbutnobutyes.com/archives/muffins.jpg