Road Cycling - TT bike mystery

Now the mystery here is not so much the bike as is the rider and why he was on this bike.

I was coming to the end of my ride today, just about 2 miles from home. I was coming up to a major intersection when I saw the silhouette of an interesting bike crossing the intersection. What caught my eye was the five spoke carbon wheels and the time trial set-up of the bars. This is an uncommon type bike in the agricultural town I live in.

I was headed in the same direction as that bike. However, I thought I would never catch up to a rider on a machine like that. To my surprise, he was going about 6 or 7 mph. I say he, but I am not sure. The person was very overweight, wearing a heavy jacket, a backpack, and had his head covered with a beanie and a scarf. The bike was a Specialized in a reddish bronze like color. Since I was passing on the outside, I couldn't really see the components. There was a lot of person in the way! He was on 20mm tires and platform peddles!

Quite a picture, huh? I said "Hi" as I passed but got no response. I had to negotiate a tricky left turn through traffic, so I didn't linger. But in my mind I said to myself, "I wish I went to the garage sale he went to!"

Many agricultural workers ride old 10-speeds around here, but his bike was different, to say the least. After I went about a mile, I wished that I had said: "How much do you want for your bike?" But I'm not real fast on the uptake with such things.

What would you have said? What's your take on how this unlikely person got such a bike?

Rich

...probably stole it from an open garage........

A crafty salesman who gets paid ten percent sold it to him???

Originally posted by easyrider
A crafty salesman who gets paid ten percent sold it to him???

yeah... but with platform pedals? on a TT bike?

D*alex probably is right.

Could just be someone who dreams of racing some day and has more money than they need....

Maybe he is trying to lose weight or something. Was it really necessary to be wearing all the clothes he was wearing or was it that cold? The only thing that would come to my mind is that he is overweight and self conscience (hence all the clothes that cover up him up). Maybe if he buys an expensive TT bike that will make him HAVE to stick to cycling and lose weight or else lose a chunk of change. I don't know that would be my take on it.

Nice bike Professor Klump.

he won it in a raffle
it was willed to him
you hallucinated the event
he was on the mother of all recovery rides
its owner left it at work and needed someone to run it over (in your car idiot)
last week he only avg'ed 4 mph. he's getting faster.
he read BF thread on being unapproachable bike snobs.....
he was biking for peace

Thanks for the laughs! I'm still laughing, RacerX and RiPHRaPH. Prof. Klump is the perfect image. This guy would totally crush a DeRosa Merak, with its weight limit. I know I wasn't hallucinating--my ride wasn't that intense. Then again, I have seen other odd things on that street. I once saw a guy, who was probably homeless, riding an ancient beater and wearing a time trial helmet. These may be parts of a puzzle. Who knows, maybe the wife of a racer read too many of those articles about the dangers of bike saddles and sold off all of hubby's gear in a garage sale while he was out of town.

Rich

Sounds like a true Fred, whatever the story is...

You know what?

Some of you are real snobs.
So what, a fat guy on a bike.

I think I know some of you, you pass me while I'm out on the road and make rude comments.

You think only thin "healthy" people deserve to buy a nice bike?

You DON'T know this guy! Don't make judgements about him.

I am sick to death of this attitude from roadie snobs.

Grow up.

I'm sorry if the way I introduced this thread hurt anyone's feelings. My point was that a not very proficient rider was using a bike that appeared to be more appropriate for an elite amateur or a pro. The wheelset cost more than my whole bike--by a long shot. This was a highly specialized, Specialized bike. It would be very hard to convince me that the rider is time trialist. I brought up his size to reinforce that he did not look at all like the kind of racer who would own such a bike. I wouldn't have even started the thread had I seen the same guy even on a Serrotta road bike. But this was a type of bike you only see racing. This is about the bike more than the rider. Why was this expensive TT bike being used as a commuter bike by a non-racer? Is that clear now?

Rich

I guess my point is this,
The guy could very well be a nobody rider, who got this bike through some bizarre circumstances.
But he could also have been a beginner rider, who started riding an old POS beater, but then got hooked on cycling. He started commuting (like many on this forum) He's losing weight, his riding skills are improving. He stops in the LBS one day to pick up a new widget, one of those endless widgets you need when you are trying to maintain an old beater POS that you are riding the wheels off of. While in the shop some Hot TT guy comes in to buy a new bike and trade in his old one. The LBS offers him 500 for it, and this fat guy thinks, Jeez, I know I'm not really ready for that thing, but it IS a sweet ride... I could give this guy like 600 bucks and go home with this nice ride...

So he buys it, too much bike for him but it WAS a great deal. He's more motivated to ride because he likes his bike SO much, his skills improve, etc... And now he's commuting on a bike that's above his skills. He may also have just come off a 40mph sprint, cooling down and couldn't breathe well enough to respond to your hi.


I get this crap from people often. I DONT have a hot bike, but I almost bought one last week. I found a deal on a Specialized S-Works Acqua e Sapone "Zebra Bike". I love this bike! All DA equipped with CF Fork, stem, bars, seat tube... Loaded bike, brand new. $2250. That is a HOT deal for a bike that could be considered a full-on racer, WAY above my skills. I decided against it for personal reasons, one (of many) of which is the fact that people would question what a fat guy like me was doing with a ride like that. People ALREADY look at me funny when I show up for club rides. I have to EARN respect on my bike (which I've been doing nicely, thank you). But I shouldn't have to EARN it.

Originally posted by ChipRGW
I get this crap from people often. I DONT have a hot bike, but I almost bought one last week. I found a deal on a Specialized S-Works Acqua e Sapone "Zebra Bike". I love this bike! All DA equipped with CF Fork, stem, bars, seat tube... Loaded bike, brand new. $2250. That is a HOT deal for a bike that could be considered a full-on racer, WAY above my skills. I decided against it for personal reasons, one (of many) of which is the fact that people would question what a fat guy like me was doing with a ride like that. People ALREADY look at me funny when I show up for club rides. I have to EARN respect on my bike (which I've been doing nicely, thank you). But I shouldn't have to EARN it.

the bike doesn't make the person, but sometimes it does help...
I've met people who were riding bikes that cost more money than I have ever seen, but were they some great cyclist because of the bike? not really

few things I've learned while riding, you can never judge a person by the way they look, nor can you judge them by their bike. yet people still do this.... oh well

it's too bad we didn't get to spin together at red rock canyon chip, I just did the senic loop yesterday and was thinking about what a fun ride it is.... maybe someday we'll spin together, but don't worry you already got my respect :)

Every year there are dozens of such bikes used for TT's, triathalons, etc, and these bikes are rarely locked. Even with good security, bikes get stolen at nearly every event. I'd bet that was what happened with this bike-some thief scooped up one or several unattended bikes at some amateur event, then sold them cheap on some ghetto street corner after the guy at the pawn shop wouldn't bite. This guy probably went out looking for a $20 bike, and got more than he expected to.

Hey guys - lighten up.
Some things in life look strange. I'm bald, overweight and 50. I wear lycra and ride a £1,000 bike and get looked at as if I'm weird. Well to the vast majority I do look weird.
So what?
To call someone a snob - well it strikes me that's like the pot calling the kettle black. (Which relates to cooking utensils hanging over open hearth fires in old houses so don't get off on me for being politically incorrect!)
:beer:

two wheels good,

I love the username. An Animal Farm reference that we could take a step further:
two wheels good, four wheels bad.