General Cycling Discussion - Bike snobbery

A short back story about me first. I had been riding on and off for years. Had an old Cannondale from the 80's. February of last year I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was only 40. So I had surgery in June, had a rough recovery, doc wouldn't let me ride for 3 months. When he finally told me I could ride I went to my garage oly to find that someone stole my bike. I assumed it was one of the contractors that had been working on my house but had no idea when it was stolen.

So for the remainder of the year I didn't ride and decided to wait until spring to buy a bike.

In March I searched a few LBS, all BTW more than 80 miles from my house. Not really local by any means. However, I noticed that it seemed unless I was willing to spend $2000 or more they really didn't want to put in a lot of effort to size me right etc.

So for the time being I decided to spend a little money now and buy a better bike later and bought the Gary Fischer Tiburon.

I was ok with the bike, went from 5 miles to 50 mile rides within a few months. I was riding almost 4 times a week. My minimum ride is at least 20 miles now.

Then I ran into the local bicycle club. They talked to me for a little while. They told me that maybe someday if I got a "Real" bike I could ride with the "Big Boys" club. Now, these guys weren't in the best of shape but they were decked out in the gear riding their carbon fiber treks. They told me they averaged a 14mph pace and went 20 miles or so, mainly on weekends.. I never bothered to tell them I average a 18mph pace, ride more per week, and go further on average.

At first it didn't bother me, but the more I thought about it, the more it kind of took the fun out of biking for me.

Then I decided to do away with the seat post due to the fact that it was a heavy suspension post and had multiple failures. So I go to a new bike shop 100 miles away and tell them I need a new seat post. I end up getting a blackwell research aluminum seatpost and a Terry crmoly saddle. Then I told them about my bike and again I heard, "Well, if you ever get a real bike" line.

And of course I've been lurking here and reading all the anti internet bike posts from people, pretty much anything from bikesdirect. I'm not sure I understand that if most of the components are on par with some of the top of the line bikes. And it's almost always followed by "support your LBS"

I've been disappointed in how I was treated at all my "LBS", and the quotes are because local isn't 80 miles away.

I've been disappointed in how other cyclist have treated me.

It really took away a lot of the joy I was experiencing with my rides.

Is this common everywhere?

First post, sorry it's so long.

My LBS is pretty good. You would get excellent service if buying a $700 bike. I get excellent service buying $20 tires.

14 mph average? Lame.

Go find some other people to ride with.

I never rode with them. They came across as holier than thou. I felt I was better off going alone, keeping my own pace and not dealing with their superior biking skills. :rolleyes:

I'm sorry you're getting such crappy attitude from the not-so LBS and from the riding group.

And no, not every bike enthusiast is like this. You have to "find your people", and when you do, you will enjoy the sport a whole lot more.

I can't speak for training groups, since I always ride on my own, but I can tell you that a good LBS that treats you like a valued customer no matter what you're riding can take a little while to find. But they are out there.

Maybe try posting to your regional forum here on Bikeforums and ask for some suggestions for good shops and riding clubs?

Ignore the knuckleheads. I'm sure there are more folks who think they are silly than wish to ride with them. Find those other people and ride! :)

I recall joining a road riding club on my old Norco Monterrey with racks and barcon shifters (it was still a fast machine) since my Bianchi was in storage in another province. The rest of the crew were riding new Trek and Giant road machines with full racing kit including one guy wearing a TdF yellow jersey. Anyways, I had a breakdown with my gears and not one person stopped to help. After a minute or two I the situation cleared up but the rest of the bunch had peeled off the road somewhere and I never did find them again. I never went out with them again and contented myself to riding solo.

As for bikeshops, I don't go to snobby stores. For the most part around here the shops can't really afford to be that way since there is a lot of competition and not all that many people are buying $2K plus road bikes .

...I've been disappointed in how other cyclist have treated me.

It really took away a lot of the joy I was experiencing with my rides.

Is this common everywhere?


I think it's common enough. Talking to a soccer parent yesterday who cycles, he told me about the time he was on his OCR touring bike climbing slowly up the only mountain we have here in the Ottawa area. A few roadies zing past and one says, "don't ride much, eh?" This guy cycled across Canada in 05 to raise money for a charitable cause.

Ignore them.

see this thread by way of explanation :mad:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=323874








or, in summary, bikes are still considered toys, even by people who run bike clubs, and he with the most expensive toys wins

When we were in France it was the day before the ALPE D'HUEZ time trial....it was the day most of our group was riding up the mtn....

There was an article about a past pro rider who raced up an ALPE D'HUEZ stage and he happen to be riding it again that year.....he was quite old...I think in he 70's (no offence intended), on his way up he said a rider past him and said he was too old and that he should be resting at home....

The ignorance of the other rider.....you would think they would learn...lol

Try not to focus on the idoits....cycling has a few...but all sports do. You shouldn't let it take away from your enjoyment of it. I rode my Mtn bike on the road for the first year...I had a lot of people looking at me crossways.....a lot of comments on how loud my bike was....a buddy that rides with us rides a Trek Pilot touring bike....he can ride past most people on a Mtn...lol he is a great rider..

You will find your group....then you can ignore the others..

dont forget the other end of the spectrum, the holier than thou attitudes of the "car free' cyclists, who thump their anti car bible over and over (and yet still have the gall to ask me to help them move their stuff with my truck).

Lots of snobbery in the cycling world: Fixed gear messengers VS the rest of the world, reduced car use cyclists VS the anti car crowd, Pro Critical Mass VS Anti Critical Mass cyclists, snotty holier than thou bike racers VS road riders, See and bee seen cyclists VS stealth cyclists..... on and on and on.

There was an article about a past pro rider who raced up an ALPE D'HUEZ stage and he happen to be riding it again that year.....he was quite old...I think in he 70's (no offence intended), on his way up he said a rider past him and said he was too old and that he should be resting at home....

The ignorance of the other rider.....you would think they would learn...lol


yea and the old guy WHUPPED the smart alecy youngun's butt too!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D

If it's a "nobody gets dropped" ride and the group has a range of experience levels, then 14 mph seems reasonable. Or maybe they're factoring in coffee stops, who knows. Meanwhile, a bike is a bike. Just ride and enjoy and don't worry about what anyone thinks or says.

I too have a "less than real bike", here's my $0.02;
I ride when I want, how far I want, and wearing what I want. I wave at every other rider I see.

You want to wave or say Hi back, cool. If yo don't, cool, your the AH, not me.
Don't like my bike, or I go to slow for you, or not far enough, GFY. I'm enjoying my ride.

Being a guy who wears a full team kit for almost every type of riding (even commuting), I urge you to remember that cycling is as much about fantasizing as it is about riding for a lot of people. I ride a lot but like to fantasize that I am stronger and faster than I really am (hence the local team involvement). For most fat guys to fantasize about being faster than others, they need a likely target. So they often tend to pick a newbie looking guy with a less than sexy bike. This is a dangerous practice.

In my experience, it is the guy who shows up in the 1980's looking spandex with the clearly 1980's bike that you have to look out for. He is likely to be much faster than you might otherwise give him credit for. After all, the cahones it takes to ignore bicycling magazine's "Style Guy" should indicate a sense of self assurance that can possibly be backed up by some serious speed. :)

I maintain 5 bikes. 3 of them are sexy newer models that I could not really afford to replace. The other two are beaters selected for being ugly but in great mechanical shape. I have been suprised to discover that I will pull down a beater as often as a newer model for any given ride. My beaters are "real bikes" to be sure. They are dead on mechanically and totally dialed in for my fit. And, suprise, suprise, they are not significantly slower in ANY way compared to my 17lbs sexy machines (climbing and excelerating notwithstanding). I love my old stock as much if not more than my new bikes. There is no pleasure like skunking the insecure snobs on their $3,000 bikes as you blow their doors off on your $45 thrift store bike. And I mean a true butt-spanking....a random passing while out and about is not fair; you never know if they are on a recovery ride or something. But to be riding with them and smoke them....well, that is just plain fun!

My approach is that anyone who can regularly outride me is more than welcome to make fun of my gear. Get strong, get fast (sounds like you are well on your way, if not there already) and then challenge the next guy who gives you the "get a real bike" speach to let his riding do his talking. Most "coffee shop riders" who tend to do a lot of talking simply can't hang all that well at speed.

I've run into that a couple of times. I think there are a few contributing factors - I have started collecting and riding vintage steel bikes, I'm mainly interested in utility and touring cycling, and I'm a girl. At least two LBSs in my area cater pretty well exclusively to males riding carbon-unobtanium racing bikes. However, they're not all like that, fortunately! I just had to be persistent. I am glad these forums were here, because the posters here showed me that there are all kinds of cyclists out there and encouraged me to keep exploring my own interests and options.

If you want to see snobbery in action, get a bent!

Actually, though, most DF'ers I talk to are very nice people, and they readily engage in conversation at the lights. Snobbery exists in every "society", and is typically a product of insecurity. I'm a photographer, too, and there are plenty of snobs in that world as well. Whenever equipment is involved, it provides a way for people to ignore their own weaknesses and compensate for them by playing up the strength of their wallet.

Ahhh, yes. Pretty common. The next time you come upon these guys, just give 'em a clear, "On your left!" as you glide by.

This kind of thing happens to me on occasion. But here in this part of the county, I've found that I run into the same people quite often because the flatter training routes are so limited and thus, well used by the clubbers for fast runs. After rolling around here for the past three years, I've gotten respect. Used to be I'd ride mostly my old school 33lb MTB with road slicks - BioPace chainrings, even. But, with a 48 big ring, I had little problem staying at 14mph avg.

Since then, I will show up on the Sequoia Elite when the weather is good. This is by no means a bike that is even worthy of a Snob Snort, but I will likely blow the dust off almost any rider half my age on a long run. Along the river road I commonly pace out at 20-22mph over five miles. Sprint over 1 mile at about 24-25. Being 51 and 235lbs and wide in the shoulders, the guys tend to fall in behind and get sucked along. Nobody complains.

For the record, I belong to two clubs. One is very recreational based. All riders welcome - no dropping allowed. Someone strong like me will always go back and forth and escort the weaker/less developed riders. We regroup at all the natural places. Flats are fixed with a large circle of support and teaching. Our newbies love us.

The other club is much larger and has all levels. The tougher guys ride together, and post the rides as such. The less developed riders are encouraged to pick rides that are in their range.

Those guys giving you crap while boasting about a 14mph/20 mile ride are punks. Ride what you want and do it how you want. As for me, I would never drop you, no matter what level you ride at. Have fun.

EDIT NOTE: Soon to add to my stable: an old steel Scott ADF303 roadie. Let 'em chortle it up a couple minutes, then, it's good-bye chumps!

"So I go to a new bike shop 100 miles away and tell them I need a new seat post. I end up getting a blackwell research aluminum seatpost and a Terry crmoly saddle. Then I told them about my bike and again I heard, "Well, if you ever get a real bike" line."
Simple. Tell them you will, once you find a real bike shop.

Lots of snobbery in the cycling world: Fixed gear messengers VS the rest of the world, reduced car use cyclists VS the anti car crowd, Pro Critical Mass VS Anti Critical Mass cyclists, snotty holier than thou bike racers VS road riders, See and bee seen cyclists VS stealth cyclists..... on and on and on.
Too true. There sure is a lot of intolerance in our community. :(

Waporvare, have you checked your regional forum to see if anyone near you is looking for someone to ride with? You might well find some nice folks to hang out with there.

There is a lot of snobbery everywhere.
We should find a way to export it. That may fix our trade imbalance.

Too true. There sure is a lot of intolerance in our community. :(

Waporvare, have you checked your regional forum to see if anyone near you is looking for someone to ride with? You might well find some nice folks to hang out with there.

Yeah, I checked the regional, and hardly anything from people in Memphis, and considering I live 95 miles north of there, there is nothing for my area.

Like I said, there is a group, and I only met a few of them, they even have their matching jerseys and all. They blog from a LBS site based in Paducah, KY which is 80 miles from me. I'd post the links but it would be rude of me to do so. I will say that I live in Northwest Tennessee.

Until I ran into them AFAIK I was the only one riding in the entire county, which population consists of about 3000 people. They said they had heard someone else was riding in the area. I had been riding for at least 2 months before I saw them.

I'm pretty sure given the same bikes, fitted, I could probably out pace and outlast any of them. They asked me what I was riding and at that time I was going 20 miles each day with a 40 mile on the weekend. So of course one of the guys said he was riding 100 miles per day. Needless to say I was a little skeptical. Due to work and other commitments I've only been able to ride 3 times a week the past few weeks and each of those was 35 mile trips with the exception of the 5 mile ride I did to test out the new saddle.

If you want to see snobbery in action, get a bent!

Actually, though, most DF'ers I talk to are very nice people, and they readily engage in conversation at the lights. Snobbery exists in every "society", and is typically a product of insecurity. I'm a photographer, too, and there are plenty of snobs in that world as well. Whenever equipment is involved, it provides a way for people to ignore their own weaknesses and compensate for them by playing up the strength of their wallet.

unless it's medium format it's not real photography.....:roflmao:

Almost every time I'm in my LBS of choice, I will see a local resident bring in some ratty old beat up kid's bike, needing a tire, or maybe asking about training wheels, or something. The folks working at the shop will take care of their needs just as thoroughly as for the guy in there looking at a $1500.00 bike.

I remarked about this to one of their employees, and the guy just smiled and said "Future customers!".

Hope the Prostate Op went ok and I was cleared of Pc last year after 5 years of going back to the hospital to be told"No Problems"

That over with. I have a top of the line bike. It is Not C.F. It is not a name that anyone will recognise and does not have any fancy Names attached to it. I get the same treatment-In that as the others do not know the Bike- It cannot be that good. I don't ride with a club or anything- just the local roadies that start in the town on a Sunday morning.

Then one day- a new rider turned up and asked if I went to Holland to get the bike. And asked if it was the Slope version of the frame or the Standard. He enthused about the bike and the ears pricked up with the rest of the group. He then let them know everything about the Bike- the weight -the construction and the cost. I am no longer looked down on. So whenever I ride with that group- I turn up with the Giant OCR3. Just to let them really look down on a bike.

Now my LBS sold me My Cheap Giant and they sold me the Boreas. Last saturday when I went in- they took a great deal of trouble to set up a $500 bike to a new customer on his first bike. As they said- New bike today- Lots of accessories tomorrow.

14 mph for 20 miles? LOL

These are the kind of guys that spend more time in the shop than they do on their bike, spend $10,000 on equipment and then quit the sport three years later.

I used to work in a shop and we would ride with these guys once a week because it was good for business. Nevertheless, we all despised them.

Btw, get a new LBS.

If you buy the 'real' bike, you'll have to get the spandex outfit, too. So, why bother with the club. bk

Sorry you feel this way but who cares? Just show up at the next 14mph club ride, do the ride, and smoke them on the climbs.... :D

14 mph for 20 miles? LOL

These are the kind of guys that spend more time in the shop than they do on their bike, spend $10,000 on equipment and then quit the sport three years later.

I used to work in a shop and we would ride with these guys once a week because it was good for business. Nevertheless, we all despised them.

Btw, get a new LBS.

- umm, what is wrong with riding 14 mph for 20 miles?

- there are lots of folks 'round here that could really benefit from that kind of activity, especially when repeated several times a week on a regular basis...

- and there's something to be said for taking it slow to enjoy the ride, dontcha know?

:-)

Waporvare!! Dude!!! Get past it. Find better friends or ride alone. Just go ride.

they were decked out in the gear riding their carbon fiber treks. They told me they averaged a 14mph pace and went 20 miles or so, mainly on weekends..


Hee, I just re-read this part. They'd really hate me. I ride 20 miles every work day, on a lovely old steel Raleigh 5 speed. Now, I don't average 14 mph - far from it - but I can cruise along at 12 or so pretty easily, and I'm carrying 20lbs of work stuff in my panniers plus the weight of the bike itself. Every day. 100 miles a week. And last month I did the MS Bike Tour on the same 5 speed steed. I've since acquired a lighter road bike, but it's still steel :)

I wanna come ride with those guys and annoy the heck out of them with my handmedown jerseys, 20 year old road bike, and let us not forget the GIRL part of the equation :D

Waporvare!! Dude!!! Get past it. Find better friends or ride alone. Just go ride.


I'm past it. :) It just annoyed me for a while. And aside from one ride, all of my rides have been alone. Wait, there was one time I took my 11 year old girl along for a ride.

unless it's medium format it's not real photography.....:roflmao:

Friggin' Noob... If the camera doesn't have movements, it's a toy. 4x5 or bigger is a tool, anything smaller is a joke... :D

My wife and I were out last weekend for a 25 mile ride on our Cannondale road tandem. Both in cycling shoes, and shorts, I was in a t-shirt (I typically use them for shorter rides). We came upon a group of like 20 roadies at an intersection (it was the city festival tour it turns out), We both waived and yelled hi across the intersection and not one of them responded. We passed a few roadies and were passed by a few more that day and nobody said much to us.

Back in the 80's when I was biking 5K+ miles a year, we always said hi to other cyclists. When did roadies become such *****holes?

Also note that I'm living in the midwest (fly-over states) where people are supposed to be friendly...

Sheldon

I get dropped all the time by people with weird, old bikes. Hell, a couple of the delivery guys ride around in the local park on these POS bikes with heavy chains and at least can climb way better than I can. Then again, I am not on a bike all day long for a living and I am riding loop after loop, or that is what I tell myself anyway to feel better.

Hell, I ride an aluminum/carbon Airborne for racing but I don't for one second pretend that I would be any slower on my old Peugeot that I stupidly sold many years ago.

I say if you like your bike, don't worry about it. If you want something new and shiny, then that is cool too, just don't get it because a bunch of slow losers on blingy bikes pressure you into it. As for the LBS worship that goes around on these forums, a good LBS is totally worth the premium over internet prices (in fact you usually save money because of proper fitting and not buying a million different stems, etc...) But sometimes internet pricing is more important and if you know what you want and don't really need the help of the LBS, why should you pay for it? And there are plenty of crap LBSs out there anyway.

Sorry you feel this way but who cares? Just show up at the next 14mph club ride, do the ride, and smoke them on the climbs.... :D

That's kind of like what I was thinking. Join one of their rides and drop 'em all.:D

- umm, what is wrong with riding 14 mph for 20 miles?

- there are lots of folks 'round here that could really benefit from that kind of activity, especially when repeated several times a week on a regular basis...

- and there's something to be said for taking it slow to enjoy the ride, dontcha know?

:-)

What's wrong is that these guys are riding 14mph for 20 miles yet, by their attitude, by they way they treat other cyclists, you'd think that they've got multiple stage victories in the TDF under their belts or something. They're jackasses. Sort of like people who are in the habit of reading others' posts out of context, dontcha know?

Since when is a Gary Fisher Tiburon not a real bike? Come ride with me and my friends. If you enjoy riding and are pleasant, you will be a welcome member of the group.

Of course, we all know the folks who seem to receive self-worth through material ownership. We have all probably done it ourselves. "Stuff". Jeesh. It's all borrowed anyway, no matter how much you pay for it.

Sometimes it takes a financial set-back to provide a person with the freedom and appreciation that humilty brings. Of course, not all people with nice things are self-righteous, but false pride is a very pitiful thing really. Imagine relying on satisfaction that only lasts until the next guy comes along with a better toy. Lord have mercy.

I hope that your experience with cancer brought you the humility and perspective to know that joy and satisfaction is not sold even at the LBS.

I could afford whatever bike I wanted , if I cared. I ride mainly to commute and with my family. I wear whatever is comfortable. I have two bikes. One is a Miyata 414 that I bought in 1990. It is currently in the process of being refurbished, I found it under a pile of junk in my parents back yard. It needs a lot of work, my LBS said it could take a while. In the meantime I ride my 96 or 97 Trek 820 for everything. I don't care about the looks I get from snobby rode bikers. I got passed the other night by a club, I said hello, and not one of them had a polite response. So instead of yelling angrily at them, I stayed on their tales for the next 20 miles, and when they stopped I said hello again.

It doesn't matter what you ride. Just have fun doing it.

A short back story about me first. I had been riding on and off for years. Had an old Cannondale from the 80's. February of last year I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I was only 40. So I had surgery in June, had a rough recovery, doc wouldn't let me ride for 3 months. When he finally told me I could ride I went to my garage oly to find that someone stole my bike. I assumed it was one of the contractors that had been working on my house but had no idea when it was stolen.

So for the remainder of the year I didn't ride and decided to wait until spring to buy a bike.

In March I searched a few LBS, all BTW more than 80 miles from my house. Not really local by any means. However, I noticed that it seemed unless I was willing to spend $2000 or more they really didn't want to put in a lot of effort to size me right etc.

So for the time being I decided to spend a little money now and buy a better bike later and bought the Gary Fischer Tiburon.

I was ok with the bike, went from 5 miles to 50 mile rides within a few months. I was riding almost 4 times a week. My minimum ride is at least 20 miles now.

Then I ran into the local bicycle club. They talked to me for a little while. They told me that maybe someday if I got a "Real" bike I could ride with the "Big Boys" club. Now, these guys weren't in the best of shape but they were decked out in the gear riding their carbon fiber treks. They told me they averaged a 14mph pace and went 20 miles or so, mainly on weekends.. I never bothered to tell them I average a 18mph pace, ride more per week, and go further on average.

At first it didn't bother me, but the more I thought about it, the more it kind of took the fun out of biking for me.

Then I decided to do away with the seat post due to the fact that it was a heavy suspension post and had multiple failures. So I go to a new bike shop 100 miles away and tell them I need a new seat post. I end up getting a blackwell research aluminum seatpost and a Terry crmoly saddle. Then I told them about my bike and again I heard, "Well, if you ever get a real bike" line.

And of course I've been lurking here and reading all the anti internet bike posts from people, pretty much anything from bikesdirect. I'm not sure I understand that if most of the components are on par with some of the top of the line bikes. And it's almost always followed by "support your LBS"

I've been disappointed in how I was treated at all my "LBS", and the quotes are because local isn't 80 miles away.

I've been disappointed in how other cyclist have treated me.

It really took away a lot of the joy I was experiencing with my rides.

Is this common everywhere?

First post, sorry it's so long.

lol. Owned.

I could afford whatever bike I wanted , if I cared. I ride mainly to commute and with my family. I wear whatever is comfortable. I have two bikes. One is a Miyata 414 that I bought in 1990. It is currently in the process of being refurbished, I found it under a pile of junk in my parents back yard. It needs a lot of work, my LBS said it could take a while. In the meantime I ride my 96 or 97 Trek 820 for everything. I don't care about the looks I get from snobby rode bikers. I got passed the other night by a club, I said hello, and not one of them had a polite response. So instead of yelling angrily at them, I stayed on their tales for the next 20 miles, and when they stopped I said hello again.

It doesn't matter what you ride. Just have fun doing it.

ROfl.

When we were in France it was the day before the ALPE D'HUEZ time trial....it was the day most of our group was riding up the mtn....

There was an article about a past pro rider who raced up an ALPE D'HUEZ stage and he happen to be riding it again that year.....he was quite old...I think in he 70's (no offence intended), on his way up he said a rider past him and said he was too old and that he should be resting at home....

The ignorance of the other rider.....you would think they would learn...lol

Try not to focus on the idoits....cycling has a few...but all sports do. You shouldn't let it take away from your enjoyment of it. I rode my Mtn bike on the road for the first year...I had a lot of people looking at me crossways.....a lot of comments on how loud my bike was....a buddy that rides with us rides a Trek Pilot touring bike....he can ride past most people on a Mtn...lol he is a great rider..

You will find your group....then you can ignore the others..


Biking is not the only place for snobbery - Biff won't hardly speak to me because my jeep don't have coils. ;):D

I ride what I want, and wear what I want. It's my business. Besides - I'm getting a lot more workout on my POS than they are on the multi K lightweight stuff. One of these days I'll get a nice bike - and my distance and speed should automatically double overnight. :D

Biking is not the only place for snobbery - Biff won't hardly speak to me because my jeep don't have coils. ;):D

I ride what I want, and wear what I want. It's my business. Besides - I'm getting a lot more workout on my POS than they are on the multi K lightweight stuff. One of these days I'll get a nice bike - and my distance and speed should automatically double overnight. :D

lol Now that is funny!!! Did you get those gloves yet? I actually have way more respect for the old stuff now days....I have been thinking of parting with the Uber New and going old school....in my Jeep that is..those new JK's do look nice though.....ok back on topic...

Ride what you've got....any rider is a good rider in my opinion.

14mph pace and went 20 miles or so, mainly on weekends..

hmmm. doesn't sound like they are "cyclists." maybe "enthusiasts" is a better description.



"bicycle snobbery"

that has a nice ring to it. if i ever own a bike shop, i think that's what i'll call it! or maybe "snicycle bobbery."

14mph for 20 miles, and they're pulling the elite snob *****. LOL! dude, that's a recovery ride - recovery from quadruple bypass open heart surgery! I commute 50 miles r/t per day on a steel tourer with two panniers stuffed to the brim, the whole thing weighing in at over 60 pounds and I do better than 14mph average on a bad day! I don't know if I get any bad attitude from roadies because I never really notice (or care) I just do my own thing.

I think they did you a huge favor by showing you what a bunch of tossers they really are before you wasted a perfectly good ride. Don't let anyone dictate to you how you should look or what you should ride, just enjoy your ride.

14 mph average? Lame.



Depends upon what you're hauling...

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/5642/p9090531ku4.jpg

Wow! I didn't realize there was such animosity amongst cyclists out there. Makes me nostalgic for the rides I used to do with the Charles River Wheelmen in Boston. Lots of riders on all sorts of bikes and as far as I knew, not much snobbery. If you can ride, you can ride. I used to do their long rides on my mountain bike (my much missed Bridgestone MB-2) set up for road riding and the only comments I got were about how weird it looked with the skinny tires. I also rode with the local mountain biking club out there, NEMBA and they had great riders who didn't even look at what you were riding. One guy had a well worn Merlin that he used to toss (and I mean toss) into the back of his even more worn-out pickup. He was one heck of a rider and always friendly to boot. Makes me miss Boston.

Of course, there was the one time I joined a local club ride full of kids with pristine shiny mountain bikes and that was pretty bad - it was obvious that most of them had never been off road because they got dropped on the first climb and then walked the first real descent. Never trust someone with a $2K rig and clean knobbies.

Real riders like real hockey players (guys with new gear = more $$$ than talent, generally) ride the crap out of their equipment. Boulder is the exception, it seems everybody is either rich or a pro. Or both.

Anyways, if you do decide to ride with the 14mph club, make sure you do it on your Fisher and make sure you spank them on every hill. That'll teach 'em to reconsider judging a rider by their rig.

I ride my bike for exercise and getting outdoors and I don't ride in packs or for crazy long rides.

I try to ride about every other day (sometimes every day) and those rides are about 10 miles. Every week or so, I'll go for a 20 mile ride.

These rides are on my MTB :)

Last weekend I went out with a friend who hasn't ridden in a long time so the hills winded him and we were taking a break. A group of about 10 roadies road by and the leader of the pack asked... (in a condescending tone) Where are the mountains? No other rider even acknowledged us except for the last rider. I'm not sure why, maybe it was because she was a she or because she was new and didn't know the rules :D

A few minutes before, I was telling my friend that for some reason the roadies that ride in packs seem to think they are better than the rest of the bikers (especially those of us who ride on the road with MTBs). This was an amusing example of it when they came by and asked us this.

In any case, it's fun to get out there and ride.. that's what matters.

Depends upon what you're hauling...

...and how much climbing is involved. ;)

That said, I shouldn't even respond to this thread till the OP gets a 'real' bike. :p

Wow! I didn't realize there was such animosity amongst cyclists out there.

Maybe it's just symptomatic of the general increase in economic, political and social polarization that seems to be rampant in this country and the world. Just a thought.

Don't worry about what others think about your bike, where you bought it, or how much you paid for it. As long as you are happy with your bike and it does everything you want it to do and is reliable, who cares what others think? I've seen way too many times people that own a CF or Ti bike only bring them out for a club ride or monthly meet-and-greet....and are too afraid to stray too far from them and/or put foam padding on their locks so their bikes won't get scratched. You'll only get caught up with what some people think is a "real bike" and eventually get just as paranoid and snobbish as they are. It's like somebody on a Ducati 1098 telling the Hells Angels to buy a real bike...the point being, people ride and buy the type of bike that they want and serves the purposes that is envisioned for it.