Folding Bikes - How many of you get cat calls?

Just interested if folders are more socially acceptable. I read a review of one about a year ago in a newspaper, and the writer seemed to suggest his masculinity was regularly vocally challenged when he rode his new bike.
This was the Uk, btw, where cyclists have their masculinity challenged regularly, when they're not having bottles thrown at them.

I get a lot of curious looks, but no cat calls as of yet. Darn!

I get catcalls because I'm a girl, not because I'm on a foldie :notamused:

I get catcalls because I'm a girl, not because I'm on a foldie :notamused:

Oh, so that's what I'm doing wrong! :D

Is "Sick!" a cat call? Got that as I negotiated around a young skateboarder yesterday.

I got a few cat calls yesterday but I wasn't riding the folder... :D

When I ride the folder I get a lot of folks who want to ask me what the hell it is.

i get catcalls because i'm a girl, not because i'm on a foldie :notamused:

+1

I get a lot of curious looks, but no cat calls as of yet. Darn!

Try showing a bit more leg..

Try showing a bit more leg..

:lol::lol::lol:

Yeah, that and wear a mask ..:(

I get catcalls because I'm a girl, not because I'm on a foldie

+2

Yep. The guys aren't cat calling because they like my folder's tiny wheels... :notamused:

Conversely, I do get a lot of women stopping me and asking me about my bike. I had a woman in the bike store just Saturday asking me all about my folder. She didn't stare at my boobs even once! Go figure! :D

I think you all are confusing cat calls with wolf whistles. Cat calls are generally derogatory. Wolf whistles may be sexist and offensive, but are meant as complements.

I think you all are confusing cat calls with wolf whistles. Cat calls are generally derogatory. Wolf whistles may be sexist and offensive, but are meant as complements.

I think in us gals' case it's really mostly catcalling, and I for one say DO NOT WANT. Wolf-whistles for Vendetta are a-ok though, and very much welcomed by her teeny-tiny vain self and her slightly bigger and even more vain rider. :lol:

I haven't got nothing derogatory said towards me yet. Except for the girls at the nearby school yelling, "Hey you!" or "Hi!", most people just ignore me and my folder.
Last week I did get a lady in a wheelchair say, "Hey, nice bike."
Ernest

i was biking this pm as the weather was so nice and on my way back to our neigborhood an older lady heading towards me shouted "how do you like it" i said i like it and she replied 'me too'. little did i know that she was also riding a dahon boardwalk. i usually will do 3 rounds around my place and i chanced upon her and we chatted. hers was exactly as my boardwalk 6speed that she had since 4 years ago and she said she really love it so much. but mine you, she was riding without helmet no blinky and no headlight. she asked me what my blinking headlight was for. i was surprise as she's been riding longer than me and yet no proper safety measures. i said i always will have all my lights on even at daytime and she just nodded. i wanted to tell her how it should work with the helmet and all but you know how it is. she said she saw me couple days ago riding my bike and was thrill to see a folder. i might have a regular companion now and will take a pic one of these days. nice to see a folder in my neighborhood.

thanks,
vic

I was getting off the train last night as another guy was getting on, we were both carrying folded Bromptons and there was this kind of nod of hello and approval of the brand.:thumb:

I’ve not had any wolf whistles or catcalls, (I’m a bloke with a beard) but I do get lots of “nice bike”, “cool bike”, “ how much do they cost”, “I’ve been thinking of buying one of those, what are they like”. And then there are lots of people who watch curiously but don’t ask any questions.;)

No kitty calls here either. : )

I've gotten "coool bike" comments from teenagers as I ride by them, and had three roadies on our monthly group ride last Sunday ask me in detail about my Swift.

I've had the occasional open laugh from teenagers when I'm on my Mini. The local kids, who I've helped with bikes and who like me, still refer to it as "your clown bike". I don't care.

I ride a definitely sexy red Dahon miniskirt but never got any calls or whistles or what so ever !
But maybe I should let my hair grow .

Sure, I get catcalls, if "Holy cow that is AWESOME!" qualifies as a cat call.

A couple of people have asked about my R20: What kind of folding bike is that? Where did you get it? Is it new or old?

No cat calls yet, though some captivated, kind of blank stares. When this happens, I usually speak for them: "Real good looking bike there" or "Now THAT is an unusually beautiful bike, don't you think?" This usually produces conversation or at least a smile:).

It looks like I'm the only one that gets joked at for "taking that poor kid's bike" OR "once you get the hang of it, We'll get you a real bike" It's all fun and games until they chain their bikes up in the rain and I fold mine up and carry it inside! Then they want to ask about it... Looks like the tiny bike wins in the end!

I get them and they are really annoying.One meow sounds pretty much like another so it is really hard to know what they want.Plus some cats have accents which makes it impossible.I keep hoping that someday CAT Woman will call me though, so I do not hang up right away.Is that what you meant? MEOW!

I've had nothing but compliments on my Brompton. People are really appreciative when they see it fold. And sometimes unfold and then fold again, just because a small crowd has gathered.

I too have also received nothing but compliments for riding my folding bike. I can count on one hand the number of negative comments I have ever received. there are not too many activities like that with that kind of positive record!

Had a guy at the Metro platform ask me about my folder, and then he launched immediately into a diatribe about how much "The Greatest Generation" sucks. It was an entertaining 1.5 minute conversation until my train came. Funny thing, he didn't get on the train going north, with me, yet he had just let the other, southbound train, pass by and had not boarded that one either! A folder stalker with octagenarian issues? :eek:

I had another Brompton rider shout “Hello” this morning.... nice to get recognition from other Brompton / folder owners. :thumb:

I always say that my safety equipment on my bike includes my wedding ring. I often have trouble riding away from the bus stop in the morning because I'm being chatted up by an attactive lady in her 40,s.:love:

Very rarely have I ever got anything worse than a bit of a laugh. I may look like a freak on my bike but most comments are positive.

I get cat calls occasionally (on both my Dahon and my recumbent), and it's always always always the same - 2 or more guys in a pickup truck or old beater car. Gives credence to the whole "men in groups" thing.

I don't care what they yell, as along as they give me room on the road. ;)

I've had the occasional negative or derogatory shouts from kids hanging around on street corners in some of the less desirable parts of Glasgow I ride through when on my Dahon. I have also had comments (that seemed genuine) of "cool bike" though!

At the close of a pleasant, "get off the road. why don't you ride on the sidewalk" conversation, I was informed by an SUV driver that I was a bundle of sticks on a girly bike. But that was only after I called the gentleman a "little man in a big car" and patted his hood before jumping the light and riding off.

This was directly in front of my pastor's house in the middle of town. :o I was not exactly proud of my conduct, but I don't do so well with social graces after being nearly hit. :rolleyes:

I really didn't help the image of cyclists, which is too bad, because the guy was actually being somewhat less of a jerk than others I have encountered.

I work in a tough urban high school, and there are plenty of students who dig my Dahon curve, but the cutting-class-hanging-out-in-the-parking-lot crew are pretty derisive about it.

I'm still actually waiting for one. I've been riding one for a week or so, and nothing. Maybe I have a lower expectation of humanity than it deserves, well, in my town, anyway. Then again, maybe the local youths are just rendered speechless.
I used to take my daughter to school in a trailer at one point, and I have to say, I would have got fewer cat-calls if I'd been driving a sequinned tractor like that chap in the Village People.