Fifty Plus (50+) - I guess I am not really "into it"

I have been reading several threads and in them people have named their bikes. I don't and have never thought of doing so. Am I not into it?

When ever I talk about riding my bike and am asked which one I say "road or mtb" maybe the blue one but always the mtb when it is that one.

Oh and guess what? I had to post this using Firefox because when I tried using IE all I got was a HUGE white blank space and could not do anything.

Same here and I really like my bike a LOT. Just never got into naming inanimate objects.

On the IE issue, try using the tab key when you get to that huge white space. A few taps should take you right to the place you want to be.

Your system probably works for you. I currently have seven road bikes three of which are Specialized road bikes in the same color. I've got two other road bikes that are black. So, saying I'm going to ride the road bike doesn't work. Saying I'm going to ride the blue, or black, or Specialized road bike doesn't work either. Names for some of us can simplify things. Not really sure what "being into it" means anyhow. Seems kind of arbitrary, perhaps based on another's notion that one's investment in something is deeper than theirs. Maybe I'm off base here, but I'd suggest that anyone who posts on a bike forum is somewhat "into it".

Oh, I'm currently using IE 7 to post this reply.

My bikes have names - it's easy, it's fun; doesn't connote being more into it than anyone else.
Exception - the tandem is just "the tandem".

Posted w/ Firefox.

Different strokes. Some people like to give things names, some don't. Makes no difference to me which way someone prefers to go with that.

I've always had names for my cars, motorcycles, bicycles etc. It is just part of the way I relate to them. Especially the ones I spend long hard hours on. I like to talk to them to get them to help me up a steep hill or to keep going in oppressive heat or driving rain.

Besides, people all have names and my bikes have much more personality than many people I know.:p

With a minor exception of referring to my Jamis as "the beast" (note the lack of "caps", though), I see no need to use names other than the ones my bikes already came with. I don't name my guitars, either. Or my cars. My dog and cat have names, though.

With a minor exception of referring to my Jamis as "the beast" (note the lack of "caps", though), I see no need to use names other than the ones my bikes already came with. I don't name my guitars, either. Or my cars. My dog and cat have names, though.

"the beast" has you started on that slippery slope. ;)

After reading the replies I sure hope I didn't offend anyone, that was not my intentions at all.

And I guess I didn't use the correct term and not really sure what it would be anyway.

I have heard people in the car culture name their cars too and again I never have.
I dunno maybe I just wanted to start a thread!

Oh and for NOS..I can reply in IE no problem I was just having trouble Starting one. Also I think I can agree with you that just by me being in this forum and posting and such I guess I really am "into it". I think it is cool what people post and the reports and such, I do enjoy it and all the people here.

My bikes already had names when I got them, like Trek, Schwinn, Specialized, etc. I found that wasn't enough, since several had the same name. So now they are blue Schwinn, black Schwinn, green Schwinn, beer can Trek, tin can Trek, Hardluck, hard tail, double-boinger, folder. No more confusion!

My bikes have names.

Do the names ever change - say in the middle of a loooong steep hill?

Mine have.

My wife has My Little Pony, Ruby and... heck, I don't know what she class her Crosscheck and mountain bike.
My bikes don't have names. Then, what could sound cooler then "The Kestrel?" The others are nameless. Heck, one is darn near brandless.

I always thought I was in the minority on this--it just seems silly to me to give things names. The Atlantis is "the Atlantis," the Trek is "the singlespeed" and the Dahon is "the folder." I had a series of race cars, one at a time, all of them called "the race car" or just "the car," depending on context.
I did race a mountain bike for one season, and its name must have been Fa Tass. At least when people came up behind me, they said, "Coming through, Fa Tass."

My bikesd get called lots of names- Normally when the big hill appears 50 miles into a ride.

But they do have names- Boreas- TCR-OCR-Bianchi and the Tandem. Just can't improve on the manufacturers names.

I don't use "names" in the sense that kr32 means . . .

The Calfee is just "the Calfee." My mountain bike is just "the Zaskar." My touring bike is just "the Mercian." My folding bike usually doesn't get called "the DaHon" but rather "the folder."

On the other hand, my Hercules is "the 3-Speed" and my fixed gear bike is "the Masi."

My GT road bikes are differentiated in one of two ways, i.e., "the SRAM GT" and "the Ultegra GT" or alternately, "the Ti GT" and "the steel GT."

Rick / OCRR

-it just seems silly to me to give things names.

That's as good a reason as I can think of for doing it. Life is far too important to take seriously.

I did race a mountain bike for one season, and its name must have been Fa Tass. At least when people came up behind me, they said, "Coming through, Fa Tass."

You know, they make road bikes, too. I have 4 of them, as well as one of their mtbs.

Oddly enough, my motor vehicles generally have never been named.

127250LOL, my bike has "two names", in general I refer to it as "The Frankenbird" but it's real name is TOG (Touch Of Gray)!

I've never named a bike although they have occasionally been called names.

As one who is often whimsical to the point of silliness, I cannot explain why I have not named any of my bikes.

Well, I thought my bike came with a cool name - Mad One! Then I realized that there isn't a space in there . . .

I've never named my bikes or cars or aircraft, however the one least favored by my wife at any point in time might be referred to as "the b____ in the hanger" or the" b____ in the garage".

#1 , #2, #3. Simple.

I don't actually have conversations with my bikes or car, so don't see a need to actually name them. In my youth I just had the one bike, so it was simple "my bike." Now with three bikes and the wife with one, they are just referred to by the model name/brand name; although the Bertolette model is shortened to "Bert", followed by SRT, 7200 and wife's is just the Trek. Although her's should probably the dust catcher, as that is all it's doing.

I call mine, "My Bike" and "My Old Bike".

As one who is often whimsical to the point of silliness, I cannot explain why I have not named any of my bikes.

Same here..... Lots of silly things I say and do but I've never been compelled to name a thing.

My bikesd get called lots of names- Normally when the big hill appears 50 miles into a ride.

But they do have names- Boreas- TCR-OCR-Bianchi and the Tandem. Just can't improve on the manufacturers names.

Same here. My bikes are all black or grey Treks so I call them by their model - Madone, 520 and 4300 :)

Without wanting to offend, if you call you bike "the black one" or "the road bike" or "#1", haven't you in fact given your bike a name. Some may not wish to give their bikes whimsical names, or name them after people, places or things, but to identify them even in your own mind is to give it a name.

Sometimes names just fall on you as unavoidable events. For example, how many owners of Red Roubaix bicycles will refer to the bike as Ruby? Sometimes names are a little more convoluted than that. Over the last few years I have built a number of projects that required identifiers if for nothing else than to name the piles where the parts went before I was ready to build. The time trial bike was white, it was fast but not suitable for long distances.....a rabbit in other words.....naturally "White Rabbit" came to mind. Once trapped in Charles Dodgson land, it was logical (after a couple of sips) to name the more pedestrian MTB "Dormouse". The steel Centurion in the shop that may get a modern equipment fit and a candy apple red paint job will probably be "The Queen of Hearts".

It's easy to get carried away with the name thing though. The one project dear to my heart is still the All Mountain FS MTB that will eventually replace "Dormouse". Visions of bombing down traprock trails at speed lead to only one possibility..........The "Madd Hatter".......:lol:

Naming bikes is easy.....after all, "you can't help that. Most everyone's mad here."

Without wanting to offend, if you call you bike "the black one" or "the road bike" or "#1", haven't you in fact given your bike a name. Some may not wish to give their bikes whimsical names, or name them after people, places or things, but to identify them even in your own mind is to give it a name.

Even if you call it by the manufacturer's name or the model name, that's still a name.
So we all name our bikes. The only real difference is how much imagination we use in doing so. ;)

Without wanting to offend, if you call you bike "the black one" or "the road bike" or "#1", haven't you in fact given your bike a name. Some may not wish to give their bikes whimsical names, or name them after people, places or things, but to identify them even in your own mind is to give it a name.



So my wife has really named me when she calls me "the bald one" or "the fat one"?

I've named vehicles lots of times. I had an old International truck named Howard, a Chevy van named Stubby, an Isuzu named Suzie, and my wife had a Subaru wagon named Clarence. None of our present vehicles have names.

I ride 4 bikes and only one has a name. My shopping bike is called my Urban Assualt Vehicle, but I stole that name from BengeBoy.

To name or not to name, that is the question. Answer: who cares?

Descriptors (like the black one, or the Madone) are not the same as naming. Naming elevates the bike from being a tool(which I believe they should be) to being an object of affection. I like riding my bike. I like how it feels, fits and looks. I would never name it. And I am "into it".

I doubt any pros name their bikes by the way.

Bikes are much much more than tools..................for me at least.

I am 100% OK with anyone naming their bikes.

I am opposed to any of you naming your body parts.

I name 'em but I have also been known to name my cars...............just sayin'

Descriptors (like the black one, or the Madone) are not the same as naming. Naming elevates the bike from being a tool(which I believe they should be) to being an object of affection. I like riding my bike. I like how it feels, fits and looks. I would never name it. And I am "into it".

I doubt any pros name their bikes by the way.

Depending on which dictionary one uses, I'd have to say my bike is an object of affection (...a positive feeling of liking). I also would expect that pros may not feel the same way about their bikes as I do mine. I would think that there are days that when they get up that the last thing they want to do is throw their leg across a bike.

BTW, I have a four pound hammer that has been given the name "Bruiser" when my kids were young. They'd say, "Daddy needs the big hammer for this. We'll go get Bruiser." At the time I didn't have a positive feeling about that hammer, but now, whenever I pick up "Bruiser" there is a positive feeling in remembering my kids.

When "ANGEL" ( Litespeed Titanium, a platinum blond) and I ride in the clouds, we usually are verbally silent but connected in the enjoyment of the moment. Both of us at peak performence and what we recognize as our purpose in life.

Buster on the other hand, gripes when going down hills (Kona Cross, big tires, on rough Philippine roads) and gives me an a** chewing cause we ain't climbing.

For me, I just use the model name.

One guy in Hawaii has the LBS repaint every new bike he buys and give it a custom color. He then has a female name hand painted on the top tube. He refuses to tell anyone how many bikes he owns, but someone who had been in his apartment said it was easily over 20.

Naming bikes is ghey.

There's nothing wrong with that.

I doubt any pros name their bikes by the way.

Somehow I doubt you are right about that. I bet some of them do. Not that it matters anyway. None of this matters really, does it?

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YObKuX2krqA/SaeQ-xng10I/AAAAAAAAASk/fkXNIhtOSWs/s1600/425.tripplehorn.sevigny.goodwin.biglove.060408.jpg
Though I don't name my bikes, I do have... feellings for them...

We've been binging on DVDs of HBO's Big Love, the great cable show about a polygamist family; a man and his three wives.

My wife pointed out I'm a bicycle polygamist with three bikes.
So, of course, we started trying to decide which bike corresponded to which of Bill's wives.

I said the Fixed gear was Margene, because it's young and hip, like her. Nikki is the commuter bike because Nikki knows how to work and handle the grunt work. My Kestrel should be Barb, because it, and she, are good for the long haul.

Tricia had a different take. The commuter bike is Barb because Barb is reliable, and equipped to handle the load. Bill can always turn to Barb, she'll get him through whatever comes along.

Nikki is the fixed gear. She has her own beauty. It's a sparse and simple beauty, but beauty none the less. She does, however, take some getting used to. She has pretty basic needs, but like a flat on the rear wheel of a fixed gear, she has her own special maintenance issues.

Margene is the Kestrel, because your road bike makes you feel young, fast and exciting, and reminds you why you love to ride your bike. A lot. And the drop bars provide a variety of positions.

Funny, I didn't feel a compulsion to name my Atala, but I named my Stan Pike "Ike" 'cause I like Ike. Some of us on this thread actually recall that slogan...

This has been a great thread for me, thanks for all the replies.
I have come to the point that there is not point in this thread really, it just doesn't matter if anyone names their bikes.
And doing so or not doesn't make one more or less "into it" either.
We are all into it, including me, because we ride and share our thoughts about it here.

Very interesting

Recently and for the first time, I named a bike. I took the name from the epic Schartnezegor movie Predator. Long Cool Sally has everything that a good boy needs. It was a subconscious thing, occurring as a matter of circumstance in my life right now. It helps make for happier times. And what could make me happier than being lean and mean on a bike. Black 57cm Lemond Buenos Aires. She’s long, she’s cool and she’s all mine.

I ride a Guru, and it HAS, in fact, imparted some wisdom to me along the way, all be it likely not enough...