lucille

We were out for a ride yesterday and a pack of roadies on their fancy racing bikes came up from behind. As they pass me on my Bike Friday, one of them says to another "What is that? A mower?" Grrrr... Yeah, it's a mower, you $&@!&@!

What's the worse you heard about your "unworthy" small wheel bike?

alaskanb3arcub

I was getting dinner after a 11.5 mile ride yesterday(food joint was inside a bar) and one of the bar patrons dared call my Dahon a crappy bike(it may not be a Bike Friday, but it's not crap). The ONLY other bike he'd ever has was a Trek 1000(pretty good bike, iirc). With hind sight being 20/20, my response should have been "Are you just ignorant, or are you being a d!@#?? What, if anything, do you know about the folding bike market?" I'll remember that next time as most people that see my bike go "Oooh, cool!".

Northwestrider

I've ridden a recumbent, so have heard them all I'd guess, but IMO they've been in jest so no harm done. You may try smiling and ask why they ride such large bikes, or my bike will beat yours getting on a train. In any case , enjoy your your Bike Friday, it's a great bike. I wish I had one.

fietsbob

maybe they were Polish and said Rower which is close to their word for bike .. as I under stand translation..

jefmcg

In Covent Garden a colonnaded porch forms a sort of proscenium arch, where approved buskers can ply their trade. One day I was wheeling my mezzo along the wall you can see in the back of the attached image, when the busker turned to me to draw me into his act:

"When are you going to get a real bike?", he shouted.
"When you get a real theatre", I muttered to myself. Still regret not shouting it back

jur

A motorist who pulled up next to me once said, "Get a real bike!"

I had the presence of mind to shoot back, "You are so right, this bike is unreal!"

krobinson103

Lol. I just did a 200km brevet on an 'unworthy' entry level 16 speed roadie. Funny thing is, despite a mechanical problem (should have paid more attention to the crank bolts) I still outpaced a good number of riders on their carbon fiber roadies There were a few folders in the event as well. No bike is 'unworthy'. I've ridden 200km plus on a 200 dollar hybrid and done a 300 on an mtb setup with offroad tires and unlocked shocks. Road bikes almost feel like cheating!

MrSingh

Although I've only ridden it a few times, having bought it last weekend, my Mu Uno definitely draws attention, with plenty of second glances.

No comments yet apart from a work colleague who just simply loved the look of it. Kept saying "oh my god". Said she would probably consider a folder having seen how good the Mu looks.

gear64

Not sure I would really call it an insult, but I once had a roadie ask if it difficult to ride so far on a mountain bike. Later I passed him walking up a steep incline as I puttered by in my "granny gear". I'm sure he repassed me somewhere along the way, but it worked just fine for me; and I finished in a time just suitable for me.

raqball

I think the Bike Friday's are cool!

Who cares what a pack of snobs mutter as they pass? Enjoy your bike!

Northwestrider

+! exactly

bjorke

The only insult that stung was finishing a charity ride -- with appropriate color tags -- on my minivelo, and the twit with a microphone and a PA system at the finish line calls out: "your really rode 35 miles on that?" "100!" I retorted, and she laughed "yeah, yeah, uh huh"

Nice way to encourage riders.

casio04330

Sir.. you are #WINNING !!!!!

krobinson103

I rode my first ever 300km ride on this...



Setup just as you see her. It hurt but I did it. No one believed me. Doesn't matter, I know I did it.

Tourist in MSN

When they are roadies on their fancy racing bikes, that means they spent several times more money on their bike than I spent on mine. I just assume that they are the type of people that like to show off how much money they spent. After 5 minutes I have forgotten that they existed.

cplager

I'm looking at that picture and I don't believe you.

Y'all think you get **** for riding a folding bike? I ride a folding recumbent. That's front wheel drive.

"Hey mister, did you put that together wrong?"

Actually, I usually just get nice comments, especially from kids.

BassNotBass

In most cases I get questions about my Bike Friday but the comments I do get are from fellow cyclists and are generally positive. The very few times someone says something negative/idiotic I offer my simple "canned" responses "how old are you?" or "yeah, keep trying, wannabe" and I say it with the most condescending "you're so pathetic" sneer I can muster. It's satisfying how easily I can anger people with that expression.

invisiblehand

+1

At the Reston Century, there a bunch of folks who couldn't believe I was passing them gave me backhanded compliments. But most people are just trying to be funny or start some sort of conversation. I wouldn't worry about it.

krobinson103

Its not the bike anyway. If you are in shape a properly geared folder/mini velo can be a little rocket.

lucille

Thanks for all the comments, I thought you guys would get a kick out of this.

I got lots of comments before, that the bike is cute, strange, do I have to pedal more etc. but never a mower. I only wish I would have been riding fully loaded, then he'd shut up. heh heh

I love my Bike Friday, we did some nice trips together and I wouldn't want to travel with a full size bike again.

mconlonx

I get the opposite -- more compliments regarding the my folding Birdy than on any of my "normal" upright DF bikes.

Old, young, all walks of life, people love the Birdy. I believe there may be some silent dissing involved, but no untoward comments regarding the bike.

There's more people who don't ride bikes than those who do, and it seems that the non-riding majority are more predisposed toward "cute" clownbikes like folders, recumbents, and tandems than they are to regular bikes. And especially drop-bar bikes and their lycra wearing riders..

BruceMetras

Mike, don't forget to mention the reaction of your fellow bike shop enthusiasts when you entered the Birdy Zone .. haha ..

modelmartin

Several years ago I was riding RAGBRAI and a paceline of about 5 bikes goes zipping by at a goodly rate of speed. Zipping along in the middle of the row of crabon road bikes was a Bike Friday!

bhkyte

I have had negerative comments about most of my folders, but never anything with bullbars. Or extended stems. They look very racey and often tend to be shifting faster than most bikes so saying it's not a proper bike is just silly.

I don't claime to be fast, but.....

Once I pulled up along side a roadie on a full carbon bike at the traffic lights. I was on my fast upgraded mezzo. I said "hello" to a fellow cyclist. He looked at me through his tinted Oakleys, then down at the bike then decided to ignore me. I promptly dropped him.

tk1971

I was huffing and puffing one time going up this particularly steep mountain climb in grannie, when some guy in a Pee-Wee Herman bike wearing jeans and flip flops passed me like I was standing still. He rang the little bell and everything. It was pretty cool.

Another time, I was riding with the usual suspects up to Chantry Flats in So-Cal. We parked at the bottom (where the houses were) and climbed the pavement before going to the trail head. A ranger walked up to one of my riding buddies and told him to make sure he parked behind the white line (we were riding bikes). The ranger assumed that since my buddy is on the heavy side, he must have parked up there. We had a good laugh about it. Some teasing ensued. Good times.