TroN0074

So I have been commuting to work for few months now and I have been also riding my bike for recreation. Pretty much everybody who knows me is aware I enjoy learning about technology and electronics.
So recently a guy approached me to let me know he could turn my bicycle into a fix gear if I wanted to, he told me a fix gear bicycle is the kind of bike a hard core Linux user will ride. That made me smile because yeah I find Linux very interesting but what does have anything to do with riding a bike?

Have you guys ever been stereotyped for riding your bike? whats your experience with this?

TenSpeedV2

I have not been stereotyped yet. The question here is.....will you go fixed gear?

TroN0074

I would go fixed gear but I don't think I am at that level yet. I still need to gain more experience on my commute and as a cyclist over all. Currently I appreciate having the chance to switch gears when going up hills and stuff. The constant pedaling and slowing down with a fixed gear will required getting use to.

rydabent

Since I ride a recumbent bike and trike, like most of us I have been profiled as "not a real cyclist". But then I really dont care since I dont have a pain in the ass, like the pain in the ass "real cyclist" do.

DonBjr

I installed linux on my garmin 510. Now it never crashes. (I might be making this up)

I thought fixies were more of a gold iphone type?

ThermionicScott 

I don't really like to indulge categories or stereotypes, despite how strongly we're wired to do so.

That said, I can see the guy's point: both Linux and fixed-gears are for the real enthusiasts. People who like to tinker, and for whom normal operating systems and bikes aren't enough.

fietsbob

The Police are into Profiling Suspects.

SpeshulEd 

The Police were more into roller skates anyway.

Fastfingaz

Boy look at that,,,, The Police in the streets of New Orleans,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

pdlamb

I use Linux (actually posting from an Ubuntu box!), but there's too many hills where I ride for a fixed gear.

OTOH, I've replaced everything but the seatpost and brakes from my formerly stock Fuji. Instead of 7 speed Shimano Sora, it has a 9 speed Campagnono (or is that Shimagnolo?) drive train, Brooks saddle, dyno hub and lights. And it has fenders. What can I say? Standard stuff wasn't doing it for me and I like to tinker!

obed7

I would tell you what the stereotype for fixie riders is in my neighborhood, but that could get me banned.

GhostSS

I've been stereotyped every time I've tried to buy a bike from a shop or a craigslist seller. One particular shop employee told me to "save up money" and wait to buy a xyz bike that they think is too expensive for me. Craigslist owners selling a old road bike always, without fail, ask me if I'm going to turn their beloved vintage roadbike into a "fixie" (the answer is no).

Unfortunately in Hawaii the stereotypes for my ethnicity are deep seated which is a major portion of it. The rest is me having the "asian curse", I have a very young looking face and body structure, most people think I'm 10 years younger than my actual age.

Yendor72

Huh, I'd think something that is not very flexible would be equated with Windows not Linux. "Here ride a fixie, it's like Windows because if you don't like the gear it came with well then you're screwed. Don't overload it because once it spools up you can't stop it and it will crash."

BlazingPedals

There seems to be a lot of Linux and Apple users among the recumbent brethren. Face it, most recumbent riders are non-conformists and tinkerers.

Nermal

I've never been stereotyped, but I used to hear the word 'Fred' an unlikely number of times in one of our two bicycle shops.

Stucky

I use Linux exclusively, and I don't ride fixies.

Maybe I'm not 'hardcore' enough?

Looigi

I don't under stand your post. Are you saying you've been profiled as being a pain the ass?

Stucky

I think he means he doesn't have a wife.

jade408

Few cyclists acknowledge me when I ride my bike. Lots of non-cyclists do. Might be because I have a new school dutch-inspired bike and a dress on.

JohnDThompson 

I've been using linux and riding fixed gears for many years now.

Stucky

Fixed gears; Fixed computer [assuming WinD'ohs is erradicated]...makes sense!

BobbyG

I bike commute to work mostly for fitness and stress relief, and it's fun. When people learn I bike commute, they often assume I'm a liberal environmentalist trying to stave off global warming. I tell them I'm trying to reduce my carbon ass-print. Yes, I do care about preserving natural beauty and the environment and abhor unnecessary waste and pollution, and I hate litter and such, but none of those motivate me to ride. And I don't consider myself a liberal, or a conservative. I tend to lean right, but I find it hard to blindly subscribe to either philisophical camp.

Crashogre

I guess I break the convention. I ride a road bike and use Linux. Been using Linux since the 70s and the days of 300 baud modems.

Gerryattrick

I use Linux because it's cheap.

I ride used bikes because they're cheap.

I wonder what I'd be profiled as?.

TroN0074

I started using Linux before I started commuting on my bike I wasn't aware of any stereotype, but I heard on some cities bikers commuters are thought as low income workers, immigrants, and even as bumb. hopefully this is not the case with any of you fellow commuters.