Fireman Phil

Hello all....

This is my 1st post here and I realy don't want to sound so negative but I have got to vent on a subject that has been on my mind for somtime.

First let me tell you that I ride a Wal-Mart hybrid/mtn bike that I ride daily and with great passion. I have attended a few bike club sponsored rides in my area only to have "bike snobs" look down there nose at my Wal-Mart bike.

If these people realy want want to promote cycling than it should not matter if your riding a $2.00 garage sale bike or my Wal-Mart bike. Truth is not every one can afford a high end bike. So do we exclude these folks?

Take a look around your neighborhood..... Ill bet you will find more Wal-Mart, K-mart etc, etc, bikes owned by ordinary people who just plain enjoy cycling. Bike snobs wake up and smell the coffee and promote cycling.

Altwegg

There will always be bike snobs, just like there are snobs in every other sport/culture. Just look for the nicer guys, and you'll have more fun.

windchaser

no way A... rowers are never snobs

jk.
like you said.. there will always be someone who thinks they are better than you..lol what do they know?

Altwegg

Hey Windchaser, I used to row in crew. You're right, I've never met any rower snobs....

urban_assault

First of all, welcome to the forum.

My opinion is that if someone is riding a bike or enjoys cycling then they are ok in my book no matter what type or brand of bike they are riding. Keep riding and have fun. Don't worry about the others.

I started riding in '94 on a $90 Huffy and surely received my share of bad looks from cyclists on pricier steeds. I hate to say it but it drove me to be a better cyclist. I always wanted to pass or drop those who felt superior just because my bike was a cheap model.

Everyone has to start somewhere. My friends and coworkers have asked for bike buying advise many times. I always tell them to buy from a bike shop if they can. If they cannot, then buy the best you can afford from the x-mart and let me look it over so it's safe to ride.

I picked up the cycling bug after watching a local race and I couldn't wait to save up the money to buy a good bike. I got one a couple of weeks later with the money leftover after bills and rent were paid. I was in love with cycling. I lost 30 lbs, got in great shape and found a passion that stays with me today.

Forget about the looks or comments about your bike. Enjoy it and what it can do for you. I believe most here would share that feeling. If you have any questions feel free to ask. This is the best forum I've found for everyone from newbies to racers.

urban_assault

BTW, if you are a firefighter, THANKS!

windchaser

lol i know you row.. we have talked before.. on another forum lol

i row eights now.. its soooooooo much fun.. trying to get only morning crew tho... so i can bike there and back before rush hour ,its a killer and a nice 10 mile ride.
about half of the rowers in the club, ride.. marni mcbean trained there and there is a silver medalist from australia(sydney 2000) coaching there... met him.. love the accent... he had no complaints about my form..lol
yeah right... i row... like i ride.....

velocipedio

YOu know, Phil, whenever I see someone on a bike, I feel good.

On the other hand, my cycling and your cycling are different kinds of cycling. We do it for different reasons, seeking different results. You may think that I look down on you and your Wal-Mart bike, but I don't. What you see isn't derision, but more a lack of recognition. I respect the differences between our kinds of cycling, acknowledging both that they have much in common and much different.

Goatbiker

Phil,

It's like small town fire departments. You have the paid guys and you have the volunteers. They work the same fires, side by side, but some of the paid guys always think they are better than the volunteers, just because it's their day job.

Welcome to cycling. There are a lot of good people you are going to meet, no matter what you are riding.

Tom

MediaCreations 

Hey - we even think that those who ride bents are good people - mostly.

pat5319

If the wheels go 'round, it's a good bike!

Ride, Don't Worry
Pat

Altwegg

I think I know who you are Nice to know you are making the most out of two very fulfilling disciplines! Keep up the good work. Tell us if you will be rowing in the 2004 Olympics

MichaelW

Personally I think snobbery over having the latest gear or lightest bike is misplaced, but there is a real difference for the rider between a good bike (such as a garage sale find), however old and used, and a bad bike, with a heavy frame and poor quality construction and components.
Its quite possible to ride a good bike for the same price as a bad bike.

windchaser

was hoping for 2008..lol
but it its not going to be in my city booooooooohooooooo..
oh well..

Altwegg

LOL, up early for a morning workout ? Have fun rowing this morning. I'm just about to leave the office. The dinner table beckons!

mrfix

Welcome Phil
I know what you are saying, I ride sleeper bikes for a reason, I find good quality old bikes with style, usually on the side of the road at tag sales, I strip out the frames and re-fit them with current high end components. I do this to avoid the snobs, If they won't give me the time of day, I would perfer them not come over to talk to me. I ride around 10,000 miles a year, I consider myself an accomplished cyclist, I am curtious to all who ride bikes, I talk to everyone and help those who ask. I ride all organized centuries that I can find, I'm not young. There is no better feeling than going to a century, targeting the biggest snob on the most expensive high tech bike, dressed in $400.00 worth of cycling cloths, riding 100 yards back for the 1st. 50 miles then droping him like a rock. Think about it, he just got dropped, and couldn't catch, the old guy on the old outdated bike, in front of his buddies. The lesson learned here for him is, You don't have to flash to be good,, Ya gotta ride.
Keep riding Phil and remember, there are no bad bikes, enjoy your bike.

DnvrFox

.When I am riding my $300 beat up mtn bike with almost 7,000 miles and just sort of toodling around, I frequently wear Levis and a sweat shirt, with a rubber band around the chain leg of the Levis.

Last year, I came upon four guys with high end bikes, all tooled out in matching club Jerseys and about $500 in stuff, who were obviously sort of lost. I stopped and offered directions.

WOW!!

Talk about snobbery. I was treated like a pariah.

I wonder how I would have been treated if I was all dressed up in my Lycra with my Lemond BA bike. I bet their whole attitude would have changed.

Sad.

Keep up the riding. Also, keep your eyes open for a good used bike to eventually replace that Huffy. You will find a world of difference in riding satisfaction.

.

Inkwolf

Shucks, I've been riding Huffies most of my life...now that I've scraped up enough cash to buy a lower-end bike-shop bike, don't I get to be even a LITTLE bit snotty?

Just kidding...the snotty looks I got on a group ride whan on my Huffy were a major factor in why I never went on a second group ride.

velocipedio

WOW! Talk about reverse snobbery!

Denver, did it occur to you either that this group of "snobs" weren't actually lost, or that they simply reacted negatively -- as many people do in and out of lycra -- to unsolicited advice? What does the fabric of their shorts have to do with anything?

Look, some cyclists ride of different reasons. Most of the time, Phil, I would not want to ride with you, simply because you probably wouldn't be able to keep up and because we very likely enjoy diferent kinds of rides. This is all judging from your bike. In my experience, someone riding an X-Mart mountain bike isn't very likely to keep up a 40 km/h cruise speed or get much enjoyment out of hill climbing.

Does that make me think I am better than you? In some ways, I probably am better than you -- not as a person, but as a cyclist. I am probably faster and stronger and I probably have more endurance than you. I don't look down on you because of this, but I do recognize that we're not going to be riding together. Meet me at the cafe next to my LBS, though, and I'll be happy to buy you the best latte in Montreal [and, since Montreal has the best coffee in North America...]

And there are plenty of people who I know are much better han me. My main training partner is faster and stronger in almost all categories. I'm sure Velo, RacerX and Lotek could smoke my ass in almost any competition [except maybe Trivial Pursuit]. Rich could kill me in cyclocross. They are better than me. [Probably... having never actually ridden with any of them, I can't say for sure.]

That's fine. It gives me goals.

DnvrFox

I guess you would have had to have been there, V.

I did not offer "unsolicited advice" in the sense you are thinking.

I came upon them, said "Hi!" (as is my way) which was NOT returned, went by slowly and listened as they discussed which way to go and where it might take them, and simply said to the effect that the trail I was on went a particular direction and ended up a particular place.

I guess at the very least I would expect, and would have given myself, some sort of an acknowledgement or even a thanks, just to be courteous.

Nope.

V. it was pretty obvious I was a book being judged by its cover. I almost always engage folks in some sort of a cursory "Hi!" or whatever, and almost always get some sort of acknowledgement. Not in this case.

So, absent a video or tape recording, you are just going to have to trust me.

Why are you so sure I am wrong and they were in the right, or that in some way I misjudged them?

Shucks, when I am all decked up in my Ride the Rockies Jersey, etc., I still find the time to say Howdy to folks (even those riding Huffies)!! It is one of the real benefits of biking - sort of a community of folks.

lotek 

Geez, I'm flattered.
With the exception of maybe the who can ride off the side
of his rollers competition I'm pretty sure you'd drop me like
a bad habit.

Marty

Pat

Well there might be some reasons for the apparant snobbery.

It takes awhile to build up the endurance to be able to ride a bike for reasonably distance at reasonable speed. There are very few people who can do this and still ride a Wal-Mart bike. Riding a Wal-Mart bike sort of brands you as a neophyte. It might not be accurate, but that is the way it is.

There are several things you may not be aware of.

Slow riders will get dropped like hot potatos by fit fast riders. And usually slow riders resent the heck out of being dropped. Sometimes, it is best to not encourage an apparantly slow rider to getting into your group. You will just hurt their feeling when the group starts cranking.

Another thing, if you are riding in a group, rookie riders are dangerous. They do the wrong thing at the wrong time and they can easily put you on the pavement and cause serious injury.

A third thing is neophytes often do not know how to do basic road repairs so they get a flat and you end up giving them your tube (and hoping that YOU don't have a flat) and changing the flat and getting your hands dirty.

Another thing is neophytes can "blow up" from dehydration, fatigue and other things. That means you have to slow way down and nurse them home or you have to call someone to come pick them up.

I have ridden with neophytes and given them pointers and stuff. But at the pace they can hold, I am really not working. So for that day, I am not doing a ride, if you catch my drift.

All of the above are sort of legitimate reasons for being a bit leery of neophytes. Also as I have said, 99% of the people who ride Wal-Mart bikes are not really into the sport and it is better for them not to try to attach themselves with even fit recreational riders. It just does not work. You may well be an exception.

Of course, the other thing is, you may have run into some jerks. Recreational bicycling has its share of jerks.

1oldRoadie

[QUOTE]Originally posted by pat5319
[B]If the wheels go 'round, it's a good bike!

If you make the wheels go around its a great bike!

es_seattle

I'm sorry you had to experience that, and I don't think there's any excuse or rationalizing that makes it acceptable. Sadly, it seems that a lot of people need to pet their own egos any way they can. I have to wonder if they really love cycling, or if they just like "being the man". How much better for the world of cycling would it be to at least be friendly to people who are obviously new to the sport. I look askance at department store bikes too, but my thinking is: "it's a shame there wasn't a more experienced biker help them find a quality used bike". If you love biking, shouldn't you be welcoming people to the sport instead of potentially driving them away? Wouldn't that get us a bigger lobby for adding bike lanes and creating more awareness among drivers? Hotshot riders on the local scene may be the big fish in a little pond, but you've got to remember that it's all relative. Put them in the Giro or the Tour and they become the clowns with the banana seat and the sissy bar (that was my youth, by the way; I got my dose of humility early). Keep at it and find the friendly folks.

urbanking

Some days when i know there will be alot of bikers out and about, i purposely take my x-mart bike out just to embarrass those snobbies. I can ride better than most of them, so its fun to show them up, they feel dumb when you have more brains, or skills than they do. And beleive me, its not impossible to do with an x-mart bike. Just do your best.