Ugh, I love riding all kinds of bikes, but wow I can't stand the road forum...
 

I started reading thru the road forum because I want to get into some mild racing and wow, talk about a bunch of a-holes. So I came back here and decided I wanted to tell you all.

I almost wanted to challenge the next person who said carbon or pace line to a katana duel.

I think road cycling is basically shooting itself in the foot by being so uninviting.

at least their bikes don't weigh much and they have those cool accessories.

One of the main reasons I sold my road bike and bought a fixed gear. It seems as though if you're not rolling on the latest carbon, dura-ace equipped sub 15lb bike you're obviously not a real cyclist.

I suppose its ironic to post a thread about how another forum is rude in BFSSFG. However I went and checked out the road forum, and their ******baggery seems to be on a similar level to ours. I'd saying its a biking thing, but I think its just an internet thing.

I don't know, I guess there is a lot of rudeness all around. Clicks really. Honestly, I really want to try out racing. I made a resolution to race once this year in any kind of event (MTB / Road / ... who cares) and I am doing some research and road is so very uninviting. MTB seems like "bring a bike, some cash, lets race then have some beers" while I feel super self conscious even thinking about entering a road race.

Literally after my first post over there I was told to stick to the recreation and family sub forum, and "we don't want you ride by yourself".

The Road forum is really just a jaw-droppingly stupid ****hole. I got into an argument today with someone who refuses to acknowledge that not buying products with "dodgy sounding Asian" names is blatantly racist.

I think there is some degree of snobbery in all sports, especially sports that have a high-end equipment level. All the cyclists I know, from the road/cross/tri guys in my (suburban) neighborhood to my friends who ride fixed just enjoy what they do. Obviously, gear is fun to get and talk about, but there is never any snobbery. I think it might be partially breaking into a clique, like you said, but a lot of it, I think, is just internet jocks showing off. They know fork X is .0056lb lighter than fork Y, that means they're smarter and faster than you, right?

Road is one of the only sports where adult men can compete in a non-scholastic setting, so inevitably 8/10 racers are fiercely-competitive nobodies. It's fun as hell, but it's also the foremost refuge of defeated and aging jocks, turned middle-management types.

Or maybe they're just dicks.

When I am not in full kit riding a no frills bike I enjoy life.
When all suited up on a bike worth more then me all I do is hate myself.

I still want to race though :( just getting over a knee injury from a really boneheaded move on a mountain bike by myself in the woods so all I have been doing instead of riding is pouring over bike catalogs looking at road bikes, but I am sure once I get back in the saddle the want for more gear and *shudder* carbon will go away and I will just want to ride.

i made a post the other day about needing 24 gears when i was looking into getting a road bike. didn't get much help. then i read some other stuff. jesus.

not going back there again.

Race MTB, CX or even track, then. I think you'll find all of them more welcoming than your local criterium circuit.

get a vintage lightweight. the guys over in C&V are nice...

Cross looks like a lot of fun. My neighbors are constantly washing 15lb of mud off their bikes on the weekends.

When I first realized how snobby and elitist a lot of roadies are, I was pretty damn surprised. It seemed like a parallel world to hipsterism where the skin tight jeans have been replaced by skin suits, and the NJS bikes by Cervelo's with full Dura Ace.

But honestly there's lame and cool people in all disciplines. I know a few really cool roadies, in fact the fastest guy on the local University team is really level-headed and down to earth even if he's in a position to talk a lot of **** for how good he is.

But yeah, I'd like to get into racing cross someday. It seems like the funnest **** ever, and not only that, the people/scene is welcoming and less into snobbery. Racing track is also pretty sweet because those guys know how on the fringe of cycling they are and how small the field has become since it's heydey that they can't afford NOT to scare the newjacks away :) Atleast from how I see it.

The thing is that I know kids with NJS bikes who aren't *******s and kids who dress like hipsters with **** bikes but who are awesome. I think its elitism in general which sucks, and we seem to get an inordinate amount of that in SSFG and road racing.

I just sort of scan through all the forums and read what's interesting.

Somebody mentioned that the Road-Cycyling Racing forum was more interesting and helpful than the normal Road Cycling forum, but I don't normally read it- too slow to race.

My whole life, I've never met a roadie I've liked.

I myself own an NJS bike and consider myself a nice guy in real life... but I've met dudes who won't even give you the time of day if you try, so it all varies.

i think you guys need to turn off your computers and go outside before drawing any conclusions on road cycling based simply off a bunch of nerds who probably spend more time writing posts on an internet forum than actually riding their carbon blah blah blah bicycle

That's pretty true. I'm way more critical of things on a forum then I am in real life. But I do know my fair share of roadies, some are cool and some aren't.

my best friend since 1st grade's dad is an avid cyclist, so ive gotten to meet a bunch of road riders, and they were/are all really nice guys.

I'm 1000% pure roadie. I ride 5 days a week get in some competitive rides etc. . But I won't argue that there are many that are snobby.

The problem I believe is not the roadies however, I believe it's the road forum. Many of the guys on there a just sarcastic unfriendly and often times overly serious. if you go there and ask a general questions you will be lucky to get one real answer. the rest turns into a verbal dismantle of all your words. But many times on the road races you get friendly rivalries and a few people who just are arrogant and do nothing but eat, think and breath cycling. Those guys are the absolute worst. often times are the most hated and get little respect no matter how fast because most people don't train 24/7. Some of us have kids, some have jobs etc.. but often times are still strong enuff to hang with the self proclaimed world champ.

as for the carbon bike comment. I have a $5500 bike but I often train now on my conversion ss. I never look down on anyone because of thier bike. however sometimes I get some a-hole when i compliment them on their older bike they take it as a snub. I have said to a few guys in the group , nice bike , what year is that, etc.." and I'll get some comment like , sorry it's not carbon or some bullisht. i think it goes both ways. the way some people on this forum hate conversions or others think the aerospoke front wheel is down right dumb. etc.. but to each his own.

point taken.