Thread: what is a fred?
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Old 09-08-12 | 11:39 PM
  #19  
loneviking61's Avatar
loneviking61
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 378
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From: Carson City, NV

Bikes: Schwinn Trailwise, Surly Pugsley

Hmmm, here I thought my name was Bill...but then I read this:

A third use of the term exists. In this usage, a "Fred" is a cyclist who has a ton of cycling gear, especially of the utilitarian "uncool" kind, like mirrors, powerful lights, fenders, bells/horns, heavy leather seats, racks, reflective gear, bags, baskets, etc. The gear and bike may be put together by kludgey homemade solutions, like duct-taped flashlights to the handlebar.[1] This type of Fred is a bike geek who likes/needs lots of gear (even if it is modified stuff not intended for bikes). Sacrificing some, or ignoring completely, concerns of speed or traditional roadie/sport cyclist style, these type of Freds are more concerned with practical concerns like comfort, safety, versatility, maintenance, being able to quickly transition to time and culture on/off the bicycle, etc. These cyclists may be well aware of their fredness, once they are aware of the concept, and often embrace it wholeheartedly
and then looked at the cockpit of my bike which looks like this:



and concluded that my name is Fred. I too like to head out without any special bike clothes except for a helmet and see where I wind up.
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