So the general consensus of many cycle touring message boards seems to be "I don't like UL bike tourists because they're evangelists that think they know the only right way to tour, and never fail to tell other people how to do things."

Which is something that I've personally never witnessed. (I'm sure it has happened at some point though).

What I have witnessed is a general condescending attitude towards people who are interested in UL touring.

Recently someone asked about chain lube on an UL tour, and a fellow poster was snarkily remarking about how the OP probably wouldn't want to carry a rag for chain care and waste a half ounce.

In another UL thread (That the poster could tell was about UL touring and easily ignore) someone remarks its ironic that if you brought everything on everyones UL lists, you wouldn't be UL. Well no **** sherlock, different people pack different gear, regardless of their gear weight.

In one thread where people were discussing all sorts of gear calculations I simply said "It's nice to not have to worry about this, since as an UL tourist I can just use stock road gearing and be fine, even in mountains." I had replies like "The UL evangelists are getting old, fast" and "UL isn't the be all end all of touring" and "would you use that pack list on a round the world tour through remote areas?" I made no attempt to convert anyone, or talk down to anyone who packs differently than me.

So I can't comment on what you've personally experienced over the years from tourists with different opinions. Some of us pack light, some heavy, some in between. Some of us have talked to nothing but friendly people on the road, some of us have others tell us how stupid we are for using the bike / gear we do.

But what I can comment on is my past year posting here. What I can tell you is if there are UL evangelists, I can't find them, but I can find you plenty of people who get super defensive if you talk about it, and want to keep UL tourists from posting in general touring threads, and some that even go out of there way to be idiots in threads clearly dedicated to UL touring.

We're a small community. We should be able to get along better IMO.