Originally Posted by glowingrod
the first spoke cards i remember was when i was a kid, youd put playing cards or anything else in your spokes...can't say as there was a reason.
the first spoke cards remember as a messenger weren't associated with any race, usually a bar, or the pornographic playing cards or sumsuch. the first I remember associated with a race had racer numbers on one side and the race sponsors or name on the other. you can usually tell where a person is from by their spoke cards unless they travel alot which is frequently the case for couriers. I don't think anyone has there nose in the air for having or not having them. I ride road cept in the winter, and i can ride up to any group of messers and have a freindly chat no matter their spoke cards or gears/lack of. I've encountered the elitism that yer talking about, but roadsies can't really talk bout elitism hehe. thats the blind red pot calling the pink kettle a blazing shade of safety orange.
Yup, I remember kids doing this with playing cards and BMX bikes as early as the late 1970's. I put a playing card in my BMX spokes once when I was 10 in 1980. I crashed my bike that night. Spent 3 1/2 weeks in the hospital in traction. Shattered elbow. Never again put a card in my spokes. Felt like bad juju. 10 years later, complications from that injury helped end my racing career. I still get the willies when I see fixed gears with spoke cards in the spokes. Maybe I need to stick a spoke card in the spokes of my track bike when I get it back on the road. Confront those demons. Look them square in the eyes. I'm not too concerned with what others will think. When the hipsters (or roadies, for that matter) come back to cycling after injuries like I've had, they can have an opinion. Must admit though, as a former road racer, I am seriously superstitious about riding. May have to give this all some more thought. Bad juju vs good karma, you never know...