Originally Posted by
Treespeed
I know you aren't trying to be confrontational or anything, but what the heck do you mean by the right kind of bikes and appropriate cycling gear. Bike makers produce every imaginable kind of bike from single speed cruisers for $150 to multi-geared upright hybrids, and no one is stopping folks from wearing whatever they want when they ride their bike. If someone wants to use the excuse that they can't ride because they don't want to wear lycra that's just their own stupidity. I play basketball and there is no way I'm wearing those stupid baggy shorts just because the pros do.
I think people make up excuses because at the end of the day they just don't want to ride their bike in traffic or for any real distance. Which is fine, I just think it's BS to scapegoat roadies because they wear and ride what's comfortable for them. It's like saying I won't go downhill skiing because I don't want to have to wear a skinsuit.
I'm basically just reporting what most non-cyclists tell me. I agree with you that people are free to wear whatever they want when on a bike (I try to get that point across to friends, relatives and coworkers), but for various reasons explained earlier people seem to associate cycling with spandex and Alien-shaped helmets and want no part of it (I acknowledge that simple laziness is likely the most common reason though). Maybe it is wrong to scapegoat roadies, but it seems to happen a lot; I think mountain biking has done a lot more to promote cycling among the general public.
As for what kind of bikes and clothing, as I said earlier I don't really know. The basic diamond frame bike will always be around, but I think there is a lot of potential for other designs like recumbents (especially the Bacchetta and Volae type bikes) to attract people who don't want to wear padded shorts but still want to go fast and long distance. In this area I believe roadie culture has ******** advancement by dictating what is acceptable, even though other designs have huge advantages in certain areas. In 1930 I would imagine people would have expected human powered vehicles to have more advances (and be in general use) in 2007 than currently are. For clothing, I don't have the slightest clue. Wicking material makes sense for a lot of people, and I personally don't have a problem with it. Mountain bikes made a huge impact on the industry, but maybe it's time for something else to come along and give it a kick in the pants.