wolfchild

A while back there was a nice thread posted about what a Fred was. I didn't even know what it was until I read that thread. Now I keep hearing this word hipster a lot and I just want somebody to explain to me ,what relation is there between riding a bike and being a hipster. Why are some people branded as being a hipsters ?
What is it that makes a cyclist into a hipster: is it the way they dress, or is it the type of bike they riding, or is it their style of riding and how they are using their bike ?

YULitle

MrCjolsen

It's one of many terms throughout history to describe a society's arty bohemian subculture. See mod, beatnik, flapper, punk, goth, etc.

supercycle62

I thought "hiptsers" where people who ride fixed gear?

Sirrus Rider

They do that too!

hairnet

I always thought of hipsters as the people who try to be arty/bohemian but really are not. You also see them riding brakeless fixed gears a lot on the street. Or they're the guys that look like bike messengers, but are not. I may be wrong but that's what I've picked up.

aMull

I've got the vans and janitor keys for now only. Not sure i want to progress any further than that though, girl jeans don't look very comfortable.

MrCjolsen

Saying that hipsters ride fixed gear bikes is like saying first grade teachers from Davis drive Honda Accords.

caloso

Which is silly, because EVERYBODY in Davis drives a Honda Accord.

urban_assault

Never been there, but I can picture it

Mr IGH

If you have to ask, it he/she probably is one:

hairnet

nah, no self respecting hipster has brakes and fenders on their fixed gear

ricohman

Hipsters?
You will see them outside with their steeds at Starbucks.
You will never see them on your double century...........

trekker pete

Not sure what the heck that is in the pic, but, not a hipster.

My idea of a hipster is a skinny kid in even skinnier black jeans or possibly tattered old cammies. He likely has a knit cap pulled down over his unkempt hair. He rides a fixxie...with no brakes. Hipsters are gifted in the art of jamming one of their chuck taylors against the rear wheel for stopping.

Extra hipster points are scored if he has dreadlocks. Personally, I think it should be open season on rich white dreadlock wearing kids. When ever I walk past one, it takes every last little bit of self control I have to not crack him over the head with something.

Must be an extra chromosome, knuckle dragging, neanderthal, neo con thing.

trekker pete

How 'bout a metric century, properly laid out so that you hit a starbucks every 10K or so?

alicestrong

"fixsters"?

ricohman

Might work.
Hipsters are usually euro orientated. They would like a metric century.

caloso

Exactly. That bike is way too comfortable and practical. Fenders, Brooks saddle, and mustache bars? More like a Retro-Rivendell bike.

If you want a laugh, check out the tarck bike thread in SSFG (and no, that's not a misspelling).

trekker pete

Better be a pretty damn flat metric century.

Actually, one with a really brutal long steep downhill would be cool. You could grab a chair, park yourself somewhere near the bottom and watch terrorized hipsters fly by as their molten chuck taylor wore to the point that they were getting down to bare skin.

Hell, I'd pay admission to watch that.

jjvw

This is funny. You all sound like old people complaining about those teenagers. Also, many of these descriptions of hipsters go back 5-10 years and have evolved into the even more derided poser category.

Also, a good hipster never, ever goes to Starbucks.

alicestrong

True. Starbucks is roadie/poser territory...

Skoal

I ride through Williamsburg Brooklyn a lot. Tons of fixed gear with skinny jeans. U lock in back pocket.

caloso

https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/79/hipster.html

pityr

Round here when it rains they will have 1 fender. The kind that quickly attach to the seat post. It wont usually be installed correctly either but it will generally work better than nothing at all.

Skoal

Some one made a comment after that article in adbusters that sums it up for me. "kids want to be cool who knew?"

20 years ago I remember going to Boulder and seeing an insane amount of mountain bikes all over the place. Replace that with fixed gear/single speed now.