I agree that vehicles are used as status symbols. Clothing can be as well.

For me though spandex shorts are a utility choice, not a fashion choice. In fact from a utility standpoint, I'd also I wear a jersey because those rear pockets can be so handy on a bike, but I don't typically wear a jersey on my commutes because I'd rather save the roadie look for the roadie rides.

I do ride a low end racing bike to work most of the year but it's not about fashion or appearances. It's because I like to go fast. In the winter I ride a fairly non-descript black mtn bike. I wear clothes designed to keep me comfortable and they're quite a bit different than what people who drive to work wear.

Sport and utility overlap more the longer and faster you want to ride. I commute in spandex on drop bar road bikes, switching to casual clothes for very short utility rides.

In another thread I commented that the normalcy of cycling clothing depended on the typical nature of cycling in the locality. Localities with long distances between typical trip endpoints see more spandex clad commuters; in these areas the casually dressed cyclists stick out more, and invite presumptions of inability to drive or afford a car. In denser areas with short trip distances, casual clothes are more common among transportation cyclists of all socioeconomic status levels.

A well thought out transportation network that facilitates cycling that is enjoyable and efficient (including supportive of exercise-oriented cycling) will generate the optimum level of cycling in an affluent community. Under such conditions, cyclists will not be assumed to be indigent or kooks regardless of what they wear or ride.

DM,

I know what you mean about your brother-in-law not getting it that you'd rather bundle up and ride your bike vs. calling for a ride. I have a neighbor who doesn't get it either. It takes me about an hour or so to get from my apartment out to Bay Pines. He keeps reminding me that we have the PSTA and that I should take the bus instead of pedaling. It would take at least twice as long if not longer to take the bus out to Bay Pines.

As I would have to catch the Rt 4 in front of my apartment then go downtown to Williams Park wait for and transfer to the rt 18 bus and go out to Bay Pines. My way I just jump on my bike head up to 9th St. N. and then turn onto 30 Ave. N. ride to the Tyrone Mall area where I hope onto the Pinellas Trial and ride out to Bay Pines.

They'd send ya out for a psych eval. ;)

I think my not owning a TV and riding a motorcycle for years made it seem less weird when I started commuting by bike.

Balderdash. If you were selecting a mate, would you chose the slim, fit physique of the utility cyclist or the extra weight of the SUV driver? Ok, some people might choose the latter, but I suspect they'd form an evolutionary dead end.

The fit, frugal utility cyclist would be a great catch! Why not?

I see plenty of bike commuters on my way to work. The building I work in is filled with them and there are several other people who ride their bikes to work within my own office. So while I'm still in the minority at work, it doesn't feel weird at all.

This weekend though I was reminded of how outside of mainstream it really is. I was at a cub scout camp and one of Dads was talking about how a larger garage was one of the best things about moving to another home. A lot of the garages in Minneapolis (if they exist at all) are tiny. Most of the homes were built before it was common for families to have two or more cars. Many were built before it was common to have a car at all.

Anyway, he was delighted that they could now get both their cars in the garage and he could drive from his home to a heated parking ramp at work. He didn't have to worry about dressing for the cold or scraping windshields. Pretty much all the others Dads nodded in agreement. I was thinking that I never have to scrape a windshield either. I also realized that saying that I rode my bike to work at that point would have pretty much killed the conversation.

Not at all; when your hobbies are drinking and domestic violence, you pick the one that can't get anything better. They should be an evolutionary dead end, but since they have nothing better to do than breed, they overcome the quality shortcomings through sheer quantity.

Nice parody...

Sadly the reality is far from that... for instance, the countless car ads that show some vehicle on the top of a cliff with a stunning vista that required a helicopter for actual automobile placement, and the countless ads that allude to some super sexual attractiveness and clear open roads if you drive their "ultimate machine..."

Ever see a car ad that showed bumper to bumper traffic on a hot, smelly highway? Gee, I wonder why not... ;)

Why assume the SUV driver is overweight? Maybe they drive to the fitness club where they spend money on machines to make them tired?

If the cyclist and SUV driver have the same physique, the eye of the beholder might assume the SUV driver has more money than the utility cyclist. Alternatively, the eye of the beholder may assume the SUV driver cares less about community or environmental issues than the cyclist.

When I was single, I would have chosen the woman who cycles over the woman with the SUV because cycling is a common interest, and I wasn't concerned about how much money my mate had. However, as a low-income grad student without a car, I had a hard time attracting American women, and mostly dated foreign coeds who didn't think bicycling instead of motoring was weird.

Now at age 41, I notice that my age amplifies assumptions based on my travel mode and clothing. No matter how fit I am, if I show up at a store on a beater bike, sweaty in cargo shorts, many people look at me dismissively. I've even heard derogatory comments - once from a young woman. If I show up looking like a hard-core roadie, people smile and ask me about cycling. If I'm dressed up for a customer meeting, even 20 year old women give me a second glance. So I understand why some older men feel like they simply *must* drive an expensive car to feel successful and attractive, although I'd personally much rather spend the money on my family and on cycling. I'm very glad to be permanently out of the dating pool, with nothing to prove.

Good points... ever wonder why the necktie is part of the "uniform" of some business people... it has absolutely no utility what so ever... except as a tourniquet, should one be "wounded" in the "battles of the board room." :rolleyes:

I doubt conspicuous consumption will ever be found as a weakness in our society... not as long as perpetual growth and the consumption of goods is perceived as a requirement to fuel capitalism.

As soon as bankers start driving economy cars, and working in shirt sleeves... then we'll know that progress is being made toward frugality and practicality.

Carter tried to push the nation in that direction with his sweaters and talk of moderation... Reagan told us it just wasn't "the American way," as he pulled the solar panels off the Whitehouse.

America has a long way to go, before we as a nation start to understand what is really "good for us" as part of the overall society of the world. Meanwhile, we'll continue to consume our 25% of the world's resources, while we beat our plowshares into swords.

Meanwhile, the fit, spandex covered cyclist, is perceived as anything but a true sex symbol. Golfers were touted as better athletes just a few years ago in a comparison of TdF cyclists verses PGA golfers by Sports Illustrated... go figure. :notamused: Never mind that each February, the sexy models in Sports Illustrated more resemble spandex covered cyclists than pudgy slow golfers. ;)

I'm too sexy for my car... So I ride a bike!!!

+1 :)

It's not that I'm oblivious to my own appearance or never think about what my choice of vehicle or clothing says about me, but I am who I am. If riding a bike to work makes me less attractive to a prospective mate then so be it. It wouldn't work anyway. My wife is supportive of my riding.

Maybe utility riders don't get the proper respect but the kind of women I'm attracted to are in to active lifestyles and so am I, so it works out (no pun intended). If something were to happen to my wife I'd have no trouble meeting other women I'd be interested in and it's not because I'm particularly stylish, rich or handsome. I just know where to find like minded souls. I didn't always.

LOL That's awesome! :D :lol::roflmao2::roflmao:

...do you know where to do that for someone in their late 20's? I want to know! haha