smelly

Do they ride any differently that Americans? Are cyclist in Europe/Asia/S. America faster/slower than Americans? I know its a crazy question.

khuon

It's not a crazy question... well... okay... maybe it is. It's just a very hard one to answer because cyclists cover a broad spectrum so it's hard to quantify or even make a subjective comparison. One would have to assume that Americans all ride in a particular way and cyclists from other parts of the world also ride in a uniform fashion in order to make the comparison. It'd be like asking if snowflakes in other parts of the world are different than in America.

Pete Clark

I've thought about this before. Are Americans incurable "type A" personalities? Do we (American cyclists) always try to go fast?

I wonder if in other parts of the world, the pace might be a bit slower.

On the flip side: riding home one day, I saw a cyclist stopped by a Magnolia tree, sniffing the blossoms.

SellingEngland

I think in europe they ride counter clockwise...has something to do with the way their toilets flush.

khuon

I think you're thinking of Australia. Although... European helicopters rotate their blades clockwise as opposed to US made helos whose blade directions are counter-clockwise. This of course has interesting implications on how one handles pedal input when increasing collective in a European manufactured machine.

smelly

Yeah, I guess your right! I guess people don't like generalization's and stereotype's.

toolfreak

Its the same question as asking Americans what`s Mcdonalds like....:sleep:

dexmax

here?

I see so many MTBikers.. Very few Roadies..

So many commuters though. But they are riding Vintage/Old bikes and Modified BMX's.

You can check race(local) stats to compare...

MichaelW

I think American tend to inhabit a bi-modal world. You have extreme sports enthusiasts or couch potatoes. In Europe we probably have a more normal distribution of cycling habits, with more middle ground.
If you look at what US bike shops sell, its is downhill MTB bikes and race-oriented road bikes for the high performance athletes, or "comfort bikes" for the root vegetables.

spinner5339

There are a few road rides every sat in Brisbane that anyone can join in, average distance 80 -100km.
Average speed 28-30km/hr is considered "gentlemen" pace
32-35 km/hr is hard
35km/hr is very hard.
Bunch size vary from 20 to 100+
so what's the rest of the world doing?

Pete Clark

Scary.

smelly

I remember visiting family members in Turkey back in 2000, the only bikes I saw were very very low quality mountain bikes. Like the kind they have at K mart. I never saw any old style bikes. Not that many people in Turkey bike ride anyway, its way to hilly and seriously over crowded.

smelly

Americans - speed

Europeans - endurance

chewa

Maybe

Americans - more into fads and fashions.

Europeans - Use what works and keep using it.

dexmax

Asians = Gets whatever that works and use it until it dies. And ressurect dead bikes and use it until it dies again... The saga continues...........

MichaelW

If a Huffy gives you a lifetime of faithful service, does it get reborn as a Lightspeed?

dexmax

depends on who makes the decals

nathank

i agree... but not just with cycling, this is a general difference between Americans and Europeans:
Americans:
* 10-15% SERIOUS TRAINED ATHLETES (don't smoke, have a training plan, do races, etc)
* 10-15% "normal" average people who do sports occaisonally and are still fit, but not HARD-CORE --- i.e. play soccer on the weekend, go running or take the bike out a few times a week or ide to wrok. at not overweight
* 70-80% LAZY - do absolutely no sports and get tires climbing stairs and couldn't run a mile if they tried

Europe:
* 5-10% serious trained athlete
* 80-90% "normal" healthy but not sport freaks
* 5-10% LAZY

as a result in europe you see
*lots of old people on bikes - just b/c they have always ridden...
*you see cylist smoking which is uncommon in the US...
*you see much less performance oriented bikes and bikes most bikes outfitted with racks to carry you beach towel to the lake or your groceries home from the store.
* people in suits or casual clothes - the lycra-clad biker is the exception

nathank

and as to "serious cyclists"

in Mountain Biking, Europeans tend to be much FITTER and ride more vertical --- e.g. a "beginner" ride with my bike club is about 800m vertical and 40km (2640ft vertical and 25 miles), an intermediate ride about 1200m and 50km (4000ft vert, 31 miles) and an "hard" ride is 1500m-2100m vertical (5,000 to 7,000 ft) and there are races with 3500, 5000 and 7000 meters vertical ---- my race in Lake Garda Italy in May was 3520m vertical (12,000ft) and the winner took 4:45 (i finished in just under 7 hours)

and Americans while less fit tend to be much more TECHNICALLY SKILLED. for example in Europe it is very common on a tour that people crank up the hills but then on relatively easy downhills have to get off and walk... in American it is rare to find a semi-experienced rider who cannot ride a trail but it is very common that he will "run out of gas" on a climb of more than 15 minutes which in Europe is like a basic...

oh, another example: for my 9-day TransAlp mountain bike tour that i lead from Germany to Italy in August, of the 12 participants, 11 said they PREFER to ride UPHILL than downhill, and they don't really enjoy technical descents which i can't recall EVER hearing an American mountain biker saying: that he'd like to do less technical trails and more climbing! --- of course, i am a technical trail freak (i'm an American!)

in the US i was one of the best climbers (now after 2 years here i would destroy most Americans!) but i was only a little above average in techical/downhill... in Eurore i am one of the very best technical riders - in 3 years i have only ridden with 2 riders truly better than me and only a handfull on my level for downhill/technical, BUT while i am an OK climber i get destroyed by the Europeans on the hills...

when i race here i pass EVERYONE on the downhills --- actually in almost every race there are at least 5 or 6 people that i play leapfrog with for extended periods: they pass me on uphills and then i pass then downhill.

it's a hard genrallization, but i would also agree that IN GENERAL europeans ride more endurance and Americans more speed... but that is really rough...