DX Rider

I've noticed something about the local biking community where I live, there seems to be an unpleasant sub genre of bicyclists who seem to think just wearing a lycra jersey and cycling shorts and riding a $2,000 bike automatically makes them the next Lance Armstrong. I've dubbed them the lycra hipsters, because while they look the part, they also ride like they just learned yesterday and they're the only on riders who matter.

I was out for my normal long Sunday ride yesterday and I was just cruising along on my bike at probably 15-20mph and I was left hooked by one of these people.

There was originally two of them, riding in the opposite direction towards me. I was just about to cross the entrance to a side street, when one of these guys turned right in front of me onto the side street. I actually had to lock up my brakes, until I came to a dead stop and than turn my front wheel to miss his right pedal. His reaction was to look at me over his shoulder as he road past me and yell, "Hey watch it!"

???

Hey watch what? I was going STRAIGHT down a country road which didn't have any yield or stop signs and this tool turned directly into my line of travel rather than break his cadence and wait....two seconds for me to pass. There's something called "the right of way", even regarding bicycles.

I have been riding the same road for the last month and I've seen a few other cyclists and motorcyclists every ride, they either beep or wave at this point. These two riders I've never seen before, but I guess with warm weather comes new and rolling road hazard.

The irony is Massachusetts just modified the laws regarding cyclists in 2008. One of the ammendments was specifically regarding cars yielding to bicyclists when the car is attempting to turn left and the bicyclist is riding straight through an intersection. If the car fails to yield, it's a $150 fine.

I wonder if he would have done the same thing if I was in a car instead of riding a hybrid and wearing walking shorts and wearing a backpack.

dougmc

Usually they're called `Lance wannabees', and the term is applied any time somebody wearing lycra on a nice road bike is somehow inconveniencing or in some other way bothering somebody in a car.

It doesn't really have much to do with skill or speed ... if you're in lycra, on a road bike, and you're not Lance -- you're a Lance wannabee. These same people also hate the fixed gear crowd, and they're all hipsters, no matter what they're wearing or how their bike is set up. Really, they usually hate anybody on a bike, but those are the groups they seem to stereotype the most.

GuttingJob

at least he wasn't a hipster.

lshaped

i find bike shop staff more annoying than hipsters- doesn't matter which shop i go into i always get an unfriendly look when i enter, am made to feel like what i am riding couldn't possibly compare to what they ride, that they have far superior cycling knowledge than i do and that i should shine their carbon soled roadie shoes! i hate this stuff- i can't figure out why the bike shop community has such disdain for customers. i don't want to look like lance and wear jerseys for cycling teams i've never heard of , nor do i want a lesson on gear ratios, just answer my questions with a smile and make me feel welcome what is so difficult about that.

Tapeworm21

I'll take a "weekend warrior" over a hipster any day. NOTHING is more annoying than a hipster and his/her sense of ironic style.

xenologer

You could have ridden after him (should be darn easy to catch considering) and explained exactly everything he's doing wrong. Challenging to a race and winning despite not wearing lycra could also drive the point home.

tadawdy

Both the Lance-wannabees and the hipsters can be awful. The Lances because they have no regard for traffic laws, even when it comes to yielding to other bikers. I've been nearly run over by the Cervelo-straddling ******bags because stop signs apparently register as signals to accererate through the intersection. One of the ten did notice me on my bike, and appropriately slowed. The others pretended I wasn't there.

The hipsters don't usually give me problems, except when they're the fixed-gear only crowd. Pseudo-purists (purists are bad enough...), they always claim it's the only way to ride, and browbeat anyone thinking otherwise. It's fine if you like it, and has its pluses and minuses like anything else. Mashing a high gear up an incline bothers my knees sometimes (nevermind that it's physiologically inefficient). Coming down, I'd rather not pedal at 200 rpm. So shove it.

Recently, someone yelled from a passing car at my gf for riding an entry-level Trek, a bike I'd love to have (rather than my beater 80's Raleigh Roadbeast). You know what? It's a fine enough bike, does what it's supposed to, and she enjoys riding it. We make an earnest effort to not be in anyone's way. We bike because we like it. End of story.

Unfortunately, the prevailing attitude seems to be that unless you have a cf bike you shouldn't be biking, and definitely can't actually be enjoying yourself. Or maybe you're not supposed to be enjoying yourself? I can't tell with these people anymore.

raybo

My term for these guys is "hammer boys." They are a dime a dozen here in San Francisco where the GG Bridge on the weekend seems to be some kind of bicycle roller derby. And, God help you if you get between two of these guys because then the one behind has to pass you in the most unsafe way possible, preferably when there are lots of bikers passing the other way, in order to assuage his/her embarrassment at getting separated from the pack.

It is so bad here on the weekends with these hammer boys that I don't even bother riding on the weekends any more.

Ray

spinnaker

or worse a hipster doufus.

DataJunkie

Some of y'all have some issues.
I don't care what you ride, merely if you can ride and are riding.
However, I detest other riders trying to hit me.

makr

Some day I'm gonna be a fat, slow old guy in Lycra on a Cervelo. I'm saving up for it. No, I'm losing weight, so I'll be a skinny, slow old guy in Lycra on a Cervelo. In a colorful jersey. And I'll find some way to make my Cervelo look nerdy, like put a Wal-Mart horn on it.

HandsomeRyan

I find that there is a large segment of the biking community that focuses on what divides us rather than sharing a common passion for bikes.

Mountain bikes, road bikes, hybrid bikes, fixed gears- why can't we all just get along?!

GreenGrasshoppr

What about people who ride bikes with their helmet askew?

Kevrob

I just got my AirZound delivered yesterday, so I'm getting ready for these types.

Kevin

DataJunkie

*turns up his ipod to max*

DX Rider

I'm actually purchasing one when I return from vacation.

Retro Grouch 

Why do you think we're interested in the guy's tushie and what kind of shorts he was wearing?

jubal117

I don't know if this has anything to do with this topic, but what I find annoying is when I am commuting I get ignored by anyone on a road bike. I ride my mountain bike to and from work because it has a rack and I find the tires are more durable than my roadie. Its funny that I recognized a couple of the people who didn't say hello on my way home from work the next day when I was riding my 09 Raleigh Competition at an intersection and they were both very friendly. I just think a lot of those kinds of people think I have to ride my mountain bike on the road rather than want to.

ilmooz

This thread is like a Fred convention.

BigDaddyPete

I love the staff at my local shop...the bigger LBS in the next town has much more inventory, but unless it's a "have to have it now" thing, I'd rather let my local guy order it. He knows me, knows my kids, asks what's up, shoots the breeze....the whole deal. Now, you take a look at him, judge him by his appearance and you'd assume he's just another hipster. But he's also a business owner, responsible citizen and really nice guy who just wants to ride his bike, and get me back riding mine.

mexipat

I got my first bike today. It's a road bike but I thought all of you on bikes were like brothers and was looking forward to the secret handshake. Now I find out the different groups don't like each other?

Retro Grouch 

Yeah, it's pretty much just like religion. When we run out of folks from other religions to hate we declare war between different sects of the same religion.

Wordbiker

ghettocruiser

caloso

Let me state for the record that I am a Jens Wannabe.