Once in a while I stumble over the expression "Fred".
Its meaning however kind of confuses me.
I suppose it isn't a privilege to be one? What "qualities" does one require to be a "Fred"?
Is somebody who wears jeans, riding his bicycle
a Fred? I do, sometimes, does that mean...?
What's a good example of a Fred? Can a Fred be a good person? Are there Freds under the pros?
Thanks for helping me out here!

Fred is a common term of disapprobation used by roadies. It has two meanings, which can ame it a bit confusing.

1. The original meaning: Someone [usually a man] who rides a bike not for sport, fitness, commuting or pleasure, but as a kind of anti-capitalist, environmental statement. Roughly, he's a hippie on two wheels -- wears jeans and sandals, rides a beat-up, rusted mid-70s utility bike [often a woman's frame] less out of necessity than principal. Freds are often university professors, community radio volunteers or health food store owners. You see them a lot at critical mass protests. They're not commuters because they don't usually go very far and tend to live and work in the same neighbourhood. They do little to maintain their bikes and think that sport or fitness cyclists are capitalist poseurs. Fred from Fred Flintstone [because they're cave men], the female is Wilma.

2. A sometimes more common definition: A poseur. The guy with a lot more money than brains. This is the guy who spends $6,000 on the latest high-tech bike, $1,000 on matching team strip, $400 on the coolest shoes and doesn't know how to fix a flat. These Freds will often go for 20-40 km ride a couple of times a week. They know nothing about ride etiquette or the lore and traditions of the cycling community. You can call them Fred and they'll say "no, my name's Jerry [or whatever]." Some of them have never actually seen an allen key and wouldn't know what to do with one if they saw it. They are often men in their 40s with a great deal of disposable income. Wilmas of this type are, sor some reason, exceedingly rare.

I don't actually LIKE the term "Fred," and I find it a little velosnobbish. I do have some respect for type-1 riders, though I have come across a couple who are willfull and sanctimonious and whom I would generally class as "freds" because I don't like them personally. And there is a bike shop near me that specializes in used Fred bikes that I [and others] call the Fred shop.

On the other hand, I have been known to refer to the type-2 guys as Freds wuite liberally -- not because they're so bad or because they like to burn money, but because I find some of them to be dangerous and irritating riders. [I'll relate the Festina Boy story some time.]

Sometimes, the type 1's are spelled "Phreds".
BTW, when riding my touring bike, I usually do wear jeans!

what's your profession velocipedio?


cabledonut.

I am sure the real Fredericks, Friedrichs, Alfreds, etc. out there would appreciate the distinction.

As an undergrad, I adopted the Type 1 Phred image by wearing a T-shirt, walk shorts, and tennis shoes, while commuting on a succession of theft-resistant old beater bikes. On weekends, I enjoyed passing the Masi-riding Type 2 Freds on Highway 101.

Hey V,

You forgot to add "uses a clip-on mirror on his handlebar or helmet" to your list. Hell, while I'm at it, add uses the nut on the stem of the inner tube and/or reflectors on the spokes.

I feel quite fortunate that I've never ever heard anybody use this word in any context except as a guys name. How long has this particular definition been around?

velocipedio, I'm really impressed with your extensive knowledge about the freds. There seem to be quite a few.
So being a Fred is not necessarily bad. I think I even kinda like the type 1 Freds, they seem to be of the peaceful kind. I myself don't qualify for eighter type anyway. Type one is too smart and type 2 has too much money.
Marco Pantoni might be of type 2 ?

I think it depends on the crowd you ride with. I'd take a fred over a poseur any day.

But then, I ride with a mirror on my glasses.

"Fred" is just one of those words that one scene uses to describe another. I don't have anything against type-1 Freds [good catch on the professor thing, cabledonut, I was wondering if anyone would pick up on it], and I admire that kind of cyclist's devotion to cycling. I don't think I've ever actually called a Fred a Fred, in fact, though i have referred to the "Fred store." The way I look at it, anyone who rides a bike -- Fred, dirtbag, whatever -- is okay by me.

On the other hand, I do know of at lest one Fred whose utter disdain for anyone who didn't share his velo-philosophy or who took cycling as a SPORT seriously really rubbed me the wrong way. And there's a guy who runs a local wrench shop -- a Fred shop as well, I guess -- who categorically refuses to serve or even civilly address anyone wearing lycra shorts. So, I guess it goes both ways.

As for the type-2 Freds, I look at it this way: these guys essentially subsidize the bicycle retail industry. If some guy wants to drop $6000 on a bike and the sale keeps my LBS in the black, then that's great.

The term, by the way, has been around as long as I've been cycling. There is no French equivalent, so I suspect it's an Americanism.

It's most often heard in contexts like: "Don't be such a Fred."

velocipedio is right on target. "we" bike shops love the type-2 freds! fixing flats has one of the biggest profit margins. these guys also tend to buy the really high-end clothing.

the best part, as a poor shop rat, is that they tend to leave their "cast-offs" behind as they continually upgrade. latest score? dura ace crankset. yeahhh baby!



here's to the freds!
p.s. in the shops they are referred to as "enthusiasts"

Bobsled, my commuter has a mirror on the handlebar and both helmets (one for commuting with lots of reflective tape, one for road riding) have a mirror attached. I want to see who or what is behind me whether I'm on my Raleigh commuter or my Litespeed.

Mirrors don't make you a "Fred". They are for safety!

Probably everybody here has a little Fred in him on one extreme other the other.

Whether it is using a bike mirror, or buying a high-end pair of tights you won't wear, or being a bit overzealot when it comes to talking about the benefits of bicycling for the environment.

Don't sweat it.

Fred's too are welcome in my circle.

Would Armstrong be considered a Fred (temporary of course) when going to the convenience store on his wifes bike, wearing flip-flops?

Moot question, he wouldn't do that. His wife's bike probably wouldn't fit him and he wouldn't wear flipflops on a bike. What if someone recognized him? He wouldn't risk it.

Hmm… Hard to say. But if he wore lipstick and a brassiere, we could call him Betty.

The bike-snobs probably call me Fred.

I ride a hybrid with a bell, handlebar bag, rear rack, and kickstand. Sometimes I even put on fenders. I have been known to ride no-hands while eating an ice cream cone. Hot shot roadies yell "On your left!!" as they blow by at 20 m.p.h. I always wave, smile and say "hello" to pedestrians and other cyclists. I carry groceries in panniers. I often strap books or pizza (or both) to the rear rack. Once I brought home a new Hewlett-Packard printer strapped to the rear rack - the thing was so huge that tourists looked and pointed as I rode down the main drag in Branson, MO.

I don't care about the lastest "gotta-have" high tech equipment unless it happens to be something really, truely useful. Hydration packs fall into that category. So do bar ends. Aero bars and three-hundred dollar helmets that have more holes than helmet don't.

If I am going to the grocery or post office I will most likely wear a t-shirt and denim shorts, but if I'm riding for fun (usually 30+ miles) I will wear lycra shorts and a jersey (but never with sponsor logos, those are for the snobs).

You might think I'm a Fred. You can even call me that if you want. I don't care because I'm having too much fun to stop now :-)

i'll drink to that. I always find it kind of interesting how human beings find it so hard to look at something for more than 20 minutes without labeling it.

Preferably from a safe distance, and maybe quietly behind his back. Even in drag he could kick my arse.

I get called a Fred from time to time, I ride for pleasure as well as for practical reasons. I have a bike for nearly every occasion and four of them are bonafide racing bikes (a crit bike, a TT bike, a CC mountain bike and a road racing bike) I also have a designated commuter that gets me around town just fine. Thing is that some of the other guys I ride with seem to think driving to work is inherantly better. Whatever...

I do get the little Fred marks on my calf from greasy chainrings at races and some guys think this is a big NO-NO. I really don't care if I get a little grease on the calf, but I do know that my bike is running better than most of theirs because I'm the guy that trues his own wheels.

A mirror does not a Fred make. I resisted using a mirror at first, but found that having one is essential, at least for me. When I am riding alone, I can get along without one, but found that I like having one on group rides, especially when riding in a paceline. When leading, it is difficult and dangerous to look back over my shoulder, especially when sliding off to the left to drop to the back of the line. When riding at the back of the line, it makes it much easier to watch for overtaking cars. There is so little margin for error in a paceline that a moments inattention can lead to a crash. I will keep my mirror, thank you.

Felix, if you have all those other bikes you are not a Fred- having one beater to get aruond does not a Fred create. NOw if that was your only bike, that would be another story.

I see quite a few Freds around my neighborhood. Usually older hippie types. There's one just down the street but he actually seems to be fairly fit, more of a commuter, and even uses his bike in cold snowy weather, so although he's not a roadie, he's not quite a fred. WHen I think of Freds, I think more of the hippy-dippy types with really beat up old bikes. There's a bike shop near here that I call The Hippydippy bike shop, I think it's called "the Lazy Walker" that attracts the bell-and-basket crowd, but it's a community type place and does some good. It's not like I'd entrust my bike to that place but it has its purpose, so that's all well and good.

I never think of type 1 (like Wabbit just described) as Fred. To me, Freds are the posers (type 2), the guys with neon clothes and racing bikes that get ridden maybe 10 miles a week. Neither kind bother me at all.

I respect type 1's because they have a belief and the grits to stick it out. I also like type 2 because they subsidize the local bike shop (I think someone else said that as well).

The only cyclists I don't like are the snobs, the guys who shun me because I'm not a "real" cyclist like them.

That's kind of ironic. What makes these guys "real" cyclists, leg shaving? Unless you are in THE peleton getting paid to ride with free bikes and gear you are a cyclist like the rest of us. Why is cycling so full of snobs? Some of us ride slow, some of us ride fast, some of us do centuries regularly, some of us have never ridden one. No matter what type of riding you do, at least you are out there enjoying the world and getting fit, not watching TV all weekend, every weekend.

I was getting ready for a ride with my brother, and he was wearing a new US Postal outfit, and he commented that no-one would expect to get passed by someone like me because I looked like Mr. Plod (slow), because my outfit is a standard non team kit from any LBS. Just because you have the clothes it doesn't mean your any good. I don't need a US Postal outfit to ride fast, although they do look very nice.

I have seen countless guys struggling up my road with the full kit, shaved legs and Colnago bikes, it doesn't seem to be helping them get up the hills.

Wear what you want, ride what you want, and leave other people alone.

CHEERS.

Mark

Hiya, Fred!

It's your old pal, Barnie! Whaddya say we bike over to the bowling alley (leave the girls at home!)