bones9210

What were you riding? A more road style frame?

DBrown9383

As a teenager in the early 70's I bucked the trend when all my friends were buying Schwinn varsities I bought a Schwinn suburban which had an upright seating position, wider seat, flat bars etc. I was ridiculed for buying that bike because it wasn't cool.. Before that bike I had a Raleigh 3 speed when everyone else had a Schwinn Stingray. I was ridiculed for having an old mans bike. I just got back in to biking again 40 years later and bought a hybrid. I guess I'll never be cool but at my age now I care a lot less what people think. I will most likely get a better bike and one more suited to the type of riding I do most often (road) but as was mentioned earlier, a hybrid is a great choice if you're just getting back in to it and can't decide exactly what you need. If other cyclists wave that's cool but if they don't? no biggie

ljrhodes

hybridbike,

I'm going to tell a very real truth here (though I want to be clear that this only applies to bike snobs, and if it offends bike snobs, so be it).

Weak-minded, weak-willed people tend to be conformists, and they abhor non-conformists, because conformity is all they know, and anything that challenges their comfort in being conformists threatens their self-delusion that they're doing the right thing by conforming. Whether they're the mean girls in high school or the bike snobs riding only on perfectly-paved roads on carbon fiber road bikes that they only bought because of the price tag with no real thought to how they're going to afford to replace it the first time they wreck it even slightly (since the only way to be sure a carbon fiber bike won't snap in half on your next ride after even a minor accident is to buy a whole new one, because there's no real way to inspect them for structural integrity once they've been assembled, painted and sent out of the factory doors), weak-minded conformists band together for mere strength in numbers, because they have no individual strengths to speak of.

So, go right ahead and keep riding your hybrid, and go right ahead and keep loving your hybrid. It's yours, and it takes you where you want to go, which, if you're like me, is as far away from bike snobs as you can get. And, hey, being able to go off-road with it will certainly help you do that even faster, 'cause there's no way they'll risk following you. Someday far into the future when you're on your deathbed, and someone asks you what you saw back when you used to ride, you'll be able to say something other than, "The a$$es of all my fellow bike snobs. What else was there to see, really?"

DBrown9383

While I thoroughly enjoyed the above post, it comes dangerously close to being considered as "hybrid bike snob" propaganda.

ljrhodes

Fair point. lol

DBrown9383

It seems everywhere I go I am pushed towards a full on road bike. Ideally I'd have a road bike, a mountain bike and a hybrid but since I am not a wealthy man I can only have one. The hybrid lets me do a little of everything and I'm completely content with it for now. I have seen the hardcore road bike snobbery and don't like it so it was fun to read ljrhodes tirade. Not sure there's such a thing as hybrid bike snobs but maybe we can start a trend.

badger1

Of course there is such a thing -- you've just cited an example of it. The colloquial term for it is 'reverse snobbery'. It is just as unpleasant as its obverse form.

It's a bit like a nasty, unpleasant little rash: we get a flare-up of it from time to time, then it runs its course and goes away for a bit. Some of the posts that brought this thread back to life are perfect examples, presenting most of the common symptoms.

ljrhodes

Actually, our aversion to snobbery isn't itself snobbery but exasperation. For instance, I never look down my nose at someone for the type or brand of bike they own/ride. But, the second I see someone else do that, I call them out for it and remind them of why they're not as superior as they fancy themselves, and that's all the other posters here are doing, too.

We're not snobs. We're just fed up and pointing out why bike snobs (and, let's be absolutely honest here, road bike snobs really are the most prevalent and unpleasant of the bike snobs) need to cool it with their nose-curling.

badger1

I would agree that an adverse reaction to snobbery often takes the form of exasperation, and I think that is the case in your post. On the very rare occasion I encounter this attitude in real life I can't be bothered to react -- prefer just to ignore it for the stupidity it is, and chuckle. I've had a couple of 'classic' experiences of this kind; they can be quite funny. However, those involved poseurs, not cyclists. 'Road cycling' is big in my area at the moment, as it is elsewhere. I know many true "roadies"; guys (and some girls) who actually can ride, and who in many cases actually do hold a license and race. Not one of them has ever exhibited the kind of behaviour you refer to; it's important to make a distinction between the real thing and the poseur!

However, in many instances the kind of unjustified gear/apparel elitism you are referring to is met by its reverse: an equally false and unpleasant pride in 'not conforming' to certain stereotypical choices in gear and apparel. Even a cursory glance over many threads on this board will provide many, many instances of this. The posts that revived this thread provide a good example.

travbikeman

I've come to learn that no matter what you buy, no matter what you own, your car, refrigerator, the type of cell phone you have. Someone will always say "Why didn't you get this instead?" I live in the DC region and I can't even begin to tell you how many people own Audi's, BMW's and Mercedes. But I decided to get a Chrysler and this exact same thing happens here. I wanted an Android phone, not an iPhone. I want a GE refrigerator, not a Kitchen Aid. The list goes on and on...............

I've just learned that it's really my money, my desires and I wanted a hybrid with suspension. I got what I want and what I was willing to pay for. I really don't care what others think anymore. It uses too much memory and computing cycles in my brain to worry what others think of me anymore. There are too many other things to worry about and to do.

badger1

+1