Jason222

If people give you lip, the best way to get them back is to say something annoying. "you're a tough guy" or "I love you" work really good.

Edit: or "Spandex are gay"

mcoine

Actually, I have noticed a lot of sailboaters tend to dislike speedboaters.. because then they have to sail through a wake and spill their tea or something..

AfterThisNap

not suggesting violence, but if something were to go down and a fight broke out, a person wearing treaded MTB shoes has a huge advantantage over a person wearing slick plastic road shoes with hard plastic cleats.

Help Im A Noob

instead of them saying something when they go by, you can get stickers for your bike or make a shirt that says i eat mean road bikers for breakfast. then mabey they wont be mean to you

pinkrobe

Unless it's lunch time, in which case they have 20 hours to ride away from you before it's breakfast time again.

Anyone can be a rude bastid. When me an' the posse go out for road rides, we always wave to people on the other side of the road. Many don't wave back, especially the tri-studs [their bikes aren't stable enough to offer a wave?], but there are enough who do. On our dirt rides, we don't see too many people. The hikers are almost always displeased to see us, as are the cattle.

Pheard

Generalizations are stupid. I happen to never pass any rude bikers, they all say "hello" or "how was the ride", or "what a nice day". Also, it just so happens the one guy who I seem to see on the trail the most rides an orange santa cruz superlight. He happens to be one of the nicest people out on the trails.

Also, when I was in arizona. Anytime I stopped on the side of the trail for water people passing me would always see if I was ok and if I needed a patch.

cryptid01

I also find that to be the case.

Of course I only know one person with a Santa Cruz mtb - seems like a roadie to me...

AfterThisNap

Horse riders on the other hand....

mtnbiker66

Well allllllllrighty then! You and the girlscout can go have a little specialized party. I'll just go off with my roadie friends. Calm down Nof3ar,their hacking on me.

Pheard

I totally forgot you have that santa cruz dualie.

Btw, I am very calm

roccobike

I've been mountain biking for a year now and I've only run into one rude jerk. Most MTBers are really nice freindly people. Being an older guy (yeah I know, a FRED) I appreciate the freindly atmosphere of the trail. No matter what the skill level, there's always a freindly hello and small talk.
I started road biking this year. I wish I could say the road cyclists were all just as freindly, but due to a few, I can't. The majority are very freindly, always a hello or a wave. But, there is a small group of elitists that have a real attitude. It's a shame because most 'roadies' are really nice people.
I have a theory as to why mountain bikers are more freindly. Could it be that secretly we don't want to look down at another biker because no sooner do we take that attitude than the trail comes up and bites us with a nice double log obsticle. So we tend to think no matter what someone's skill level appears to be, you could be the next one tasting the dirt of your local trail. What do you think?

idleuser

4 or 5 summers ago me and my cousins saw the icecream man blow a stop sign so we followed him on our mountain bikes, then he ended up getting pissed off and chased us through the alley... while driving his ice cream truck... but it was fun, lol

wethepeople

I always get **** on the backroads riding to my girlfriends from roadies. When I ride my BMX it seems I catch more hell from them then my mountian bike.

This weekend I was riding behind one, about 15 feet and the **** turned around, looked at me AND SPAT WATER FROM HIS BOTTLE AT ME!

his tiny tires were no match for a mighty 120psi 2.0 highspeed tire check.

jhota

look, roadies aren't rude.

it is simply that the uncouth "mountain bike" rider is incapable of understanding the subtle nuances of roadie verbal and non-verbal communications. if you would simply attempt to elevate yourself to a level closer to theirs (because honestly, ones such as you could never actually attain a congruent level) you may, and i only say may, begin to understand their actual message.

oh, who am i kidding; there are a lot of stuck-up ******s on road bikes. but there are almost as many on mtb's. and let's not go into non-bikers - that's just overkill...

mirona

I've been mountain biking for a few months now and have had more bad experiences with mountain bikers than years of road riding with my spandex-clad comrades. Mostly cocky people looking down on a new rider.

Just last week I was getting ready at a trailhead and started talking with others that just ended a ride. I told them I'd never been there before and one guy came up and said, "Oh, you should keep to the left because a lot of the more technical stuff is to the right." I just said thanks and went to the right Jerk.

leadbutt

I've been riding both road and mtn. for three and four years now. I've met my share of *******s and non-*******s, too. On a casual ride, the pack of roadies you meet will typically not be as friendly. After I rode in a group more, I understood why. Sometimes you're concentrating on staying in a paceline, sometimes you're leading and other times, you're just dying to stay up. On the trail, I've met such a variety of people, it is baffling that we share a passion for the same sport (except for the time I saw the lil' Mexican guy with his pants down around his ankles banging the white gal...now THAT was a different sport!!) I try to speak to everyone - I may not stop and chat, but I try to be friendly enough to speak and get out of the way.

Now the race scene is different, and I'm only referring to mtn. biking - I've yet to enter a road race and doubt I will, but I won't say never. So many people get their 'game face' @ 6:00 am, and don't lose it til they stop at McDonald's that evening on the way home. It turned me off to raciing in a way, but I don't go for others - I go to see what I can do. There again, I also met and made some of the coolest friends at the races.

Well, I may have to eat some words, 'cause I have attended a PRO road race and the crowd was GREAT fun! So much bullshooting, politicing and other craziness, the actual sight of Lance or Floyd or anybody on sponsored ride was just a bonus...

BoSoxYacht

Many yacht owners (myself included) would be very happy to see PWCs disappear . I know the vessels are not the problem ,but many of the operators are rude and/or unsafe boaters . Most blow-boaters I've met are so cheap that it's comical . This doesn't mean that they are bad people , but don't get between them and a nickle .

Funkychicken

not really, i think mtb'ers are more polite b/c we need all the trails we can get, at the risk of being shut down by the odd trail user who takes an issue with us.

BryanW

There's a descent on one of my road rides which goes past a lay-by where downhillers park to use the trails in the woods. For some reason, if there are downhillers there, they always shout something at me as I go by - but I've never found out what it is, because the wind noise at 40 mph makes it inaudible. Probably "spandex are gay" but that's just a guess.

Same with people who shout abuse from moving cars. Why do they bother?

In general, as a roadie/mtber hybrid, I find mtbers are friendlier

C Law

There has to be one of these threads every couple of weeks or so.

F' in Roadies.

ironglacier

i am in seattle

BoSoxYacht

I think about this often , but normally I'm pissed about some stupid jerk in a car .

vw addict

Strange thing happened yesterday. I have a 1 mile stretch of road from my driveway to the trailhead. On the way I passed a roadie(going the other direction). I waved and nodded, he just looked away. So I shouted a few obscenties his way and carried on. On the way home I had a roadie come up behind me. He slowed down, took out his earpiece, and had a little conversation with me before peddaling away. So it dosen't matter that they are "roadies", it just matters if they are pricks or not.

Miah2008

Ive experinced rude people especialy on bikes some people think theyre profesionals so they think there all that and are rude when in reallity you could probly smoke them in a race. Damn cocky poeple

Pheard

You were offended because the guy let you know the left side was easier and the right was more technical. Even after you let him know you were new to the trail?