How about this - (borrowed from WC Fields) My bike is cheap - but I only ride it a few hours a week - you however are an A-hole all the time.

That looks very similar to a Winston Churchill quote: "I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly."

Hey, I have Italian carbon fiber
I love ALL bikes by the way, and feel a kinship with anybody on a bike, of any kind.

What's a dork disk?

(I know this going to hurt.)

the platter between the cassette and the rear wheel


L33T riders call it a dork disk...

That's what I was saying (in my post), that would be a reverse a$$hole.

I was thinking something along these lines too. IIRC, only one major Italian builder is building their CF bikes in Italy but I can't recall which one. The rest are built in Asia. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it makes what he said pretty ironic.

man.. sorry to hear you had to experience that. but then again.. the first time i got a road bike 2004 sirrus that i used to commute with, a guy riding a Novara bike with full team outfit laughed at me at the signal light as i said hi to him in my jeans rolled up and on toe cages. i was like wtf.. it's only a novara!

but as time passes.. u see those people here and there. just have to ignore it. i never had the chance to see that mofo again.. but if i do.. i'll laugh at him for being an ass for laughing at me before and that he's not smart enough to build his own damn bike.. lol.

bottom line.. as others said.. a-holes comes in all different shapes and sizes.. just burn his ass next time! "Joo can do it!!"

I have a nice bike, but I know very well that somebody like Lance Armstrong could make me look like a terrible cyclist even if he was using a $50 bike from Pago Pago. The bicyclist with good conditioning and knowledge of bicycles can always outshine somebody else with poor conditioning even if he has a $6000 bike. I like to look at beautiful bikes, though. But snobbish people are ridiculous, and suffer from poor social training and a probable inferiority complex.

Love your bike, who gives a rats derriere what some rich poser thinks? I ride my Trek 1000 like it is the best bike on the planet, because it is the best bike this poor boy has owned (so far). I am concerned with improving the engine before the bike. I am not a racer, but when I am in shape enough to race, I will buy a better bike.
These people who look down on others because of equipment have forgotten the reason they started riding bikes in the first place.

Well, unless you are from some place like Ghana (see this month's bicycling mag.), you don't have to be "rich" to own an Italian bike. Like someone else said, even the most expensive bikes you can buy are cheaper than most motorcycles, speed boats, sail boats, golf club memberships and green fees, etc. Heck, you can buy Lance's bike for the price of a big screen TV and there are lots of "poor" folks with those. Just a matter of priorities. For me, the most I have ever paid for a new bike from an LBS is $900, and I can't imagine ever needing something more expensive. That "poser" could be a cashier at Walmart for all you know.

You should have just spit on him, and then laughed and made monkey faces at him.

i ride a nice bike, but would never act like that.

next time, ask the guy if he farted, because you smell KY. then ride off.

Tell him you smell fart AND KY -- then ask him if he burped.

"Club rider huh? Well, keep trying. Someday you'll move up."

*rides off*

Not cool. You have to combine the two.

Of course that was the fashion back in the last century so maybe things are much different now.

A Little story you may enjoy.

In 1994 I went on my first tour when I was 18. I had a old PoS 82 Fugly Fuji that was to small for me and weighed about 38 pounds loaded with my extra gear. The only way I was able to even get on this ride was by donating my Ham Radio services, that’s why all the extra weight.
On the second day I stopped into a rest area and got to meet my first group of "Club A$$ Holes". A group of 4 all with matching bikes and gear and definitely had more $$ than me at the time to devote to the sport/hobby. They joked and made many stupid comments about my bike and setup, similar in nature to the starter of this thread. Completely astounded that anyone would make such comments to someone that was riding on the tour to help them if they got in trouble.... Where? The MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!!!

I calmly thanked them for their input and told them I would keep it in mind when they broke down or got injured during the tour. They quickly shut up and promptly left the rest area.
I caught back up to them about 45 mins later as they where approaching a fairly steep overpass. Ah! time to make them humble!!! I loaded my walkman with Metallica "..and Justice for all" , cranked it up... shifted gears and passed the team going uphill.
For the remainder of the tour I was unable to even get a simple Hello from anyone from this group.

So the next time some one tries to belittle you because you have less expensive equipment.
Just reply... "Money can not buy the heart to love cycling at any level"

This jerk definitely has more money than muscles. Happens in all sports. My bike, while nice enough, is lower end among the people I ride with. On the other hand a lot of people get a good look at it as I pass them. It's twice as nice to be good at something because of YOU - not because you can afford better gear.

Don't even respond to people (and I use the term loosely) like this. Smile and ride away - their insecurities will have them wondering what you meant by it for days.

The look on the a$$hole's face as a semi drove over his beloved bicicleta would have been a Kodak moment for sure!

Is there really such thing as "Italian carbon fiber" ? Or is it Italian branded CF from Taiwan? Inquiring minds want to know.

I believe Columbus still makes Carbon Fiber in Italy. The Super Muscle Fork I just ordered was/is made in Italy. Some people, like myself, just don't like to support the far-east. I make fun of my buddy who rides a brand new "Made in Taiwan" Bianchi all the time. He knows I am half joking and takes it as such. Another friend who rides a 20 year old Bianchi with all Campy stuff gets my utmost respect even though on paper his bike is valued at perhaps 1/2 of the new Taiwan Bianchi. To each his own; though I wouldn't ever give a stranger sh*t.

"Let me guess, your mommy told you that a nice set of wheels will cover up anything, right?....sadly she never told you lycra will reveal your woes as well...see ya next mile stumpy!" <-- that would be my kind of response.

I'm pretty capable of going from laid back to a**hole in 2 seconds flat.

"I could have sworn that all the bicycles I've seen are only good for 0mph with no rider on it. Does yours have an engine?"

Ya coulda said "Well, when I picked this here bike, I wuz tryin' to NOT be one of them fella's that's 'all hat and no cattle', ya know?"


And, if the other guy was from Texas, he would duck his head in shame, because you'd figured out his problem.