What's the difference between a Fred and an OCP?
 

And where do I fit in?

I....

Have a gaget-laden Trek 1000 that I bought on sale.
Most of the gadgets came from Performance, also on-sale.
I have a lot of spandex.
None of it is "team issue."
I'm a little overweight and middle aged.
I'm faster than most overweight middle aged men.
I also have a fixed gear conversion.
The paint job on my conversion was done by first graders.
I commute on both of my bikes.
Sometimes I ride in cut off camo fatigue pants and a t-shirt.
I frequently take my bike on public transportation.

Am I a Fred, a cheap-assed OCP, or a future Retro-grouch?

Note: One person said I was a Barney for a multiple blank post last week on the same topic. They were probably right. @#$% Bikeforums server drives me batty some times. I couldn't even delete or edit the posts.

None of the above - you're a Davisite! ;)

You worry about this type of thing way too much...

What does OCP stand for?

ostentatiously contrived playactor

Heh. Generally around here it's Obsessive Compulsive Poseur.

I think the difference is in self awareness. If you spend all the $$$ for all the high end stuff, and do it becuase you

a. can easily afford it
b. just like to have it
c. need it to feel important

All the while accepting your own performance limits..I'd Say OCP

Now, If you have all the $$$ stuff, and think it makes you:

a. a racer

b. faster

c. a better rider than you really are

I'd say Fred.

the secret is that there is no difference between the two.

OCP - Always dressed to impress, dropped by the best.
Phred - Dressed in jest, rides a mess, continually dropped by: chubby girls, fatter guys, can collectors, small children, and all the rest.
Retro Grouch - "Italian bikes nothin'! Wright brothers bicycles, now those were fast rides-fests!"

Freds don't care how they look or whether their gear matches their bicycles or not ... they just want to ride!

OCP people (from my impressions) seem much more concerned about acquiring a jersey with the exact shade of blue to match the blue in their bicycles, and ensuring that their legs are freshly shaved and that they don't have a hint of helmet hair as they pose next to their bicycles.

OCP is when you have to buy a certain tire....not for performance, durability, or otherwise...but because it matches your spoke nipples, which just happen to match your bolts, which just happen to match the outlining of the brand logo on your bike.

Oh, and not to mention matches the color of gatorade you are using in your water bottle, which the water bottle was bough to complement your bartape, which matches the color of the cable housings.

And your saddle is picked solely because it's colors match the frame's.


Fred is the guy I try to impersonate on my daily commutes....something fun about hitting 23mph sprints on a mountain bike while wearing jeans and a button up shirt.

Just ride. Rather than wondering what others think about you, just ride!

Then, stop reading and starting posts that have to do with judging others.

A bicycle is a simple but elegant machine. Its rider should only hope to be as simple and elegant.

BTW, you're a Fred (whatever that is). ;)

If you wear a helmet mirror or visor, or a camelback big enough to pack to a trip to everest, you are fred. MTB shoes on a road bike- fred. I believe a major difference is you can be an ocp and know that you are, and in fact be quite proud of it. but a fred, i believe, does not know he is one.

Uh oh, I ride Speedplay frogs and the necessary MTB shoes on my road bike ;-) I bike enough places where being able to walk a whole block is important, I wouldn't want road shoes. I did not know this made me a Fred. I guess this proves your point.

ocp is lame, luckily people are talking about it less

ride what you want, how you want, wear what you want--but creating a bike clique on an internet forum is about as silly as it gets

ohh, and please start constant vanity threads :rolleyes: (the hallmark of OCP'dom)--really, we wanna know everytime you get a new seatpost from Nashbar or a jersey that matches your socks

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/ima...s/thumbsup.gif http://forums.roadbikereview.com/ima...ilies/wink.gif http://forums.roadbikereview.com/ima...ies/cornut.gif :beer: http://forums.roadbikereview.com/ima...ies/yesnod.gif

What's the difference between dumb and dumber? I thought freds were inexperienced cyclists who bought Lance-type bikes and team kits? You often see them riding the long stretches in the small ring (where everyone else is hammering in the big ring) with their knees sticking out almost as far as their bellies. Most of these guys that I run into have always been quick to offer a greeting with a smile, and look like they are having fun. I usually refer to them as cyclists or budding cyclists.

>>Just ride. Rather than wondering what others think about you, just ride<<

It's

'Shut up and ride'

by the way.

Ah, yes, the SURs... Why don't we get a little club?

DrPete

This is ridiculous ! Because I don't want to take my eyes off the road at 28mph and look for my buddies that are continually behind me in my helmet mirror I'm now a "something"?? :mad:

The good news is that you can be all three at the same time. Let's face it. We're all just bike trash here.

+1 i consider myself to be total bike trash and wouldn't have it any other way

Do roadies sit around like a bunch of girls and point out what people are wearing? If someone confronted me about the shoes I was wearing, I'd pull his lip over his head. Act like a man

I'm a newbie that wears a camelback once in a while, my knees stick out almost past my belly and I do wear SPD mountain bike shoes on my roadbikes, simply because, I was into MTB first and thought it would be cheaper just to buy a couple more sets of pedals, than another pair of shoes. I don't own any spandex or Jerseys at all (they don't come in those sizes)... and I ride an Allez comp double (w/ultegra-Dura mix).

Should I feel like I'm not good enough to fit in with all you cycling elite who snicker names like "Fred", "Barney" or "Harvey"...OP...whatever etc. That is the problem with this sport... check this, YOU WERE ALL NEWBIES ONCE and yes ALL FREDS HARVEY BARNEYS AND YADDA YADDA at one time or another, get off your perches and just wave to everybody on two wheels and greet them with a smile.

i guess that makes Andy Hampsten a fred http://forums.roadbikereview.com/ima...s/rolleyes.gif