IbikezLA

AHHHHH I'm a Fred. Plz splain to me what a Fred is.

TarmacDude

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Fred (bicycling)
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"Fred" is a derisive term used by cyclists to describe other cyclists, usually male, that appear amateurish and oblivious to cycling culture.

The exact qualities that define one as a "Fred" vary widely among regions and cyclists, but recently, particularly in the US, a Fred is somebody with higher quality and more expensive gear than his or her talent would warrant. For example:

A person watches the highlights of a few Tour de France stages, goes to a bike store and buys a Trek carbon fiber Madone in Team Discovery colors, along with Team Discovery shorts and jersey, and then rides it on a cycling path at 15 mph (25 km/h).

In the UK the earlier usage is more common—used by 'serious' roadies to refer to (often) bearded, sandal wearing, touring cyclists[citation needed]. The rare female Fred is a Doris.

This usage still survives in the US - David Bernstein, presenter of The FredCast says the term is "used by 'serious' roadies to disparage utility cyclists and touring riders, especially after these totally unfashionable 'freds' drop the 'serious' roadies on hills because the 'serious' guys were really posers." Mostly, though, a Fred dreams of being able to drop a real cyclist because their equipment is nicer.

In the US the term is also used to describe the many bicycle riders who enter fun "tours" or "rallies" but tell everyone that they were in a "race" with actual knowledge that what they were in was not a true race. Bicycle racing is governed in the United States by USA Cycling.
Contents
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* 1 Is a Fred just a poseur?
* 2 Word origin
* 3 References
* 4 External links

[edit] Is a Fred just a poseur?

A Fred is generally too naive to be considered a poseur. A Fred is largely unaware of his or her status as an object of ridicule, and likely unaware of the Fred moniker. While it is common for cyclists to claim varying degrees of "Fredness", such self-derision indicates a higher degree of cycling cultural-awareness and would indicate that the commenter is, in fact, unlikely to be a Fred.

[edit] Word origin

The roots of the term "Fred" are unclear, though it purportedly originated from[1] a grumpy old touring rider named Fred. A southern California bicycle store printed and sold "No Freds" t-shirts in the early-to-mid 1980s to local racing cyclists. This t-shirt depicted a hairy-legged, bearded cyclist (with bug-splatted teeth) wearing sunglasses and a Bell "Biker" hard-shell helmet (with rear-view mirror attached). At the time, very few racing cyclists wore sunglasses due to their (then) lack of functionality, and virtually none wore hard-shell helmets until they became mandatory in 1986. Few racing cyclists wore helmets outside of racing events until advances in technology allowed lighter, better ventilated helmets to exist in the market.

There my be some relationship to the fact that amateurish surfers had often been referred to as "Barneys" by their more advanced surfing peers, and "Fred" may have been created to complement this fact. Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, characters from the animated series "The Flintsones" often found themselves engaging (amateurishly) in numerous sports during the series run.

BarracksSi

After all the opinionated stuff on that page, the phrase, "citation needed" is the funniest part.

IbikezLA

I think I'm just oblivious to roadie cycling culture (well, weekend warriors at least) and professional cycling. How much of a Fred does that make me? It doesnt matter though because I have no interest in keeping up with professional athletes' status or becoming a roadie.

lunacycle

I'm a Utility-Fred. I have full fenders (with mud flaps!) on my cyclocross bike, On-One Midge bars, and most fredalicious of all, a Softride suspension stem. Added to that, my "high end" road bike is a Motobecane Le Champ SL from Bikes Direct.

I dream of dropping real roadies on my commute home. But instead, I usually end up by the side of the trail, patching Poser-Freds' flat tires (part of my Utility-Fred creed) because they're too clueless to carry their own damn tools.

malevolentoilet

I'm not a fred and I'm not a poser. I'm a guy on a bike. Sometimes I'm slow because I'm rehabbing an injury or it's early in the season or because I've been working and studying too much. But by the end of the summer I'll be fast enough to feel like I accomplished something. The one thing I do know is I couldn't care less about what anybody on an internet forum, or anybody on the road thinks about me. I don't ride for you, I ride for me. So suck it.

JohnDThompson 

I'm probably a Fred, but I don't care enough to quibble.

TVS_SS

15mph?... someday i'll be that fast..

Pinyon

That's me. On our local group rides, everyone knows that I'm the only one carrying anything but a spare tube and tire levers. They scoff at my frame pump too, until they find out that everyone else is also out of C02 during goat-head thorn season and they need their tires pumped up (can get 3+ flats a day/week for a couple of weeks...people forget to get new C02 before they come out).

Dubbayoo

I probably look like a Fred to some, being a 5'8, 250 lb black guy. I ride a decent bike with nice wheels but never wear team gear.

Yesterday I got passed by a chick with panniers. In my defense I had just started out a half mile back and wasn't concerned with speed, but the rate she passed me was impressive given the wind.

stedanrac

This thread has been great fun... but I realize now just how far into Fredness I am. I'll add one other identifier:

- Has a Dynohub, connected to front and rear LED lights, keeps them on all the time (as daytime running lights). *sigh*

North of You

I averaged 27Km on my rides for the most part last year. Granted, it wasn't on a bike bath mind you. BUT, to be a Non Fred (Anti Fred? Road Nazi with class?) what kind of speed do I have to achieve?

Jimmy D1

Hey, If I bought this helmet would it make me a fred?
https://www.nutcasehelmets.com/Helmet...unionJack.aspx
It kind of looks like a old brancale one.
Anyway, I like it.
Jimmy

TarmacDude

No, it would just make you look stupid.

TarmacDude

You are a Fred, but at least you are not a poseur.

gabdy

Everyone on bikeforums averages 40Kph+. Didn't you know?

patentcad

What's with the blue post?

big john

If you really don't care, why the angry post?

bbattle

Fred's trainer:

KiddSisko

Are you asking about my new Blue bike? Just picked it up last night. Pics and details to come.

TarmacDude

because he cares

patentcad

Everybody is a Poser you Poser.

chipcom 

This is a Fred


This is a Poseur


any questions?

SPlKE 

Alas, perhaps he cares too much.

TarmacDude

I want to see a pic of your bike with mud flaps.