SF Biker

Hehe. We were on a guided trip and the trip price included riding their bikes: $3,000 Ultegra, nothing super high-end. Anyway, the bikes were fitted with triples and when we were climbing short steep rollers with the 30 sprocket we would cross chain the crap out of their bikes all the way in to the 12 tooth. We would just say, it is not my bike I am too lazy to do 2 shifts, I'll just ride the small sprocket on the steep stuff. Everbody seemed to do it and not give a crap but I am sure other Euros looked at us like we were a horse's ass.

We also just put our bikes against each others (the guides did) when we locked them for lunch. It scraped the crap out of them. I was kind of wasteful and disgusting. Man for the low miles, those bikes were beat!

I would never do that with my own bike, kind of like when you rent a car..You know what I mean

patentcad

>>people who ride colnagos and pinarellos look down on people who ride cannondales.<<

The irony of this idiocy is pefect. A friggin Colnago. It just kills me. You couldn't GIVE me one of those dopey lameass foo-foo boutique fairy bikes. Don't ask me why I hate them, I just do. As I'm sure they can't stand Cannondales. Hey that's PERFECT. We can look down on EACH OTHER!!

Cannondale is the working man's racing bike. Love it. You don't like that? My concern level so low as to not be measurable with current technology : ).

Barcelona rider

hehehehehehehehehehehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhehhehehehhehe

DocRay

clearly not stupid, just a volatile mix of ignorant and arrogant.

zzzwillzzz

no wonder my brothers so confused... he's got a C40 and and a cannondale (as well as 2 cannondale mountain bikes) he must just hate himself coming and going

patentcad

>>clearly not stupid, just a volatile mix of ignorant and arrogant.<<

Exactly. But 'volatile'? What the hell could be 'volatile' about an American bike weenie like me? That implies something dangerous. And to be 'safe' from me all you have to do is ignore my bikeforum rantings. Which are of course, calculated to illicit reactions from other weenies, particularly those from Canada and Europe.

Mission accomplished.

As You Like It

My thought is that most people don't especially appreciate unsolicited advice, no matter how well meant. If he felt that he knew what he was doing, then your telling him that he was doing something not too good for his bike probably read to him as criticisim, insult, or mocking.

It is for this reason that I get pretty cranky when people tell me I should be using clipless pedals or not using a helmet mirror. Sure, neither practice is going to wear out my bike any faster, but some people's aesthetic sensibiities are awfully offended by my rearview mirror and combat boots. And when people criticise, joke, ore remark about them, I'm inclined to get annoyed, myself.

jbhowat

There is a big difference between stopping to help someone who is on the side of the road with a flat or mechanical and riding up behind someone who is minding their own business and telling them they are doing things wrong.

What you did was not helping someone who's car broke down as you drove by. You're that annoying buy who sits in the back/passenger seat and tells the driver how to clutch, shift, and manage traffic. Except those people typically know the driver. This guy is a stranger. Add to that the fact you didn't ride up and say "hey what's up" or make any kind of conversation. You just jumped right in with criticizing. He's probably wondering what the hell you're doing / talking about / came from.

That said I have no idea why he (obviously) started lying about being a pro or whatever instead of just saying "**** off" or "thanks" and then dropping back and ignoring you.

2manybikes

Exactly ! Don't go up to a stranger and tell him he is doing something wrong without even a greeting.

It's not nice to be a back seat/another bike driver/rider.

puddin' legs

Unless a rider is plain old dangerous, offer no advice unless asked. If you asked him why he cross chained, he might have had a good enough reason and offered and explaination, but maybe not. No worries. Just keep riding. Take a nice bike at face value...it's just a bike. It didn't get to choose it's owner so there's no point about getting undies bunched up about either bike or owner....at least it's getting ridden.

RacerX

You were being #2 and should have told him #6
Maybe you could have made a new friend instead of being a... #2

Baldanzi

[QUOTE=Barcelona rider]people who ride colnagos and pinarellos look down on people who ride cannondales. I suppose as a parallel it is like merecedes drivers looking down on honda drivers maybe?? So by default for those guys a cannondale is ****e "american" crap. QUOTE]

I notice just the opposite - a lot of Italians here have a certain level of reverence for Cannondale (Saeco?)...I've been on rides with friends here that have a CAAD 3 and they get the thumbs up and a hearty "cannon-dalay". Maybe in other European countries they also buy into the mythic attitude torwards italian bikes...but here in Italy people speak very highly of Treks and Cannondales (the goods models ). In fact you can buy a cannondale in the US, ride it and sell it used a year later in Italy for probably what you paid for it in the USA...Cannondales are very pricey here.

Hey, but what do I know...I ride a fairy Colnago.

Barcelona rider

goo thread, no trolls and only one flamer!!!! good answer racerx

Baldanzi

Back OT, I think your were right about saying something...but yes to the wrong person you could have some off as a know-it-all. I'll admit I probably would have reacted similarly....its just human nature. I used to ride with a guy ...he used to catch up to people all of the time an critique their fit all of time. He really had the best intentions - I'd say the reactions were split 50/50 between "oh thanks" and "b!te me" - regardless of bike brand. However it is a heck of a lot funnier/annoying when the rider is on a several thousand dollar ride. I used to see guys with rusty chains on their Litespeeds at local group rides. I felt like telling them that only the frame was titanium you dope - you gotta care for the rest of the bike!!

BTW, I cannot ride in cross gears link that at all...it drives me crazy! Plus I begin to hear the chain rub on the FD....I hate that.

Barcelona rider

Maybe I shoukld have said how are you first and nice bike!!

patentcad

>>My thought is that most people don't especially appreciate unsolicited advice, no matter how well meant.<<

Oh, no I'll have to stop:

• I don't care

and

• There's nothing 'well meant' about my rantings

• Which are rantings, not 'advice'. If anyone takes forum rhetoric as 'advice' they have bigger problems than anyone here can help them with

Plus the weeniesm exuding from your post is staggering. If you need me I'll be riding my bike. Well, not today, it's a NE blizzard out there. But soon. And often.

mathmo

Ahh ummm (from the safe annoymity of the internet and being many many miles away in nz ) why do you ride in combat boots? (and I'm trying very hard to ignore the other issue of the mirror or crack any jokes such as if are being ready for a war to break out while you are cycling? .... )


The one and only possible reasonable reason that occurs to me is that the extra stiffness of the soles that some have helps with the cycling a little (although there are more far out reasons of course, such as you have been in the the army since birth and combat boots haven't ended up becoming part of your physical body such that you would need surgery to go without them)? But of course if that is the case, then....

patentcad

My only exposure to NZ was the scenery in the Lord of the Rings movies but I was blown away by the natural beauty. Must be a beautiful place to ride a bicycle.

As You Like It

Heh. The reason I wear combat boots is simply because that's what I've got for shoes at the moment. They're durable and comfortable, and I have such a hard time finding shoes that don't hurt my feet, so I haven't exactly tried to branch out. I bought them as kind of a joke a few years ago, but they turned out to be so practical that they became my shoe of choice.

Barcelona rider

Maybe subconsciously I thought he was an ******* who needed to be taught a lesson, spotted the 39-11 crossover and went in for the kill, spurred on by bikeforum.net arguments over people who think that the more they spend, the better the bike etc etc etc. Maybe deep down my Cannondale instinct was kill kill kill anyone on a Colnago carbon foo fairy bike, maybe it was a way of inititating a conversation with a fellow cyclist. Dutchmen can be very difficult to get on with firdt, in my experience, and they only open up after months. (in m personal experience).

patentcad

I'm trying to figure out why anyone would ride in the 39 x 11. I've never done it. Is there some point to that? Does anyone know?

NJWheelBuilder

I don't think its appropriate to point something like that out to someone you just met. It presumes they are ignorant. If you have familiarity with the person, it becomes ok, assuming you use tact when making your suggestion.

merlinextraligh

I think it's a good thing to pass on knowledge, and help people who may be new to the sport, or just not understand a point. However, your last point, above, makes me think that the motivation of pointing out the cross chaining may not have been to be helpful, but rather to be superior, and may have at least come across this way to the other rider.

And to answer the 8th question, while I wouldn't pick it, I can think of about a thousand models of bikes that are worse bikes than a Ferrari Colnago.

pigmode

BR, Wasn't it you who started a racism thread a while back? Its interesting how your 1st post starts off painting a picture of yourself as all too innocent, and as the pot gets stirred your attitude starts changing.

patentcad

Is being anti-Colnago a racist approach? Are Colnago riders an ethnic group? Does anyone care enough about this to consider this a 'stirred pot'?