Sorry, not up with the latest acronyms, as you know. FSO ??

Sure, so-called food shaped objects (FSOs) to include all products from fast food emporiums or chain restaurants are NOT eaten by the Real True Serious Cyclists of BF.

Only artisanal food dishes prepared with home grown (or purchased directly from local growers) ingredients are suitable for their fine tuned taste buds, and of course only when accompanied by fine (i.e. expensive) wine or quaffed with dizzy concoctions of craft brews from a local micro-brewery.

I don't think it's fake. Both the bikes on the right have wide steel rims, the far right looking like 700c. I have the same rims on a early 60's era bike. Also, cottered cranks.

Thanks for the def, I-Like_to-Bike.

Perhaps if you and others can send me a list of commonly used ones it'll save you constantly having to answer my questions. Even though I am English, my daily language is mostly French, for reading, TV etc, so am not up with the latest acronyms.

That's your definition, not mine. I at at an Applebee's back in September while on tour. I was actually pleasantly surprised by what came out of the kitchen. If I were in a pinch I would go there again.

Well now, we did have a thread a while back about a cyclist getting refused service in the drive-thru of McDonald's.

I'm just glad none of the bikes looks like an e-bike. I'm at work and have no popcorn.

Now you've done it. I popped extra. Help yourself.

Not a problem for BF's Real True Serious Cyclists, except for the off-shoot segment that constantly play the "victim" card and cry electronic crocodile tears at every perceived slight, real or imagined.

Unless of course they are hungry and the fast food looks better than other options but wouldn't dream of leaving their expensive pride and joy out of sight for a minute.

I have to wonder if anybody on BF leaves a custom made expensive bicycle (especially if it is not all black but rather a custom color) outside and out of sight while dining and relaxing in a fine restaurant serving proper food for a bicycling food cognoscente.

I'd hardly call not abusing my gut microbiome with ****ty chain food, food snobbery. But, if it's a big deal for you then OK.

I'd gotta say that quite an American phenomenon.

I like my beer from monasteries that predate the USA by several centuries and precisely adhere to Reinheitsgebote.

Maybe that makes me an *******, but I like my beer to be beer and my food to be food, i.e. not Olive Garden.

I'd eat at an Olive Garden, although I haven't in quite a while. Having endured USMC chow and C-rats; if you don't make me throw up and I'm not hungry for 3 or 4 hours, we're even. That said, I didn't think anybody went to an Olive Garden seeking "authenticity".

these would qualify:




i also only get meat from a local farmer/butcher and seafood directly from the boats at the local fishmongers.

call me a snob if you want but I ain't eatin' at an Olive Garden.

The difference between us and him is that we don't try to belittle people who eat FSOs or ride BSOs. We merely think some places like Olive Garden suck. Nowhere did we disparage anyone for eating as such places. He, on the other hand, takes shots at people who consume "gourmet" (i.e., not inexpensive, as far as I can tell) food and drink. (I actually am not a beer drinker, so his attempt to paint me as a snob in that respect is yet another failure. But I do understand why some people prefer craft beer over PBR.") And don't get me started on his bike view. If you're not riding a 70s Schwinn you trash picked or picked up for next to nothing at a yard sale you are an elitist snob who thinks people who are riding such bikes are not "serious cyclists." Yes. I have a really nice, one-of-a-kind custom ti bike. But I don't categorize people based on what they ride. The irony of his "reverse snobbery" is thick.

Yeah, he does have some interesting (honestly) bikes.

I ride what I ride because I like it. (Same with beer and food, I like good/unique stuff, not necessarily expensive).

That's OK though, I've been accused of having a strong opinion before and probably will again here.

Why would I eat at a ****ty chain restaurant when I can eat at a ****ty independent? I'll roll the dice every time and maybe find something nice.

Show some photos of the food and you might be forgiven!

Everyone takes photos of food nowadays right and posts them on insta, or?

I don't think the photo is staged.

The bikes are clean because they are transportation - vehicles, not sporting equipment.

The gents in the photo rely on those bikes to feed their families and take care of them as one would take care of a nice car.


-Tim-

My wife is a superb cook...over the top fantastic. We find it difficult to go to any restaurants except the highest end, because the food is ... blech.

Even at fine restaurants, she and I will identify mysterious flavors in a dish. And she'll describe how the recipe can be changed in subtle ways to bring out something different.

The point is, really, really understanding food, the food supply, the value of fresh ingredients is both attainable and satisfying. Learning to mill grains and bake breads fresh (and eschew enriched flour(s)) as well as avoid the epidemics of the overuse of fat, salt and corn syrup in the American diet, can do wonders to improve one's health. No sugars = improved tastebuds and greater sensitivity flavors in almost all foods.

What was this thread about again? Olive Garden... well, my kids used to like to eat there when were on road trips. Would I eat there? Very unlikely.

I agree. And seeing features like cottered cranks doesn't mean the photo can't be recent; it means that the bicycle has been kept in use because it is transportation and not a disposable fashion accessory. I'm sure that a lot of such everyday bikes become heirlooms and continue to serve through generations.

Then why gratuitously bring up OT criticism of products that you either don't like or don't use?

The difference is that "us" gratuitously makes OT and disparaging comments about products that other people choose to buy or use, presumably in order to establish our bona fides as witty experts and elevate "our" self-image as connoisseurs of everything.

I was in Europe in the 80's.

Lots of 1980's bikes... can you imagine? And many were "newish" at the time.

I don't remember the men's bikes, but some of the women's bikes were nice, with full fenders, and skirt guards. Especially in flatter cities (Parma, Po valley).

The black and white is probably an "effect" used with the photography.

The bike in the foreground probably dates to around 2000. Aluminum frame?

Cobble stones in cities were common in Italy when I was there, and they still were repairing and upgrading them in places.

I can imagine.

Heidelberg Hbf, circa 2000
My bike in foreground, almost all the bicycles were either 3 speed IGH or single speed bikes. Most with fenders, chainguard and coaster brakes; few had skirt guards. No telling how old the bikes were since few of them were being babied, pampered and treated as delicate or precious objects.



Additional pictures from same time frame of the front and side of the train station.