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http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/

i can no longer visit fgg without hearing this guy's voice narration. braah-voh, sir.

I sat and read through this guy's whole blog on Thursday night. I think he's dutret's kindred spirit. Either that, or dutret has a blog. Either way, I enjoy it.

I enjoy reading this blog too =)

He's the H.L. Mencken of the bike scene!

This guy rocks. Ripping on bike-focused 'missed connections' on Craigslist:

hey now that hating has been outsourced bfssfg can be a source of praise and support!

that guy rocks (tentatively said) because he's a little bit more balanced than i expected. read his responses to comments. though he lines up tin cans on a fence and takes aim, he really doesn't seem to be a huge ******* about it, or really hold it against Actual People. just trends and appearances. and he doesn't stick to riders - he goes after companies, too. he's okay.

I recognize that light blue 3rensho... I can't believe we didn't notice the missing chainring bolt.

"Says a lot about life, which is also kind of cool sometimes but mostly pointless."

I like this guy more and more.

seriously funny, as I've said before.

I had a Bikesnob/FGG moment recently, as I was looking at my own bike, now that it's set up in a way that is totally (mostly) comfortable for me and my riding style, and I thought,"my handlebars are too high. they don't look .........cool" Then I laughed at my own idiocy.

Haha. Great stuff.

I've never laughed as hard at anything on BF as when he was talking about the missing chainring bolt and said that NJS stands for "Nice job. Sayonara."

you laughed at your own idiocy because you have gotten over feeling the need to act on making your bike cool.

most people get over this. i certainly did.

unfortunately, there are plenty of people who don't get over this phenomenon. half of them are the haters who can't seem to understand that after people finish with cool, they move on, and what goes on the record in the archives of FGG, or in the five minutes post-build photo that they put on the photos sticky, is not much of a record about their motivations or cycling habits.

Funny

I got the joke and almost smiled once or twice.

And I did hear a chuckle come from somewhere.

Let's see if I get it.

If I laugh at someone else, even someone doing something I myself did during one of the many absurd phases of my life, it makes me superior and above all that.

ha...ha...

Yes, it seems only those with sufficient experience and sophistication have the savoir faire needed to identify and ridicule noo guys.

Oh, and enthusiasm?

The clear indicator of a rube.

I hope this guy comes to me for lessons in whatever I know how to do that he doesn't, and as soon as he starts buying into it, trying really hard and showing enthusiasm, I will hold him up to the public as a buffoon and a wannabe.

Great logic.

If we laugh at someone else it makes us superior to them.

During an earlier phase in my life, I would sneak up on people like that and hit them so hard in the kidney they would pee blood.
I haven't done that for forty years, but I still know how.
Don't worry, though: you can rely on my acquired-late-in-life good moral values to protect you from me.

Y'know, when I started riding fixed, I got the idea from Sheldon Brown.
I went a year without seeing another fixed gear rider.
I had no idea riding a certain type of bike had a culture and fashions associated with it.
If I had known then what I know now about the bad name the big-city fixie culture has given fixed gear bikes, I probably never would have tried riding one.

Oh well, too late now.

I file this guy with the same people who tell the newbies to use the search function.

I don't mind this guy's hatred so much as I feel uncomfortable with the thought anyone values what he has to say.

Yes, I smiled and kinda chuckled, but I involuntarily do that sometimes with racist or gay-bashing jokes: the formula of the joke gets me before I realize the ugliness of the intent.

Hm.

In the early days, I came here for information and asked all the stupid newbie questions I still see here today.
A few people told me to use the search function, and a few other people took the time to rephrase what they knew in a manner useful to themselves and to me.
Once I had acheived a self-sustaining level of knowledge and expertise, I continued to come her because of the quality of writing and to enjoy some of the personalities here.

Do you think I've over-reacted or failed to "get it?"
Then either ignore me or blow it out your ear.

By the way, does anyone have a picture of the bike the guy in question rides?

Does he ride a bike?

The guy can write.

What a waste of talent.

You're new here then?

I'd agree with what you said except when this little gem came spewing out...

Have your doctor prescribe you a grain of salt and make sure you take it with plenty of internet.

This thread just got even better with patented Ken Cox Craziness!

http://www.polskiring.com/phpbb/leximg/kidney.jpg

Search this, Stinky!

JaredG wrote "grain of salt" but he might have meant "grain of hypocrisy."

I just wrote what I felt at the time.

I grew up in the Marine Corps and later served nine years, myself.

During my growing up, we moved at least once a year.

In every new school, as the new kid, I had to deal with the bullies.

In the last years of my teens, I stopped dealing with bullies and started hunting them down.

Then I realized I could wind up killing someone or getting killed myself (the nine years in the Corps made that a little more relevant), and so I started studying bullies and their victims, and violence and non-violence.

I learned that bullies rely on either the good behavior of their victims (psychologists call it pro-social constraint) or on circumstances (low probability of consequences) to protect them from their own cruel behavior.

The guy who wrote the subject blog does not expose himself to the same criticisms as he levels at the sincere and innocent.

He hides behind his anonymity.

That makes him a coward, bully and vandal of the lowest order.

I no longer behave or believe as I did 40 years ago, but the blogger touched something in me and those old sentiments and emotions surfaced for a moment.

I write what I feel.

If JaredG ever comes to Bend, I'll buy him lunch.

I guarantee he will feel very safe in my company, even if he authored the subject blog.

=====

My wife and kids describe me as weird.

What do they know?

Sorry Cox, I love Bike Snob and I think you have him wrong. He isn't bullying noobs, he's (mostly) making fun of human vanity. There's a big difference. And note that he's always nice to people who comment.

i emailed him about a week ago. he told me he rides a track bike on the street, who knew? :)

definitely an entertaining blog.

EDIT:
yeah, ken cox, you may want to read his reply to my email, he's a pretty nice guy to be honest:

Quote:

---

Hey,

Thanks a lot for emailing--I'm glad you like the blog. You're absolutely right, cycling (like everything else) is full of contradictions. I find these contradictions simultaneously annoying and entertaining. And what I find most entertaining is that moment where vanity triumphs over all common sense--like when someone builds Livestrong bracelets into his wheelset but forgets to install a chainring bolt, or when someone wraps his top-tube in bar tape but doesn't wrap the bars. There's just something funny about that, because people are vain and funny, and this inanimate bicycle is sometimes a perfect reflection of just how funny they are. That's what I'm satirizing, and I satirize it in the context of a bike blog because bikes are what I know.

I hope you keep enjoying the blog. It has nothing to do with what you or anyone else rides--lots of the people reading the site ride track bikes on the street (me included). I know because they email me. Just keep riding how and what you want and enjoying it.

Keep riding--see you out there.

--BSNYC

---

FYI guys and gals, he actually says what bikes he rides in a response to a comment somewhere. IIRC bikesnob has a nice road bike, a fg, a ss, and one more bike i cant remember.

Attempting to convince Ken Cox to appreciate the writing? May I suggest something, say, over lunch?

or over several PBRs

"Your handlebars are wrapped in tape made of synthetic cork. Please note that the purpose of this tape is to protect your bars during shipping. This tape should be removed immediately.":love:

Improper use of the adjective "concerted", or so it seems.

Noted.

Thanks for the additional insight. (Really)

I started inviting people to lunch on the internet about 10 years ago.

I mean it sincerely, even though I write it for effect.

The effect?

Something about even thinking about sitting across the table from someone and talking while we eat seems to calm me down, and it seems to have the same effect on other people.

I've actually had one person come here to Bend to have lunch with me.
It went well. :)

As for appreciating the writing, after I learned what I needed to know about fixed gear bikes, I continued to come here for the writing.

For some reason this sub forum attracts an uncommonly high percentage of people with talent in the fine arts, and some of them write quite well.

I continue to come here for pictures of cats with funny captions.