Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Singlespeed & Fixed Gear
Reload this Page >

the unspoken race!

Notices
Singlespeed & Fixed Gear "I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft...As for me, give me a fixed gear!"-- Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 - 16 August 1940)

the unspoken race!

Old 08-04-08, 07:13 AM
  #26  
Senior Member
 
NewYorkMantle's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 475
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by andrewro
When I saw the title, I thought this thread would be about space aliens who walk secretly among us.
NewYorkMantle is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 07:26 AM
  #27  
Boooga BOO
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Down Under
Posts: 243

Bikes: Colnago for road, Fuji for track

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Live2Die
Yesterday I had some spandex toting roadie (note I have no problem with this just setting the scene) pass me while I was on the way to a short little 1k climb to the top of a local butte. As I rounded the initial turn I spotted him a few hundred feet ahead and thought I'd have a go, beat him by about a minute. I bet he is thankful for all those useful gears that allow him to tackle such a monster climb in no time The only time it sucks is when the other rider doesn't respond and then you look like the tool, thats why I usually stick to roadies or someone looking for it.
yeah, getting to the top with plenty of energy to spare probably knocked him out eh? Road bikes can ascend much faster than fixed. The actual difference is that they don't -have- to ascend much faster than fixed.

lol, I think I'll stop pointing out the "my fixed climb so fast" newb cyclist fallacy, it colours my opinion of whoever believes that crap too much when it is really just a small thing. Lots of people believe a stupid thing, me included, just not that stupid thing
J A Holman is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 07:27 AM
  #28  
Boooga BOO
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Down Under
Posts: 243

Bikes: Colnago for road, Fuji for track

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by MrCjolsen
I paced a guy in full kit coming back from his club ride the other night. I had a basket and a bell. We were on a mup going about 21 mph. Every time we'd come up on some dog walkers, kids, or pedestrians, I'd ring the bell.

I think it was starting to bug him.

He probably thought I kept up because I hadn't been riding all evening like he had. What he didn't know was I'd just swam over a mile.
lol @ a warmup to a real challenge
J A Holman is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 07:58 AM
  #29  
FNG
 
Jabba Degrassi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 2,313

Bikes: 2008 IRO Angus, 2008 Jamis Exile 29er

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Also, is the reason these races are always "unspoken" because you guys are afraid that if you actually challenged someone to a race they'd blow you out of the ****ing water?
Jabba Degrassi is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 08:06 AM
  #30  
Senior Member
 
ZiP0082's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 1,703

Bikes: 2008 Mercier Kilo TT

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
this happens to me sometimes at Prospect Park in Brooklyn, when I pass a lycra-clad guy on a super expensive road bike on my fixed gear, and then they try to drop the hammer
ZiP0082 is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 08:39 AM
  #31  
sneeuwpret
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: South of Madison
Posts: 198

Bikes: lots

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Jabba Degrassi
Also, is the reason these races are always "unspoken" because you guys are afraid that if you actually challenged someone to a race they'd blow you out of the ****ing water?
+1, although the flip side is, it seems like roadies are always doing a "recovery" ride or warming up or cooling down just as you pass them.

Seriously though, of course I have played this game. Back when I started riding serious miles, my only decent bike was a hybrid, and I used to think I was the s*** because I would pass road bikes. Then I got a road bike, learned a little about training, and realized there are reasons to not go all out, all the time, and it did make me fell a little foolish. Of course, I still loved picking people off whenever I saw someone up ahead.

Then I got a job at a bike shop, and that really just made me want to get people out and ride. These days, I still use the modivation trick of trying to catch some rider on the road to keep myself going, but the unspoken race game just doesn't do much for me anymore, and I certainly don't get into back and forth matches like I used to. I just don't care about competing against cyclists who might not know they are being challenged. Now cars on the other hand....

I love trying to get places faster than you could by car. It is my favorite thing about riding in the city. In college, I lived about 5 miles from campus, and I would time when I left my house so that I would start at the same time as the bus route going into the campus, and my goal everyday was to beat the bus.

I do get a little tired of the roadies vs fixies thing about who are better and/or faster cyclists. There are plenty of people I know in both camps who are completely awsome (as people and on a bike), and plenty of people I know in both camps that are complete d*cks. But they are on bikes. Even if they suck, that is a good start.
geoffvsjeff is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 08:46 AM
  #32  
FNG
 
Jabba Degrassi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 2,313

Bikes: 2008 IRO Angus, 2008 Jamis Exile 29er

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by geoffvsjeff
I love trying to get places faster than you could by car. It is my favorite thing about riding in the city. In college, I lived about 5 miles from campus, and I would time when I left my house so that I would start at the same time as the bus route going into the campus, and my goal everyday was to beat the bus.
Hehe, yeah, reminds me of the time I was meeting my girlfriend at a subway station, I saw her getting off the streetcar and head underground right in front of me, so I pedalled away to the station we were meeting at and, fully expecting her to be sitting there waiting for me... I got there about 5 minutes sooner than her.

I looked at my bike with the same look you might give to your index finger after pointing at somebody and somehow shooting them dead with a bolt of lightning...

THE POWER!!!!!!
Jabba Degrassi is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 08:47 AM
  #33  
Senior Member
 
mugatu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DFW
Posts: 1,005
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
chances are that if you see a roadie, he's riding at least 3 times further than you
mugatu is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 09:03 AM
  #34  
Don't smoke, Mike.
 
shapelike's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Toronto
Posts: 3,295

Bikes: Devinci Tosca, IRO Rob Roy

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
My commute is 8.5km right across the heart of downtown Toronto. What's way more fun than dropping random cyclists is dropping aggro white collars from the financial district. I really enjoy leaving a BMW or Porsche floundering behind me in traffic.

Maybe people are just blanking on the fact that there are a few different kinds of roadies. Would you brag about it if you dropped some dude on a touring bike? Probably not, but I don't see why people get all puffed up about dropping some random cyclosportif rider who has just as little competitive training. If you really want to talk **** about dropping roadies with your fixed gear bike, go enter a local cat 4/5 crit. Tear a few legs off and then talk.
shapelike is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 09:21 AM
  #35  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 848
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I passed a roadie who was down in his aero clip ons the other day on a long bridge and I chuckled...I wondered why he was down in that position if he wasn't going to be sprinting...

Then again, I don't know anything about that kind of riding.
iansmash is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 09:36 AM
  #36  
Dissembling Ubiquity
 
Paradox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 12
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
i do this all the time. not with roadies, but with everyone. its part of what makes riding fun, gives an edge and makes the whole thing more enjoyable. nothing wrong with some friendly competition.
Paradox is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 09:51 AM
  #37  
Senior Member
 
ZiP0082's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 1,703

Bikes: 2008 Mercier Kilo TT

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
it is fun to try to keep up with a pack of people too. and then there are those times where you're riding up 1st avenue in manhattan at like 7pm on a friday and there are food delivery bikes behind you, in front of you, on your left, and on your right.
ZiP0082 is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 10:00 AM
  #38  
Sledge Hammer
 
FightingPanther's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: University of Pittsburgh
Posts: 159

Bikes: 2008 Lemond - Buenos Aries

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
be aware I am a serious roadie and my training rides are long and terribly slow, however I have been in races where the speed never dropped below 28mph so if you tempt the wolf with chicken eventually you will be bitten
FightingPanther is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 10:03 AM
  #39  
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 45
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
One time a pentagenarian roadie passed me in Dallas (which is a city well-known for ******baggery) when I was on a BMX and acted all triumphant.

I was left mostly scratching my head...

Other than that, most of my cyclist interactions are very pleasant. I think the fact that I ride with no seat or seatpost is confusing or disarming.
ryansupak is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 10:33 AM
  #40  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,301
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 12 Times in 1 Post
Originally Posted by FightingPanther
if you tempt the wolf with chicken eventually you will be bitten
+1. better be sure who you pick on.

maybe my anecdote belongs in the 'annoying hipster' thread...but here 'tis.

recently i was the serious lycra-clad roadie in the story. loafing home at 18ish in the local bike lane after a hilly 60 miler, jonny hipster (skinny jeans, risers, platforms...the whole bit) blows by me and looks back. i can't let that go, so i jump on his wheel. he looks back again, and immediately plugs a nostril and lets go with a shower of mucus. not cool *at all*. i pull alongside, chuck a bottle at his spokes (it bounced, damn), and flat smoke him easily. what a ******.
dookie is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 10:35 AM
  #41  
Senior Member
 
ZiP0082's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 1,703

Bikes: 2008 Mercier Kilo TT

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
yeah, cyclists should all be on the same team to avoid situations like that, not cool.
ZiP0082 is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 10:35 AM
  #42  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 848
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
That's ****ing disgusting lol
iansmash is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 10:40 AM
  #43  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 61

Bikes: Fuji Espree conversion

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by geoffvsjeff
These days, I still use the modivation trick of trying to catch some rider on the road to keep myself going, but the unspoken race game just doesn't do much for me anymore, and I certainly don't get into back and forth matches like I used to.
yeah i am not necessarily racing people but more seeing a cyclist off in the distance and saying ok i'm going to pedal hard to catch up to them.. then i just do it again. just to make it more interesting for me. it has nothing to do with them or beating them.

also there's this one stretch of road on my commute to and from work where i get to pace cars and usually pass them up once they get closer to downtown. i try to beat my own time to places i go often, to another part of town or work or to my friend's house who lives up a ton of hills...

i think the OP was talking about when someone challenges HIM to a race though.. lots of people in this thread seemed to have turned it into a badass contest where they go around racing people.. i mean not everyone but idk it just seems like a slightly different topic. not that there's anything wrong with what they do i'm just sayin.
jchechile is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 10:47 AM
  #44  
Senior Member
 
gfrance's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: New York City
Posts: 1,757
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by iansmash
I passed a roadie who was down in his aero clip ons the other day on a long bridge and I chuckled...I wondered why he was down in that position if he wasn't going to be sprinting...

Then again, I don't know anything about that kind of riding.
The 'aero position' is not the sprinting position.
gfrance is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 10:49 AM
  #45  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 848
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Really? I assumed it was for going flat out on long flats...I was watching a time trial and that's how they explained it.


We were going on a 2+ mile flat so I assumed that's what it was for...I'm sure he was going slow on purpose, I just found it perplexing that he was so hunkered down to go sub 20mph.
iansmash is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 11:04 AM
  #46  
Senior Member
 
mugatu's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: DFW
Posts: 1,005
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
because when you're riding 40 miles, every decrease in wind resistance translates to substantial results.
mugatu is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 11:09 AM
  #47  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Richmond, VA
Posts: 848
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I was under the impression that those bars were only for time trials that are short and flat
iansmash is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 02:07 PM
  #48  
sneeuwpret
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: South of Madison
Posts: 198

Bikes: lots

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by iansmash
I was under the impression that those bars were only for time trials that are short and flat
For true "sprinting," they are kind of lousy, because you want to be able to get better leverage, and you can't hold onto the bars very well in that position. Same reason they suck for climbs (that, and aero isn't as important when climbing).

They could be used for TTs, which are usually about 40K (there are really short ones (and longer ones) as well, but they are less common). Since TTs are not very common, people who are actively participating or training for one are usually pretty good.

They could be used for Tri bikes (probably most common). Competitive distances range from 10-15mi up to over 100mi. Since triathlon has become so common, lots of people are riding around with entry level road bikes with aero bars attached to simulate a "tri bike." However, a newbie's ability to use them effectively is debatable. There is a huge range of riding ability in the tri community.

They are also quite common on touring bikes, because they offer a different position to ride, and let you take the weight off your hands for a little while. Touring is a completely different ballgame, and the speed benefits of the aero bars are not nearly as important.
geoffvsjeff is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 02:52 PM
  #49  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,409
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 23 Post(s)
Liked 13 Times in 11 Posts
Originally Posted by iansmash
I was under the impression that those bars were only for time trials that are short and flat
I was under the impression that track bikes were for riding on a track
schnee is offline  
Old 08-04-08, 02:54 PM
  #50  
Senior Member
 
sfcrossrider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 2,760

Bikes: Steelman eurocross, Surly CrossCheck, IRO Rob Roy...

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by shapelike
I'm loving all the internet tough guys in this thread on performance hybrids (sorry, street fixies) who constantly drop roadies.
Word

Get your @sses to a track, crit, or cross race and mix it up with the animals who race expert... THEN come talk *****.

I see these tools all over SF every day. Their concept of fast is what we use as a cool down after a chill training ride. You blowing by me when I'm cooling down from a 100 mile ride doesn't make you fast... it makes you pathetic.
sfcrossrider is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.