Cycling seems to have become very "upper crust"

[Shut Up Legs]

I find I've become more uppity and crusty with age. Does that count?

 

[Venod]

Whats a decentish bike? I think whats decent to one person is rubbish to another.
I think that anyone with an old cronk of a bike would stay well away from a cycling club because its known what they are like.

I am comparing what people ride now to when I was younger, back then some of the bikes would be older but well maintained and ride able, nowadays there are less older bikes on club runs, I have been cycling 50 plus years and in that time I been a member of 2 clubs I don't think either of them would fit your vision of a cycling club, the first one positively encouraged the young lad with little cash, club members would would help them out with tyres spares etc, some of these lads were the toughest best riders the club produced, my present club encourages all ages and abilities there is little need to help people out nowadays, there are still people withou but not as many as in the past.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

...on a normal Sunday we will have a policeman, a chef, a bus driver, a pharmacist, a mechanic, shop worker, financier, a doctor, an IT specialist, a salesman, a gardener and few others.

The one thing we have in common is that we love riding bikes - no snobbery...

That's more my experience too, (although its not a club, more of a social group that has gained members by chance encounters). We have a mixture of vocations (and I guess incomes). There's an accountant, an IT engineer, an airline manager, a shop assistant, a fireman, a housewife, a nurse, and an old retiree. The most exotic bike is a Bianchi 928, but there are Carreras, older Boardmans, battered old hybrids, all sorts.

I've never seen a hint of anything approaching snobbery, we're just there to ride.

 

[Oxo]

That's more my experience too, (although its not a club, more of a social group that has gained members by chance encounters).

I've never seen a hint of anything approaching snobbery, we're just there to ride.

That is very much like the group I ride with a couple of times a week.
The fact that we are all retired, ride carbon bikes which are lovingly maintained and avoid riding at times when we might encounter other people on aluminium bikes who might wish to wave or speak to us is purely coincidental.
As for being an all inclusive group, one of our regulars actually drinks latte at the coffee stop.

 

[Buck]

Paragraph 3 and 4 totally contradict each other. You don't judge a rider for their new bike...unless it's worth £10k and the guys wearing Rapha. Interesting.

Not really. Para 3 is an observation of what lots of people do with hobbies. Buy all the gear because it's on trend or their neighbours/friends are doing it.

 

[Venod]

I see wearing Rapha is considered elitist, I have 3 Rapha jerseys all bought considerable cheaper than full price, it is some of the best kit I have ever owned, so if you can afford it get it, or even better get it at a bargain price.

 

[Apollonius]

I don't think I have ever met a cyclist who has played golf. What is this obsession with golf? Is it a class thing? I know cyclists who also ride and own horses, and cyclists who also sail (like me) but never a cyclist/golfer? Cyclists who ski, in plenty. Is golf seen as a higher class thing? Is there something wrong with golf as an activity? I have never tried it, so cannot say, but it does seem to be a bit of a meme on here.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

What is this obsession with golf? Is it a class thing?

How old are you Apollonius ? If you can't remember them, take a look at any British sIt com from the 70's. Yes it is a class thing !

 

[Oxo]

I don't think I have ever met a cyclist who has played golf. What is this obsession with golf? Is it a class thing? I know cyclists who also ride and own horses, and cyclists who also sail (like me) but never a cyclist/golfer? Cyclists who ski, in plenty. Is golf seen as a higher class thing? Is there something wrong with golf as an activity? I have never tried it, so cannot say, but it does seem to be a bit of a meme on here.

I used to play golf, but I couldn't put up with the outlandish colours of golf clothing, so I turned to cycling.

 

[Apollonius]

I am very old, but have never really done TV.

So we have an inverse snobbery thing going on. I suppose I am qualified to join in as my family (like most) is sprung from the working class. Wife's dad was a miner; my old man worked in a factory after being in the army, but I got educated and made some money. My bad, as the kids say!

 

[bpsmith]

Not really. Para 3 is an observation of what lots of people do with hobbies. Buy all the gear because it's on trend or their neighbours/friends are doing it.

Don't you think that they may be buying the gear because they want it themselves, rather than copying what others want?

Perhaps they've actually got into it, enjoy the sport and value purchasing the products they buy, for their own reasons.

Considerable amount of reverse snobbery going on in paragraph 3, no question.

 

[Apollonius]

Don't you think that they may be buying the gear because they want it themselves, rather than copying what others want?

Perhaps they've actually got into it, enjoy the sport and value purchasing the products they buy, for their own reasons.

Considerable amount of reverse snobbery going on in paragraph 3, no question.

Yes. The idea that successful people are clueless and just copy each other and rush to waste their money seems very odd to me. I believe that the opposite applies.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

I can't make my club ride this morning as its by daughters birthday but on a normal Sunday we will have a policeman, a chef, a bus driver, a pharmacist, a mechanic, shop worker, financier, a doctor, an IT specialist, a salesman, a gardener and few others.

The one thing we have in common is that we love riding bikes - no snobbery just guys enjoying being out with each other with a shared passion.

Yes but do you go to cafes or to coffee shops ?

 

[Slick]

I don't think I have ever met a cyclist who has played golf. What is this obsession with golf? Is it a class thing? I know cyclists who also ride and own horses, and cyclists who also sail (like me) but never a cyclist/golfer? Cyclists who ski, in plenty. Is golf seen as a higher class thing? Is there something wrong with golf as an activity? I have never tried it, so cannot say, but it does seem to be a bit of a meme on here.

I've played golf to some degree all my life, from the days of sneaking on at the 3rd hole to paying to have all the gear. It may be a geographical thing, but in Scotland there is a good smattering of council courses making it affordable for all, so it's not elitist at all as far as I can see. My happiest times on the golf course were with my old man and all his retired pals, who had got to an age where they had what they had and couldn't care less if it was more or less than you had. I could throw the ball further than they could hit it, but they never got tired of whooping my ass as they knew every bump and run of their course. Great times.

 

[Flick of the Elbow]

In truth, it's not just cycling that has shifted demographic. It's my impression that walking and climbing have too. In the 30's the working classes embraced the great outdoors and made for the hills at the weekends, often using the then expanding youth hostel network. And that generation and the one that followed have retained their love of the great outdoors as they have got older and wealthier. But the later generations of the working class don't seem to have grasped it. A great pity.