Cycling Snobs

[ttcycle]

Just thinking aloud here....
This is generally in order to have bikes suited to different uses. So it stands to reason that different uses probably involve different outfits. So any of us, wearing anything, could easily be in one of our alternative 'personalities'. Which makes the whole judgement thing doubly stupid, in any direction.

+1 wise words Arch

 

[marinyork]

You could have many ways of saying someone is a serious cyclist

• number of bikes
• type of bikes
• fairweather/winter
• clothing
• number of miles
• attitude
• speed

I've no idea whether I'm a serious cyclist or not, but I know I do more miles a year than some people who label themselves that. I'd probably start to meet the serious cyclist on most of those criteria except attitude and speed. Then again speak to a different set of people and I'd even meet those two too!

 

[Arch]

Let's turn this around a little... would you call a serious driver a (wo)man who only really drives the kids to school & goes to the shops by car or is the serious driver the one who's out doing motorsport/trackdays/driver training in the evening/weekends or taking days of work to do them?

Personally I'd see the people of Amsterdam (FYI it's a town not a country) & those who use their bikes for pure transport as utilitarian cyclists, just going about their business as people on a mode of transport. They're not serious cyclists they are regular utilitarian bike users & in all honesty there's nothing wrong with being that sort of person, these people shouldn't be looked down on because they're just getting on with their life using the bike as a tool for transportation.

Where does that leave me, then, commuting and shopping by bike, andthen going off for leisure rides at the weekend and touring for my holidays? Am I allowed to be serious all the time, or only when I'm cycling for no purpose other than to cycle?

 

[ttcycle]

Where does that leave me, then, commuting and shopping by bike, andthen going off for leisure rides at the weekend and touring for my holidays? Am I allowed to be serious all the time, or only when I'm cycling for no purpose other than to cycle?

Cycling must only be done with serious intentions- no smiling, no laughing.

 

[GrasB]

Is there any correlation between someone who knows their power output and wearing lycra?

Not really, it's just 200w means more than 'cruising (& I use that term loosely) at 22mph', it's more like '22mph on the flat still air, 8.5mph up a 5% climb & 16.5mph into a 10mph head wind'

I don't think that halving the speed is required to move from the sweat zone to something more comfortable. I'm sorry that I don't know the watts I produce (I hope that alone doesn't preclude me from passing comment) but I find that dropping from, say, 18mph to 15mph is enough to shift from hard work to sustainable.

My cruising speed isn't halved to take me into that zone, however my door to door average is (I've tried riding outside my sweat zone, though I wouldn't call my usual pace uncomfortable per-se). I've only just worked out how to roughly estimate my power output over a ride & it is rather interesting but certainly not knowing doesn't preclude you from passing any comment, you just know how hard you're pushing your self physically without any real numbers.

 

[GrasB]

Where does that leave me, then, commuting and shopping by bike, andthen going off for leisure rides at the weekend and touring for my holidays? Am I allowed to be serious all the time, or only when I'm cycling for no purpose other than to cycle?

I'd call you a cycling enthusiast, someone for cycling whom is more than just a means of getting from A to B but not someone who has serious sporting intentions within cycling.

 

[chap]

Just thinking aloud here....

To me, one sign of 'seriousness' in a cyclist* is the ownership of more than one bike. This is generally in order to have bikes suited to different uses. So it stands to reason that different uses probably involve different outfits. So any of us, wearing anything, could easily be in one of our alternative 'personalities'. Which makes the whole judgement thing doubly stupid, in any direction.

Too true.

Let's turn this around a little... would you call a serious driver a (wo)man who only really drives the kids to school & goes to the shops by car or is the serious driver the one who's out doing motorsport/trackdays/driver training in the evening/weekends or taking days of work to do them?

Personally I'd see the people of Amsterdam (FYI it's a town not a country) & those who use their bikes for pure transport as utilitarian cyclists, just going about their business as people on a mode of transport. They're not serious cyclists they are regular utilitarian bike users & in all honesty there's nothing wrong with being that sort of person, these people shouldn't be looked down on because they're just getting on with their life using the bike as a tool for transportation.

Oi, that's my example!

Oh gosh, did I really refer to Amsterdam as a country , I was meaning to put The Netherlands, and highlight Amsterdam. Although few thought to correct me bar the one I had previously debated

 

[marinyork]

...you just know how hard you're pushing your self physically without any real numbers.

I don't. I actually took the HRM monitor out last night on a few rides and the heart rate doesn't really change that much in higher gears, just the legs hurt a lot.

 

[Arch]

I have a criteria I measure myself against. I did a job earlier in the year and shared an office with a chap who drove from 30 miles away, parked at the park and ride, got the bike off the car, changed into full lycra and cleated shoes and so on, rode the 3 miles into the office, and changed back into office clothes.

Home time, the whole process was reversed. He had to walk down to the front door in his stocking feet, because he'd once fallen down the staircase in his cleats.

Now, cycling all the way each way, that would be hard core, and beyond me, so fair enough. But to change for a 3 mile ride into town, all on suburban and urban streets? That smacks to me of... well, I'm not sure, sort of 'all the gear, no idea....'. Although he apparently did some serious MTBing in his spare time, so he did have the idea. But talking to him, it was a lot about the equipment. To me, it's all about getting there, and cake. If the equipment works, and the cake is earned, that's all that matters.

 

[Arch]

I'd call you a cycling enthusiast, someone for cycling whom is more than just a means of getting from A to B but not someone who has serious sporting intentions within cycling.

Ah, so serious = sport then?

 

[chap]

To put it simply your 'categorisation' of lycra wearers as simply racers is narrow. This may be possibly down to your experiences but at the same time the generalisation is as poor as those 'lycra louts' who have a holier than though attitude. The topic of someone saying hello crops up all the time and I don't seem to be as bothered people who wave/don't wave.

People can be many things on a bike- it is not simply black and white. commuters and utlity cyclists may wear lycra for utility reasons and not be road racers. You equally get obnoxious people in none lycra. Lets think of what causes the obnoxiousness rather than simply labelling said cyclist with certain appearance as being snobbish. Yes, you may have a revisable, working model but your post is decisive and not inclusive and smacks of tribalism and reinforces stereotypes. People have differing ideas of function and utility of a bike. They even have different ideas of wearing lycra...how groundbreaking is that?

What is deemed pointless is that snobbishness in any form is limiting to others getting on a bike. It's not always about top end kit, it could easily be about the clique mentality of any group that wants a sense of belonging and exclusivity - that is not limited to lycra wearers.

We're not seriously debating whether Lycra-clad individuals are the sole-preserve of Snobbery are we?

This debate is almost begging to be put out of its misery. My main lesson, from a number of forum members is that less people read between the lines than I had thought. So I shall make it explicit, with copious usage of smileys.

Humans are the same. If you wear Lycra, it means you wear Lycra, nothing else. Snobbery is bad Some people beleive that you have to buy the same equipment as them, or else be deemed as a time-waster . This applies to all groups .

Few machines are genuinly good all-rounders (even Bromptons ) - the nearest is probably a hybrid. People use different tools for different tasks: a racing bike will probably not be used for heavy cargo.

Live and let live

 

[GrasB]

I don't. I actually took the HRM monitor out last night on a few rides and the heart rate doesn't really change that much in higher gears, just the legs hurt a lot.

Heart rate is effected by all kinds of things, I tend to find my heart rate starts to rise at the bottom of the hill, rises & tails off a bit before the top but it'll rise & peak about 2/3 the way down the descents after the climb... about 15-30s after hitting vmax & cmax (is that a term, hell it is now!) for the day.

 

[potsy]

Cycling must only be done with serious intentions- no smiling, no laughing.

Ah but what if I laugh out loud at some POB doing something stupid?
Does that then mean I'm-
<a> not serious
<b>a snob
<c> both

 

[chap]

Ah, so serious = sport then?

Alas, thats the state of our country - a sizable and expanding back section devoted to sport, a similar chunk at the front reserved for non sequitur and scare-mongering, then a meaty wedge dedicated to celebrity.

Oops wrong forum

 

[GrasB]

Ah, so serious = sport then?

For me, personally yes.

As for your work colleague, I'd personally think he's a bit of a clown, I'd drive in to the P&R with civvies with a pair of padded undies or old cycling shorts underneath put some cycling shoes on & ride the remainder.