Hybrids do we fit in?

[Skipper]

I ride a hybrid and would like to say I'm proud of it. I tried a roadie once and fell off in the first few miles and smashed up my collarbone, so I bought my CB Urban 500. I get the same kicks and enjoyment, but at a lower speed. I love the wind in my helmet, the splattered oil from the chain, the V sign from disgruntled drivers, and the flies in my eyes, and I get this just fine on MY bike. Anyway, I'm proud to say I overtake most of the roadies en route (all but the keen club riders on their mega-priced carbon frames), and they don't like it! They try and speed up, and tailgate me, for fear of being beaten by a 'townie'.
I've even used it in Triathlons, along side the sleek time-trial bikes, and posted a quicker time than most. .
So it don't matter what you ride, as long as you get out of it what you want to get out of it ..........

 

[jonny jeez]

You do fit in...at weekends.

when I ride at the weekend I say hello to everyone on a bike...because they are indulging in a shared interest, which is recreational cycling.

On the commute never say hello...to anyone. Commuting is more of a function than a pastime and as such It seems less relevant somehow to be waving to everyone. Although I do now instinctively point out holes in the road, which is a little daft..

So choice of bike has no impact on me. BUT I do think Hybrids struggle to fit in with recreational cyclists on the whole. I would feel out of place arriving for a serious road club ride on a hybrid, I would feel as if I weren't taking the pastime seriously. A bit like arriving for a game of golf dressed in jeans and trainers.

By the way, its the same on a motorbike, no couriers or commuters wave or flash during the week, but on a weekend in Brighton your right index finger starts to ache from all the flashing!

(that sounds a bit wrong)

 

[Cycleops]

I have a hybrid. I think it's what was called in the olden days a bike. I don't worry about definitions too much. It's all quite a grey area anyway with a lot of crossover.

I think you have probably hit the nub of the matter. In the 'olden days' there were only two types of bike, 'racers'and sit up and beg types. Even then one group didn't acknowledge the other as they had little in common. Now there are many more diverse types so now people identify with these, hence the them and us mentality. These days we are also bound together by a kind of alternative transport philosophy so you do get the occasional wave or smile. Partly also to with tribalism I guess.

 

[mattobrien]

This is all now getting very confusing. I was planning on taking my hybrid to the pub tonight, But I am not not sure if I should for fear of not being waved to by other cyclists

Maybe I should take the road bike, but then it is hard to walk in SPD-SL's

I tend to acknowledge lots of other riders while out and about, but often in a subtle way. No huge wave and a cheery hello, more likely a nod or such like. There are rides who appear to be in a world of their own and I am happy not to disturb them.

Then there are BSO riders and BMXers, who seem to be in increasing numbers round these parts. They can be identified as those riding around after dark without lights, or with their saddles pointing at a silly angle

Surely BMX riders aren't cyclists and probably wouldn't want to be classed as such

 

[Dave 123]

I'll nod and say hello to any other person on a bike.
With my kayaking hat on, you can drive round N Wales with boats on the car, and other boaters will wave/flash/smile, but there is very little interaction once at the get on, or on the river between groups

 

[summerdays]

I ride a hybrid and don't care what anyone else is riding apart from just noticing the different and being interested in it (though I do wish that alot of the people who I meet would do a little maintenance on their bikes so that I can't hear them coming from a mile away!). I get nods and smiles from across the board in bike type terms, but equally again across the different types I get ignored. It's just what that person is like either all the time or that day. I'm still going to smile at them and hope to tease a response out of them. And I don't wear the proper gear either - and I will still get nods from roadies.

 

[vickster]

Think it all boils down to the fact that the hybrid isn't classed as a proper bike which is what I'm trying to say

What's a "proper" bike? It does exactly the same thing as a roadbike, just has different handlebars

Wiki defines a bicycle as such...

A bicycle, often called a bike[2] (and sometimes referred to as a "pushbike",[3] "pedal bike",[4] "pedal cycle",[5] or "cycle"[6]), is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other.[7] A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.

Although the hybrid suits your needs, I reckon you are hankering for curly bars to somehow 'fit in'

 

[Risex4]

Think it all boils down to the fact that the hybrid isn't classed as a proper bike which is what I'm trying to say

Ha. The number of carbon creatures I have scalped and dropped on my old, scratched, dented, squeeking, chainset-gone, saddle worn-out, patched-together Hybrid says either

a) that's rubbish
or b) if its not a bike, it's something better!

 

[Rob3rt]

I would say it means you ought to maintain your bike!

 

[Ste pt1]

I'm not arsed personally to "fit in" the thing I'm trying to get through is I don't think a "hybrid" fits in I think roadies look down on it for not being that and the same with mountain bikes even magazines don't feature them from when I've looked,and even though its not trendy to own a hybrid it's 100% the right bike for me

 

[summerdays]

I'm not arsed personally to "fit in" the thing I'm trying to get through is I don't think a "hybrid" fits in I think roadies look down on it for not being that and the same with mountain bikes even magazines don't feature them from when I've looked,and even though its not trendy to own a hybrid it's 100% the right bike for me

But it doesn't matter what they think and if you think like that yourself you will probably look grumpily at them and create a self fulfilling prophecy. Smile or say hello and you might be surprised. They may have been waiting for you to make the first move.

 

[Cyclopathic]

I think you have probably hit the nub of the matter. In the 'olden days' there were only two types of bike, 'racers'and sit up and beg types. Even then one group didn't acknowledge the other as they had little in common. Now there are many more diverse types so now people identify with these, hence the them and us mentality. These days we are also bound together by a kind of alternative transport philosophy so you do get the occasional wave or smile. Partly also to with tribalism I guess.

I usually at least aknowledge other riders no matter what they are on. This might just be a hangover from the days when I drove a Morris Minor (1100 4xdoor circa 1969) and we would all wave at each other. Perhaps I just miss the sense of being in some sort of club. However I consider that club to be the wider cycling community and not just people on the same sort of bike as me on that day. Or I might just be reading too much int the whole thing.

 

[Cyclopathic]

I will be one of those that ignore you (not because your on a hybrid) in the same why I don't wave and say hello to every other car I drive past when I'm driving or every other pedestrian when I'm walking down the street.

Would you ignore a pedestrian who bade you good day?

 

[Sittingduck]

You wot

 

[Rob3rt]

You wot

That's what I'd say too!