Right, this is sort of a spin off of the Street topic ‘WOW’ about cyclists attitudes to each other. I want to bring it back internal again and talk about our attitudes to each other.
I want to know if you would call me a “Hipster”?
I ride a Bianchi Pista with spoke cards in my back wheel (which I have from doing alleycats) , usually wearing Nudie Jeans, maybe some Asics hightops etc. I ride this way to work everyday, to the pub, to the shops and everywhere else I need to go. I ditched my car two years ago as I live inner city and I feel the fixie is a preferable means of transport, except trying to dink birds home from the pub if I get lucky. I fell in love with fixed after doing a fair bit of track racing a couple of winters back to keep my speed up for racing road. I love my god damn Pista but it seems that for some reason it’s labeled as a hipster bike of choice. I bought mine at wholesale through the shop I’m sponsored for for riding. I bought it because I’m not the tallest dude around and finding a nice vintage frame in this size isn’t that easy. I really don’t give a shit about it and It’s getting mighty scratched up but I couldn’t care less cause I still love riding it. It’s my banger. I’ve been riding for years and racing at a high level but some people still judge me from what I ride and wear. I talk to anyone and everyone, hubbard commuters, dudes on mountain bikes, couriers, roadies and kids who just got a K-Mart bike for Christmas.
My point here is: I’m sick of the attitude I get from some people in the scene. Why do they care what I ride? Why do some people not talk to me? Why is a courier more entitled to ride a track bike on the street than someone who has come from racing track bikes on the track? Whatever. .
I hope this stirs some interest, I probably won’t be able to be involved as I’m off to do the Cannonball Run.
If you see me out, give me a wave as I’ll surely wave back.
Have a nice day.
As I’ve said before: All I care about is riding my tredley and meeting some people that love riding as much as I do.
People on bikes are still people. When they jump on their bike they dont become individuals that are above the flotsam of human fears, loves, etc.
I would humbly suggest not to take it personally. It only stresses one person out and thats you. You ride, you love it, just enjoy that and enjoy it with other people who arent paralysed by fear and insecurity. All those people do is confirm you wouldnt want to be their mate anyway.
If I saw you on the street with your Nudie jeans, Asics hightops and Bianchi Pista I would probably say yes, you are a hipster! :evil: But who cares what I or indeed any else thinks as snowflake suggests? If you saw me on my riser barred Daccordi with my Air Jordan One’s I’m sure you might be having similar thoughts… oh and the muscle tops, but that’s another story…
I think you need to worry less about what other people think, and just enjoy riding your tredley, as you say.
That said, the Bianchi Pista does get an unfair amount of grief from fixie haters. This is because the Bianchi Pista has become a kind of reference bicycle for fixie riders- the sort of bike that someone who wants the whole fixie experience out of the box can buy.
Being relatively new to the cycling world I would say that cyclists in general have an incredible amount of attitude and can be the most precious, anally-retentive bunch of people I have ever met. And this is probably why I love cycling so much!
BikeSnobNYC articulated it well a month or two ago when he was commenting on why there seems to be a bit of a fixie backlash these days. He explained that riding is intrinsically a very hard sport with lots of arcane rules. When experienced cyclists who have been toiling away for years see some punk with a track bike that has been designed to ride on a VELODROME and shock-horror, has RISER BARS and a TOP TUBE PROTECTOR, traditionalists are bound to feel narky. I’m sure some of these experienced riders might be wondering what entitles this hipster to be riding what is essentially a specialised racing bike for a completely different purpose?
But because you’re a fit road cyclist, all you have to do is burn all those haters off at the traffic lights and tell them to kiss your ass…
Expensive carbon fiber bike and full team kit raced and paid for by a sponsor: OK
Expensive carbon fiber bike and full team kit that never gets raced and is ridden to a cafe in St Kilda on the week ends: Hipster
Bianchi pista with spoke cards from alley cats and risers that gets ridden every day (for work or comutting): OK
Bianchi pista with home made spoke cards and risers that gets ridden to the pub or cafe once a week: Hipster
Dual suspension downhill bike that gets thrown down Mt Bulla every other weekend: OK
Dual suspension downhill bike that gets ridden to work everyday on bike paths: Hipster
The above is all a generalization obviously. The point is do you use what you’ve got. If you do then there is a reason for having it. The problem is people can’t tell by looking at you if you use what you’ve got. So they jump to conclusions and assume you are a hipster. Because inside every human soul is a dark bitter little gremlin wearing a decapitated Care Bare scalp for a hat.
You know, I really wouldn’t be worried if it wasn’t the majority doing it. Do I need a Shifter hoodie and some Dickie shorts? You guys are saying how pompus and up themselves most roadies are, if you came down to any criterium that I was at on a fixie or and old road me and my mates would be over to have a chat and I know others would too (disclaimer: I’m not saying all roadies would). I’ve only got the road bike I have because of the help I’ve been given from shops over the years and I repay them by racing in their kit. You can’t judge someone by what they ride or what they wear.
The whole point though was: Am I a hipster because of the bike I ride or is a hipster about riding ability?
Come on! That’s fine in theory but we human beings do it all the time. I for one am an extremely judgmental person :evil:
It’s just like if I see someone driving a Range Rover in the city- sure they MIGHT own a farm and use it to muster the sheep as well as drive around Toorak, but my initial impression will be Toorak-Tractor. Is that bad?
Human beings are generally quite ignorant and stupid. That leads them to make uninformed judgments and generalisations, such as ‘george is a hipster because he rides bike X’.
I don’t acknowledge many riders at all, partly because there’s too many of them, partly because a lot aren’t sociable anyway, but mainly because I don’t actually feel any kindred spirit thing going on. The same thing happens with motorcycle riders too. Cruisers don’t wave to sports bikes, nobody waves to scooter riders. Harley riders don’t wave to anyone (of course, these are generalisations
I don’t wave to other car drivers when I drive, I don’t wave to other pedestrians when I walk. Why should I wave to all the cyclists too?
I’m not being ‘anti’ - I just don’t care too much about it.
Fair enough. Some good points made. It’s just, I get the snobbery with roadies cause in general it’s kinda them thinking they have more money than someone else if you don’t ride a certain ‘Euro’ carbon. I don’t get it with the whole fixed scene though. It’s not about how much money you have it’s about how connected or cool you are. Most people on here wouldn’t know the first thing about me or what I’ve done but you can’t tell that by looking at me.
To tell you the truth, I honestly don’t care that much. I just think everyone should be a little bit nicer and maybe a little bit less ‘clickey’. My mates who’ve come from road and ride fixies all have a high skill level but they just won’t get involved because of the attitudes of most. Yeh it goes both ways too.
Anyway, I was just throwing it out there to see the reaction. I’ll keep coming to Alleycats and getting smashed until I learn the city numbers better. I’ll ride Cannonball from Sydney this week and I’m sure half way I’ll be wishing I had my carbon roadie with carbon wheels. I’ll keep coming and riding the fixie because I love it. It’s something totally different to my norm.
We can all be judgemental regardless of the topic/subject.
A good method I use to suss out how serious a cyclist is is by looking at their legs to see if they shave/wax or not. Or maybe it’s just because I like looking at cyclists legs!
I’m a shy and defensive person by nature and I don’t suddenly turn into an extrovert when I jump on my bike. If I don’t smile/wave/ask you out on a date when I pass you in the street don’t judge me a snob and I won’t judge you a hipster.
NO - I in no way support this. It’s just I understand it better because I know how they are. They are judging each other on the value of their bikes and the perceived money you have in the bank to obtain that. Fixies are different, we don’t judge each other on the value of the bike but as I said before: the perception of how cool you are in the scene.
Look, I’m not saying everybody should start making out in the street or we wave like truckies on the highway when we pass. Just that evryone could be a little nicer, feel the ‘common interest’ love a little more.
Take last night. I was on my way over to Dan’s to get some last minute work done. Some cat rolls up next to me clearly going to the same place. He fully blows me off (not in a good way) and then when we get to Easey st just shuts the door right in my face. You know who you are.
The roadies I know judge you on your legs and fitness not your ride and any ‘discrimination’ against newbies and wannabes is against the danger of bad riding.
