Is there bike snobbery?

salmon said:

In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

The only 'keeping up with the Joneses' that matters is your performance.

If your bike is slowing you down and your club mates are having to wait
for you, you need a new bike. Or a new club.

salmon said:

In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this?

Can't answer for the "club" you mention. I'm sure there will be clubs which
are snotty about what bike you ride, but I would expect them to be rare.

The local CTC group I ride with won't give a stuff what you ride as long as
it has brakes.
We have everything on rides from cheap, through decades old, to hand-built
made-to-measure.

One local informal road club had (past tense) a snooty leader. That leader
told a new member to "not come again" due to him having a mountain bike
rather than a road bike. The new rider went off on his own for a ride. The
rest of the group came round to the new rider's house that night to
apologise and asked him to continue with them. The leader had been fired by
the rest of the group.
The "new rider" still rides with the group, and is now a very good long
distance rider who might do Paris-Brest-Paris this year.

Quoted message said:

I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone?

Don't necessarily believe the shop keeper without trying for yourself.
If they really are snotty about what you ride, try a different club. Any
reasonable club will let you ride a few times before asking you to "join".

It wouldn't be unknown for a shop keeper to want to sell you an expensive
new bike.

- Nigel

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

On 25/02/2007 19:02, salmon said,

Quoted message said:

a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this?

I haven't been a member of a cycling club for some time, but when I was
people turned up on all sorts of bikes, and no-one took a blind bit of
notice. The club was more about the rides and the pubs than what you
rode. So long as you could keep up reasonably well you were OK, and
this wasn't a fast club. It's a shame you didn't go today - turn up for
the next ride and go for it!

I think some roadie clubs are a bit snobbish, but that isn't my scene
and I don't think it's yours. Last year I took my cheap £300 mountain
bike to Coed-y-Brenin in North Wales. There seemed to be some sort of
car park ritual of fiddling about with the very expensive bikes before
riding and casting imperious glances at my cheap bike but I just got on
and went. I was amused to see a couple of these lycra-clad
expensive-bike-riding people fall off at the first rocky bit under the
giant forks - in full view of the cafe - when I had already been around
some of the trails without falling off.

So what you ride doesn't matter, so long as you ride.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"salmon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

There *can be* bike snobbery, just as there can be snobbery in any walk of
life.
A good club may have some bike snobs in it - but it should also have many
people who aren't.
An out and out racing club might not be the best choice of club to join,
especially as someone new to the scene. However, many clubs have a range of
members involved in a range of activities.

Maybe if you told us where you are based, people might be able to give
further advice.

I think it's quite important to find a club (and hence fellow riders) who
are broadly in tune with your ability. If they are significantly faster than
you, you'll always feel 'left behind', and they'll always feel 'waiting for
you', not a good idea for a long term relationship. Or vice versa, of
course.

Peter

salmon said:

In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right?

/possibly/, depending on the club. Not one I'd be happy in though.

Quoted message said:

Are all bike clubs like this?

No. There are undoubtedly some in existence that are, but it'll be
their problem and not yours.

Quoted message said:

I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone?

Check what sort of club it is. Quite a few are racing oriented
clubs and even if it's composed of wonderful folk you're unlikely
to get much out of it, any more than I'd get much out of a skills
training session with a Premier League soccer side (I don't do
football...).

If it's a social rides club then the idea is a social ride, not
training for races, so there's a completely different vibe.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Paul Boyd" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 25/02/2007 19:02, salmon said,

Quoted message said:

a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this?

I haven't been a member of a cycling club for some time, but when I was
people turned up on all sorts of bikes, and no-one took a blind bit of
notice. The club was more about the rides and the pubs than what you
rode. So long as you could keep up reasonably well you were OK, and this
wasn't a fast club. It's a shame you didn't go today - turn up for the
next ride and go for it!

I think some roadie clubs are a bit snobbish, but that isn't my scene and
I don't think it's yours. Last year I took my cheap £300 mountain bike to
Coed-y-Brenin in North Wales. There seemed to be some sort of car park
ritual of fiddling about with the very expensive bikes before riding and
casting imperious glances at my cheap bike but I just got on and went. I
was amused to see a couple of these lycra-clad expensive-bike-riding
people fall off at the first rocky bit under the giant forks - in full
view of the cafe - when I had already been around some of the trails
without falling off.

Are these the same people who then spend all day on the Blue routes?

Niall

Quoted message said:

Check what sort of club it is. Quite a few are racing oriented

Quoted message said:

If it's a social rides club then the idea is a social ride, not
training for races, so there's a completely different vibe.

I would go on the short slow rides first. Pump your tyres up firmly.
Take a spare tube and levers and spanner and a pump and money for tea
and cake.If it's a CTC group they will probably be quite happy to see
you.We get some quite old and infirm folk on the short runs.My usual
bike has a 30yr old frame forks and headset and old inner tube instead
of bar tape.It seems to go as well as anything else.You may soon
hanker after something with alloy wheels and and a better saddle at
least, once you get going.In the meantime smooth tyres would make a
lot of difference to your perceived effort.If you phone one of the
club people you can get a better idea of what they are like.
you say you might upgrade if you like it, but remember that 20miles on
a really cheap heavy bike with knobblies and steel rims feels much
worse than the same on a half decent bike, which need only cost +/-
£300 new
TerryJ.

"salmon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

Outlook is a POS - I apologize for my incorrectly formated post - the above
is a quote.

If the club you've joined is a road club, you'll find it hard to keep up on
a mountain bike. I'd get my hands on a road bike, and if they were bothered
that it wasn't the lastest bit of bling, I'd tell them to [censored]. There
isn't *that* much difference in speed between a 20 year old Raleigh road
bike in decent nick and a new one - nowhere near as much as there is between
individual riders.

salmon <[email hidden]> whizzed past me shouting

Quoted message said:

In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

So long as it's properly maintained it'll be OK for social rides, and if
it's heavy you'll get fit faster <cruel grin> The other riders will
love to tell you anything you need to know so why not let them?
If in doubt, contact the ride leader or whoever and ask whether they
think the ride would suit you.

--
Sue ]🙁🙂

It's pretentious to have a 5k bike if you're only £250 worth of cyclist.

In article <[email hidden]>,
salmon
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right?

I'm not familiar with the [censored] club, so couldn't say.

Quoted message said:

Are all bike clubs like this?

Definitely not.

Quoted message said:

I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides.

Then make sure that the club you go out with runs social rides - some
Sunday rides are the sort of thing to bring the wife and kids on, some
are hard training sessions, and some clubs run both sorts.

Quoted message said:

I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China.

If you find the right sort of club then they won't care as long as your
bike and your riding are safe, and you go prepared to fix your own
punctures.

Quoted message said:

Was supposed to join a ride today but I got cold feet.

Maybe you should do a bit more research about your local clubs.

Quoted message said:

The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right?

In my limited experience it's all about being able to keep up. There's
little difference in speed between a racing bike and a cheapo maountain
bike like yours - just make sure the tyres are pumped up to maximum
pressure and the brakes work well.

If it's a sporty, road (racing) bike type club then be prepared for endless
teasing over your steed. If you can keep up on it, the jokes on them tho.
If you can't keep up, it'll be frustrating for both of you. It won't be
your bike holding you back tho.

My local CTC group has two rides - the slower 'B' group pootle about the
lanes for m-i-l-e-s. If you can't keep up you have problems, but they're
all brilliant peeps and happy to wait at the top of hills etc.

The 'A' group was significantly faster, and although they'd wait for a
slower rider, it would be frustrating for them.

Best thing to do is go anyway, but take a map (you'll go a l-o-n-g way from
home) and, if they lean towards the sporty side, go all out to keep up
until you can't any longer, then either take a direct route to the next
cafe stop (food and a bit of a rest'll have you back in the race) or pootle
back home. You won't hold anyone up, and you'll get fit very quickly.

Mark Thompson said:

In my limited experience it's all about being able to keep up. There's
little difference in speed between a racing bike and a cheapo maountain
bike like yours - just make sure the tyres are pumped up to maximum
pressure and the brakes work well.

And change the tyres first for high pressure slicks. Without those the
above is certainly not true IMHO!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

in message <[email hidden]>, salmon

(') said:

In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

OK, lets start at the beginning. Yes, there certainly is bike snobbery.
Yes, some clubs (especially racing focussed clubs) are very competitive
about the bikes people ride. Yes, keen club cyclists can ride very
expensive bikes (and, if they do, usually have more than one).

The thing is, in cycling, even people on quite ordinary incomes can afford
to ride bikes as good as the top pros are riding. It's like, for a driver,
being able to afford a Ferrari or a Maclaren F1. The frame of my Dolan
road bike was built for the British Olympic team; its wheels are identical
to those Thomas Voeckler (and a lot of other riders) rode in the 2005 Tour
de France. That doesn't mean I'm a brilliant rider - I'm not. But I can
afford to own an extraordinary bicycle, and I love it. And watching the
track cycling at Manchester this weekend it was fun to be able to say 'oh,
look, another Dolan... and another...'

Also, a lot of British club racing is time trialling, and there's a fair
bit of psychology in time trialling. Some people certainly do spend money
on fancy equipment for time trial bikes just to intimidate the opposition.
If you aren't racing, this really doesn't matter.

But not all clubs are snobby. Ours isn't. People turn up for our club
events on everything from Halfords specials to Colnagos. There must be a
non-snobby club in your area - tell us where you are and someone here can
probably advise you.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Das Internet is nicht fuer gefingerclicken und giffengrabben... Ist
nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das mausklicken sichtseeren
keepen das bandwit-spewin hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und
watchen das cursorblinken. -- quoted from the jargon file

salmon wrote on 25/02/2007 19:02 +0100:

Quoted message said:

In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

No, but it seems there is bike shop worker snobbery. Just make sure you
choose a touring cycle club and not a racing one - the latter are likely
to be focussed more on training and therefore not quite as welcoming
unless you fit with their training objectives. Good luck and enjoy and
find another bike shop.

--
Tony

"...has many omissions and contains much that is apocryphal, or at least
wildly inaccurate..."
Douglas Adams; The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

in message <[email hidden]>, Mark
Thompson ('pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com'😉

Quoted message said:

There's
little difference in speed between a racing bike and a cheapo maountain
bike like yours - just make sure the tyres are pumped up to maximum
pressure and the brakes work well.

This really, really isn't true. Little skinny high pressure tyres have a
lot less rolling resistance than big fat knobbly low pressure ones. Of
course, you can put slick high pressure tyres onto a mountain bike, which
will make a considerable improvement. The relatively head-up position of
many cheap 'mountain bikes' has much poorer aerodynamics than the more
slouched position typical of a good racing bike, and that makes an
increasing difference as the speed goes up. Finally, if any climbing is
involved the weight of the bike makes a substantial difference.

Overall, for the same energy input, a good road bike will be at least 5%
faster on the road than a mountain bike - probably more. However, if you
can keep up on your mountain bike, then when you do eventually get a good
road bike you'll be faster!

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
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Niall Wallace said the following on 25/02/2007 21:49:

Quoted message said:

Are these the same people who then spend all day on the Blue routes?

Well, I was always expecting to be constantly overtaken on the MBR trail
and I wasn't, so perhaps that's where they all were :-)

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

In article <[email hidden]>, Mark
Thompson
pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The lads at the [censored] cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right?

In my limited experience it's all about being able to keep up. There's
little difference in speed between a racing bike and a cheapo maountain
bike like yours

I'd agree that there's little difference apart from weight,
aerodynamics, rolling resistance, suitability of gears for fast road use
....

Of course there's some bike snobs. Just the same as there are snobs in any
aspect of life.

Not all bike clubs are the same.

Tony Raven said:

Quoted message said:

No, but it seems there is bike shop worker snobbery. Just make sure you
choose a touring cycle club and not a racing one - the latter are likely
to be focussed more on training and therefore not quite as welcoming
unless you fit with their training objectives.

Larger clubs have divisions or sections,
and (thus...) can be simultanesously touring,
racing and much else besides.

BugBear