Monday, February 11, 2008

Flight Risks: Cycling for the Wrong Reasons

Well, the Handmade Bike Show is over. I didn't go, but I did look at pictures, and that alone qualifies me to sum the whole thing up. In short, wood is the new carbon, Cane Creek showed a $650 headset that will still have your buddies asking you why you didn't just go for the King, Craig Calfee (who is one of only a few builders making bikes for which the most common failure mode is rotting) inched ever closer to showing a bull carcass with a pair of wheels skewered through its hooves and a seatpost jabbed into its back, and the "Best In Show" bike had an integrated U-lock piercing that not only insures you lock it incorrectly, but is also top tube pad-incompatible.

Of course, the sheer variety of bicycles at the show mirrors the disparity that exists among cyclists. And, as anyone who reads the comments on this blog will tell you, disparity can lead to divisiveness. Each one of us rides differently and for different reasons, and we are all highly suspicious of those who we feel are riding for the "wrong" reasons. It's the tired, age-old "real cyclists" vs. "poseurs" debate. Worst of all, each one of us also has a completely different idea of what the wrong reasons are, and I'm no different. Following are some reasons people commonly give for cycling that I personally feel call one's true dedication into question:


It's Good for the Environment

Yes, cycling for transportation is much better for the environment than driving, or flying, or piloting some kind of contraption that burns endangered marine life for fuel. And yes, this is a good thing. For the environment. But what does it say about your commitment to cycling? Not a lot. I suspect many people who cycle primarily because they're concerned about the environment will bail on us as soon as some other clean way of getting around comes along. If SUVs were completely emission-free and ran on smugness instead of fossil fuels these people would flock to the dealerships and proceed to run the rest of us off the road as they root around in their glove compartments looking for their "Live Earth" CDs.


The High Price of Oil

This reason is even flimsier than the environmental one. You don't care about cycling or the environment. You just care about money. Well, what if cycling cost more than gas? (And for many of us, it does.) Would you still ride then? I don't think so. We don't need your kind.


Striving for "Personal Bests"

The concept of the "personal best" is an insidious one, and it will probably destroy us as a species long before our bellicose, environmentally hostile ways do. Substituting "personal bests" for objective standards lowers those standards like Giant lowered top tubes on road bikes. Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you. If you want to beat yourself, don't get a bike--get a pornographic movie. You can beat yourself all day long without even leaving the house.


Fun

A lot of people fall back on this one when cycling-related arguments get heated. "Hey, it's all about having fun, right?" Wrong! Fun is for children and housepets. Cycling, like all important things, is about suffering. Sure, you can have a little fun, but only if that fun serves to remind you just how much you're really suffering. Because when you try to take the suffering out of cycling, you wind up like this:




Health/Fitness

Real cyclists don't ride because it's healthy. They ride because they have to. If cycling caused arterial clogging, incontinence, and breast development in males real cyclists would still do it anyway. That whole impotence scare didn't get people off their bikes. It just got them using really ugly saddles with cutouts.


Leg Definition (males)

Male cyclists who are vain about their legs and think others admire them are completely delusional. If you're a male cyclist, your legs are either overly developed with an abrupt tan line from miles and miles of cycling in lycra, or they're hairy and scabby from innumerable mountain biking falls. Your legs reflect the fact that you're an obsessive cyclist in the same way a smoker's brown teeth identify him as an addict, or a wine-bibber's stained lips identify him as a slightly more socially acceptable drunk. All three of these things mean you do one thing way too much, and they broadcast only one message to others: stay away! You are not attractive. You are a freak.


It's Cool

Yeah, sure, cycling's cool now. But if you're expecting it to stay that way you'll be disappointed. You know what was also cool once? These glasses:



Think about it.

141 comments:

Anonymous said...

1st??????

trevor said...

hello

Dour said...

Haha funny stuff man. Gotta say that I'm a little honored that Bikeportland made a little appearance on your site.

Karl Rover said...

Snob, what's with all the hate on Greg LeMond?

Colin R said...

Whoa whoa whoa. Taking shots at the man's eyewear, which was totally rad in 1989, is not the same as "hating" on him.

Anonymous said...

you forgot "poor" in your list of reasons to ride.

Anonymous said...

Road Choades

Anonymous said...

Does this mean that having a lycra fetish is still an OK reason to ride?

Anonymous said...

... or an addiction to wearing brightly colored polyester that would have embarrassed an '80s disco queen?

BikeSnobNYC said...

Karl,

I respect Greg Lemond. No hate, just funny pictures.

--BSNYC

Anonymous said...

man that $650 headset is gonna work better than anything else the same way my 1500$ "audiophile" stereo cables sound better than anything else

Emily said...

You forgot about one other dubious reason people give for riding bikes: suspended drivers license. No one ever remembers the legions of convicted drunk drivers when they talk about the bike riding public

Anonymous said...

Who said bicycling was cool right now?

Chunk said...

Can I assume you're planning an extra special post dedicated solely to the fixed gear Sycip with a disc brake mounted to the crank arm/bb, that was featured at the Handmade Bike Show?

Anonymous said...

chunk,

are you serious?

Anonymous said...

Can't forget the top tube crowd. I mean I trackstand at any given opportunity... while waiting on elevators, locking up my bike at teh supermarket, outside any Bedford Av. bar etc., in the hopes of snaring some fixed gear groupie (the other FGG)...

If not for our forced apathy I'd demand us to be counted. I have "Lug Life" tatted on my chest

Anonymous said...

Those glasses are still cool.

Nateo said...

I'm just glad you spelled "poseur" correctly.

Anonymous said...

Bicycling is cool?

Well knock me over with a feather!

I ride because I love those bike product catalogs.

Honestly, give me indoor plumbing and a stack of Bike Nashbar and Performance Cycling catalogs and I'm happier than a pig in what pigs is most happy in.

And now you tell me that's cool! I feel like I've won the lottery.

M. Weed said...

Michael Ball's gonna be angry that these people ripped off his wheel design:

http://tinyurl.com/27rmr6

KanyonKris said...

Bikesnob, you imply that we ride bikes because we enjoy suffering. I had no idea masochism was so big. I must admit there's some truth to your theory, even though it disturbs me. Can't I just float happily along with "I ride for fun" instead of delving deeper into my psyche? Honestly, I'm afraid of what I might find down there.

BikeSnobNYC said...

KanyonKris,

It's a slippery slope. First you're just riding for fun, next you stop looking askance at other riders. Eventually you're accepting of all different types of bicycles and riders and are simply enjoying cycling for cycling's sake. If you want to take that risk, it's your funeral.

--BSNYC

Bluenoser said...

Riding in the snow at -10°C. Now that's cool.

Anonymous said...

I ride because i LOATHE driving, and cycling is still more fun. All that other stuff is just extra ego fodder that others can understand. Does that make me a poseur?

Anonymous said...

I ride for all those reasons and more!! Long live the bike!

Anonymous said...

Beloved cycling brothers & sisters,

I hate you all!

No smugness, but some self righteousness there.

Anonymous said...

I love these core-striking posts the best.

Anonymous said...

I ride because it makes me look tough and insane to other people. As soon as riding gets more popular and regular people realize that 10 miles isn't that far or 30 degrees isn't too bad with gloves and shoe covers I'm switching to the pogo stick.

Anonymous said...

Left out a key reason: because its the fastest way to get around. At least in NYC between 7 am - 7 pm on weekdays. Even at -2 degrees F:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bicyclesonly/2258129496/

Anonymous said...

Oh, and Bikesnob, I think we have some plagiarizers among the show's fluffers. Go to the Day 2 "Power of Pyramids" blurb about a bike that sounds like a second cousin to a certain cattle disease:

"Delta 7's Arantix mountain bike ... responsive ride with lateral stiffness, vertical flexibility, and a superior strength to weight ratio."

Still, some of the best literature out there was cribbed, right Mr McEwan?

Anonymous said...

A pogo stick?

I think Mojito has discovered the Next Big Thing.

Imagine knocking bag a few PBRs and heading out with your friends to the local Alley Cat on sticks.

Folks would pay to see that!

Anonymous said...

lemond sucks. he can suckit as far as i'm concerned.

Anonymous said...

I still look better than Prolly.

Anonymous said...

I was at the show, most of the Frames were really nice, elegant simple clean lugged frames.

my reasons cycling: keeps me healthy. saves gas money. gets me out and about so i can look around.

Lemond's picture is still cool, he's still my favorite ex-pro by far.

Anonymous said...

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA nice. And I love that recumbent photo. Man...I have to sell those things all the time and the more you make fun of them, the harder it is for me to sell them and tell people how "great they are for your back". Hahahaha...mmm.

Anonymous said...

Mojito, you're too late. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ry6jn60bqw

I'm thinking wheels on my kayak.

LK said...

This buggy has been kicking around for a while:

http://www.sogreni.dk/Mountaingoat.php

I have to say the UCI did save us from a generation of bad frame designs.

http://tinyurl.com/2e3avv
and
http://tinyurl.com/yopj8e

One of the dominant eyesores of the NAHBS was the number of bikes with unlevel saddles.

http://tinyurl.com/ytnqcx

Anonymous said...

schmidty: favorite ex-pro? lemond? wastes his time bashing armstrong and joins the french in the drug accusations, and he is yer favorite ex-pro. yeah, so he is sick, lots of people are, most of which aren't quite so bitter nor given voice to bash a fellow competitor. favorite ex-pro,
non-pro is more like it, as there has been nothing professional about his bullshit. andre schmil-that man is an ex-pro.

Anonymous said...

I bike because I'm addicted to it. I'm also addicted to purchasing bicycles. Every time I buy my "last one," something else cool comes along to tempt me. When I'm tired or the weather is seriously crappy, I take the subway, which only serves to remind me of why I ride a bike. Driving has the same effect.

Chunk said...

hey anonymous-

i wasn't kidding about the sycip fixed gear with crank mounted disc brake.

if it weren't for hipsters wearing chick's jeans, it's a technological innovation that wouldn't have been possible.

check it out.

http://velonews.com/photo/71932

Anonymous said...

Sooo.... Snob, any chance on getting some of the "right" reasons to ride in your next post?

Mark said...

Off Topic: Seems like folks in Boston might not necessarily agree with your hypothesis of Armageddon is nearly upon us:

"Single speed/fixed gear is taking over the world. The era of Shimano's crappy, incompatible, over-priced shifters and derailleurs is ending fast. Only the yuppy swine - with unlimited $$, but no brains - will be riding with gears.

Single speed/fixed gear is for us regular folks. As for the fairies riding high-end carbon road bikes with Dura Ace gruppo ....... Die, Yuppy, Die !!

Anonymous said...

Chunk,

Thanks for the link...words fail me.

Anonymous said...

My introduction to distance riding was due to a lost drivers license. Before I had never gone more than 25 miles. I had to get back to school and pedaled the 114-miles in 8:05. The last 20 miles were in 42/28 gearing on the flats. It was brutal. I ate a gross of oysters after the ride. At that point I realized that bicycles can be a viable form of transportation, which was good since I had no license. In one year I went from a 190 pound drunk to a 150 pound cyclist. I even started to get laid by the good looking college chicks and was able to abandon the local pigs.

Another reason to ride? It is easier to find parking.

BikeSnobNYC said...

Anonymous 1:40pm,

This is nothing new in the world of custom motorcycles. Of course the rear cog on a bicycle is too small to serve as a rotor, hence the crank/rotor design.

--BSNYC

bikesgonewild said...

...i ride because it makes me feel very ALIVE...

...damn straight this is the real deal...

justacoolcat said...

"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

Never truer words were written.

Anonymous said...

If you beat me to the line, I hate you because you probably have no job, no kids, and train 20 hours a week. If I beat you, I hate you because you don't train enough, and should just quit. If you don't race, I just hate you.

Anonymous said...

who cares

Anonymous said...

You f***ers all ride because I tell you to ride, dammit! And you'll stop riding when I tell you you can! And you'll win races in between! Because that's what we're about at Rook Racing. Winning races.

Okay, fine, maybe we like hanging out on photo sets with gay male jeans models too, but they threw us off "location" shoots at Abercrombie & Fitch, which were wicked hot by the way, so we had to start our own jeans company so we could keep hanging out with gay male jeans models. I don't know what the UCI and Ford Agency security guards have against riders with tattoos, or creepy jeans company owners who like hanging out with gay male jeans models. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I'm here to tell you, we're fighting the power at Rook Racing, and not only will riders with tattoos get to ride bicycles when I'm done with the sport, but I'll get to hang out with gay male jeans models all I want. You'll see. We're about winning these fights. It'll make the sport better.

And we're also about winning races too. And don't you forget it or I'll fire you like I fired Horner, and Cipo and Armstrong and Charlie Gaul.

/s
Michaels Balls
Rook Racing

Anonymous said...

ride to live, live to ride
those blades are badass! so in fashion right now.

Anonymous said...

You forgot riding to show off one's sexiness. I feel pretty with my shaved legs.

Anonymous said...

BSNYC & Chunk

Re: disc brake on the BB/ crank arm:

OK, if you're going to put a brake on a fixed gear, wouldn't you want it for "emergency" situations like when you get cut off or, say, your chain breaks/ fouls? Here, you're carrying a disc brake and you're STILL fucked if something happens to your chain. They should find a way to mount disc brakes to a fork or somewhere on the rear triangle.
Thanks for the education.

Strayhorn said...

Mark at 1:27 informs us that the folks in Boston think: The era of Shimano's crappy, incompatible, over-priced shifters and derailleurs is ending fast.

They think Shimano is overpriced and incompatible? Must not be any Campy dealers in the Boston area.

At this point I might like to confess that I ride because I want the world to know I have excess disposable income to spend on what is essentially a toy.

That's not true, so I tell people I ride because I don't want to have my first heart attack at age 55, like my Dad.

But, actually, I ride because I like it. It's cheaper than a BMW and not as dangerous as a mistress. Or do I have those backward?

Anonymous said...

Michael Balls,

The Rock Racing post was funny when the bikesnob did. Your first add-on a while ago was cute, but not particularly good. But now its just boring to hear you run through the same rook racing schtick over again.

Do yourself a favor and know when to quit.

Anonymous said...

Folks, Bicycling and other supermarket bike rags ask you to fill in the blanks: I ride because_______, and to send in a pic of you and your goatee and primal jersey despoiling some pastoral landscape. BSNYC did not and I'll thank you to keep your justifications to yourselves. We pretty much know why you ride. Back to NAHBS:
http://tinyurl.com/2sytn8
a tribute?
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1098/774560809_89b0e0c525.jpg

Prolly said...

Uhhh so there is a Wiki entry for Tarck bike.. and my blog is listed as a source.

Who's the funny man?

Anonymous said...

Well let's see - you pretty much dealt with all the reasons anyone would bike except one:

Apparently the only reason to bike is to blog about it and the culture that embraces it.

Anonymous said...

Why do I ride?

For the off chance that I'll get stuck in a line behind a hot, female triathlete or roadie. Diaper or not, the shorts aren't bad on some of them and the sports bra in leiu of ugly Primal jersey works too.

Anonymous said...

Anon 2:47 - You are so right. Like Roy Scheider and Fonzie, I jumped the shark years ago. I've decided to trade blog commenting for a life of quiet and humble service as a Capuchin monk. I'll make bread, press grapes for sacramental wine, harvest wheat with the brothers, and we will give succor to weary travelers who pass our way. Several times daily I will answer the call to prayer, and pray for world peace. In my spare time, I'll minister to the poor, and possibly also to the Arkansas lepers. (No, it's not a sports team. There is actually an outbreak of leprosy happening in Arkansas among the Arkansan/Asian-Pacific-Islander community). Maybe I'll invite other commenters who have jumped the shark want to join me in a quiet life of prayer and contemplation. Anon 1:53 from December 12? Anon 2:15 from November 2? And who could forget, Anon 4:11 from December 21? Will you not join me in abstaining from sullying this blog comments section with comments unworthy of being called blog comments?

There. Do you feel better now Anon 2:47? Uplifted? I certainly feel better about this choice. Say, while we're at this, you don't know any hot male jeans models, do you?

I'm just askin'...

Anonymous said...

I want to go to a Mets game and hold up a sign that says Anon 2:47

Anonymous said...

Michael Balls,


Anon. 2:47 didn't say you shouldn't comment, only that you're an unoriginal, repetitive bore...

Anonymous said...

I think that anyone that takes their bike on the back of a car to get to a ride is not a cyclist. I think that anyone with clean cycling gear/clothes is not a cyclist. I think that anyone who wears a jersey to wick away sweat, because sweat feels yucky, is not a cyclist. I think anyone who strives to be the fastest they can be on a bike, is not a cyclist.

Or should I say that I and I alone am the only real cyclist in the world? BWAAAHAAAHAAA

Anonymous said...

Well shit then, I give up. What the hell IS a good reason to ride a bike?
I felt like something was wrong all these years; now I know I been riding wrong this whole time.
Dern!

Eeberleeber said...

I think we should consult Tucson's Gray Wolf on what matters most..
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaeeMh7qFhY

Anonymous said...

Rest in peace Roy Scheider.

We're gonna need a bigger boat.

morgan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

"Cyclo ergo sum"?

I dunnknow, I just like a bike... I use all the excuses depending on the day...

The show was fun... although at times like a dorky fantasy convention... albeit with people in better shape. Well... some of them.

But thanks Bisnick fer the comments...

Calfee road kill Time trial bike... it will happen...

cane creek... blech.
Not to get on a high horse... but why is a made in taiwan headset being advertised at a handmade bicycle show?

and speaking of "made in taiwan" who the hell let Lance Armstrong in there? Isn't he the worlds biggest proponent of mass market bikes? I look at lance armstrong as a guy who walked away from the custom maker for the money of mass market corporate sponsorship... I think he has done more to hurt hand made bikes than any other single human being on the planet.

Seeing him caused me to generate this strange horking sound in offended disbelief.

Anonymous said...

anon 4:24--

That's some bad hat, Harry.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget Lemond's 'cool' aero helmet.

It was about as aero as a typewriter, but way more aero than a blonde pony-tail.

LK said...

Well, I made the mistake of taking the subway last week and now I have the plague.

Back to the sofa.

Anonymous said...

Lemond's specs are silly looking, yo. But, man, didn't that loopy handlebar he's leaning on go out in the late 70s?

Anonymous said...

Funny how the anonymi hate Lemond for his comments about the truth of doping in cycling, yet know nothing about him.

No, he's not sick, he was misdiagnosed after his hunting accident. He thought he was sick because of the rate that nobodies came up from the peloton and dropped him, nobodies who have since admitted to winning the TDF on EPO.

But as we all know, all of Armstrong's old opponents and most of his team mates have been caught doping, but Lance rode clean, even beating doping riders, only months after almost dying from chemo. A Hollywood story, and like all Hollywood stories, poorly written bullshit marketed to idiots in cineplexes.

I can't wait for the Lance movie and the increased truthiness.

Anonymous said...

Anon, 1:07: its not "schmill", for the love of God, its "Tchmill". And that's just one (albeit pretty good) example of an old school flahute-type. Musseuw, Kelly, uhhh Merckx?

And I, like a lot of people, liked LeMond a bit more when he was quieter, sure. But the French? They've always loved him - even when he nipped the Tour out from Hinault, their favorite of that generation. Why? He had class.

I don't think you know what you're talking about.

bikesgonewild said...

...anon 4:30pm...

...agree w/ ya on the calfee road kill bike, but hey, it's about re-cycling in a greener world, right ???...

...lemond was the one who really walked away from the hand built bike thing...first from roland della santa's beauties & then mr calfee's insanely light (for the time period) early carbon creations...
...such are the devious paths of cycling sponsorship...

...hell, for all the newbies who thought cycling would be cool because of lance, & then went out & bought treks, a shitload of folks decided it was time for a hand built...

...you were there...the waiting lists for the top builders like sasha white & richard sachs, et al, is literally years...i think most of the true torch artists (& other fabricators) greatly benefited from the upsurge...

...besides, his buddy robin williams has offset any negative influence lance may have created by buying at least 84 thousand hand built bikes in the last 20 years...

Anonymous said...

This is as good a time as any to bring up the other LeMond bars. Standard road drops with an extra 6in of tubing bent back in towards the headtube for you to hit your knees on. Has anyone reading owned those? If so, have you ever used the extra hand position? Is it for anything other than displaying not one but two rolls of pink/blue, yellow/red, or cippolini tiger bar tape? Yes, I'm making fun, but mostly genuinely confused. Can they exist for any reason other than the same "because we can" law that's inspired so many other great cycling developments.
http://tandem-fahren.de/Mitglieder/Christoph_Timm/ScottDropIn.gif

Anonymous said...

more importantly, has anyone seen those on a fixed gear in brooklyn yet?

Anonymous said...

k-rosm,

it's tchmil and museeuw. get it right if you're going to call people out. or better yet, let it go.

BikeSnobNYC said...

Anonymous 5:53pm,

I'm sure many a flop n' chop was once a Scott Drop-In. Fixed Gear Freestylers seem to want as little handlebar as possible, though these could make a comeback in whole form if someone realizes the dopeness potential of standing on those useless drop extensions.

--BSNYC

Anonymous said...

I don't think he hates Lemond, Lemond was just a victim of 80's fashion and fads.

Anonymous said...

I am not going to jump on to the cool bus until there is matching tubulars for those wicked wooden wheels. And I will get my house termite fumigated per chance they start gnawing on my ultra cool Calfee.
The big question looms tho: Are we going to get some Internet Lovin on Thursday????

Anonymous said...

a zero emissions car would keep me off the bike a whole lot more.
sorry.
regards,
wine soaked lips

broomie said...

Who needs a reason?

Everybody who is commenting on things you don't really know about, keep it up! It amuses.

The guy doin' the thing said...

Lemond and Fignon...

Funny bobbed-helmets vs blond pony tails aside. Lemond went faster 'cause he mashed on the pedals harder.

Unknown said...

BikesnobNYC you are the best.

Anonymous said...

Please, no hating on the BB disc thing from the guys at Sycip, they did it as a lark and would have told you that if you were there and bothered to talk to the builders instead of lug licking.

Anonymous said...

Reason why I ride a bike?

It's like the woman in the caddy commercial.

...Pulling up to the boys club, in one of these

...and then dropping 'em like a stone.....

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, there we go again. We're not actually a club, we'd pretty much all kill to be riding with women rather than each other. And we let you win..

Anonymous said...

reasons why i don't ride a bike:

1. other people that ride bikes are stupid and i hate them

2. it makes me stink

3. bikes are for girls

4. bikes are toys

5. lance Armstrong is gay

Anonymous said...

Anon 7:08-- proof that second graders can write humor at a third grade level.

Anonymous said...

I've been riding to try to break my porn habit. The numbness has helped, but it's no panacea, that's for sure. Numb shmumb, says Goliath.

And I gotta hairy hand it to you, BSNYC, your porn commentary was like a sore pecker.

greezyed said...

While enjoying another beer and laughing at your post, my wife replied, "Maybe you'll meet the bikesnob one day...and then you can give him a blow job." Ain't love grand.

Anonymous said...

Hell yeah! Another bottom bracket standard...

http://tinyurl.com/2ngcy5

They're not the first to attempt the idea, but I'm always glad to see some totally heinous ideas amongst all those bikes I'd like to steal.

Anonymous said...

For your perusal:

http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/4943180&category=road-bikes

Anonymous said...

canadian dreaming

rusty said...

bikesgonewild
great to have you back

Anonymous said...

You are all missing the true reason to ride.
DUI

Anonymous said...

annodomina - yeah, yeah, i know, guilty. I was being a dick and then typing too fast. I guess I felt some LA worshipper had googled for a foreign sounding name to drop. My point was that cycling predates 1999. You're probably right to call me out on that though, touche, and all. Cheers.

Russ said...

Wouldn't a pogo stick be the ultimate when it came to a 'responsive ride with lateral stiffness, vertical flexibility, and a superior strength to weight ratio'?

Anonymous said...

I ride because what would be a 30 minutes commute by subway is only 10 minutes on my bike.

I ride because the tears streaming down my face in negative degree weather is glorious.

I ride because I'm a real woman.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bikesgonewild said...

...somebody really needs to talk to dr phil, but as is so often the case, those that need the help are the ones most in denial...

Anonymous said...

"Please, no hating on the BB disc thing from the guys at Sycip, they did it as a lark and would have told you that if you were there and bothered to talk to the builders instead of lug licking."

Another example of a disturbingly common new pastime among the modern bike elite: Putting together bikes with the sole intention of getting on bikesnob. It started out with posting a fixed gear gallery picture with bars turned up, seats pointing down, mismatched top tube pads, no toeclips etc. You know its getting big when a bike company makes a showbike just to get some airtime.

Anonymous said...

great post - interesting post Bikesgonewild...

Anonymous said...

What on earth is that about?

Anonymous said...

PistaDex to $395

http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/bik/569834697.html

Anonymous said...

Bikesgonewild: WTF? Are there really five or six of you posting under that name? Who cares about your musings on cock size? I think that you are posting on the wrong comment board.

Anonymous said...

BGW, or whoever you are...

Who's this "we" who've been brainwashed concerning ding-dong size? People who read email spam?

And what's with the generalization about "what the media want us to believe"? Are Katie Couric and Oprah both in on the conspiracy? Does Tavis Smiley want me to be misinformed about penis enlargement?

What.Are;You!Talking/About?

Anonymous said...

seldom do boys like riding w/ girls...most are a bunch of wankers when a girl passes them. If they do ride w/ girls, they still ride like they are trying to prove something.

Anonymous said...

"...the sheer variety of bicycles at the show mirrors the disparity that exists among cyclists."

just like the sheer variety of cars and SUVs mirrors the disparity that exists among motorists...

just like the sheer variety of food mirrors the disparity that exists among eaters...

just like the sheer variety of shoes mirrors the disparity that exists among shoe wearers...

and so on and moron

WTF???

Anonymous said...

nice little write up.

Anonymous said...

df

Anonymous said...

I was at the NAHBS here's some pictures I took they're in my photobucket.

http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/Traderindeath82/NAHBS/

that's the link for it.

didn't get them all but got a lot of them.

blank said...

I agree. Cycling gives me time to think too. Once the suffering hits a certain level the brain kind of frees up a bit. (depending on how windy it is).

Anonymous said...

i bike because i can go fast without getting speeding tickets

Anonymous said...

http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f81/Traderindeath82/NAHBS/

that's it sorry

Anonymous said...

god stupid link won't finish http://s45.photobucket.com/albums/f81
/Traderindeath82/NAHBS/

just without the space

Anonymous said...

k-rosm-my understanding is/was that lemond had/has a degenerative muscle disease. i may have it wrong, so what? what i don't have wrong is his well documented and thinly veiled bitterness toward armstrong. and by join the french i mean just that, in that like the french, he believed armstrong doped and said so, repeatedly. for that mouthing off and being an all around piker, he can suckit as far as i am concerned. lemond was great tour rider and champion, but a complete asshole in later years for bashing armstrong. so yeah, i do know what i am talking about. as for mispelling tchmil, who cares? and yeah, i know who kelly, merckx, and museeuw are, despite probably mispelling their names as well.

Anonymous said...

Anon-
You really think lance was clean?

Anonymous said...

bikesgonewild, we need to talk...

Anonymous said...

sd-they sure did test him a lot? i think he is the most drug tested athlete in the history of sport. i think he is clean. and as far as i know, there is not 1 conclusive piece of evidence to the contrary. in addition, i belive it cuz i want to. ahhaha

Anonymous said...

Yo, anon. I hear ya. I was being a prick, sorry dude. I just cringe at the notion that there's these legions of people out there that think that LA is the end all, be all cyclist. He's great and has done a lot for cycling, don't get me wrong, but he really does represent the homogenization of the sport. I think I wrongly lumped you into that group - a knee jerk reaction. If he's brought people in and they've then dug deeper into the culture and heart of cycling, gone farther done the road, then that's a fantastic thing. But he's only the surface of a very deep ocean, and of course he doped, like Gaul, Simpson, Ullrich, Vino, Basso, all of them.

And the French have done more to fight doping than any other group thus far, so, if there were lines drawn in the sand and I had to pick a side? Well, what's more important to cycling - the French, or Lance?

Anonymous said...

k-ro: no offense taken, none at all. i love french culture-good food good wine lots of sex! ahhha and i love the sport of cycling and have since my youth. i don't believe lance doped during his tour wins, i just don't. i may be wrong. truth be told, i don't care if cyclists dope, naive as that may sound, a race is a race and those races are awesome spectacles and those men are hard men and those battles are epic and i just don't care. ie virenque-it really never bothered me that was as dirty as my chamois, but embraced not only by the french, but others too, well, at least as many as despised him. he is a brawler and romantic and an emotional child, but he can climb and fight and that is what i like. races like the tours/roubaix/liege/etc...are just so sweet, it bothers me not at all that some schmuck buys a trek cuz he saw lance on one.

Anonymous said...

relax, everyone, and think of sylvie vartan and francoise hardy riding an upright tandem built by rene herse. comforting, non?

p.s. sylvie's stoking, duhhhh

Anonymous said...

It cracks me up that people get bent out of shape if somoene went out and purchased a bike because they saw Lance in the tour de france…that's just silly. Guys like Lemond, Lance, Roll, helped make the sport popular in the US. Isn't that a good thing? You know what, I brought my first bike because of Lance and the success the USPS team had in the TDF.

You guys don't realize how good you have it now. There are more demand for bikes due to this and new companies and small businesses have developed around this industry. For the most part, the end result is a better product and more competition in the marketplace. That translates to more bike stuff we can spend our money on!

Sorry your sport/pastime has become popular, I hear Street Luge is still relatively small if you are interested.

Anonymous said...

It cracks me up that people get bent out of shape if somoene went out and purchased a bike because they saw Lance in the tour de france…that's just silly. Guys like Lemond, Lance, Roll, helped make the sport popular in the US. Isn't that a good thing? You know what, I brought my first bike because of Lance and the success the USPS team had in the TDF.

You guys don't realize how good you have it now. There are more demand for bikes due to this and new companies and small businesses have developed around this industry. For the most part, the end result is a better product and more competition in the marketplace. That translates to more bike stuff we can spend our money on!

Sorry your sport/pastime has become popular, I hear Street Luge is still relatively small if you are interested.

Anonymous said...

I ride a Worksman Trike that I bought when I saw Rob Schnieder delivering food on one in the movie "Mr. Deeds"
Oh, and what is TDF? Is it a disease? Isn't that how Lance got sick? Is that what he got from Miss Crow?

By the way, Lemond cheated. So did Moser.

Tell me what your next bike is Woogie, so I can steal it.

Anonymous said...

Well now it's going to be a workman's trike!!! Sweet!!!!

Anonymous said...

i thought about it. those glasses are still cool.

Anonymous said...

A confession: I now dope to get through all the comments on Bike Snob NYC--C’mon, it's just not a humanly possible feat without chemical enhancement.

blank said...

Aren't they these? I saw a pair on the bench at work the other day. http://www.glowsticks.co.uk/acatalog/torch-glasses.html

Anonymous said...

um, what about TRANSPORTATION??
j

Anonymous said...

Bikesgonewild, I think that you got your websites confused. This is the Bikesnob site. You are obviously looking for oldguyswithtinydicks.com.

Anonymous said...

yonk-you are just wrong.

Anonymous said...

Thank god that cycling fashion has moved beyond LeMond's dopey eyeglasses.


http://beta.velonews.com/photo/72001

Anonymous said...

A bicycle is an efficient machine with two wheels designed to carry you from point A to point B. All the rest of this shit is mysticism and witchcraft.

2drunk2shift said...

Fuck Greg Lemond and his commie opinions toward Lance and the other American cyclist. He was knocking everybody about dopping in an interview a couple of years ago. Has anyone seen the roided up legs on Lemond back in the day?

Zosia Wiatr said...

Things that are not cool are cool. Consequently, biking will always be cool. Think about it.

Stevo said...

i ride so i can spend 5x as much time looking at bike porn on the internet

Anonymous said...


............Nice..^_^v................

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