Are You a "Roadie"?
 

A quick Google search for definition of a roadie came up with this:

“A cyclist who rides a road bike or is fanatical about biking.”

Seems pretty wide open to me. Is your definition more specific? Are there different types of roadies?

What's your definition of Roadie?

Serious business, this.

I thought that was pretty spot on.

so, a serious cyclist then?? :P

I feel like this is a rabbit hole we've gone down before.

But as this seems a topic about self-identification,

https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic.../1319461_1.jpg

Food for thought:

Roadie =/= Serious Cyclist

I have hairy legs. Discuss.

Fify

I eschew labels. I ride bikes, most of which are road bikes with drop bars and gears.

I ride a bike to work, but I do wear cycling specific clothing such as tight jerseys with back pockets, lycra pants and shorts with padding, and shoes with clips. I treat it like my daily workout, so I do sweat, sometimes a lot. Cycling specific clothing works better for this than street clothing.

I'm also very serious about cycling. Very, very serious.

I ride a road bike. I also ride a cruiser, fat bike and love to Mtb. That makes me a cycling enthusiast, and that's good enough for me.

Thanks to the OR in this definition, ANY and EVERY cyclist on a road bike is a roadie. As is anyone who is fanatical about cycling no matter the type of bike they are on. I figured there's no way the majority of the road forum would allow that! :p

This is why I'm curious what the road forums definition of a Roadie would be. Surely it's not the same as a serious cyclist.

ask in the 33, you'll get more entertainment

Why is it called the 33? What does 33 mean?

Read Roadie: The Misunderstood World of a Bike Racer, by BF's own Jamie Smith, and you'll know.

Nope...I'm Fred. Hairy legs, mountain shoes and pedals, etc.

Bill

Yep...but I'm a poseur also. :lol:

My view (not being dogmatic about this), is a Roadie is a person who uses as their primary bike one that looks legal for mass start road racing - aka a Road Bike optimized for performance on a paved road.

They do not need to be serious, or race.
If they primarily ride on a bike optimized for dirt/gravel roads, or a track. They are not a roadie.

Yet another Divisive thread for more "serious" bickering. :foo:

-Bandera

Are you serious??

What about a gravel bike with slick tires?

For me, being a "roadie" means riding roads, usually paved, on a bike similar to what is or has been used to race. Dropped handlebars. Derailleurs if the bike is geared. For 20 years all my miles were ridden on sewups. (Changed my ways with money and availability not making them feasible any more and clinchers improving.)

My latest two rigs are pavement/gravel bikes; ie bikes that are suited to all roads, not just paved ones. (A Raleigh Competition with frame geometry that looks like a racing bike of 60 years ago and my Mooney which is being fitted to ride this year's Cycle Oregon fix gear over its 45 miles of gravel.)

My favorite pure road bike is my custom fix gear; designed around the use of a flip-flop wheel and fast wheel turn-a-rounds like it was designed to race for real 120 years ago.

Ben

I thought roadie was one of those weirdos who follows a band around, volunteering, etc, somehow living a bum life unemployed.

Some people do, others define.

Yes.

The Republic of Offthebackistan

That was a different thread.

See, I think being a roadie is more a state of mind than the type of bike one rides (although clearly all roadies ride drop bar road bikes). One should consider themselves a roadie if they have some sort of personal performance improvement goal, usually revolving around improvement of distance and speed.


I think all roadie norms can be traced back to this single common mental state (lycra, equipment obsessions and weight weenieism, strava, certain behavioral norms, etc.).