lotek 

you know, a newbie reading this thread sure would get the idea
that
1) road bikers are elitist snobs.
2) what you wear matters
3) unless you've got thousands of miles
in your legs you are a hopeless poseur.

What a crock of ****e
what about the guy who got all this stuff foisted upon himself
at the LBS and is just starting out, can ride about 5 miles and then
just craps out. He busts his butt everyday trying to build up to 6 miles
poseur? no
what about the person who just happens to want to support
a trade team, and buys a jersey. Poseur? I don't think so.

wear what you want, ride what you can.
Remember, there is always gonna be someone who can
classify you as a poseur.
and the term Poseur, its french, and is way older than skate rats.

marty

galen_52657

Marty, Marty, Marty....

Anybody who wonders in off the street into the LBS and comes out with a new bike and all the goodies is worse than a poseur....he/she is a moron. And the only way a moron is ever going to get smarter is with some tough love....

But.... the scenario that you have proffered I have actually witnessed first hand...

When Performance Bike Shop first opened here in Towson, the manager was a well-known former off-road down hill racer. He encouraged our club to meet at the store for off-season weekend training rides. The rides were populated by a mixed bag of hardened roadies and mountain bikers. On one particular ride, there is a new guy. He is wearing a brand-new Performance winter outfit – tights with matching long-sleeve jersey, new helmet and brand new bike.

So we are riding paceline just warming up. After a couple of rotations the pace picks up but not much. New guy comes to the front and just rockets off the front of the pack. All the old hands are looking at each other with puzzled expressions. New guy is still out front knocking his shiznit in the dirt as the pack picks up the pace. New guy starts pedaling squares… pack is in full tilt mode… New guy is caught and promptly spit out the back…never to be seen or heard from again!

Flaneur

So much of roadie culture is essentially selfish and competitive. A lot of clubs are introverted and self regarding, with no generosity towards newcomers and the inexperienced. Rather than channel aggressive urges into time trials or crits, a lot of guys ease up on the training and prefer to beat up on ride partners, sneer at the 'inappropriately' equipped and play foolish games with one another. This pitiful one-upmanship is sometimes displayed in the forum, with threads encouraging conspicuous consumption or vacuous comparisons of labelled products. Endless speculation about the lightest available rubber or most aerodynamic 'hydration systems' leaves an impression of superficiality, of a demeaned community of obsessive nerds, unwelcoming and unrealistic.

The legendary recent trolling exploits of 53-11 hold a mirror up to us all; it isn't always pretty.............

mirona

A good number of roadies are snobs. They might not want to admit it, but some of them are waving their elite-stick all over this thread.

Two people get out of their cars with their nice bikes and do loops around the park. OH MY GOD!!!! LOOK AT THOSE JERKS!!! THEY'RE NOT EVEN RIDING FAST!!!! BLASPHEMY!!!!!!!!

But those bikes are supposed to be going fast! SHUT UP! They paid for the bikes, they can do whatever the hell they want with them. They can cut them up and make some $#% sculpture out of them. Why do you care?

lotek 

Galen,

I never said the guy who walks out of the LBS with full team kit is
the sharpest tool in the shed. . .
yes, people do get spit out the back, but the whole thread smacks
of, i don't know, elitism? to me.
Where's a newbie to start? makes it rather intimidating if you asked me.
BTW I am a bike snob. I like campy and I think that people who
don't ride don't know what they are missing. . .

Marty

KrisPistofferson

I think the best thing to do is get a bike and ride the heck out of it for a few years. Over the course of those years, you will begin wearing what suits your needs best, whether it's Carhartts or Lycra. I know that with my luck, once I started pointing and laughing at the guy decked out like Robin Williams, I'll get nailed by a semi!

jemoryl

Re. my Colnago park loopers: they may be fine people but they are poseurs! Ya don't need a team kit and a $4500 bike to do slow loops around the park. And I bet we all do posey things now and then... I know I do. Sorry, but I can laugh at myself sometimes, too.

mirona

I don't think anyone laughs at themselves more than me

So, they might not NEED (ooohhh the operable term (double parentheses: yea i'm a smartass, just ignore this)) the kit and bike, but if that's what they WANT, so what? If they WANT to buy me an expensive bike that I don't NEED, I'm gonna take the damn thing

edit: Okay, I'm taking over this thread....

lotek, do you have a larger version of your avatar? I have no idea what it is and I keep thinking of drunken Smurfs with oversized hats and butterfly groupies when I see it.

And before anyone says use the PM function, this thread isn't going anywhere useful so naner naner naner.

Brett 12

I like this.

Brett 12

Poseur: Looks faster than he is.

Cycling soldier: Faster than He Looks.

mirona

I actually think that was a joke. If it wasn't, then shoot me. Twice. In the kneecaps

Brett 12

Are you a girl?

Cuz I thought the part about wearing the obscure out of date jersey was cool.

Chucklehead

my take is that poseurs are cool. i like that they contribute to the rise in awareness(i don't know if that's the best word) of road cycling. the primary concern for two of my friends when they started riding was that they didn't want to look like dorks or poseurs. i think the term "poseur" is like a saddle. it's a very personal thing, because no one really knows WTF a poseur is in the first place.
one person is a poseur for wearing full team garb, and another is a poseur for training on $1200 ZIPP wheels. another is a poseur for wearing a yellow rubber bracelette and black socks. another is a poseur for using a 34t ring for climbing.
the reality is that we probably shouldn't even bother saying "on your left" anymore. we should just say "hi, poseur," and expect friendly "hi, poseur" back.

Newbian

I think that one day Christopher Guest is going to make a movie about bike culture. I'm a newbie to this whole scene and I like road cycling.

Since I did a triathlon with a $56 Roadmaster from Walmart (which is the main reason why I logged on here), I wouldn't classify myself as a poseur. I think that would classify as "punk rock".

This thread rules!

Brett 12

Bottom line is we are just riding bikes

squeegy200

My wife asked me that same question years back.

Then we went for a ride and encountered another couple on a pair of brand new Cannondales. They were outfitted in matching Cannondale full team regalia. What my wife noticed as they rode by was that the female member of the duo had prepared herself cosmetically and was wearing full make-up. As she rode by, I could smell her perfume.

At that very moment it dawned on my wife the meaning of the word "poseur"

Who Dey

Many of you seem so preoccupied w/ how another person view you or others. Relax, it's only the pretentious elitists who miss out on the true enjoyment of the sport. Chill. Listen to some Mozart. In the words of this former New Yorker..... Fugedaboudit.

Doid23

Whether or not their poseurs or not, I'm not sure, but I don't think poseurs are specific to cycling, just maybe more obvious. And I think that a jersey versus a full kit makes a big difference. In softball if someone shows up at the rec league game with a full Yankees Derek Jeter uniform instead of some shorts and a t-shirt, odds are that they will be ridiculed, while if they just wear a Jeter jersey with some shorts their seen as OK. Same in hockey, if you're playing on the lake or at a pick up game at a rink and show up with your full Edmonton Oilers Gretzky uni, you're going to get ridiculed (and checked a lot). Footballs a tougher example, since there aren't many full pad pickup games, but if you showed up at a college or pro game with a full uniform on rather than just a jersey with some jeans, then you're going to get laughed at. Like it or not, that's just human nature, and it's not specific to cycling.

mirona

No, but I'm curious as to how you came up with that. I went back and reread my post and can't pick it out.

brent_dube

I would never wear a pro jersey, and I find it slightly annoying when others do. Just visually annoying. I think it's silly. But it doesn't really matter.

I'd figure a poseur to be some one that talks up a lie about themselves.

I wouldn't really go by appearance, because in that case, it is mostly the viewer's fault in making assumptions of what they're 'posing' for.

Heh most threads here have pushed me to that impression

Brett 12

Cuz you seem worried about "The Fashion"....only want to wear up-to date Jerseys. Old Skool is cool.

XzEn54321

A poseur is just someone who gets a team jersey or $$$ bike only to show off to or impress somone.

Chongo

I think it's more than the team kit with the matching $$$ team bike. It has to do with an attitiude that can't be backed up with riding ability. Someone wearing a team kit because they're a fan or just for fun is usually ok.

Serpico

Totally DIY, you're punk rock as hell!

jeff williams

I'm a poseur in the road cycling forums?
Closest I have to a road bike is my triathelon.
It's in pieces. I ride my mtb...on the road sometimes as well.

I'm an internet roadie poseur. I'm just facinated with the useless crap road bikers argue about .
Everytime I start thinkin' crazy like I want a road bike, I come and check up on the road scene and after a few threads I've convinced I can't do it.

I have niether the fashion sense nor attitude it takes.
You guys got it rough, I only have pointy rocks, sticks and mountainlions to worry about.

o.k..maybe a bar cougar.

I prefer mtnbiking, it's hard to fake skill.
How long can you stand at a trail head with a leg over the toptube, foot on the pedal -talking skunk about somebodies outfit\ bike.

Doesn't happen much.
Why?
Maybe offroad has less empasis on status, more on skill.

I'll get the skinnies on the road again, I'll wear whatever shirt\ jersey that doesn't stink.