Chucklehead

i'm sitting here trying to think of another sport where one is considered a poseur for wearing a team jersey, etc.

wait... nope.

so, how do you define the "poseur"....?

keep in mind that people play flag football, pick-up basketball, softball, etc., while wearing the jersey of their favorite players all the time. are they poseurs too?

LordOpie

I guess I'm guilty of think some people are poseurs...

I saw a guy get into a car tonight wearing an Icon body armor motorcycle jacket. Couldn't help but think that he should not be wearing it. Also thought, "I bet that guy -- if he rides -- wears that jacket, but no lid. Fookin' squid."

Chucklehead

i guess i should have said, "how do you define the CYCLING poseur?"

Serpico

I was a skate punk when I was younger (11-12-early teens), we used the term poser all the time. It was someone who simply couldn't skate (skateboard) but wanted to hang with the serious skaters.

I see a poser basically as someone who has everything but the skills. They got the gear, they can talk the talk, etc, but never work on their game.

Dilettante is about the closest word I can think of.

from Dictionary.com:

Dilettante adj : showing frivolous or superficial interest; amateurish; "his dilettantish efforts at painting" [syn: dilettantish, dilettanteish, sciolistic] n : an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge

LordOpie

oh, i very well knew what you meant, but figured since that since this topic has been beaten like a $2 ho owin' her pimp a week's coverage... wait, what was I gonna say? Damned concussions.

seriously, what are you getting at that hasn't been discussed already? Or are you trying to push your agenda? Which I agree with, btw.

celticfrost

Good Charlotte, Winger --- those are some posers.

I just dumped a bunch of $$ on a nice bike. When the snow melts and it gets above 45 degrees and I'm not riding this bike and getting my money's worth, I'll consider myself a poser. Just hope it doesn't happen.

Lost Coyote

Its the same as; "Big hat, no cattle". Some times refered to as a "wannabe".

pedal

I've been a road-cyclist for 6 months, and a cycling nut for years. If I could afford to buy a top-end bike, say a $6000 - $7000 bike, would that make me a poseur?

PS - I ride everyday, and my skills aren't bad.

Newbian

Yup. All of us hardcore punk and metal kids back in the 80's used to use the phrase all the time. We used to pick on other kids that only had knowledge of the music scene from MTV without digging any deeper.

Newbian

The Dickies, Slayer, Nirvana, Mudhoney, The Flaming Lips --- those are not.

Newbian

Nope. If you bought one, didn't ride, and pretended to be Lance. Yes.

Wannabe is a good synonym.

But to tell you the truth, I'm old now and stuff like this matters little.

jeff williams

If you spent more time shopping online for teal riding shorts than you did cycling this week.
Or if you spent more time on B.F. than in the saddle this week.

Whoops, I may have shot myself on the second one.

CAAD5AL

That's a really, really good point. For whatever reason, cycling has more than its share of insecure people who just have to take pot shots at anyone who does things differently than they - not sure why that is. It's crazy though - genuine disdain for someone just becuase they wear a Post Office jersey? Somethings not right at home.

That said, I have no logowear. Stuff like that's for poseur fruitcakes.

Oh yeah . . . Slayer**********

Mr.Endo, Esq.

I for one don't care what any rider wears (as long as something covers his crack), all wannabe's welcome. But I think the root of the cold ridicule is in resentment. Serious riders feel as if their huge efforts have earned them the right to wear the team jerseys, and not so with the new fat guy and his new fat Madone/Postal-Discovery gear.

alanbikehouston

Or, on a beautiful Saturday morning, you were unable to ride, because your teal riding shorts were in the washing machine.

Newbian

Hey... No band carries it farther than they IMO. Besides, their music is hilarious.

Newbian

I totally concur.

I think this is what the hip hop community refers to as a "playa hayta" .

55/Rad

Trying to get them to fade to just the right shade of teal.

55/Rad

my58vw

A poser is someone who buys the gear but does not give the effort.

I know quite a few people who wear sacco, postie, etc tam gear but they come out every week and ride and give an effort. I would not consider then a poser.

The original definition hit it on the head...

MrCjolsen

Personally, I wouldn't wear any team jersey unless I was a participating member of that team. One of the coaches where I swim pointed out that my cap had a hole in it and offered me one from a triathlon. Since I wasn't in that triathlon, I felt uncomfortable wearing that swim cap.

As far as all those cyclists wearing that postal gear, unless they deliver mail and are on the government payroll, they shouldn't be wearing it!

Ralph Turney

"As far as all those cyclists wearing that postal gear, unless they deliver mail and are on the government payroll, they shouldn't be wearing it!"

It's thinking like this that is screwing up this country..."if I can't afford it, than nobody else should have the right to spend their money on it either".

livestrong91

Exactly. There's nothing wrong with wearing pro kits, no one's a "poseur" if they wear it. Who gives a damn?

gcasillo

Only two jerseys I won't wear. A maillot jaune or maillot a pois. The former is too recognizable and well...you know; the latter, too garish. Nothing says, "Beat me, steal my lunch money," quite like a red polka dot jersey.

I'll wear a maillot vert when I'm out alone though. A green jersey is pretty neutral looking unless you're to cycling what Melvin Udall is to sidewalk cracks.

Brett 12

Back when I played basketball.....If you showed up at a pick-up game with the Best Baketball shoes and Flashy Team Jersey's and you sucked.......you were a poseur.

Same thing is true in Cycling.

CAAD5AL

Bottom line is you know it when you see it, but it either gets under your skin for some reason inexplicable to me, or you just find it mildly amusing at worse and carry on. Like I said, something's wrong at home if the reaction is one of true anger - I just don't get it.