gtd

I -- briefly -- shopped for better-fitting touring bike frames on Craigs List, then remembered that my bike was given to me by my wife's father as a gift on her birthday!!!!! He passed at 91 last year.

I'll keep the bike and keep tweaking it into various levels of discomfort, and dare anyone to criticize it. :-) I'm thinking of a Brooks saddle at the moment.

gtd

gtd

"I did a 6km ride last night which is probably pitiful for most people here, . . . ."

Perish the thought. I sometimes ride circles in my driveway for fun, or through the back yard (road bike) just because. The other day I rode a whole 1.7 miles and actually logged it because . . . well, because.

Just ride and have fun! 60 feet, 100 miles, 1,000 miles it doesn't matter. Just have fun and keep riding. You're already doing just fine.

Labtech200

Thanks again for the kind words guys. And yeah, I think that I've come to the conclusion that if I want to ride with a group and they aren't interested simply because of my choice of bike, I probably wouldn't be missing out on much anyhow.

Also, I totally get that my experience at BW SJ was completely interpretation and is likely very skewed, I'm pretty socially awkward irl so that's part of why I wanted to sanity check my experiences with you guys here on the forums. I appreciate your patience and understanding.

Labtech200

Oh, also, a few people have said that people tend to usually not fixate on others' bikes and size them up. I got thinking about that, and I guess I sort of assumed that based on my limited exposure to a few cycling enthusiasts at work and also based on how a lot of people act when it comes to building and showing off their
​​​gaming computers for example (I happen to enjoy PC building quite a bit), a lot of people buy flashy stuff just for the bragging rights. Im still really surprised to see how different people seem to treat this sport / hobby versus how a lot of people appear to treat PC building and gaming rigs. Seems like a significantly less 'toxic' community overall (in my own experience of course)

Happy Feet

Well.. many people do buy expensive bikes just so they can look good, seeking whatever the trend is at the moment to possess the right bling. And some do look down on others because they think the possession represents the person. The cycling world is very much like any other segment of society in that way. But there are also a lot of people who really know the true value of cycling which is the freedom of moving from A-B with little complication or cost, a sense of moving through a landscape while hearing, feeling and smelling it. The reward of well earned sweat and fatigue, the joy of working on and operating simple but elegant machines. The ability to slip between the cracks of urban congestion ... Those are the people to stick with, wherever you find them or whatever genre they inhabit. Often those cyclists can be socially awkward too so you have to give them some time to open up and what we might perceive as arrogance or standoffishness may just be shyness or lack of social finesse.

That's the dad in me speaking I guess. As I get older I find myself giving the world a break more often for not being exactly as I think it ought to be all the time.

Here's a good example of jumping to conclusions:

A while ago I posted in the long distance forum that I had just done a 200km ride, not as part of an official course or event but as my own personal goal. Another person replied that it sounded like I was Just Riding Around.
Just Riding Around! I replied. Well maybe you are some kind of hot shot but I thought it was pretty good etc... Turns out JRA is a term long distance riders use to describe training rides that are not part of sanctioned events. Fortunately I was quick to realize and apologize for jumping to conclusions and the thread ended with all being friendly ha ha! but I could have built a pretty good resentment out of it and left that forum as a bunch of elitist snobs.


Ps. The whole "group" ride thing is over rated IMO. You don't need a group to just ride around

woodcraft

BITD, I enjoyed passing folks on my Schwinn Varsity-

a kind of reverse status thing I guess.

livedarklions

I rode around for about a month on a 50 pound Walmart "Huffy" cruiser last year, and there was nothing funnier than watching people's faces as I passed them on their fancy road bikes. One time, I had to shout "on your left" about 4 times because dad kept telling his teenage son not to bother clearing the left lane because they had passed me before when we were accelerating after a stop sign and there was no way I was going to pass them. I finally forced the issue, and the kid said to his dad "he's going faster than me, just barely, but still...." They never caught up again. It was clear, BTW, that dad was the slower of the two. I'm pretty sure I ruined his day.

Teamprovicycle

My first legit road bike was a japanese 80s road bike i got for free from the community bike shop . i found a giant hybrid for free . i bought a giant road bike for 60 bucks and a really nice felt for 300 . point is you dont need a bike shop bike to have a great bike . you need a great bike and the understaning to optimize it for your needs usually without spending too much .i most likely will never buy from a bike shop their selection sucks . just go on ebay or cl and find a legit deal .

janthenat

Let's hear it for mountain bikes from the 90's on the road! The low-end 1995 GT mountain bike that I've been riding (and wrenching) on the road for the past 23 has not stopped me from being 'part of the community' (whatever that is ;^). I've been too frugal (read cheap) to buy myself anything else, so I ride what I have and it makes me happy.

Ride what you have and be happy.

Milton Keynes

I ride a mile & a half every evening just to lock up a business, but I log it just so I can see what my accumulated mileage is through the year. I call that my "commute" since otherwise I'd be burning gasoline if I didn't ride my bike.

gorillimo

friday1970

Great responses in this thread.
Like most others, ride the bike you have.
But this thread is near and dear to me. My main rode bike is the epitome of budget performance. I went against the entire grain on this bike.
It started out as a Dick's Sporting Goods Nishiki Maricopa. A decent 3x8 budget bike that was recently on sale for $299.
And going completly against the grain and the advice of others, I stripped this bike and bought all new components. And the components? Best of the budget stuff only. Origin8 brakes, crankset, and BB. Microshift Arsis groupset and cassette. Nashbar carbon fork. Chinese carbon seatposts, stems, and handlebars. And Vuelta wheels.
The only thing people would think is decent is my tires, Conti GPs.

The thing is...I don't care. It's 18lbs, costs about $1k all together, and rides like a dream. Keeps up with the A guys, and fits my small size like a glove. It's taken me over 4 years to replace everything, and I'm happy with it.

Like others said, ride with what you have now. Get comfortable riding it, and then maybe borrows a friends bike to compare. If you find another bike to be better, then make your purchase. But always, keep riding!

autonomy

My god! Now I understand...

ScottD961

What this guy said , 100%!

Maelochs

There is actually a set of rules, the Velominati rules, which explains this---if your bike isn't worth more than your car, you are not fit to ride with the rest of us Seeeeerious Cyclists ... so just stay home and don't embarrass yourself and the rest of us.

Some people here seem to take these rules Quite seriously.

(I got around this by buying a Matchbox car for $2.)

Rollfast

i got around it by selling my car in 2008.

MikeyMK

I've long never given a stuff what category people wanna pigeonhole my tools and toys in.

My last car was a highly modified 30yo hot hatchback, it was frowned upon by most people yet was faster than most.

My current bike is equally odd, it has huge chrome fenders, cruiser tyres etc but is heavily electric powered, and is a child-back tandem to boot. But hey, it doesnt have a kickstand, so i guess i'm good.

Rollfast

You scratch it up laying it down or against a building?

gate28

We get older. Frames don't.

jwacky

I'm in the same situation as the OP and consider myself part of the community. I bought a department store Diamondback hybrid off a co-worker for $50 because he doesn't ride it. The thing is a couple years old but looks brand new. I, too, felt a tad "bike shamed" when taking it to a Performance Bike shop for a safety check and tune-up. "It's way too big for you!" (maybe a little, but I also suspect height alone is not a good way to measure for fit). Can you inspect it please? "Why put money in a bike that doesn't fit?" Well... the $25 seems like a small investment to see how much I'll like it. And on and on it went.

I know myself - I'm impulsive and jump in the deep end with every new/passing hobby. I do not know how often I'll ride, where I'll ride, etc. I'll do things "right" when I'm ready to commit. For now, I'm content to wave to every single other biker out there as they pass me by.

livedarklions

Welcome! Sounds quite sensible. If you do decide to upgrade later, your experience will help inform you what you are looking for. But if it's too big for you to feel like you're in control, that might be somewhat misleading. I'd only be concerned that nervousness with this bike might discourage you from getting in deeper.

Have you ridden it more than a couple miles yet? How's it going?

jwacky

I've taken it out twice in the two weeks I've had it; once basically in the neighborhood for about 5 miles roundtrip, and second, longer ride on a bike path (approx. 22 miles). Both went well. Tiring, and slow, but fun. I guess I sorta expected to hop on and ride as fast as everyone else. Was I ever mistaken! Earned a new respect for everyone I see on the roads, that's for sure. But I never felt like I wasn't in control of the bike. I figure I'll give it a good 500-1,000 miles to see what sort of riding patterns develop. I may want another hybrid type, I may want a dedicated road bike. Who knows?! I don't even know what all the paths around me look like. I'd rather ride the "wrong" bike for a little while at first before committing to a "right" bike that may not end up fitting what I want.

smashndash

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this, but one potential reason people may not you to ride your flat bar road bike in their group is because it has flat bars. Flat bars tend to be wider and theoretically easier to get entangled in other people's arms (could be wrong). With drop bars, you can bump elbows and shoulders without issues. Also, your descending capability could be reduced (due to aero, handling and braking reasons) so some may be uncomfortable doing high speed descents with you in the group. If you're not riding shoulder to shoulder and the descents are tame, then it should be fine.

That being said, I've never ever encountered even a hint of elitism ever. Except from bike shops who have an interest in shaming you into spending more.
I've ridden in groups with $13,000 bikes that also had $200 bikes in them. People will ooh and aah if you pull up on an expensive bike, but they're far more likely to respect you if you keep up on your crappy 1970's 10 speed. So, if anything, it's the other way around. Buying an expensive bike puts you on a slightly lower rung because you're buying speed rather than putting in effort. Not that anyone really cares either way. People are just out to have fun.

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rydabent

Snobs with more money than sense get some sort of perverse pleasure looking down on other peoples bikes that dont cost as much as theirs.

BlazingPedals

That may be, but those people DON'T RIDE. They just keep the bike on the roof rack. Attempting to ride it would give them away as a Fred.

What does matter to others in the group is how you ride. That is, if you can hold a line, maintain a constant speed, and in general you aren't doing stupid stuff that represent a danger to everyone around you. Speed and what bike you have matter a lot less.