Jabba Degrassi

Picking a bike up because it fell over or turning off a blinky someone left on? Acceptable.

Anything else? Unacceptable.

Unless we're friends, ask first.

1fluffhead

I often wish more people would learn to look with their eyes and not their hands.

PedallingATX

some of you sound a bit up tight about this. I touch a lot of people's bikes. But those people know that I am a bike lover and that I am just inspecting and appreciating it. I would not care if someone touched my bike at all. It's just a bike. I like to inspect the tubinga nd the lugs if it's lugged.

The first FG bike I ever rode was a pista concept that was decked out. I had been a roadie for a while and the kid was trying to explain FG bikes to me, so he just gave it to me and told me to ride it.

devilshaircut

I think the relevant factor is that you are among people you know who know you are a bike lover. Like I said before, if I am just at polo or something, I don't mind if someone touches my bike or rides it or even plays on it and gets it beat up.

But a stranger on public transit leaning on it ... that just completely pissed me off. Even if it was out of admiration I could accept that ... but it just seemed disrespectful as he was just leaning on it and touching it.

seedubs1

I'm sorry, but I am a motorcycle rider, and I carry over the same social manners from motorcycling to bikes.

But I know that with some of the bikers out there (myself included), you might get knocked out for messing with a motorcycle. Where most cyclists are not going to do anything about it.

I say stand up for yourself and say something next time. You'll be surprised.....Most people really will avoid confrontation and will walk away.

Cy Trivialities

yea one time i was standing somewhere with my bike leant on the wall waiting for someone, and some weird dude walks right up to my bike and starts inspecting it, and touching every part, i was like what the hell is wrong with you man?

Promo

hell NO! its not alright to touch someone else stuff let alone lean on it like it was a wall. when you don't even own it in the first place. dude its called common respect.

and like cars don't touch or lean on one. you just might lose something....

jpdesjar

i keep my bike indoors in the building i work in and i saw a guy leaning on the wall and resting on the saddle while talking on the phone...i asked him to please not sit on my bike...he quickly stepped away

i was annoyed because it was as though he was sitting on my car...not cool

devilshaircut

Def ... imo at least ... in fact I would prefer someone to lean on my car than my bike ... if I had a car. At least they would be touching the outer shell of the vehicle, not where I put my hands and ass.

dookie

i wish i could say that...it's a drop in the bucket! i'm a total bike *****.

anyway, to the OP (and speaking of *****s)...my acceptance of the touching has everything to do with how hot she is(n't).

best/worst example: after a longish group ride i leaned my record-equipped, custom anodized moots against the wall and started stretching. i watched as a guy/girl couple pulled in and rolled to a stop near my bike. he tried a trackstand (for her?) and lost it, put a hand on my saddle to catch himself, somehow did not drag my bike along the wall but pulled it away and was slowly wobbling forward rolling my bike with his. i winced, ready for the inevitable...

but girlfriend jumped in to rescue him! she dropped her own bike, took mine from him and gave him a shoulder to lean on. yes! where have you been all my life? of course i thanked her profusely.

NoCash27

i'm just scared your bike will start to like getting felt up by strangers and become a *****

j3ffr3y

I get a little possessive if I think that someone will steal my bike or something off of it, but it does not get me that mad. It's a bit flattering

Ivandarken

A similar thing happened to me when this guy started touching my bike. So I started touching his girlfriend. She didn't seem to mind... and now she is my wife.

Promo

since you dont own a car think of it as your bike you dont want it to be scratch up from dudes jeans/belt. it just hurts the resell value. plus what if that dude is heavy enough that when leans off your car he push in a dent.

synapsemusic

i live with three guys who constantly make fun of me for being "such a hipster". I was gone for a weekend visiting my girlfriend and when i came back, my handlebars were crooked and my new grips were torn. when i asked what happened, one of my roommates told me "oh yeah i wanted to ride it so i took it out into the parking lot...a car scared me and when i grabbed the brake i flew over the handlebars." keep in mind i'm about 6'4" and my roommate is barely 6', his feet come off the pedals on every rotation. Why he thought it would be a good idea, i don't know.

I realize this was an extreme example of "touching", but I had to use all my self control to not punch him right in the jeans. They understand now, but I feel like asking "hey can i use your bike" or "hey nice bike, can i check it out" is not that hard to do in the first place

"it's just a bike" is the excuse I hear from most people

Promo

and you got stuck with the bill, right.

JacoKierkegaard

Not really, I see it as a sign of admiration. Just like seeing guys check out my girlfriend, I know that's mine and even though I know it doesn't reflect anything about my worth, seeing other people admiring it does make me smile a bit.

However, I don't touch anyone else's bike without permission, unless it's something like their bike is poorly locked and has fallen over, obstructing half the bike rack. I'll fix things like that, but beyond that it's not my property and I don't know how the owner feels about it, so I'll just leave it alone.

monsterkidz

Next time I go to MoMA, I'm totally going to touch all the paintings and tell them BF said it's OK.

oldfixguy

Obviously, it's the lack of respect for someone else's things. If someone for example is fondling your bike by gently running a few fingers over your downtube while oooing and ahhhing - that's a compliment and should be seen as such. It's vaguely invasive but the compliment overrides the indiscretion. If someone is just conveniently using your bike as a leaning post that's just plain rude. Now, there is the point that if you have your things in a public area that by definition you give up a certain amount of autonomy. But, just like mama used to say - treat people as you want to be treated. Most people want both themselves and the things they have to be treated with common, basic respect.

Johnny Nemo

I'd just refer Mr. Touchy-Feely to my friends... Mr Smith & Mr Wesson!

ilikebikes

+ 1000

bicycleptic

I would be totally ticked off if someone was leaning up against my bike on a train with their hands all over it. On the other hand I wonder if there was room enough for him to be leaned up against your bike then why were you not leaned up against your own bike? I would have been in that position therefore stating that as my space.

Samwiches

Come on. Isn't it almost always obvious if someone is not harming the bike that they're just absent mindedly touchy with it? I'm sure everyone does that. I remember a party where I was rolling my ass off and I did not realize that this girl I just met was getting half an ass massage from me while we were standing along the hall, freakin meeting eachother. She thought it fine and actually wasn't a ho or anything--just was cool and understood. Maybe your cute little fixie bike is sexy.

It is annoying when someone you just met is so jazzed about the thing and they gotta pick it up and do girl curls, then push it back and forth and spin everything. Or just straddle it--that's a little bit assy.

Jabba Degrassi

Just a quick question to you and other people who are seemingly okay with random people touching their bikes:

What's the bike theft rate like in your city?

Samwiches

I dunno if SF is in the top 5 anymore, but it's not hard to lose a bike on the street. I just think it's one thing to come outside to a a missing one, but something else to let it get swiped from under you. But if you can't sense a shady character then I guess you should be nervous.

I just thought this all sounded too whiney in general--mostly examples of cases where theft was not at all likely. I realize some people can't always feel fine about their stuff staying safe out there, but in that case why is there any space around your bike? I know people understand that you maybe cant easily facilitate their foot traffic on a commuting train and keep your stuff safe simultaneously, that's no biggie.

Basically, you can whine about getting clotheslined and kicked in the stomach when you get jacked but not when you just let your bike be underneath a stranger. Have sense turned on.