iab

Oh **** to waving. Get over it. On busy routes, I don't need to wave to 100+ cyclists. Once you are used to not waving, you don't wave. I certainly don't take offence when walking down the street if you don't say a word when passing, why is it offensive when on a bike? Does Emily Post have a special rule about this?

steelbikeguy

I've wondered whether it was related primarily to the number of people or cyclists that you encounter.

I know that when I'm riding out on the local rural roads, I hardly see anyone, much less cyclists. As such, if a car comes from the other direction, we're often the only humans in sight, so it's natural to give a quick wave (and this is often standard practice for motorists). Of course, if you are out in these areas, you probably live there, so these folks are probably neighbors or acquaintances, so waving is normal.

When I've gone up to Chicagoland for a group vintage ride, we encounter a lot of other cyclists, so waving constantly would interfere with riding the bike.

Here in Peoria, I don't think I've ever seen enough cyclists in the course of a ride that I wouldn't give a quick wave, but it's pretty low on my list of priorities. I'm much more focused on avoiding cars and potholes when on the road, or watching out for dogs on long leashes when on a MUP.

Steve in Peoria
btw, did anyone else watch Si's video on GCN about comparing his Merckx replica with a low cost modern bike? The Merckx comes out looking better than I expected.

RustyJames 

This thread is funny.

Years ago I remember in a different forum (motorcycle?) one of the participants made what I thought was a hilarious and sarcastic comment - “I waved at another guy. He didn’t wave back. What a psycho.” 🤣

nlerner

I'm in the waving-to-other-cyclists camp and most around here wave back, even if it's just a finger slightly raised off of the bars. The thing that bugs me, probably too much so, is when someone passes me without saying anything. I mean, it's common courtesy for a quick "on yer left" or some such or maybe even "Good morning!" This happened on yesterday's ride, actually, and I semi-shouted "good morning to you, too!" as the racer boy sped away.

iab

You're messing with my cat-6 mellow.

Trakhak

In fairness to Grant, I believe that I've never read anything by him where he calls out racers or any other category of riders---and I've read a lot of his writing, having started collecting the print version of the Rivendell Reader when the first issue came out in the mid-'90s. He never gets personal---he talks only about the clothing and the gear, the "plastic outfits" and "plastic bikes" and "point-and-shoot" indexing and the like.

What I'd regret if I were Grant is that out in the world, the topic has morphed from being about the modern bikes and equipment to being about the people who like and use those bikes and that equipment, and has resulted in, e.g., all the consequent nastiness we see in winter C&V threads on Bike Forums.

Inevitably. To paraphrase Randy Newman speaking about Los Angeles residents after they embraced his ironic song I Love LA, "Americans aren't big on nuance."

Classtime 

I’m a Snob and always look down on e-bikers. I’m actually a hater of e-bikes and usually cannot separate the bike from the biker and hate the whole package. Electric motorized bikes are NOT a genre of cycling.

iab

No worries. When I drop you like a bag of wet sand on my ebike, your hate is my glee.

SurferRosa

I'm in the other camp. I don't want to hear "on your left!" shouted when modern carbon guy is passing me safely with no one else around. I don't want to hear his voice, his bad music out of the headphones whipping around his neck, nor his plastic, clackity-clackity-clack sounding cassette. I already have to suffer through the usual, "hey, you're ready for L'Eroica."

But if I knew it were you, I would definitely give it a hearty "good morning!" ... especially if it were closer to 4:00pm.

nlerner

I figured you offer a hearty "Goodaye, mate"! in your best Crocodile Dundee voice.

bikingshearer 

I understand you completely. That was my initial reaction to all e-bikes. My position has evolved a bit. I am now bothered a lot less by someone who is using the e-power as a supplement to pedal power to allow them to ride places they otherwise could not. I try to tell myself that there is nothing wrong with this, I'm just not there . . . yet.

Around here, a surprising number of people have adopted electric long bikes to transport their kiddies to/from school, the park, etc. The bikes I so dearly love would be singularly ill-equipped to do that. So e-bike on, parents. Maybe, just maybe, this will be a gateway drug for some of the young'uns that leads them to take up cycling down the road. Hey, a guy can dream . . . .

Folks who use an e-bike that is 95% "e" and 5% "bike" as a substitute for a motorcycle still annoy me. I've gotten better - not perfect, but better - at not letting them harsh my mellow for more than a moment. But if any subset of e-bikers deserves my/our scorn, it's these benighted souls. Their mindset is truly not that of a cyclist.

It still puts me out for a moment when I am grunting up a hill and an e-bike - any e-bike - whizzes by me. But for the most part, I have gotten to where I regard e-bikes the way I regard cars, busses, motorcycles, etc.; other things on the road of which I must be aware but I can live with so long as they are aware of me and obey the rules of the road. It has taken a while to get to this point and as noted above, I'm not perfect at it.

1989Pre 

For me, the answer is yes. I rarely encounter another roadie on my Sunday 60-milers, and when I do, I usually point skyward and tip my hand forward (I can't get used to a lateral movement like waving). Do they respond? Who knows? I pin my eyes back onto the road in front of me immediately. I just want to make sure they know they were recognized.

L134 

Like so?

nlerner

Oh, wait, I found a vid of you waving:

SurferRosa

Can't believe that resurfaced. In my defense, I was simply practicing for my parade float.

repechage

oh yes they can crash you.
wide birth to the loony's
the problem with many ebike riders is ther cannot ride a straight lane AND cannot be dropped.

Drillium Dude 

Damn! I just deleted that post (only minutes ago!) after having a think, and realizing some religious members might find my comment insensitive.

Do you mind covering my six?

Thanks in advance

**** EDIT: I guess if I delete my post, it takes posts in which it was quoted with it, too ****

DD

Jeff Neese

I feel a sense of snobbishness toward people that have to buy their bikes as pre-assembled, off-the-shelf models and are stuck having to ride whatever the industry is selling these days, especially through bike shops. I make the generalization that these are the people that don't work on their own bikes and probably don't even own a workstand. I feel superior because I've built every one of my bikes from the frame up, and built them just exactly the way I want them. Maybe that's the snobbishness that people feel coming from C&V people. It's not about "old tech vs new tech". It's that we work on, and in many cases build, our own bikes.

Just a thought.

Atlas Shrugged

This probably at the base of most of the judgmental arguments presented by a select few. I don’t think C&V reference is relevant as it represents collectors and vintage advocates not riders. Over the years I have participated in countless group events from L’Etape and Maratona dles Dolomites to Ragbrai and a vast majority of those riders are on current modern store bought bikes, C&V bikes are a extreme rarity. For a good reason when compared to modern equipment they are not that great to ride long distances or rides with lots of vertical.

Most purchasers of modern bikes choose to do so not have to as you stated. I choose to ride mostly off the shelf bikes a current S Works Roubaix and Diverge because they provide amazing value and performance. I also own a custom built up steel GRX based adventure bike (riding it currently on a month long tour in Vietnam) and finally a perfectly restored custom 1978 Marinoni which is hanging in my den which is never ridden. I choose these bikes and my friends have done the same with their bikes.

You are being very judgmental on the tens of thousands of sport cyclists who participate in mass start events or weekend rides with their mates who by a vast majority ride current technology bikes bought from bike shops. It’s no big deal building up bike especially with older technology, although you feel somehow it gives you and a few other compatriots an air of superiority over other riders, when really you are just choosing another way of participating in this sport. No better, no worse.

Reynolds 

Like a Roman salute? I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't be OK with that...

steelbikeguy

To put a bit of a twist on this idea, I've found myself lamenting the number of folks who don't maintain their own bikes. Practically, a lot of folks don't have the spare time to do it, and perhaps not the mechanical skills to do so. There's also the fact that they are helping keep the local bike shops alive, so their lack of skills or time has a positive side effect for the rest of the cycling community.

The only folks who annoy me are the ones who refuse to learn the most basic maintenance skills; i.e. fixing a flat.
To be fair, I've only met one person like this. It was on RAGBRAI, many years ago. A women was waiting by the side of the road with a flat, looking for someone to fix it. I offered to help, by teaching her how to do it. She wasn't interested in learning how... she just wanted someone to do it for her. I said "okay. good luck!", and went on.
Since then, I've helped a number of people learn how to fix their flats, with varying degrees of success, so I suppose I'm only snobbish towards this one person. Strange how she managed to stay in my memory for so long!

Steve in Peoria

nlerner

There's quite a busy bike-share program in Boston, and it's made me realize that there are a whole lot of folks who aren't just not interested in maintaining their bikes by themselves--they're not interested in owning a bike at all! It's a tool to get from A to B, not something to shower with nostalgia.

1989Pre 

I don't know what you're talking about. What is a "roman salute"?

Drillium Dude 

This.

I know a woman who is a couple years younger than I (me: laaaaaate 50s), and she owns both road and mountain bikes. Single - has been her entire life, and says she's fine with it. Fit as hell - looks the same as when I knew her in HS; she's petite, but strong - in the endurance sense. Hikes, runs, plays pickle-ball, does 3 or 4 types of yoga - been seriously pushing me to get into it. Knows I'm totally into cycling since my HS years until today, and it's kept me fit as well as providing an education in bike maintenance.

Her day job is a practicing Nurse Practitioner. She has a side job she want to go mainstream with, thus leaving the medical field (after more than 35 years, she's about burned out). More on that shortly.

Both bikes have been standing on flats for three years. She always talks about taking them in for service and putting them to good use once again. Nice guy that I am, I've offered to get them running for her gratis, going as far as to explain my love of tinkering, and that exercise would be fun for me as well as beneficial for her. I even offered to show her how to do some of the basic maintenance. She hasn't taken me up on that, but okay. I've asked a few times - and provided practical reasons why any cyclist who may find themselves miles from home will likely, at some point, need to rely on basic maintenance skills in order to get home safely. In her case, she's even more vulnerable out there because she's a female. No judgement - it's just a simple fact that most men can overpower most women, therefor being self-sufficient enough to make basic repairs like fixing a tire on the road can mitigate that kind of risk. But she's adamant that she can't do it, though she's admitted she's never given it a try. At this point, it's clear to me that she'll never do so, and also clear that the bikes will likely never leave her garage again - unless they're wearing little price tags on the bars at her next garage sale.

The kicker? The side job she wants to turn to for her second and final career?

Life Coach.

SMDH.

FD: We're just friends, and it'll stay that way; I've no ulterior motives, and she is well aware of that fact.

DD

mosinglespeeder

good morning all: as I read through this post with a few of my 'snob' ideas, I realize that someone may also abhor snobbishly my procrastination for reading this thread and posting so late.

But nonetheless, I agree wholeheartedly and unapologetically admit I too am a snob. In fact, if we all self reflect honestly for a nanosecond, we all really are, that's exactly why we ride what we ride after all, and that is perfectly ok.

My wife and I have said something many times to the point, life is too short for bad food, bad shoes, and bad friends. She doesn't ride, but I have adopted much the same taste in my bikes.

I will offer what has not been so far as to not be redundant, as there are so many good points already

First, its in my genome, I am a snob and perhaps a skeptic, as I lament the advertising and marketing that perpetuates the current cycling culture, who receive it like a fish to a seal...clapping all the way. What do I mean? Like as mentioned by so many, carbon fiber, I've ridden it, many in fact and each leaves me with a sense of deadness, as compared to my Reparto Corse Boron steel Bianchi...which is lively, light and snappy. I scratch my head and ask...why CF? You'd think by the ads its the newest best, most perfect medium, but it is far from it. The corporate companies don't want to pay for the craft any more, like in so many other skills as well and simply said, the craft overall to make the steel bike is dying. Specialized et al brands, can make a mold, lay up the carbon, press it, and wala....you gotta frame. No skill, no finesse, no craft. Oh, yes, some quality guy comes by and looks at it...but that is in essence the process. So, yes, when some youngster comes by on their $12k Trek Domane SLR, eTap clad girl, I..on my trek 400..steel...which actually geometrically has the NEAR exact same specs...updated to my desires of course and fat tyres, is perhaps 3lb heavier....and 11,500k cheaper...I simply have to regard myself as discerning, and informed...yes, more than the ones who simply go in and yap like a seal at the marketing hype, and I do feel snobbish

Secondly, I love non disc bikes. My buddy, who on his Di2 GRX rig, outfitted with gravel hoops...and yes...hydraulic disc...asked why I still use long reach brakes...and cantis. I simply said...any brake that throws you over the bars...is enough brakes. Truthfully, the logic doesn't work for disc, again, the marketing has. The largest radius is the rim itself, the most stopping ability is the rim itself. The weight penalty, is something to think about, and the transference of the heat into the hub, and the potential for that failure over time, is largely not considered. The reality: I love rim brakes and am snobbish especially if they are dura ace and largely don't have any failures thus far.

Thirdly: I am a downtube snob. Point blank snob! Why...just why on earth did we exchange the simplicity out for the brifter conundrums?? Why??? Why did we exchange the beauty of the decorative levers out for oversized less comfortable hoods/brifters??? OK, I did it, because I was young, and silly and bought the hype when shimano 600 8 spd grouppo came out and it was both indexed and you could shift on the fly, out of the saddle and that was why I bought in. I told myself it was safer...and it may be still...but I gave up so much. And have for the past 3 decades. But...having recently revived my love of all things downtube, steel, and C&V, realized this superior point, of why? I never have to fish out a broken head/cable from the internals of a brifter, I never have to regularly maintain the internals, and never have to worry about cogs shearing and failing....forget the cost of $300-500 for replacement. The downtube is just superior in simplicity and is a pure pleasure to ride. And forget the whole Di2/eTap world....why?? What goes down when the battery isn't charged?? Forget replaced?? So, yes, please forgive my snobbish ways....as life is too short for stupid marketing/salesmanship, carbon fiber, disc brakes and electronic grouppos. I simply am a snob for what works.