Is there bike snobbery?

In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

salmon wrote:
In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.


The only 'keeping up with the Joneses' that matters is your performance.

If your bike is slowing you down and your club mates are having to wait
for you, you need a new bike. Or a new club.

salmon wrote:
In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this?


Can't answer for the "club" you mention. I'm sure there will be clubs which
are snotty about what bike you ride, but I would expect them to be rare.


The local CTC group I ride with won't give a stuff what you ride as long as
it has brakes.
We have everything on rides from cheap, through decades old, to hand-built
made-to-measure.


One local informal road club had (past tense) a snooty leader. That leader
told a new member to "not come again" due to him having a mountain bike
rather than a road bike. The new rider went off on his own for a ride. The
rest of the group came round to the new rider's house that night to
apologise and asked him to continue with them. The leader had been fired by
the rest of the group.
The "new rider" still rides with the group, and is now a very good long
distance rider who might do Paris-Brest-Paris this year.



I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone?


Don't necessarily believe the shop keeper without trying for yourself.
If they really are snotty about what you ride, try a different club. Any
reasonable club will let you ride a few times before asking you to "join".

It wouldn't be unknown for a shop keeper to want to sell you an expensive
new bike.


- Nigel



--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

On 25/02/2007 19:02, salmon said,

a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this?

I haven't been a member of a cycling club for some time, but when I was
people turned up on all sorts of bikes, and no-one took a blind bit of
notice. The club was more about the rides and the pubs than what you
rode. So long as you could keep up reasonably well you were OK, and
this wasn't a fast club. It's a shame you didn't go today - turn up for
the next ride and go for it!

I think some roadie clubs are a bit snobbish, but that isn't my scene
and I don't think it's yours. Last year I took my cheap £300 mountain
bike to Coed-y-Brenin in North Wales. There seemed to be some sort of
car park ritual of fiddling about with the very expensive bikes before
riding and casting imperious glances at my cheap bike but I just got on
and went. I was amused to see a couple of these lycra-clad
expensive-bike-riding people fall off at the first rocky bit under the
giant forks - in full view of the cafe - when I had already been around
some of the trails without falling off.

So what you ride doesn't matter, so long as you ride.

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"salmon" wrote in message
ups.com...
In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

There *can be* bike snobbery, just as there can be snobbery in any walk of
life.
A good club may have some bike snobs in it - but it should also have many
people who aren't.
An out and out racing club might not be the best choice of club to join,
especially as someone new to the scene. However, many clubs have a range of
members involved in a range of activities.

Maybe if you told us where you are based, people might be able to give
further advice.

I think it's quite important to find a club (and hence fellow riders) who
are broadly in tune with your ability. If they are significantly faster than
you, you'll always feel 'left behind', and they'll always feel 'waiting for
you', not a good idea for a long term relationship. Or vice versa, of
course.

Peter

salmon wrote:
In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right?

/possibly/, depending on the club. Not one I'd be happy in though.

Are all bike clubs like this?

No. There are undoubtedly some in existence that are, but it'll be
their problem and not yours.

I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone?

Check what sort of club it is. Quite a few are racing oriented
clubs and even if it's composed of wonderful folk you're unlikely
to get much out of it, any more than I'd get much out of a skills
training session with a Premier League soccer side (I don't do
football...).

If it's a social rides club then the idea is a social ride, not
training for races, so there's a completely different vibe.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Paul Boyd" wrote in message
...
On 25/02/2007 19:02, salmon said,

a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this?

I haven't been a member of a cycling club for some time, but when I was
people turned up on all sorts of bikes, and no-one took a blind bit of
notice. The club was more about the rides and the pubs than what you
rode. So long as you could keep up reasonably well you were OK, and this
wasn't a fast club. It's a shame you didn't go today - turn up for the
next ride and go for it!

I think some roadie clubs are a bit snobbish, but that isn't my scene and
I don't think it's yours. Last year I took my cheap £300 mountain bike to
Coed-y-Brenin in North Wales. There seemed to be some sort of car park
ritual of fiddling about with the very expensive bikes before riding and
casting imperious glances at my cheap bike but I just got on and went. I
was amused to see a couple of these lycra-clad expensive-bike-riding
people fall off at the first rocky bit under the giant forks - in full
view of the cafe - when I had already been around some of the trails
without falling off.

Are these the same people who then spend all day on the Blue routes?

Niall

Check what sort of club it is. Quite a few are racing oriented

If it's a social rides club then the idea is a social ride, not
training for races, so there's a completely different vibe.

I would go on the short slow rides first. Pump your tyres up firmly.
Take a spare tube and levers and spanner and a pump and money for tea
and cake.If it's a CTC group they will probably be quite happy to see
you.We get some quite old and infirm folk on the short runs.My usual
bike has a 30yr old frame forks and headset and old inner tube instead
of bar tape.It seems to go as well as anything else.You may soon
hanker after something with alloy wheels and and a better saddle at
least, once you get going.In the meantime smooth tyres would make a
lot of difference to your perceived effort.If you phone one of the
club people you can get a better idea of what they are like.
you say you might upgrade if you like it, but remember that 20miles on
a really cheap heavy bike with knobblies and steel rims feels much
worse than the same on a half decent bike, which need only cost +/-
£300 new
TerryJ.

"salmon" wrote in message
ups.com...
In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.

Outlook is a POS - I apologize for my incorrectly formated post - the above
is a quote.

If the club you've joined is a road club, you'll find it hard to keep up on
a mountain bike. I'd get my hands on a road bike, and if they were bothered
that it wasn't the lastest bit of bling, I'd tell them to **** off. There
isn't *that* much difference in speed between a 20 year old Raleigh road
bike in decent nick and a new one - nowhere near as much as there is between
individual riders.

salmon whizzed past me shouting
In short. Gave up ciggies. Put on weight. Bought bike secondhand
£25.00. Liked it. Thought I'd join a club for social/rides/company.
Saw bloke who works in cycle store, told him I joined club. He said
did my bike have nuts holding the rear wheel on. Answer Yes. Well it's
a toy bike, get rid of it. The lads at the XXX cycle club all ride
around on 5K jobbies and they'll laugh at ya. Is this right? Are all
bike clubs like this? I thought I would upgrade if I liked it later,
but I don't like the idea of having to keep up with the jones's. I
feel a bit miffed. I really thought it would just be a bit of fun to
go on social rides. I really don't intend to do any serious racing or
off road stuff. Thoughts anyone? The bike is a Raleigh with straight
handlebars and the oversized frame tubing. dual purpose tyres for
track and road, shimano gears. Probably made in China. Was supposed to
join a ride today but I got cold feet.


So long as it's properly maintained it'll be OK for social rides, and if
it's heavy you'll get fit faster cruel grin The other riders will
love to tell you anything you need to know so why not let them?
If in doubt, contact the ride leader or whoever and ask whether they
think the ride would suit you.

--
Sue ]

It's pretentious to have a 5k bike if you're only £250 worth of cyclist.