Why are road riders so different?

nik_1974

nik_1974

Likes Dirt
As the title says why is this so? Very few have any etiquette. They dont know how to say gday. Ride slow and take up the whole bike path and ignore request to move over (now realise i have to fucking yell). And then get angry when you push past their fat, lycra covered, <20km/h slow ass. Or cut the corner on the cycle path forcing you into the dirt and dont even apologise.

Before you jump down my throat i too wear the lycra and i love riding my road bike but compared to my moantain bike brothers there is no comparison.

If you slow down too ask they poor guy with a flat if he needs help, he almost has a heart attack from the shock that you even care.

Most roadies that i have chatted to while riding end up be mountain bikers 90% of the time anyway which doesnt suprise me.

If you can't tell i had a couple of riders give me the shits today.

End of rant.

P.S. I'm not meaning to open up an us verses them e-fight, I'm just having a bitch. :D
 
Dumbellina

Dumbellina

Likes Dirt
Real roadies don't ride cyclepaths.


The modern SS, or gestapo are the pricks in some road bunches that bark and rave, even at riders not in their bunch!

Its an attitude thing. I mean when a roadie mag to dedicate an entire page to sunglass wearing etiquette (ie outside the helmet strap), then it explains the pretension of many riders.
 
Pizzaz

Pizzaz

Likes Dirt
BUgger, no wonder I am being shunned on my roadie rides!

Who says the innernet doesn't have useful information?
 
T

Timbers

Likes Dirt
I guess its hard to be social and communicate to other humans when your head is inserted in your own arse :D

As I work 40+ hours a week I can only realistically manage around 15-16 hours training a week this time of year with by far the majority being on the road (unfortunately). The only bunch ride I can consistantly tolerate is the Eastern Melbourne "Burbs" ride as it is made up mostly of mountain bikers.

I have some friends trying to get me to do morning bunch rides around the bay and to be honest I couldnt think of anything worse than putting up with arrogant roadie bullshit first thing of a morning.

Who the fuck goes and does a bunch ride with their Ipod in, looks at you strangely for wearing longish black socks or cant even hold a normal adult conversation with others because they are too busy checking their form in the reflection of shop windows???

I have raced off road for over 15 years but have not done a single road race in that time even though I have owned a road bike for nearly all of those fifteen years, until now I have had no desire to associate with them any more than I have to.

Perhaps this attitude makes me as bad as them so to remain open minded I am going to start road racing this winter, essentially as training for mountain bike events but partly out of curiosity to see if the attitude is better or worse? Having been told by an A grade rider I would get dropped in the first ten minutes of a B grade race has also fueled the fire so to speak, incidently said road rider then got dropped by myself and two other mountain bikers on the next hill :D

At this point in time the the majority of roadies I have ridden with are wankers who give cycling a bad name but hopefully through racing my opinion will change. (I have doubts)
 
P

Pedal Pushin' Papa

Likes Dirt
look man, give the poor guys a break. Not only are they feeling like the most ridiculously dressed person ever in their new incredibly uncomfortable looking lycra outfit, they've got you and me and everyone else passing them so that they start to realise that their aerodynamic suit of ridiculousness doesn't count for shit when your doing 20km/h. i realised a long time ago that i dont think ive ever seen a lycra clad rider smile. they always look so cranky.
I have never understood why people that decide they want to start cycling feel they have to dress the part as well. Kind of like as if everyone that wanted to learn to swim felt they had to go out and buy one of the olympic bodysuit things.
and on a similar side note: why do couriers feel they need to wear the silly hats?
i find its easier to presume that every cyclist, driver or pedestrian is going to give you a shit time getting past them or the like, so that when someone is nice, its a genuine pleasure. this might be just my sydney commuting upbringing where anyone that could give a cyclist shit, does; though im finding melbourne a much nicer place for it.
 
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Girth Brooks

Girth Brooks

Likes Bikes
I think the loser-ness of road bikers has to do with price point. True DH bikes can get expensive, but a top line road bike is crazy pricey. That usually reserves the sport for rich people with little manners or social skills. Thats just an observation on my part. I dont ride in groups and never have , but the guys I have met that were right into it were fairly well off and liked basic social skills.

As for the spandex call , I used to think the same. There is no need for it. Untill you jam out a 100k ride and all the seems in the crotch of your cargos leave scars. On long rides I sport lycra , and get a sort of smug satisfaction knowing i have ruined a few guys days by having to look at me in them.

Couriers and their mini hats........ those hats are usefull when its cold. I'm from Vancouver and it gets chilly sometimes and a well vented helmet doesnt help , but those little hats do. Other then that i think its just to look more like a cyclist then a homless hipster.

But yeah , I think the road scene is pre disposed to be being a wash with rich douchebags. If awesome road bikes were cheaper then I think it would level the field out
 
E

elliotdhmcgeary

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I've found this too - and i ride some road and a fair bit of XC / DH, the XC guys are much more likely to ride along side and have a bit of a chat, where i have found the roadie guys a lot more focussed just on their riding and couldn't care less for you. Reasons? Dunno, road riders don't stop as often? Not giving you the chance to have a chat, a lot of the time they've got headphones in their ears?

I've found DH'ers the best to talk to - mainly that i'm walking along side them in pain walking up the hill, and you've always got something to talk about like "that part in the rockgarden on that last run was hectik!". Wheres you can't really do this in road riding.

Though organised rides in a group always are good fun to have a chat when out on the road bike ...

my $0.02
 
H

Hud

Likes Dirt
I think what is being said above is true up to a point, but you can't generalise to broadly. A trailhead we start our MTB rides from is at a cafe outside of the suburbs and a lot of roadies ride past or stop fro a coffee. They often wave or say g'day, I leant my chainbreaker to a roadie who'd been pushing a couple of km, he was very appreciative.

One amusing thing is that almost without fail, a table of 6 roadies all have latte's in front of them. I almost feel like a bogan with my flat white.:D
 
Tomas

Tomas

my mum says im cool
Jerks in every sport. Unfortunantly, quite a few roadies think they are Contador when they put on their lycra and bunch up with their mates. Having said that, DH and DJ has a tendency to attract a bunch of kids who think they're cool and alternative (when really, they just sucked at team sports and have found a niche where they can dispense insults, as opposed to receive them). Skateparks are full of wannabe-hardcore 13 year olds and XC suffers from many of the same people that ride road.

Now we've ragged on all the popular classes of riding, can we have a break from the 'roadies are scum' topic for a good month?
 
Lanky Love

Lanky Love

Likes Dirt
I do alot of road cycling, and a fair bit of it in bunches. I dont agree there are some real wankers who feel the need to control everyone around them, but theres also alot of nice people, you just dont notice them though. I think everyone saying 'roadies think they are so good, but i can pass them on the cycle path etc' or 'they wear lycra so they must be a posser' is just as much a wanker in my mind. Does this mean that if your a good rider its ok to be a snob?

If they really piss you of, just ignore them, or even better, tell them to shut up. But dont hate roadies just because theres a few tools.
 
Pile

Pile

Likes Bikes
Is it true that a triathlete is just a road rider with no ettiquette or bike handing skills?
 
Daver

Daver

Kung Fu Panda
Dumbellina said:
Real roadies don't ride cyclepaths.


The modern SS, or gestapo are the pricks in some road bunches that bark and rave, even at riders not in their bunch!

Its an attitude thing. I mean when a roadie mag to dedicate an entire page to sunglass wearing etiquette (ie outside the helmet strap), then it explains the pretension of many riders.
Click to expand...
So true.

Except that last point. It's pretty obvious sunglasses are outside the straps.

Pile said:
Is it true that a triathlete is just a road rider with no ettiquette or bike handing skills?
Click to expand...
Correct. Probably sporting brown shorts.
 
tu plang

tu plang

knob
Matt H said:
ITT: People who have no idea what they're talking about.
Click to expand...
Matt H droppin' truth bombs again. So much bullsh*t in this thread from people who've never done so much as thrown a leg over a road bike.

Tomas said:
DH and DJ has a tendency to attract a bunch of kids who think they're cool and alternative (when really, they just sucked at team sports and have found a niche where they can dispense insults, as opposed to receive them).
Click to expand...
Hahaha... I can't believe its taken this long for someone to shine some harsh light on that fact.

Pile said:
Is it true that a triathlete is just a road rider with no ettiquette or bike handing skills?
Click to expand...
Hahah - Triathletes have their place... buying zip 404s at full price because it will almost certainly be the difference between first and last place... and then creating a healthy second hand market of near new ones.

...thats all i have to say really. ;)

oh actually... glasses outside strap? blehck. I wear my straps free and breezy, I don't want them entangled in my glasses.
 
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