Is it just me, or is there a fine line between being a hard-core biking enthusiast...

[LuckyTheDog]

... and being a total douchebag?

Just an observation.

[taterguy]

1. Moi?

[kayakjohnny]

2. They tend to go hand in hand.

Believe me, and don't ask how I know.

[underpants]

11. I used to be of the mountain biking set (a few times) and "roadies" were renowned a-holes

but then we were furry woodland creatures to them I am sure.

[petronius]

3. I suspect there is a similar division in just about every sport, and I think it usually

breaks down between people who love cycling, and people who love being cyclists. Athletes versus image fetishists, if that makes sense...

[LuckyTheDog]

4. Exactly.

I came across a bunch of guys today in their biking shorts, biking shoes and colorful biking jerseys ... all with uber-expensive bikes. They ordered a pizza and sat outside eating it with their fancy bike helmets still on. Some of them took a break to admire somebody's extra-uber-expensive bike.

They were smug. They acted like they owned the space around them.

Douchebags.

[LeftyMom]

5. The line falls at spandex pants.

If you're willing to be seen in them in public in a noncompetitive context, you're probably an asshole. If you're riding to work wearing spandex pants with ass padding, your bike helmet with the little mirror attachment and special cycling shoes, you are completely immune to embarrassment and something is definitely wrong with you.

[bluedigger]

6. So I'm safe on the Schwinn Cruiser in my cargo shorts, then?

It's a girl's bike, too.:rofl:

(Hey, there's a lot of potholes in New Orleans! It works!)

[hibbing]

7. Those darn cyclists are all idiots!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi,
I don't understand this thread at all. I commute to work everyday on a bike. I do totally understand the outrage about someone being safety conscious and having a rear view mirror on their "fancy helmet", after all, no cars have such silly things as rear view mirrors. I will be the first to admit that there are plenty of dickwad bikers. But I wear my baggy biking shorts (the tight ass dorky biking shorts part is hidden) back from work every night, why? because the padded butt shorts make the ride so much more comfortable, that's why. I even wear biking shoes, the reason being is because it actually makes riding much more efficient as silly as that sounds. "Fancy bike helmets" mine was 50 bucks, they are what they are and even the more expensive ones look about the same as what mine does. What is your problem with bikers, that they aren't driving or just the ones you have encountered are idiots?

Peace

[LuckyTheDog]

10. Commuting on a bike is cool. TOTALLY cool.

Hanging out with your friends with your custom-built bike (the kind where you start by ordering a $3,000 "frameset" and then have it built out to your specs), while wearing cycling shoes, spandex pants with butt padding, and a cycling jersey that can be seen from space... that's what makes somebody a douchebag.

And if you then seen loading that bike on a rack on top of your BMW or Range Rover, you get extra points.

Sorry... I started this thread after running into a bunch of guys like that who took over a local pizza place last night. Ugh. And, sure, I didn't see their cars. But they seemed like a "Beemer" kind of crowd to me.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. A couple weekends ago our town once again hosted the 3-day "Tour of Elk Grove"

Having the neighborhood streets blocked off for 3 days is bad enough but for a week or two leading up to it these idiots are pouring into town in big, spandex-clad groups gumming up traffic while they test the streets and routes. During rush hour. Rudest SOBs doing everything they can to piss off the very residents who were hosting their shiftless asses.
My favorite scene this year was a few days before the races when I was passing through a busy intersection at rush hour-- two intersecting boulevards where I was once badly t-boned and had numerous close calls-- and one precious snowflake was stopped heading east in the middle of the westbound lanes surveying the road conditions and wildly signaling the cars to go around him. Woman in front of me has to come to a dangerously quick stop to avoid colliding with the "center of the universe" and those of us behind her came within inches of a pileup.

I like to bike myself but I don't dare head out when the racers are in town-- too dangerous. I'm also a driver and a motorcyclist. And I walk my dog every day. So speaking from having experience from every angle except flying overhead, bicyclists are the WORST. And competitive bicyclists are the worst of the worst.

On edit, in answer to your question, I think it's more of a continuum than a fine line. There are stages on the road to douchebaggery. It starts when normal bikers start ignoring rules of the road and graduates to thinking they own the road.

[XemaSab]

9. I've known some bikers who were cool

and I've known some who were massive douchebags.

I think a lot of it depends on the social context, like "Where do you live?" "What else could you be doing for fun?" and "Do you expect your wife to support your lazy ass while you bitch at her that she's no fun anymore?"