I quite often get accused of "cheating" so I just smile and say "shall I go home then".
lots of hate out there
- Thread starter trouty
- Start date
And what about when you're on an ebike?
This frowning, lycra clad gentleman scowled at me as he tried to take a pic with his phone. I just laughed and was gone.
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Is not Lycra not also cheating, that body hugging fabric is cheating the wind resistance. Ask him why he is not wearing a cloth cap and a thick crombie coat just like his grandfather.
Anyone who criticises someone for exercising in the fresh air is probably not the brightest light in the sky .
I find it really annoying that cyclists with loads of tech on their bikes can't buy a bell. I have had cyclists whizz past me without a sorry or a thank you. I have a bulb horn on my bike and i have the old bell in my bag ready to give to the next cyclist who moans at me when i shout "buy a bell you twaxxx"
Yes, tell em off.
If necessary, e-stalk them, head em off off at the pass and teach them a valuable lesson in etiquette!
If needs be use lasers on them!
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.. maybe the tide is turning , walked down to my local seaside promanade , during the last spell of good weather, and sitting eating my brunch ice-cream.. my second in 40 years , beside a couple who had ecycled out from the town, pleasant conversation , they would have had there bikes probably 6 years and use them extensively, then last Saturday ecycled to a local harbour and met two older codgers .. at least 10 years my senior, in their campervans and they showed me theirs and I showed them mine.. ebikes!!!! . More relaxed conversation..And what about when you're on an ebike?
This frowning, lycra clad gentleman scowled at me as he tried to take a pic with his phone. I just laughed and was gone.
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Not all comments are bad. While waiting at lights with couple of other bike commuters, one looked at my ebike and said I should go first as I'd be faster up hill in front of us.
Ebikes are becoming part of commuting scene here, see more a more every month. Quite few conversions. Daily slogging your way up a hill into good headwind while being passed by occasional ebikes soon turns you into convert.
Ebikes are becoming part of commuting scene here, see more a more every month. Quite few conversions. Daily slogging your way up a hill into good headwind while being passed by occasional ebikes soon turns you into convert.
Wellington would require a HUGE battery for the shortest commutes in some parts of town! And headwinds... They can be strong enough to stop a VW Beetle dead in its tracks (real life experience).
I passed a roadie on the way to work yesterday, up a hill. He shouted 'cheat!' and I shouted back 'carbon frame, skinny tyres, that's cheating !'
Of course I could of stopped and told him the fact that I had just returned a couple of days ago from a 400 mile non-ebike (hybrid bike) cycle tour of the Ruhr valley combined with Dusseldorf for the grand depart of the tour de france, and some cycling in Belgium, but I couldn't be arsed.
Whilst over in Germany, out of town pretty much every other bike is an ebike, no-one shouts cheat there...what is the deal here ?
Of course I could of stopped and told him the fact that I had just returned a couple of days ago from a 400 mile non-ebike (hybrid bike) cycle tour of the Ruhr valley combined with Dusseldorf for the grand depart of the tour de france, and some cycling in Belgium, but I couldn't be arsed.
Whilst over in Germany, out of town pretty much every other bike is an ebike, no-one shouts cheat there...what is the deal here ?
I suppose that the deal here is that in many cyclists eyes pain should equal gain. As in "No pain, no gain."
I much prefer "No pain, just gain."
no one says anything if im puffing a warhead or drinking my power supply from a gold can.
This is something I've explained previously a few times, and it dates back to the aftermath of World War 2. From 1945 all across Europe we cycled, there were no cars since they'd been requisitioned or destroyed during the war, the cars we made had to be exported to pay our war debts and we were too poor to run cars anyway. Public transport was at a low level and cost too much for many, so bike it had to be.
In Britain we recovered from the war effects faster than mainland Europe of course, so were first to get into scooters and small motorbikes from the late 1950s and then into cars from the early 1960s on. So the bikes got dumped, utility cycling disappeared, as did many bike shops with nothing left to repair.
But mainland Europe, particularly The Netherlands and Germany, was still utility cycling and never lost the habit. Their politicians, seeing how utility cycling had disappeared in Britain, acted to prevent that happening there, mainly by improving cycling facilities.
Apart from kids bikes and the few club enthusiasts, cycling didn't return in Britain until the mountain bike arrived in 1980 and those quickly caught on. But of course that's a form of sport cycling, as is road riding lycra style, so for the last 36 years cycling in Britain is almost universally seen as a sporting and fitness activity, not as transport. And that makes using a motor cheating of course, it's seen as like using plastic weights in the gym!
But in mainland Europe bikes for the majority are just another form of transport, not sport, and fitness is just a side benefit. So of course there's no concept of cheating involved in using a motor to help with that.
And of course the British cyclists are too often their own worst enemy in this respect, since they will insist on using MTBs and road bikes for road riding, thus continuing to reinforce the idea that cycling is a sporting activity. If instead they rode utility bikes like the Dutch ones, complete with mudguards, carriers and full chaincases with hub gears, the public might get the message that bikes are also transport.
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I can't answer that question, tilson will jump down my throat again...
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