Fakengers

il_principe

pst88 wrote:

Seems like it's a very fine line between just riding singlespeed/fixed and being a fakenger. I may wear 3/4 length shorts or heaven forbid rolled up jeans... maybe I'm one of those fakengers that are in denial. I just dress this way and ride this bike because it's practical... that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Anyways, not voting because none of the options reflect my view.

Exactly. Couriers wear what they wear because it's comfy and practical. No reason non couriers shouldn't follow suit...

attica

Littigator wrote:

So does the 'fourer' derive from the fact that teh rider has four panniers?

Fake - tourer perhaps.

Surf-Matt

Lets face it, cycle couriering has become "cool" and anything that's cool will be emulated.

Surfing is an extreme example - of around 250,000 UK "surfers" about 2000 can actually surf properly - at the most. The rest just look the part.

cjw

Surf-Matt wrote:

Surfing is an extreme example - of around 250,000 UK "surfers" about 2000 can actually surf properly - at the most. The rest just look the part.

Your right there Matt. I can't surf but because it is considered cool I wear a wetsuit and walk around with a surf board......

I sometimes notice people in Tesco staring at me - must be because I'm so cool

Clever Pun

I don't care, they're just scalps to me

seriously unless people are riding like tools let people do what they want... as has been said riding a freewheel with one brake you wont be around for long...

Littigator

I wore rolled up jeans this morning cos I'm going straight out after work tonight and it was either wear them or carry them in my backpack.

If people think that makes me a prat then so be it.

As for fakengers being crap riders, I very recently got an SS, and still own 2 roadies as well. I average 100-150 miles a week and there are few people around that pass me.

Fakenger I may be according to some but a) I don't give a monkeys and b) I'll race em and win ha ha!

lost_in_thought

I wore rolled up jeans this morning cos I'm going straight out after work tonight and it was either wear them or carry them in my backpack.

If people think that makes me a prat then so be it.

To be completely frank, I think a bunch of cyclists are the last people to be making assertions on fashion and dress sense, myself entirely included!

Littigator

lost_in_thought wrote:

I wore rolled up jeans this morning cos I'm going straight out after work tonight and it was either wear them or carry them in my backpack.

If people think that makes me a prat then so be it.

To be completely frank, I think a bunch of cyclists are the last people to be making assertions on fashion and dress sense, myself entirely included!

Yup, given I use my wife's depilator, wear skintight lycra on a daily basis and lube up with chamois cream for long rides I think I kissed goodbye to any claim to cool a long time ago.

But then these days it seems it's cool to wear your jeans halfway down yer skinny ass and show off yer pants....

I think I'll stay uncool thanks!

Greg T

THAT'S MY BIKE

Grifter XL!

Weighed more than the Sun. I still have buckling to my tibias trying to push the cranks. for a ten you r old boy it was magic....[/list]

Littigator

I used to have one of those, I seem to remember I got it the Christmas before Rally Burners came out and the whole world went BMX mad.

Cue me as a 10 year old stick insect still flattening every ramp the kids in our street used to make as I tried to launch my two wheeled tractor into the air!

Sigh...happy days!

Littigator

By the way is the guy in the black jacket just about to get his chap out and wee on it?

girv73

OMG a Grifter!

3-speeds (internal hub wasn't it?), caused tides in our living room fish tank when I parked it in the hall. Fell off mine when the gears slipped, did a somersault and woke up on the road with a triple compound fracture on my left arm that took two operations and nine weeks in plaster to not-quite fix. Get away from me with your Grifter pictures!

Back on topic: never seen a bike messenger, real or fake. I think you're making them up.

BUICK

I'm seeing a lot of 'fashion' fixy riders lately - and in general have no issue with that EXCEPT that I just don't buy that riding brakeless is any kind of good idea. Maybe they think it makes them cool rebels because it's illegal? All I know is, no matter what the cool kids are putting up on youtube from SanFran, in a city environment and going fast having no brakes is putting yourself and others at risk. If a kid steps out on you suddenly and gets injured or killed how cool would you feel? By all means do some leaning forward and get some slides going with your legs locked when it's safe to do so - get your trackstand on - but don't not have brakes because it makes you less cool!? And yes I know that leg resistance can be considered a method of braking; I just don't believe it's enough (particularly for someone relatively new to riding fixed) to be safe.

Surf-Matt

cjw wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

Surfing is an extreme example - of around 250,000 UK "surfers" about 2000 can actually surf properly - at the most. The rest just look the part.

Your right there Matt. I can't surf but because it is considered cool I wear a wetsuit and walk around with a surf board......

I sometimes notice people in Tesco staring at me - must be because I'm so cool

Errrmmm no but people wear surf CLOTHES a lot, have the "right" car (Beetles actually make crap surf cars), hair, etc and try SO hard to look like surfers. In fact if someone really looks the part, they probably can't surf and many surfers try hard NOT to look like one.

Does it really matter though? As mentioned, a lot of cyclists seem to think they look cool - mudguards are scorned, bells are removed, etc but actually most cyclists look pretty daft - me included.

cee

Attica wrote:

yee gads man, have you seen the angle of her brake levers.

She'd need to be a contortionist to stop on that thing.

Not sure if the other two actually have a gender though!

(said the man who's considering shaving his legs - still dithering folks)

those brakes are for the hardcore downhilling that she does yah!

il_principe

Who cares really. I find it quite funny when people get uppity about other people "muscling in" on "their" turf, be it a sport, hobby or that awful notion of "lifestyle."

I think theres nothing unsafe about riding fixed providing you know what you are doing - a lot of fixed riders might look fashionable, that doesn't automatically mean they don't know what they are doing. I've hardly seen any badly ridden fixed bikes (but then I don't hang around in Shorebitch) however I see badly ridden hybrids, mtbs and roadies pretty much every day.

lost_in_thought

The whole reason I ride a fixed is the ease of maintenance, there's precious little that can go wrong with my preciousssss (teeheehee!).

Its not for fashion, but for practicality...

camvaile

Well put jashburnham. My sentiments exactly!

patchy

I'm a fakenger and proud of it. Got me spesh langster (nearly new), me crumpler courier bag, howies gear from head to foot...

i care not for your jibes. Flame on.

the_hundredth_idiot

Surf-Matt wrote:

Lets face it, cycle couriering has become "cool" and anything that's cool will be emulated.

Surfing is an extreme example - of around 250,000 UK "surfers" about 2000 can actually surf properly - at the most. The rest just look the part.

Weird, though. Can you imagine if White Van Man became an object of cool for car drivers? BMW drivers would start wearing scruffy paint splattered jeans, rolling up a copy of the Daily Star and wedging it on their dashboard. They'd replace their sweet sounding engine with something that sounded awful and took a lot of effort to get going to any sort of speed. And they'd start driving like even bigger tw4ts than they currently do.

Emulating cycle couriers as paradigms of cool just does not make sense.

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Im I the only one that thinks courier-ing is a dream job? Ive always wanted to do it. An entire day on your bike, 5 days a week and being paid for it. Sounds good to me.

Bikerbaboon

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Im I the only one that thinks courier-ing is a dream job? Ive always wanted to do it. An entire day on your bike, 5 days a week and being paid for it. Sounds good to me.

Dodgeing crazy taxies always getting hassled about getting to your next drop of or pick up quicker by dispatch getting in cr@p for haveing a wet paccage ( no giggleing at the back)
sounds like a deam to me too..... I goingto keep my riding for fun time thanks

il_principe

Pay is rubbish as well... would be nice to ride a bike for a living though, or at least work in the industry. Limited opp in the UK I guess.

passout

We don't have them in Preston (No honestly, we don't).
A Southern / Yorkshire thing?

Max_Man

I think I'm a wannabe 'fakenger'.....

andrewgturnbull

SecretSam wrote:

The twonk I saw was running one brake but could freewheel, therefore was not riding fixed. Ergo, he was braking the law.

Braking the law? That's some sort of wierd oxymoronic typo...

andrewgturnbull

Hi again.

Two random thoughts:

- Courier bags for commuting - why? Ok they're more accessible, but so what? I put my sandwiches in my rucsac before I leave the house, and leave them there until I get to the office. I tried one once and the damn thing kept swinging all over the place. Rucsacs carry more weight, better.

- If I'm riding my track bike, the one I ride on the track like it's designed for... then I meet a courier riding a track bike on the road - which one of is faking it?

Cheers, Andy

ps I really have no probem fakengers, wannabe euro pros riding triples, commuters with DH bikes and full face helmets, or anyone else pedalling something on wheels. I'm with H G Wells - "Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I have hope for the human race"

2wheelzgood

I agree with Jash and Andew here.

I don't care for tagging people as fakengers. Round here there are precious few courriers ( one or two outfits in town I think, and not many single/fixed riders.

I have been using rolled up trousers recently so I don't have to put them in a bag. I sometimes don't wear a cycling top cos I'm not going only for a ride and don't want to get changed or am out on a ride with the intention of going to the pub too.. I use a shoulder bag thing which I've stitched an additional strap to and use it as opposed to a rucksack. No it's nto waterproof and si smaller, but my back is so much cooler for it. And it's my fave bag with a nice design (not Rapha).

The guys I know who ride fixed in Leeds can look a bit fashionable but they are not trying to emulate messengers and can actually ride. and well. some are brakeless but are far better riders than me, making better progress, safely. yep it probably looks daft and dangerous to those who don't know though. granted.

I've been riding single speed on my converted hybrid for 5-6 months and have all sorts of bike computers, mudguards, bell, lights and aerobars. My new bike is a a sleek track bike and will stay so, with just a front brake. doesn't make me a different person though does it. and it doesn't make me a worse rider if my bar tape is white.

I have a flip flop hub but will keep it fixed as my hybrid is free. But I could swap it. However there is no place to fit a rear brake. TBH I wouldn't have a problem. I hardly ever use my rear anyway on the hybrid on the road (since going though a rim super fast, I've changed my style to how it SHOULD be done. so much dirt kicks up into the rear that the rims get worn super if you brake too much with the back).

Loads of people don't have pedal reflectors. now until recently riding behind a bike with them at night, I didn't know how good they actually are. I think not having thse at night is a far more serious infringement of the law than a back brake missing.

IMHO most freewheel riders will be quite competent (unlike those with stock pedals) so they will know how to brake or will be planning ahead (don't give me stuff about kids walking out.. I'm an advanced motorbiker too and these things can be anticipated or at least you should expect it in certain places).

I would personally get more worried about the car drivers using mobiles, they'll do you much more damage than a poorly ridden freewheel bike if either hits you.

rant. over.

toshmund

Tried to do your survey. Could not find, I have a fixed gear and do not care what you think of me. Live and let live, but some people do try the patience...

So disappointing when you do not outgrow peer group pressure, don't worry happens around about the same time as puberty.

saveswalking

the original fakewhatever probably goes back to the 'Mountain Bike' - 21 gears ffs ! - and those people kitting themselves out in all the gear (expense no problem) to 'do battle' on the mean city streets and they never appear to be enjoying cycling. At least the fakengers are sold the idea from observing their peers and what is around them on a day to day basis and learning building up their bikes from the ground up - yeah learning DIY ethos. .Once again big business is attempting to muslce in and sell back the idea - the creativity involved - to the public.

Marketing sh!t. :evil:

sw