is there a mountain bike road bike divide?

mudcow007

noticed on my ride in, in the morning. riders on mountain bikes will give the good ol' nod of "top of the morning to you" but riders on road bikes (and generally clad in lycra, wearing jerseys) will just ride on and ignore.....?!

i must point out im riding a mountain bike on skinnies

as far as im concerned we are all just one big wheeling family

notsoblue

Nah, I get acknowledgements from road cyclists all the time. Hybrid riders and mountainbikers are the grumpy ones!

sketchley

I ride a hybrid. Judging by the reaction I get when I say Good Morning or Good Evening to fellow cyclists in London of all shapes and sizes you would think I had the pox. Yesterday one even went as far as saying "excuse me what did you just say" in a very agressive manner, clearly thinking I just criticised him for something, his body langauge then changed completely when I said I was just saying "Good Evening".

nicklouse

it is not the bike.

notsoblue

Sketchley wrote:

I ride a hybrid. Judging by the reaction I get when I say Good Morning or Good Evening to fellow cyclists in London of all shapes and sizes you would think I had the pox. Yesterday one even went as far as saying "excuse me what did you just say" in a very agressive manner, clearly thinking I just criticised him for something, his body langauge then changed completely when I said I was just saying "Good Evening".

Just out of interest, how many times do you say "Good Morning" or "Good Evening" on each commute, and how do you choose who to say it to?

Kieran_Burns

Snob (Roadie)
Freak (SS)
No-knee Freak (FG)
Perve (CX)
Clueless (MTB)
Beginner (Hybrid)
Grandad (Folder)
Flat cap man (Tourer)
Child (BMX)
Porn-Star (Recumbent)

nicklouse

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Snob (Roadie)
Freak (SS)
No-knee Freak (FG)
Perve (CX)
Clueless (MTB)
Beginner (Hybrid)
Grandad (Folder)
Flat cap man (Tourer)
Child (BMX)
Porn-Star (Recumbent)

that makes me a Clueless Snob Freak Child No-knee Freak.

Kieran_Burns

nicklouse wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Snob (Roadie)
Freak (SS)
No-knee Freak (FG)
Perve (CX)
Clueless (MTB)
Beginner (Hybrid)
Grandad (Folder)
Flat cap man (Tourer)
Child (BMX)
Porn-Star (Recumbent)

that makes me a Clueless Snob Freak Child No-knee Freak.

See. It works

SimonAH

It's odd, it's cliques within cliques as far as I can tell.

Roadies nod at roadies, MTBs at MTBs. Hybrids at nobody ('cos they're just grimly trying to get to the office) and folders are a (weird) breed apart. Downhill MTBs being ridden on the street are piloted by crack distribution agents who are too wired and paranoid to notice that you've nodded, let alone reply and Recumbents are too smug to nod ( their headrests prevent it anyway)

Just kidding, though I think there is an element of truth in this - all I really know is I personally will continue to nod at all and sundry, and if they are too ignorant to respond then feck 'em.

Marcus_C

That seems to make me a perve who says hello to a porn star every morning.

mudcow007

notsoblue wrote:

Just out of interest, how many times do you say "Good Morning" or "Good Evening" on each commute, and how do you choose who to say it to?

i normally go straight in with "yo brother give me some skin" an try an do a high five, or just a "morning" i say to everyone to be honest, but not everyone responds

gtvlusso

notsoblue wrote:

Nah, I get acknowledgements from road cyclists all the time. Hybrid riders and mountainbikers are the grumpy ones!

+1

Generally find those that are not into cycling (Hybrids and cheap mtb commuters) don't give any acknowledgement of comeradery.

Kieran_Burns

Marcus_C wrote:

That seems to make me a perve who says hello to a porn star every morning.

Are you on the wrong forum?

Marcus_C

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Marcus_C wrote:

That seems to make me a perve who says hello to a porn star every morning.

Are you on the wrong forum?

Yes, probably, although the statement stands.

georgee

generally everyone is poor, but I love a cheery good morning to a triathlete, they never say hello, it looks like it drives them mad.

sketchley

notsoblue wrote:

Sketchley wrote:

I ride a hybrid. Judging by the reaction I get when I say Good Morning or Good Evening to fellow cyclists in London of all shapes and sizes you would think I had the pox. Yesterday one even went as far as saying "excuse me what did you just say" in a very agressive manner, clearly thinking I just criticised him for something, his body langauge then changed completely when I said I was just saying "Good Evening".

Just out of interest, how many times do you say "Good Morning" or "Good Evening" on each commute, and how do you choose who to say it to?

I try to do it a couple of times on each journey (new year resolution, don't be a grumpy cyclist). Normally when stopped at Traffic lights and I make eye contact with person along side me. Never happens the other way round.

That being said did have a nice chat about the cold weather with a gentlemen on a richard virenque peugoet this morning at Tooting Broadway after saying good morning.

Stevo_666

Of course there is, they are in different forums....

sketchley

SimonAH wrote:

It's odd, it's cliques within cliques as far as I can tell.

Roadies nod at roadies, MTBs at MTBs. Hybrids at nobody ('cos they're just grimly trying to get to the office) and folders are a (weird) breed apart. Downhill MTBs being ridden on the street are piloted by crack distribution agents who are too wired and paranoid to notice that you've nodded, let alone reply and Recumbents are too smug to nod ( their headrests prevent it anyway)

Just kidding, though I think there is an element of truth in this - all I really know is I personally will continue to nod at all and sundry, and if they are too ignorant to respond then feck 'em.

Oh I did have a nice chat with a bloke on a recumbent near waterloo the other morning... Damm I think I'm disproving myself......

sketchley

gtvlusso wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Nah, I get acknowledgements from road cyclists all the time. Hybrid riders and mountainbikers are the grumpy ones!

+1

Generally find those that are not into cycling (Hybrids and cheap mtb commuters) don't give any acknowledgement of comeradery.

I ride a Hybrid (although I would prefer to call it a flat bar road bike), I'm into cycling both as a participant and as a sports fan, one of best holidays ever was following TDF around, I also say good morning etc to lots of people on all kinds of bikes and do fell comeradary with other cyclists.... I don't quiet get the "you ride a hybrid so you are not into cycling" comments.....

Harry182

Instead of cycling I took the train to work and didn't get in until after lunchtime. Having to say 'hi' to all the other passengers took ages and don't even get me started on greeting all the other pedestrians...

V5ade

While riding my MTB I'll always acknowedge other cyclists, other MTB's always respond, however it seems 50\50 with the roadies, and I've even had the occasional glare in return!
I'm still not going to tar all roadies with the same brush, and I'll continue to be friendly

getonyourbike

I ride a mtb with a slick at the rear and a worn down mtb tyre on the front (front end wahsing out). I give a nod to all the other cyclists I see, whether a roadie, hybrid or whatever but the people you see on supermarket specials mtbs don't say anything. Most other people give a nod back, including roadies

Initialised

I can keep up with the other ppl on MTB and Hybrids, no point engaging anyone on a proper roadie in SCR. That's the divide.

hatbeard

most people on the SE commute are miserable fecks. it always feels like people have a me vs everything else mentality rather than an we're all in it together sense of camaraderie.

you do get the occasional nice person but most people are selfish to the point that a guy I slowed to allow to pull out in front of me when a cab pulled over unexpectedly last night looked genuinely surprised when I said 'go on mate' and tapped the brakes because people would rather ride over you than wait for half a second.

londoners eh? tsk...

welkman

I always get a nod from the only other commuter on my route and I return the favour with a wave. In the summer I often get large numbers of Dutch cyclists passing me on their way to or from the Harwich to the Hook Ferry, these are either very friendly chatty types or very grumpy. Last year about 50 dutch bikes passed me on a large club tour or audax type event and every one of them said hello, even though they were battling a savage headwind.

sketchley

Riding in the surrey hill last summer, all cyclist where nodding and waving at each other, London commuter cycling is different.

notsoblue

Sketchley wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Nah, I get acknowledgements from road cyclists all the time. Hybrid riders and mountainbikers are the grumpy ones!

+1

Generally find those that are not into cycling (Hybrids and cheap mtb commuters) don't give any acknowledgement of comeradery.

I ride a Hybrid (although I would prefer to call it a flat bar road bike), I'm into cycling both as a participant and as a sports fan, one of best holidays ever was following TDF around, I also say good morning etc to lots of people on all kinds of bikes and do fell comeradary with other cyclists.... I don't quiet get the "you ride a hybrid so you are not into cycling" comments.....

Well I was kidding really. I ride a hybrid fairly often when I don't want to break a sweat or I have to carry heavy stuff.

If I'm cycling outside of London, the number of cyclists seems to be far less, so its a bit of a novelty to come across one. So I'll nod or say "Hi", or "Good Morning". But in London, on the commute, passing dozens of people, whats the point in saying good morning to every single one of them? Other cyclists will often acknowledge eachother at traffic lights etc... Some of them are even quite chatty. I just don't get the impression that others seem to that cyclists, or a particular group of cyclists are grumpy.

Harry182 wrote:

Instead of cycling I took the train to work and didn't get in until after lunchtime. Having to say 'hi' to all the other passengers took ages and don't even get me started on greeting all the other pedestrians...

I bet most of them were grumpy and didn't even respond, right? Whats wrong with people?

Butterd2

I think roadies compete to be as efficient as possible in their acknowledgements. I now have my "Hi good morning, how are you doing, by the way nice bike" down to a 2-3mm flick of the little finger on my right hand.
If you don't know what your looking for it's easy to miss.

Kieran_Burns

I actually so rarely SEE another cyclist on my commute that when we do meet, we stand and point at each other until we pass.

notsoblue

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I actually so rarely SEE another cyclist on my commute that when we do meet, we stand and point at each other until we pass.

Until you pass? So you're both just standing there pointing indefinitely?

Kieran_Burns

notsoblue wrote:

Kieran_Burns wrote:

I actually so rarely SEE another cyclist on my commute that when we do meet, we stand and point at each other until we pass.

Until you pass? So you're both just standing there pointing indefinitely?

joke <

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> you