Are MTBs losing out to road bikes

Chunkers1980

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Being a cyclist through and through, in traffic whilst driving I stick to the middle of the road more than the curb side. Allows push bikes through more easily and annoys motorbikes who seem to think that have a god given right to filter. How about wait your turn like the rest of us?

But why should they? If there is space to get through? Saying queue up like everyone else is just out of spite that they might get ahead of you. It's that kind of attitude which causes motorists to go on rants at cyclists so I would have expected better on a cycling forum.

You've taken all that wrong.

I'm not saying they shouldn't. I'm saying it is not their right to do so at all costs, there is a time and a place and not to squeeze past my wing mirror by a cm or pop out as I'm on coming and pop back in at the last very last second.

markhewitt1978

Sure; rant withdrawn

rockmonkeysc

Chunkers1980 wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Being a cyclist through and through, in traffic whilst driving I stick to the middle of the road more than the curb side. Allows push bikes through more easily and annoys motorbikes who seem to think that have a god given right to filter. How about wait your turn like the rest of us?

But why should they? If there is space to get through? Saying queue up like everyone else is just out of spite that they might get ahead of you. It's that kind of attitude which causes motorists to go on rants at cyclists so I would have expected better on a cycling forum.

You've taken all that wrong.

I'm not saying they shouldn't. I'm saying it is not their right to do so at all costs, there is a time and a place and not to squeeze past my wing mirror by a cm or pop out as I'm on coming and pop back in at the last very last second.

Could you move out of the way fast enough to not hold up police/paramedic/blood/fire motorcycles in an emergency?

Chunkers1980

Not sure what your point is there?

rockmonkeysc

If you're deliberately blocking motorcycles from filtering through traffic then an emergency services motorcycle (which has big panniers making it extra wide) won't be able to get past and if you are in stationary traffic can you move out of the way?

bennett_346

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If you're deliberately blocking motorcycles from filtering through traffic then an emergency services motorcycle (which has big panniers making it extra wide) won't be able to get past and if you are in stationary traffic can you move out of the way?

They can use the other side of the road. Chances are with panniers a big motorbike isn't going to fit through much normal traffic anyway.

Chunkers1980

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If you're deliberately blocking motorcycles from filtering through traffic then an emergency services motorcycle (which has big panniers making it extra wide) won't be able to get past and if you are in stationary traffic can you move out of the way?

I didn't day I deliberately block motorbikes, I said as a cyclist I tend to leave more room up the inside rather than the outside for motorbikes and alike (much like I'd imagine pure motor cyclists would do in reverse).

Emergency things tend to have loud and bright things warning they are coming. When they do I select the appropriate place to manoeuvre to and do so when safe for all around.

ilovedirt

Chunkers1980 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

If you're deliberately blocking motorcycles from filtering through traffic then an emergency services motorcycle (which has big panniers making it extra wide) won't be able to get past and if you are in stationary traffic can you move out of the way?

I didn't day I deliberately block motorbikes, I said as a cyclist I tend to leave more room up the inside rather than the outside for motorbikes and alike (much like I'd imagine pure motor cyclists would do in reverse).

Emergency things tend to have loud and bright things warning they are coming. When they do I select the appropriate place to manoeuvre to and do so when safe for all around.

I knew what you meant, I think rockmonkey is just using up his quota of stupid for the day.

Prowlus

Getting back to the topic , I do see lots of my lbs pandering more to roadies .
last week in Cycle Surgery West Hampstead , 80% of the bikes are all either road bikes and hybrids whilst mtb's are confined into a little scant corner downstairs in the basement near the workshop . I had actually popped in to look for a good lightweight full susser and I was told bluntly by the mechanic "You won't find many places that sell full sussers around london. Everyone wants a road or hybrid nowadays".
Ironically at that time though , I had just got back from Richmond park testing my new gopro hero 3 + black on my now departed Scott Ransom and during a run , I encountered a road block thanks to a tree surgeon .
Saw a couple of roadies patiently waiting for the road to be cleared but I decided to demonstrate what a MTB can do that they can't XD

Skip to 4:26 to see it in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRbA2lBWr24

njee20

A Ransom in Richmond Park? Rad.

The mechanic was right, that's common sense, why would people in a large city want to buy mountain bikes? He just knows the target market.

Prowlus

njee20 wrote:

A Ransom in Richmond Park? Rad.

.

Yeah if you know what a Ransom looks like you are bound to turn heads but seeing the look on those roadies faces as i flash by off road and they can't was priceless . When I reached the cafe pitstop at the end , a small crowd of spandex roadies started staring at it as if it was an alien spaceship and asking me how i could ride such a monster .
Unfortunately those days are over and this is what replaced my Ransom

http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/10715085/

Kowalski675

bennett_346 wrote:

What is the difference between filtering and lane splitting?

If the traffic is stationery or very slow moving it's filtering. If the traffic is moving faster it's lane splitting. As I said, it's a fine line between the two, and a matter of individual interpretation, rather than black and white.

If the rest of us can wait in the queue, so can you.

Why should I when there's a gap big enough to fit through. Cars are queing because they have to, not becuase they want to. Anyone who sits in a traffic queue on two wheels is a numpty. One time riding down to Hampshire a few years ago there was a massive tailback past Newbury (caused by retarded car drivers rubbernecking at the accident and 12 mile traffic queue on the opposite carriageway). Should I have sat at the back of that queue for hours (caused by idiot card drivers) when I could fit down the middle and be on my way? Of course not - that would be utterly stupid. By your logic then cyclists should sit at the back of traffic queues too.

Kowalski675

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Being a cyclist through and through, in traffic whilst driving I stick to the middle of the road more than the curb side. Allows push bikes through more easily and annoys motorbikes who seem to think that have a god given right to filter. How about wait your turn like the rest of us?

The actions of a mindless selfish idiot - "I'm not going anywhere, so why should you be able to?". Why should they wait when there's a gap wide enough to fit through, and the legal right to do so. And why, by your reasoning, shouldn't the cyclist wait too? :roll: I look forward to the day you need to purchase a very expensive new wing mirror when you annoy the wrong person.

njee20

He's leaving room for cyclists on the nearside, at the expense of space for motorbikes on the offside. He's being anything but selfish, he's just not being accommodating of 'your kind'.

I look forward to the day you need to purchase a very expensive new wing mirror when you annoy the wrong person.

Aaah yes, utterly hilarious. Personally I'd find it funnier when that twat t-bones a car and removes himself from the gene pool. Side splitting. :roll:

Chunkers1980

Er, no it is not, they should wait if there is not space to go through.

I'm a cyclist so when in the car I leave more room down the inside for cyclists.

If a motorbike hits my wing mirror then they must stop and exchange details as they have effectively crashed into me.

The cyclist will not have to wait as I will have left enough room up the inside for them to easily pass.

njee20

No no, motorcyclists do no wrong, and if your wing mirror was struck by one it's your fault for putting it in their way. Have you learnt nothing? lol. :roll:

SlipSpace

Kowalski675 wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Why should they wait when there's a gap wide enough to fit through, and the legal right to do so. And why, by your reasoning, shouldn't the cyclist wait too? :roll: I look forward to the day you need to purchase a very expensive new wing mirror when you annoy the wrong person.

Easy to be all macho and indignant and smash someones mirror when you can just piss off and not face the consequences isn't it. :roll:

cooldad

SlipSpace wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Why should they wait when there's a gap wide enough to fit through, and the legal right to do so. And why, by your reasoning, shouldn't the cyclist wait too? :roll: I look forward to the day you need to purchase a very expensive new wing mirror when you annoy the wrong person.

Easy to be all macho and indignant and smash someones mirror when you can just wee-wee off and not face the consequences isn't it. :roll:

Quote fail.

I think it is Cowlolski that is indignant, not Chunkers.

SlipSpace

cooldad wrote:

Quote fail.

I think it is Cowlolski that is indignant, not Chunkers.

Indeed it is. Not sure what happened there, sorry Chunkers :oops:

Chunkers1980

It's ok. I can be but not in this case, so knew who you were getting at.

bennett_346

Kowalski675 wrote:

Why should I when there's a gap big enough to fit through. Cars are queing because they have to, not becuase they want to. Anyone who sits in a traffic queue on two wheels is a numpty. One time riding down to Hampshire a few years ago there was a massive tailback past Newbury (caused by retarded car drivers rubbernecking at the accident and 12 mile traffic queue on the opposite carriageway). Should I have sat at the back of that queue for hours (caused by idiot card drivers) when I could fit down the middle and be on my way? Of course not - that would be utterly stupid. By your logic then cyclists should sit at the back of traffic queues too.

Did you even read what I said? My point was if you're afraid you'll be knocked off by filtering, regardless of whose fault it is, you're still choosing to put yourself in that situation when you don't need to. If I can wait at the back in a car, so can you on a bike.

That's very different to me telling you you should always wait at the back, isn't it.

Thewaylander

And back on topic...

Not in Wales I just see Mountain bikes in my local shops.. road bikes are still considered to be something for fat middle age men going through a crisis

pesky_jones

I've worked it out - they're just going in to roadie shops. End of thread

Kowalski675

bennett_346 wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

Why should I when there's a gap big enough to fit through. Cars are queing because they have to, not becuase they want to. Anyone who sits in a traffic queue on two wheels is a numpty. One time riding down to Hampshire a few years ago there was a massive tailback past Newbury (caused by retarded car drivers rubbernecking at the accident and 12 mile traffic queue on the opposite carriageway). Should I have sat at the back of that queue for hours (caused by idiot card drivers) when I could fit down the middle and be on my way? Of course not - that would be utterly stupid. By your logic then cyclists should sit at the back of traffic queues too.

Did you even read what I said? My point was if you're afraid you'll be knocked off by filtering, regardless of whose fault it is, you're still choosing to put yourself in that situation when you don't need to. If I can wait at the back in a car, so can you on a bike.

That's very different to me telling you you should always wait at the back, isn't it.

Know one? You clearly are one, according to the drivel coming from your keyboard, I assume that's you in the right of the picture? Yes, I read what you said. Did you? Seems not. You clearly said that you deliberately block people from filtering because you're a selfish idiot who thinks they should wait in a queue, just because you have to. Why should bikes wait in a queue when there's a space big enough to fit through (perfectly legally)? Now that would be moronic. As is your statement that you allow room for cyclists, but deliberately block bikes. Why shouldn't the cyclist wait at the back of the queue too, according to your logic. :roll: And who said they were afraid they'd be knocked off filtering? Where did you get that from, lol? I guess you think that when you're stuck in your car behind some bellend doing 40 in a national limit and can't get past that bikes should sit and wait behind you too. I love internet idiots, life would be so much less amusing without you...

Kowalski675

SlipSpace wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Why should they wait when there's a gap wide enough to fit through, and the legal right to do so. And why, by your reasoning, shouldn't the cyclist wait too? :roll: I look forward to the day you need to purchase a very expensive new wing mirror when you annoy the wrong person.

Easy to be all macho and indignant and smash someones mirror when you can just wee-wee off and not face the consequences isn't it. :roll:

Never said I'd do it, but some day maybe he'll annoy the kind of person who will. Or who'll just smack him one for being a dick

Kowalski675

cooldad wrote:

SlipSpace wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Why should they wait when there's a gap wide enough to fit through, and the legal right to do so. And why, by your reasoning, shouldn't the cyclist wait too? :roll: I look forward to the day you need to purchase a very expensive new wing mirror when you annoy the wrong person.

Easy to be all macho and indignant and smash someones mirror when you can just wee-wee off and not face the consequences isn't it. :roll:

Quote fail.

I think it is Cowlolski that is indignant, not Chunkers.

Not in the slightest, just being amused by one of the resident numpties.

Angus Young

Kowalski675 wrote:

People who want to cycle on roads (god knows, I don't, but if that's their thing then it's entirely up to them) need to remember that, rightly or wrongly, when it comes to the traffic occupying those roads safely, they're the bottom of the food chain, and need to assume that everyone is out to kill them, for their own good. At the end of the day, if it all gets messy, they're the ones who are going to get squished, not the car driver who wasn't looking, or the one who flattened them after they ignored a red light, or the truck driver who squashed them because they stupidly rode up his left side blind spot when he was about to turn left. Even if they haven't done anything stupid like that (and we all know that many do) and it's entirely someone else's fault, (self)righteous indignation isn't going to make hospital food taste any better.

While, on a practical level, I take the general thrust of your point, the actual answer is that drivers need to be less crap at driving. Fact is, if you're not taking account of cyclists' frailty then you're simply a bad driver. Ironically, those who cut the finest margins around cyclists are probably the most convinced of their superior driving skills.

As for the sentiment encapsulated in "god knows, I don't, but if that's their thing then it's entirely up to them", why should cyclists be bullied off the roads?

spongtastic

Going all the way to the front, I think the difference is that we've had Hoy and Wiggins with great success and publicity which has generated interest in road cycling, which as a sport isn't that difficult for a MAMIL to take part in on something costing £500 (and I say take part not compete). However there's been very little major advertising in the mainstream for MTBs and somebody getting into the sport will probably be put off by what they have seen, which on TV is things like the Red Bull series featuring people performing 50ft jumps across rock strewn river beds.

Angus Young

spongtastic wrote:

... and somebody getting into the sport will probably be put off by what they have seen, which on TV is things like the Red Bull series featuring people performing 50ft jumps across rock strewn river beds.

While true, I've never understood that kind of attitude. Seeing stuff like that fires me up and to see it as off putting is sort of defeatist.

pesky_jones

Angus Young wrote:

spongtastic wrote:

... and somebody getting into the sport will probably be put off by what they have seen, which on TV is things like the Red Bull series featuring people performing 50ft jumps across rock strewn river beds.

While true, I've never understood that kind of attitude. Seeing stuff like that fires me up and to see it as off putting is sort of defeatist.

The attitude of self preservation?