Who’s riding road bikes these days?

[novocaine]

I'd have said hi. I wave or nod at anybody with a lid on and some that don't.

My kit at the moment is skeletons. When it's not that it's my old decathlon (before btwin) jersey with the tribal artwork that I wore for racing. I don't fit in with the crowd and or does my choice of modern road bikes.

Also, run a red light in front of me and l give you just as much abuse as a car driver, you aren't a cyclist you are a knobhead. Follow those rules of the road, it isn't likely that you'll be hit, its the next poor bustard that's trying to follow the rules that will.

 

[jim haseltine]

Bloody annoys me when other riders ignore a greeting. It doesn't sap your energy to lift a hand in greeting or even nod your head in acknowledgement does it? It's not like I expect it if you're on the rivet or climbing something steep.

 

[KermitGKona88]

But I must say not all are like that, as I said I am not exactly E-boat class, more Turpitz, as I was standing at the bus stop the other day and next to a shambles of roadworks at a fairly major junction, a chap came riding up on a nice carbon with a La vie claire top on which I happened to mention out loud. He said "Yes that's right.", I said "Hinault and Lemond rode for them.", He gave me a proper old fashioned look and said, "You know your stuff.", Then asked how to get through the debacle so I told him and off he rode and gave me a wave as he passed by again.

 

[al-onestare]

Cycling used to be fun.

It doesn't feel like it any more

Cycling is and always will be amazing.

Paying a fortune for it is not and this isn't an example to attract the next generation.

 

[pigman]

Additionally, I feel that the likes of GCN are a mixed blessing for roadies. They do some good, informative videos but, equally, they peddle a very performance-oriented view of road riding. They could do more on touring, great scenic road rides, more on the health and well-being aspects of riding, more on safety . . . But no, there's a preponderance of videos about watts used and going faster, further, harder, all of which creates a very one-dimensional view of road cycling.

This!
Absolutely correctomundo

 

[jim haseltine]

Watts. I've no idea what(!) my output is and I'm not interested - I don't have a power meter and I don't want one. I don't GPS my routes and I don't Strava.
I ride my bike and most of the time I enjoy it. From time to time I enjoy riding really hard/going fast/climbing hills and when I get home I take a look at a clock to work out about how long I was riding for to the nearest quarter hour but I don't have any personal bests to beat - I'm too old for that sort of thing now.
It's over 30 years since I raced and of all the technology and 'improvements' that have come along since then the only ones I rate are indexed gears (when they're spot on and then mainly because the levers don't slip) and clipless pedals. Electronic gears? - be they Di2 or EPS - nope, batteries. It annoys me that if I don't remember to charge my rear warning light after every ride it'll pack in part way through the next one - just want I'd love to happen with my gear changers. Out of interest I read the instructions for 'pairing' all the parts of a wireless electronic kit a while back. Having done so, I concluded that it's not something I'd want to do more than once, life is too short.
A bicycle is (or should be) a simple machine but no, let's make it as complex as we can shall we?

 

[Gtpulse]

Road riding for me is getting an hour or two in on a Sunday morning before everyone else is up. Sometimes an hour after work if I feel like it. There was a time I was out every day but with family and stuff it could be a source of irritation if it interfered in what the majority wanted to do.

I’m usually on my own, sometimes with a mate. I don’t hang about but nor do I time or measure anything. There have been times we’ve been hunted down by one of the local club rides of 20 or so riders. Often they don’t have great road skills and are literally following the pack - read knocking in to our bikes, knocking wheels, spitting on the road, unfriendly. I’m sure some of them pee and defecate themselves too to make it more “real” too!

It’s always been about the sights smells and sounds of being out in the countryside for me while enjoying riding one of my builds. That smell of bacon cooking or washing on the line when you ride in to a village if that makes sense.

 

[novocaine]

I have to admit that I do have a GPS. it doesn't make any noise though. it was free, sort off, it cost me the price of a rear wheel service for a colleague who loves to have all the kit (now approaching more bikes than me). it's great. I used it last week to ride round IOW, I planned a route, put it in and used the breadcrumbs to find my way for the most part with only marginal mistakes, if I didn't like the route I went off it and knew I could get back to it if I needed it.
saw a couple of lads get of the ferry at Yarmouth, all togged up with the latest and greatest, saw them again on the other end of the island, seems that me on my cheerful ali frame was just as quick at getting there including a pasty stop.

I got another of GPS on here for 15 quid, mainly just for the mount it came with, it doesn't have any of these bells and whistles on it, but it's still really useful for me as it means I don't have to draw the route out on a map when I get home.

power meters, DI2, plastic, that's not for me though.

 

[Jonny69]

I don't think it surprises me that modern bikes aren't appreciated here. It is a retro bike forum, after all

It's been a while since I did a sportive, but there were always groups of riders that took it very seriously. Usually club riders in club kit. London Dynamos and Dulwich Paragons seem to stick in my mind, but probably only because they were local clubs.

I'd say weekend riding over my way, west of London, is still on the rise. Numbers seem to be constantly on the way up across the board. I'm definitely seeing more and more female riders solo, paired up and riding in groups, in full kit. This is such a positive thing. Go back 10 years and I think all the female riders I knew were regular riders but did everything on their on daily bikes and I think it's a good thing to see them now on weekend rides. Same goes for non-white riders. For a while, a lot of riders you saw were overly-competitive, shouty white males (giving the rest of us a bad name). It's nice to see a decent mix now.

Age-wise, if I had to generalise... Kids and teenagers over my way are on mountain bikes and mostly interested in doing wheelies and being a pain in the ass. I think it's unlikely they'll still be riding bikes after they're old enough to ride mopeds and drive. I see a handful of 20-somethings commuting during the week, usually on pretty low-end bikes. Weekend riders are generally a bit older and mostly out in full kit and more expensive bikes. I'm definitely in the minority on a classic bike and I don't think I've ever seen anyone else in vintage kit. Definitely never seen anyone else commuting in vintage kit.

 

[torqueless]

I wonder what proportion of people in younger generations even learned to ride a bike? I'd guess it was close to 100% for my generation... but I bet it's gone down.