Hipster scene

[Michielveedeebee]

Thank God for Europa, we don't have a lot of hipsters here

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Thank God for Europa, we don't have a lot of hipsters here

Yeah Belgium doesn't come to mind, now London and Milan the hipsters are running rampant.

You're not old enough yet. Let's wait and see when you're 20 something and a bit more jaded and cynical.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

Yeah Belgium doesn't come to mind, now London and Milan the hipsters are running rampant.

You're not old enough yet. Let's wait and see when you're 20 something and a bit more jaded and cynical.

What's the connection between being a 20 something and noticing hipsters?

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

What's the connection between being a 20 something and noticing hipsters?

You will have ingested more beer and cigarettes by then, which will enhance your hipster radar.

 

[Michielveedeebee]

You will have ingested more beer and cigarettes by then, which will enhance your hipster radar.

beer yes , cigarettes no

 

[Oldman]

What's the connection between being a 20 something and noticing hipsters?

You can't see the forest for the trees. Until you see the same elements of "hip" repeated, as it inevitably will; you don't recognize the cycles of fashion and behavior. Most of what passes for hip culture is a retread of lates 60s, early 70s; right down to clothes and hairstyles. It can be weird and amusing to recognize what easily influenced youth I was and wasn't.

 

[DirtyWorks]

...but if you watch something like Mash or Macaframa and are not impressed and inspired by the bike handling skills of at least half the riders showcased...

There is nothing new under the sun. Literally. What those jokers do is done better by bike trials riders. Jump into the way-back machine and dig some Hans "no way" Rey, or some Ot Pi. In the U.S. there's usually a handful of people doing trials at any given time.

I'm glad they are riding bikes. My question is why did this single-speed road stuff break off like that? The follow-on question is how to get more of them riding all kinds of bikes such that when this fad passes, we will not lose riders.

 

[fatsprintking]

There is nothing new under the sun. Literally. What those jokers do is done better by bike trials riders. Jump into the way-back machine and dig some Hans "no way" Rey, or some Ot Pi. In the U.S. there's usually a handful of people doing trials at any given time.

I'm glad they are riding bikes. My question is why did this single-speed road stuff break off like that? The follow-on question is how to get more of them riding all kinds of bikes such that when this fad passes, we will not lose riders.

Bike messengers have been using fixed wheels since day dot. We should not get them confused with hipsters. Hipsters that I see could not ride a bike to save themselves - they are interested in a look, but once this becomes too popular and they can no longer differentiate themselves with it, they will move onto some other stolen subcultural cues, that have some sort of urban angle, as hipsters are generally trendy inner city dwellers.

They propose to be "cutting edge", but in reality they just recycle other well established but not popular ideas, generally trying to pull off some sense of irony.

While hipsters like Boeing have tears running down their cardigan's when people call them out for what they are, the reality is that they are a shallow group from a sociological point of view and rather than being good for cycling they treat it like the disposable sunglasses that they all wear - once they are not trendy any more they are discarded. Crappy fixed wheelers will be replaced by smokey vespa's and cycling will be left used and abused in the corner. I feel dirty just thinking about it.

 

[Winterfold]

London has been invaded by them - but it is time for them to move on I think now that Trekalized and every other bike company sell ready-made 'custom' fixies for £500 to any old pleb and middle-aged commuter - rather than actually building your own out of scrap, which I felt was cool.

And another reason it wont last is that it is unlikely they will breed as cycling in ridiculously skinny jeans cant do much for the old chap and the sperm count.

I dont like to pi55 in any particular tribes' chips but 50 year businessmen who commute on a hybrid while wearing a dirtjump/skate style helmet are much more worthy of ridicule.

EDIT ah yes I think I am getting them a bit mixed up - messengers, fake-engers and hipsters are all a bit different. messengers are cool and generally fit and fast enough to be worthy of respect in the traffic light crit. fake-engers are tools and hipsters are probably the morons shelling out £500 for a bike they could build much better for £80 if they found a decent old Reynolds frame.

 

[Polyarmour]

Must admit I was thinking about messengers too when I made my comment. There is a messenger here who has coated his bike in zebra fur. It's an $80 bike and it looks very cool. And he can ride too.

 

[Archibald]

I would never be a hipster however the thing they have brought to cycling are the urban bike handling skills:

- The bunny hops over gutters from all angles of incidence
- That lifting the front wheel followed by lifting the back wheel over the gutter thing, don't know what it's called but I can't do it.
- Yes the trackstanding, I can't do that either.
- The simultaneous use of footpath and road as part of the journey, hopping from one to the other with no break in speed, (just like Flanders!...and legal where I come from).

I might whip them on the open road but they whip me through the CBD.

that spinning your handlebars and front wheel while riding is pretty cool too

Only true for about 2 in 50 of them. The rest are a danger to themselves and others. (upon reflection this stat is different whereever fixie riding culture is encountered. In Melbourne, Aus the scene is just really taking off right now - so the vast majority of them have only just started getting on bikes and ALSO the vast majority of them think that brakes are not cool)

strange, coz the last time I was living in Melbourne over 4 years ago, there was plenty of them about. I raced dirt crits with a guy on a fixed mtb - amazing rider

My question is why did this single-speed road stuff break off like that? The follow-on question is how to get more of them riding all kinds of bikes such that when this fad passes, we will not lose riders.

I've a singlespeed commuter. It's simply easier to maintain. It was cheap, like the budgie at £200 off ebay. Oil on the chain, and you're pretty much done. I occasionally change over the chain, chainring and rear sprocket, which is mechanics I can do - I'd be seriously f*cked trying to work out deraiillieurs, and leave that to the LBS to service the "proper" road bike, which only really goes out once a week...



As for the hipster scene, I reckon it's quite funny that folk hate them simply for just doing their own thing... Mental that someone hates them because they don't actually do anything to the individual that hates them...