>>970506>you can send that same message without trying to shit over roadies Sure, kind of like how, in theory, a pro-roadie type can send the message that being a roadie is ok. But that's theory and then there's fact. The fact is, roadies are a very hostile, elitist group. This hostility comes from living in a culture in which cycling for any reason at all is perceived as a thing for children and the very poor. To the average roadie, being on a bike - any bike at all - is inherently shameful, and the only way they know how to deal with it is to broadcast their hobby status by riding the most impractical bike humanly possible, and attacking anyone who has, say, rack lugs or panniers or fenders or (gasp) steel, as being a "shitter casual" (a phrase that comes up in almost any discussion of bikes as transport). In this way, they feel they can minimize the "risk" that someone might think they are riding a bike to get somewhere, to carry groceries, or some other non-racing purpose - which in this culture is basically a sort of criminal act, like being a pedestrian.
So this is a very useful kind of counter-elitism because, to anyone not like me - that is, anyone who isn't already pro-cycling - it shows them the insanity of the whole situation. That anyone should be ashamed to ride a bike to get somewhere, or that they should prefer a bike over a cage for going to work, is completely insane. And yet, here we are, with people screaming "shitter casual" at me and insinuating that I lost my license or that I can't afford a cage (let's not even get into the twisted elitism from people that think owning a cage is some amazing accomplishment in a world where a shitbox can be had for much less than a decent commuter bike)
