Are Motorized Bicycles the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

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BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
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Maine
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

Well Happy, I would like to suggest that by focusing on & quoting only the first half of my statement, you may have missed the point.

it just annoys me mostly because their aggressive indifference makes all bicyclists look bad, folks will never even notice the passive pedaler cruising along happily, the one who though not required by law - moves over as much as they can to let folks pass, be it out of courtesy, a simple sense of self preservation - or both...
I've never spoken to her and probably never will, we've both places to be & I'm usually late (ironic as that may be w/the motor an' all)... but I'd like to thank her for reminding me of some things I'd nearly forgotten, how much a simple smile will serve you, how far a little courtesy will carry you, that not all 'dexters are pretentious pricks just as not all MBers are weedwacker wackos... but it might take only the one to change public perception. Most importantly - it makes no nevermind at all what you wear, ride or how much you spent, it's what you do that earns real respect.
Naturally not all bicyclists are so indifferent to others that they would at best inconvenience and at worst endanger others, but as a bicyclist myself I must say the dubious practice of "claiming the lane" when you simply cannot keep up with the rest of traffic, then ignoring, even refusing to begrudge even a modicum of additional room to allow traffic to pass safely even for a moment - this is what is noticed and resented by many ...and remembered.

We all share the roads, the keyword being share.
 
Sep 18, 2011
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Tyler Texas
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

Like I said, roadies are jocks of a sort, sometimes they are doing training stuff and establishing pecking order for later.
I wonder if they have been threatened with tickets for riding or racing in the bike lane in a group, by NIMBY joggers or people playing with kids on the paths.
Most of these people aren't real racers, they're posers. They ride VERY slowly! I would say that most of them never exceed 10 mph. I have even seen them having their children ride to their left in a car lane instead of the bike lane.

The joggers have a wide sidewalk next to the bike lane, so there's no need to jog in the road, and children don't play on these streets.

BTW, the posted speed limits on these streets that they're blocking traffic on is 45 mph.
 

happyvalley

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Jul 24, 2008
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Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

I don't think it's very fair to bash on the very expensive road bikes. These guys buy those bikes so that they can ride 100+ miles on an average day. They don't use these bikes to commute either. It's simply that their hobby is to ride and they find a great joy in it. Many compete too.
I personally know quite a few roadies who do commute, but anyway, it's refreshing to read a mature opinion. I don't get the bashing either. I'll say hats off to any man that can get on a bicycle and pedal 100 miles. Plus, I've never been put into a ditch or worried about being hit by someone on a bicycle.

Interesting dynamic, this need to bash of other bicyclists. I frequent a number of cycling forums and never see any mention of motored bikes or the riders who use them.
 
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BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

Absolutely, I've nothing but the deepest respect for the serious riders, the ones with legs like tree trunks, the ones that are doing what they do because they love it for what it is... thing is, they're not the ones that folks are referring too & I think the differences between the "weekend warrior" buying their way into the clique & the ones that actually need & use the equipment are obvious, as are the differences in riding etiquette.
 
Sep 18, 2011
296
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Tyler Texas
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

Absolutely, I've nothing but the deepest respect for the serious riders, the ones with legs like tree trunks, the ones that are doing what they do because they love it for what it is... thing is, they're not the ones that folks are referring too & I think the differences between the "weekend warrior" buying their way into the clique & the ones that actually need & use the equipment are obvious, as are the differences in riding etiquette.
I think another difference is where they ride. The posers (around here) block traffic on city streets to get attention.
The serious riders are out on the open roads where they aren't stuck in stop and go traffic.
 

NunyaBidness

Active Member
Jun 29, 2008
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memphis tn
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

I was a commuter for several years. I always ride to the right of the right hand lane but far enough out to avoid road hazards and road trash. This puts me where a cars passenger tires would normally run. This means any cars behind me would have to exit MY lane in order to safely pass me. And understand this, it don't matter if the person in the car behind me is late or wtfever, it IS MY LANE. If they want to pass me then they should do it in a manner that does NOT put me at risk of bodily injury or worse.

I am not going to ride on main city streets but the roads I do ride have more than one lane going each way, unless I'm in a neighborhood. I ride for my own safety, not for some cagers imagined right to the roadway. If anyone don't like the way I ride I suggest they take public transportation.
 

KCvale

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Feb 28, 2010
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Phoenix,AZ
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

My younger sister is a competitive Spandexer, well she was for years, we are both getting pretty old now, but she even completed an Iron Man race.
She thinks the bikes I build are cool as **** ;-}

I have nothing against the Spandex crowd and give them a friendly nod when I wizz past, but I have met one of those spandexers from ****, he owned the tiny bicycle shop around the corner from my old house.

I always went to the big bike shop the other direction and they were all accepting and very interested in the bikes I build, but one day I just happened to pop a master link right by the spandex mans shop and went in to get one.

He didn't know me and hadn't seen what I rode up on, and with the chain broke the motor was off.
I just asked for a 410 master link and he kept asking me how many gears.
He couldn't seem to grasp that I didn't have a derailleur bike with a thin chain so I said just grab a couple biggest ones you have and lets go outside and look!

I was astonished, no flabbergasted, at the look of disdain he gave me when he seen I had a motor and it didn't end there...
He spent the next 15 minuets 'scolding' me and asking things like if I ride on the sidewalk like I was some sort of hillbilly idiot, and bragging that he pedaled to and from that shop 10 miles each way every day.

When he finally rang up the masterlink (which he charged me like $7.50 for) I gave him my best look of disdain and said something along the lines of...
For a bicycle man you sure are a poor business man. I live in the neighborhood behind this shop, I build these bikes, and Goordy's bikes is just down the street and you treat a new customer like this?
Don't worry, I'll never be back, and I never did go back.

I do agree that how your bike looks and operates plays a HUGE factor in how we are perceived, as much as how we ride them does, but some Spandex will simply never accept.

Someone mentioned this a few pages back and talked about the difference between a $300 Wally build and a $1200 build, and asked what a $1200 build looked like.

Here are a couple $1200 range builds of mine but overall it's a good bike, clean cable work, pretty quiet, no leaks, and of course it hauls ass with gears to keep up in traffic.







Nothing but smiles and thumbs up from everyone when I am riding one of those.

But then there are the total redneck builder/riders, I know one, great guy but I won't ride with him.

His bike is his only form of transportation yet everything is redneck fitting this and that together with zero attention to aesthetics or even reliability, kind of like using duct tape to fix that broken car fan belt until you can get to a gas station for a new one to replace it, but he does it for everything and never actually stops and fixes it with new stuff.

Then he does performance enhancements, which to him is gutting his muffler so it's a straight pipe and not running any air cleaner so when he stops it drips a nice mess wherever he parks and of course smokes as he rides.
When he is here he has to park it in the dirt and if it needs some repair it's done outside too.
(you can't make this **** up)

He hates spandex and couldn't care less how many people he pisses off riding like a madman everywhere all the time either.

Granted those are two extremes but that is what we face as a group and what might explain the vast difference between how people in your neck of the woods see our bikes, and others elsewhere.

In my humble little 1000 miles on one experience, if you take pride in your ride and operate it in a friendly way to others on the roadway, people are pretty accepting of you and act in a friendly way.
Or maybe that just me ;-}
 

happycheapskate

New Member
Nov 26, 2009
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Rockwall TX
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

re: 10mph roadies. Maybe they are Critical Mass or something. Is it on Friday afternoon about 5pm? That is their usual time.

Maybe make a youtube video about it or just ask one of them who they are (what group/org etc). If they are so slow, just pedal up and ask them.
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
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Indianapolis
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

...Naturally not all bicyclists are so indifferent to others that they would at best inconvenience and at worst endanger others, but as a bicyclist myself I must say the dubious practice of "claiming the lane" when you simply cannot keep up with the rest of traffic, then ignoring, even refusing to begrudge even a modicum of additional room to allow traffic to pass safely even for a moment - this is what is noticed and resented by many ...and remembered.

We all share the roads, the keyword being share.
I think the ones were most frustrated with are the "rotten apples" that spoil the bunch. Indy has some super-serious cyclists, and they've never (to my knowledge) presented a problem, any more than our serious MBers tend to present any problems. Maturity and common sense go a long way, with motorists and cyclists alike. We must keep our heads and remind ourselves that the problem ones tend to stick out, but they're not ALL like that.
 

biknut

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Sep 28, 2010
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Dallas
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

I spotted a couple of hillbillies out riding their motor bicycles today. Actually it was me and Coaster lol. We were on the 2 bikes that didn't cost $5000, and ours had motors.

 

happycheapskate

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Nov 26, 2009
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Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

Those look pretty good. I haven't visited this cafe yet. The hipsters rode there but I haven't heard from them in a while. They blocked me on FB because I rode my motor bicycle in their parade a couple times. Even with the motor off, some of them didn't like it. lol. It's their loss, though. I am a friendly rider who gladly fixes bikes and changes flats or offers the gratuitous spare tube to save someone's ride, just for the price of their old one to patch later and a "thank you".


I'll see ya'll sooner or later. In my little suburban town outside Dallas, most people seem ok with it, esp the bike in the photo. Quite often though they come out ahead of me from intersections because they think i'm going "10mph". I don't think they expect a guy in trousers on a comfort bike to be running 25-30 and get there quick.

Kids always seem to like it, and a lot of older people like it if they have ridden MaBs in Europe or during the fuel rationing of the 1970s. The only people that seem to have a problem about it are the nanny-staters that think I should have to pay some kind of fee or tax to ride it, or think "it's illegal bc. it has a motor on it!", plus the young guys who have to drive 60mph everywhere or they'll have a heart attack.

I've been called a "hillbilly" plenty of times, but not yet when I am riding the motorbicycles.
 
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biknut

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Sep 28, 2010
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Dallas
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

I spotted a couple of hillbillies out riding their motor bicycles today. Actually it was me and Coaster lol. We were on the 2 bikes that didn't cost $5000, and ours had motors.

Those look pretty good. I haven't visited this cafe yet. The hipsters rode there but I haven't heard from them in a while. They blocked me on FB because I rode my motor bicycle in their parade a couple times.


I've been called a "hillbilly" plenty of times, but not yet when I am riding the motorbicycles.
LOL You might want to stay off the White Rock Creek trail for a couple of days. We motored it all the way from Hillcrest to White Rock lake, and back too. Probably 20 miles round trip. I'm pretty sure those signs that said no motor vehicles didn't apply to us. We kept our speed below 20 mph. Actually I didn't hear any complaints, but that might be because of the ear plugs.

Seriously, everyone we talked to was very friendly and wanted to know about our bikes. Riding the lake road with a tail wind, we followed a guy riding almost 30 mph. He followed us to the Bicycle Cafe to ask about our bikes. He wanted to know how much they cost. I told him I had $269 in the bicycle, and $135 for the motor, plus $200 in extra accessories. He told me just his seat cost more than $200. His custom bicycle was $5500.

Then 3 old geezers about my age rode up. They joined the crowd to see our bikes. all 3 had just ridden over 25 miles from Plano, on their $5000 bicycles. They too were interested in how much our bikes cost. They started quessing, $1000? $2000? It was funny when I told them closer to $500 total.

Yep we were the hillbillies all right, but we were going to be across town, and home in about 30 minutes, and they had probably 2 1/2 hrs of hard riding ahead of them. Just call me Jethro.

ps, I resisted the impulse of telling them how nice I though their pants were.
 

mapbike

Well-Known Member
Mar 14, 2010
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Central Area of Texas
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

Hummmmm, where do I start?

Just sitting back and watching this one and now I wanted to speak my personal $0.02 from what I've seen and experienced with a couple of the topics here.

I live in a small town area, we have one bike shop which is small, I have riden one of my bikes 10+ mile to the shop from where I live a couple different times to get parts & pieces, the owner was a spandex-r for many years and serves the needs of several of those type riders we have around here, the shop owner was amazed at my MB, he did tell me he had concerns with a 30+ MPH bike if someone wasn't wearing bike helmet.....blah blah blah.....

In my area I have never come across anyone yet that didn't think my bikes were very cool or very neet as many have said, cops wave and smile, other bike riders just look at me and either wave or give me that, ( I wish I had one of those looks ).

I do understand the better than thou snob crowd as well, I have gotten that a few times when I'm cruising on my 1982 Yamaha 650 Maxim, ya know the guy that has the Harley Sportster or the Jap. made V Twins we see everywhere these days, some of them look at me like look at that hillbilly on that OLD lack of BLING bike, that doesn't bother me because Yea, my bike is 30 years old and it's not all shiny, but it only has 20,000 actual miles on it, it gets 48+mpg and it will eat most of those 800-1200 cc V Twins for lunch in the quarter mile and farther for some if I'm so inclined.

I said all of this because I believe that it really doesn't matter what we have as long as we like it, honestly who give a rats behind what a spandex-r or anyone else for that matter thinks about your bike and how you have it rigged up, engine, motor or whatever, If you can afford a $1500 bike buy it, ride it, build it, enjoy it..... if you can only afford a $100 bike buy it, ride it, build it.

It always puts a bur under my saddle when I hear people talking as if something has to cost X $$$$ amount on the upper end of things to be something that someone can justify being proud of.

I say buy what you can, build it how you can, be proud of what you have, if a spandex-r dislikes a motorized wally world rig, they aren't very likely gonna care for a $1000 bike any more, but at the end of the day........WHO FREAKING CARES...!

It's so funny to me how so many people want to be different, stand out in the crowd and be seen as the upper crust, based on what they have rather than what & who they are, many dress themselves as pretty & as expensive as they can on the outside with their personal goods inorder to cover the sad uglyness of a person they really are inside and they justify themselves in many ways by putting others down as being their lesser.

I've put over 2000 miles on the seat of my 3 bikes and not a one of them cost over $120initially, I may have $225-$250 in a couple of them before the engine cost for a total maybe $350-$400 and my bike sare very dependable, they're all comfortable & very enjoyable, to me that's all that matters.

I RIDE FOR ME......NO ONE ELSE, I HAVE NEVER NEEDED ANYONE ELSES APPROVAL ON WHAT I HAVE IN THE PAST AND I SURE AS HECK AINT GONNA CHANGE THAT NOW....!

Good people don't care what you have, they just hope you enjoy it....!


Just my $0.02 nothing more nothing less.!

Peace, map
 

happycheapskate

New Member
Nov 26, 2009
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Rockwall TX
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

re: WRL Creek trail extension. I have ridden on that before, but at off-peak hours, or else just putting along. I don't know if motor assisted bicycles are technically allowed or not, but I've putted past a few cops on there and nothing happened. They paused in their squad cars like they were checking it out, then went on their way.

WRL is kind of the Central Park of Dallas though, so you could catch trouble quick if joggers whip out their phones and lodge a complaint. A lot of people that frequent there are rich homeowners in the area, too, and lawyers and politicians abound.

$200 for a road bike seat? I don't know what catalogue they are shopping, must have got it from Richardson Bike Snob, I mean Bike Mart.

I love road bicycling, but the ferrarri wannabe bike companies are so full of hype it's puke-worthy. The Bicycling magazines are full of "Think Assymetric" ads for some ugly carbon fiber whoopdedoo that looks like it melted in the back of a hot SUV.

$5000 microwaved bike poop.

If I won this bike in a sweepstakes, I'd EBAY it for a few bucks off, and buy an old Honda MC. lol.
 
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happycheapskate

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Nov 26, 2009
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Rockwall TX
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

It might pay to make friends with roadies though. I've had lot of good friends over the years even after switching over to a hairy legged, cargo shorts wearing mtn biker. I wish I knew some rich roadies that could tell me how to make that kind of money!

Here's what I'd buy if I ever spent big $ on a bicycle again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSHWq7JP2s4 Front wheel drive reclining recumbent racing bicycle
 

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
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Dallas
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

re: WRL Creek trail extension. I have ridden on that before, but at off-peak hours, or else just putting along. I don't know if motor assisted bicycles are technically allowed or not, but I've putted past a few cops on there and nothing happened. They paused in their squad cars like they were checking it out, then went on their way.

WRL is kind of the Central Park of Dallas though, so you could catch trouble quick if joggers whip out their phones and lodge a complaint. A lot of people that frequent there are rich homeowners in the area, too, and lawyers and politicians abound.
To tell you the truth, I don't think we were breaking any laws. We were't going any faster than a lot of those expensive bicycles could, and do go.

The walkers don't like the joggers. The joggers don't like the bicycles. The bicycles don't like the motor bicycles. The motor bicycles don't............

Hey what a jip. We don't have anybody to snoot. We must be at the top of the food chain.
 

happycheapskate

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Nov 26, 2009
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Rockwall TX
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

I usually pedal-only on the main loop, but sometimes I use the motor when towing my kid trailer. People haven't seemed to get ornery about it, but some have taken pictures or made wierd faces like they couldn't figure out what it was.

In the city park near my house, most people have been amused by it and a few asked questions kindly in curiosity. People in the surrounding neighborhood have been nice when I drive around there except for one old goat who said "That's cheating" with a sour look. I told him I paid for it fair and square, and my daughter loves it. hahahha. I think next time someone gets DBaggy about it and says that, I'll say "what have you got against disabled people" just to shut them up. I don't see how it's "cheating". I think the cagers should be happy that it goes faster. hahaha
 

happycheapskate

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Nov 26, 2009
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Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

Pull a trailer with "I love my (dog breed)" stickers on it, and everybody there will adore you. lol. drn2

To tell you the truth, I don't think we were breaking any laws. We were't going any faster than a lot of those expensive bicycles could, and do go.

The walkers don't like the joggers. The joggers don't like the bicycles. The bicycles don't like the motor bicycles. The motor bicycles don't............

Hey what a jip. We don't have anybody to snoot. We must be at the top of the food chain.
 

biknut

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Sep 28, 2010
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Dallas
Re: Are MBs the Beverly Hillbillies of bicycledom?

We heard "that's cheating" about 50 times today lol.