Funny: "The bike snob's guide to cycling tribes"

The bike snob's guide to cycling tribes

Bearded messengers, fixed-gear freestylers, laid-back contraption captains … Eben Weiss, the razor-sharp blogger behind Bike Snob NYC, offers a merciless velo-taxonomy of two-wheeled clans.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/...

Excerpt:

The Mountain Biker
In some sense, the Mountain Biker is the Roadie's counterpart – the yang to their yin; the pepper to their salt; the Salt to their Pepa. The main difference between the Mountain Biker and the Roadie is one of terrain, though there's also a difference in attitude. As a practitioner of a much newer discipline, the vocabulary and persona of the Mountain Biker have a decidedly more modern, Western vibe than the Roadie's old-world, European sensibility. This is particularly apparent in the many surfer-esque ways they can lovingly describe dirt, such as "flowy" or "tacky" or "loose" or "gnarly". Mountain Bikers are generally also more inclusive than Roadies, which is largely due to the fact that they have a tendency to get "stoked" about things and actually seem to enjoy themselves when they ride.

While some Roadies do ride off-road as well, many are put off by the presence of distasteful things like mud, rocks, fun and a spirit of camaraderie. In fact, there's a traditional rivalry between Roadies and Mountain Bikers, which leads Mountain Bikers to do extremely irritating things like try to race Roadies who are simply out for a ride, which, if you're a Roadie, is sort of like being goaded by a hillbilly while you're browsing an art gallery.

Why other cyclists don't like them: The Mountain Biker will drive four hours to ride for one hour; they listen to Pearl Jam; they have an Adam Sandler-esque approach to cycling attire; and they're the sort of people who have very large dogs and get really into barbecuing.

Compatibility with other cyclists: They can occasionally mingle with Roadies, though they are usually betrayed by their goatees (men), unshaven legs (women), sleeveless jerseys, and helmet visors (unisex).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/...