[Closed] Cycling has been ruined by carbon and strava (or so says the Guardian)

I think [s]he has mental health issues and/or[/s] it's just click bait.

FTFY

Grum plus lots.
He comes across as a sad,needy whinger.

I don’t like being looked down on. I don’t like being characterised as less of a cyclist

As an old duffer who was a roadie back when it was as fashionable as leprosy I can kind of see where he's coming from. Chaingangs used to be for training and how fast you were was measured by the number of points on your license or your TT times. If you went out on a club run you were expected to ride as a group and respect the other riders, not burn them off at every opportunity. There's now a new generation who do everything [i]except [/i]race and the chaingang has become an end in itself and the place where prove your speed.

Next thing you know I'll be complaining about how the music at gigs is too loud these days and they can't even play their instruments properly 🙂

1) He's overthinking it
2) He cares about what other people think too much
3) Cycling hasn't changed that much in 10 years

4) he should get out of London more often.

Honestly it's one of those crap articles where you could swap cycling for football/golf/motorbikes/masturbation etc.

Here in Yorkshire there is that, you can SMASH it on the Leeds chaingang with the local Strava heros or you can join a load of oldies for a tootle to Bolton Abbey.

?

I know plenty of clubs/groups in London that provide the smash & the bimble. I could probably reel off half a dozen..

The writer sounds rather whiny to me!

Honestly it's one of those crap articles where you could swap cycling for football/golf/motorbikes/masturbation etc.

You could have written this some 10 or 15 years ago about running and the massive surge in popularity (though maybe without the Strava bit) along with the marketing, fashions, technology, etc.

We're only some 40 miles west of that there London and most of the riders I know and see out and about are most definitely bimblers not racers.

Sounds like a slightly entertaining whinge. But it's not difficult to escape that scene. Even if you're in London or the SE.

Anyone for audax?

But it's not difficult to escape that scene.

Most of my Strava rides are done on a 23kg bike with a basket on the front.

this guy nails it, for me, in the comments section.....

Having ridden bikes for as long as I can remember, never owned a car, commute everyday whether it be sunny or snowing, I'm happy that cycling is normal for more and more people. It pleases me greatly that I see so many more people on bikes than there were just a few years ago. It occasionally makes me wince when I seen them riding with their saddles far too low or their arse hanging out of ill-fitting clothes but generally I feel vindicated for all those times I've stated the benefits of riding. Now people are seemingly understanding that there are more ways to get around than in cars. I still get the wonder of being lost and found and finding places I've never knew existed. I also love ragging myself up big road climbs or hanging on for dear life down steep mountain bike trails. I love collecting data and finding out more about my body and riding styles, plotting new routes. I love the nerdiness of bike culture, the benefits and problems of new standards and materials. It is a great time to ride bikes. You can get whatever you want out of cycling or, like you seem to be doing, you can suck on lemons and whine about the pure old days.

People are less and less likely to talk about experiences, the things the’ve seen, the places they’ve been, the fun and epic hardship they’ve experienced.

He obviously needs a fat bike.

I think if your enjoyment of cycling is so easily ruined, you possibly didn't like it that much in the first place.

To paraphrase....hell is other cyclists...

"I used to think of cycling as quirky and different, which defined me, but when other people started doing it, I lost interest"

So yes I've come across the Sportive/Strava attitude, more people saying they're into cycling and effusing about their carbon road bike
then I say I'm an MTB'er...
Or I mention a recent Pro Race (e.g. Wasn't Hayman magnificent at Roubaix)...

And they go a bit blank or maybe mention they're doing a mini-Triathlon and my wife gives me that look as I manage my expression but she knows in my head I don't consider triathlete's 'real cyclists'.
😀

Amusing to read that at a time when touring and bike travel is seeing interest at a level I've not known in 20 plus years. Polar opposite to strava and carbon and not been more accessible for a long time.

"Anyone who's got into cycling since I did is wrong"

I race on the road, on the track, CX, XC and TT. I don't use Strava, I can see how it can fun though. I've got a lot of bikes to look after - mine, plus both my kids race on and off road - so I don't have loads of money to spend on an individual bike.

Most of my stuff's second hand, I do nearly all my own spannering (I like that though) and my bikes are at the bargain end of things, so I'll admit to finding a natural temptation to look down my nose at people like my dentist, who I'm guessing is a post-Sky/Wiggins type mad enthusiast with a jaw-droppingly beautiful bike and matching Rapha wardrobe who goes on endlessly about Strava segements (my teeth might be falling apart, I'd never know) but would never in a million years go near a race.

I try and stop myself indulging in this simple snobbery though - I might be miles faster than him but there's loads of people miles faster than me, and he's no doubt richer than I am so can spend a lot more on cycling equipment, but that's OK because I don't have to spend all day looking in peoples' disgusting mouths - and remind myself that it's guys like that (and it is nearly always guys) that keep a healthy second hand market afloat, and also drive down the cost of kit generally. My LBS currently has a TdF team bike (albeit with junk wheels) available for £1300. Unreal. Pre-Sky/Wiggins (and I don't like singling them out like that, but you know what I mean) that would have been about six grand.

Take the rough with the smooth, I say. My boss is a newbie cycling fan. I can spend a couple of hours training in the morning, arrive in work halfway through the morning and just say I was training and it's fine. Upsides to cycling's new audience.

Tosh!

Strava isn't everyone's cup of tea. I don't know anyone who does it, not everyone as a carbon bells and whistle bike.

Me thinks the chap is just jumping on a tired old bandwagon 🙄

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be!

The whole article is just full of conservative confirmation bias IMO... I'm an ex SE London rider and the idea that SE London riders are all unfriendly, Strava-obsessed 'non-proper' cyclists is just a construct in the writer's head, in my deep experience.

It's full of the same kind of negative stereotyping and sweeping generalisations as your average newspaper article going on about RLJing and 'lycra louts'

Funnily enough, the club I've been riding with in Buckinghamshire over the last few weeks since I moved from London are less friendly and more likely to disappear off the front, unannounced because 'it's a segment' than either of the two SE London clubs I rode with... If anything, the London clubs go out of their way to be inclusive and friendly - to counter all the prejudice they have to deal with... (incl some of the commenters on here I might add!)

Silly clickbait article IMO.

Cycling is growing in popularity - by definition that means an increasing proportion will be new to the sport, and will bring over the consumerism from the rest of their lives. But who cares, really? Cycling is what you make of it, irrespective of other peoples' behaviour. Personally, whilst I don't use Strava or buy Rapha, I'm very, very happy to see so many people out on bikes - it's fantastic...

He has a point, but I think he is seeing it from a journalists perspective.

I commute every day on my META, go to Tesco after work and stuff groceries in my rucksack, I wave and offer help if needed to other cyclists, but I don't live in London, and other cyclists now smile and wave back.

After work on Thursday a load of us meet up and ride around the woods and scare our selves silly, just like when I was 14.

I am between cars and quite honestly the longer it goes on, the less I want one. (but ask me in deep winter though and I may have changed my mind!)

I do think road cycling is the new golf, but this means that nice bikes will trickle down once these guys are bored of them!

Not bothered what people think of me, and I certainly don't use strava.

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be!

Journalist in turning us against each other shock...

Comes across as "WAAA WAAA WAAAA......other people are doing MY sport in a way I don't like.....WAAA WAAA WAAAA....it's not fair"

Numpty.

Mehh, it's nothing new.

Back in the dim and distant past (pre hack), before, strava, 'bikepacking' and 'gnarmack' bikes were de-rigeur. I went for a road ride, with a 30l backpack stuffed full of kit with the intention of riding down a bridleway at the end and kipping in a bird hide, about 60miles all in. Posted up my plan on here and got:

why bother, it's only 120miles, why not just ride back

There was already an orthodoxy that said a weekends (well, set off at 4pm Saturday, got home for Sunday lunch) touring wasn't worth it for 'only' 120miles.

Humans like to be competitive, and seek recognition form others. And those saying "I only ride without Strava, and often get lost deliberately" are no different, if that really was the case, why are you bothering to tell people that, on a thread about it? You're just competing to prove your opinion is right rather than get the fastest time.

Still, didn't stop me going for a ride on Saturday, getting lost, and posting up on STW about it.

Not bothered what people think of me, and I certainly don't use strava

Personally, whilst I don't use Strava or buy Rapha, I'm very, very happy to see so many people out on bikes - it's fantastic...

Some people are very keen to make sure we know they are not using strava 😉

All this nostalgia for the good old days. Who remembers when you could only buy badly fitting, badly made cycle clothing and accessories, and when your LBS was the [i]only[/i] bike shop? Popularity has driven down prices, increased choice (I bought a decent jacket and riding goggles in my local supermarket!) and made it generally alot easier to get into.
I use Strava, but it doesn't define me, I ride bikes every day, but that doesn't define me either.
If you really love to ride your bike, just go out and do it, on road, off road, wherever, along with thousands of others. If you don't, then don't.
But don't whine just cos its popular.
Reminds me of the hipster who burnt his mouth on his coffee. Because he drank it [i]before[/i] it was cool!

I'm not sure why the author is worried. The people he is complaining about will drop cycling, just as they dropped golf.

I'm not sure why the author is worried.

Humans like to be competitive, and seek recognition from others.

He writes for the Guardian, he's probably worried about everything

Comes across as "WAAA WAAA WAAAA......other people are doing MY sport in a way I don't like.....WAAA WAAA WAAAA....it's not fair"

Numpty.

Not quite article related, but Strava is causing many of my "naughty" trails (built over years) to get discovered by "anyone with a PC" and many of the nice flowey corners shortcutted for faster times.

Prowling Amazon for cheap solar powered GPS signal blockers !!

He writes for the Guardian, he's probably worried about everything
He should have written a proper Guardian article, bemoaning the fact that Strava is the preserve of middle-class white males and demanding the government take action to increase it's usage by differently-abled LBGT ethnic minorities.

Best reply ever ha ha

 

If this is going mainstream, I'm going to have to pretend to be offended by something else.

I'll have a think.

Clikbait generates revenue for the Guardian which co-incidently and topically they are free to book in their offshore holding company

@samunkin - yes definitely a problem. I think trail builders get short shrift with Strava - also time to put logs on outside of corners or dig holes so no shortcuts ?

I like the Swinley way of doing things, leave the short cuts, but put in a signpost "Stravassholes", funnily once pointed out that they're being a dick, people stop doing it!

You just know that the author has this T-shirt

[img] [/img]

He should have written a proper Guardian article, bemoaning the fact that Strava is the preserve of middle-class white males and demanding the government take action to increase it's usage by differently-abled LBGT ethnic minorities.

Post of the year!

Seems pretty unsporting for STW Towers to allow basically the whole article to be cut and paste in the thread, thus depriving another online media outlet of the clicks and eyeballs they deserve for creating original content. Doubt they'd like to see their own material treated that way.

Comes across as "WAAA WAAA WAAAA......other people are doing MY [b]sport [/b]in a way I don't like....

Perhaps some of jibes about middle aged executives indulging in the new golf and boring each other was a bit close to home for many posters!

Now walking (not even hiking!) is being corporatised and gearified with Fitbits and "specific" gear too. I expect breathing will be next - what jacket for raising lung capacity?

Here in Yorkshire there is that, you can SMASH it on the Leeds chaingang with the local Strava heros or you can join a load of oldies for a tootle to Bolton Abbey. I don't think the same culture has taken over completely up here...

Ilkley Cycling Club is the absolute icon of 'look at me' cycling life style club !

Like it or not Cycling is the new golf, the number of £3k plus bikes out there is amazing, all ridden by middle aged men with more money than sense, and yes when they stop its straight on to Strava and comparing Strava segments.

Personally I just let them get on with it, its not harming anyone.

It's the 'Look at me' social media world we live in.
Everyone* wants everyone else to know how good they are.

* Not quite everyone but I get the feeling that more and more people are falling into this category

Really poor article by someone who appears to have a very narrow view of what cycling encompasses.
In my experience cycling is more diverse and in ruder health than it has been for years.

2) He cares about what other people think too much