[Closed] The perception of "Cool"

....aand me! I'm so cool I can use this forum and not be uncool! 8)

What would fonzie think of this thread

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Much better than that, from the man himself:

So then the broom wagon pulled up and was like, “Do you want to just get in?” And I said, “Oh no, I don’t need YOU!” But there I am with blood spurting out my left elbow and no bike. Finally, the race organizers got me a bike, but it was this little yellow junior bike. It was way too small for me and even had old-fashioned toe-clip pedals. But that is the only way I could get down the mountain, so I had to ride it for like 15-20 kilometers until I finally got to a team car with my bike.

Taken from http://www.bicycling.com/tour-de-france/tour-features/saying-no-sag-wagon

Iain

My thinking is that cool comes from good design and advancement. I don't like the all titanium fixie as its not a good design its all made of titanium on a whim of the designer.
Gary Fisher (the person not the brand) always seemed cool to me as I remember the old Paragons with alu front triangles bonded to steel rear stays - which seemed a good idea though I have no idea what they were like to ride. He also came up with the 'genesis geometry' (longer top tup, shorter stem) that is replicated by most manufacturers now. The old Konas were cool but that was because they had sloping top tubes when the other mainstream companies had flat tubes and no standover because of it.
Also remember that mountain bikes ain't cool anymore - its all fixies that the young 'uns ride these days. The mountain bikes are left for the middle aged men with a slight paunch and deep pockets 🙂

Cotics were cool. Then I got one. Now they aren't.

Well, it certainly looks cooler without me on it.

what i think is cool is that all of my bikes i have ever had have been listed on here as uncool.

cool

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not cool

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The perception of "far out, dude"

There's nothing cool about hanging out on STW so none of us can possibly know.

Brooklyn Machine Works
Curtis
Tonic Fab
Nicolai
NS Bikes
Indy Fab

Like far out, dude.

Cool is what we wish people thought of us, if you buy a bike because its perceived as cool you're on a slippery slope to douchebagness

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It's titanium, everything. Even the saddle and spokes.

As for cool bike brands, Islabike, end of.

cool is a state of mind

Islabikes were cool. Then my daughter got one...

but if Giant isn't cool at least it's doing cool things.

I got a trance X5 on the ctw scheme and thought I'd get laughed at cos everyone would have one. I haven't seen one Trance X yet other than mine and I've been to a fair few places. They do look a bit 'different' but it's kind of cool that Giant have put functionality ahead of looks and created something quite interesting.

Who's cooler, some guy on a fully custom ultra exclusive bike or the guy on the mass produced (ie spesh) who rides rings around him?

When I was younger, I used to worry about what was cool, about what other people thought. I wanted to be like them, to be liked. Which is what cool is about. It's about what your peer group thinks. People that you think are better than you. It's about something that you can attain that'll make you better. Some people still care about what is cool. I'd rather just be me 🙂

I passionately hate with a demented vengeance whatever Hora's presently riding

Coming from the lad riding an Intense in that fashionable blue 😆

Now Kinesis must be niche/cool as no one has mentioned it 😉

Skids are cool

I'm with Jedi on this. The coolest thing I saw recently was someone passing me on the 8% mountain climb near here on an 80s road bike with tan walls wearing old trainers.

I own two Specialised and they are both pretty cool.
My custom Ti, custom parts, Rohloff, factory special tyred, incredibly expensive hardtail is the most uncool thing ever because only true bikegeeks know what it is; which kinda defeats the point.

My coolest bike is a Brompton - the chicks dig it.

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/flamejob/2243425857/ ]SL2-X Clear[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/flamejob/ ]Flamejob[/url], on Flickr

if you buy a bike because its perceived as cool you're on a slippery slope to douchebagness

latfh!

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Surfing is cool if done properly (99% of surfers just pretend)
Cycling isn't but it's lots of fun.

End of 😉

Jens Voight likes Terry Pratchett - Thats cool (to me) (me liking Terry Pratchett is probably perceives as uncool, but hey...)

Who the hell is that emo geek?
The trouble is, motor vehicles make bicycles look really lame.
A roadie in full power ranger gear on a carbon wonder bike is still slower than a chav on a moped.
Back in the pre-steam, hobby horse days though- you'd be the tits on toast on your futuristic velocipede

the title says it all - 'perception' as opposed to reality. there is no reality of cool as it's an opinion that is then reacted against or followed, etc etc

personally, i think anyone that understands a bike enough to ride if for design / fit / handling instead of brand image is, well not cool, but credible and justified. cool is a BS idea really.

for that reason there are treks, speshs and giants that i class as equally worthy as an indy fab ti hardtail or a custom rourke road bike.

and tom ritchey is a dude, fact )

I would do a quote but CBA. Realman - what?
Singlespeed OK cool
29er Cool

Get it made from plastic by specialized with a Stumpjumper lable on it and you just completely undo the 2 cools you did have! 😈

Off topic, sorta...

Regardless of whether or not they are "cool" BMWs are great cars. Drivers cars. They are built for the driving experience first, the luxury thing 2nd. Sure some have small engines, but they all share the same class chassis. And anything with a 2.3 ltr engine and above is gonna be a lot of fun. Same thing can be said for the Audi's of this world.

You get a lot of folk who don't seem to have much clue about cars who instantly label some of the best drivers cars in the world as poseurs cars, hair dressers cars, etc. Then quite happily brandish the keys to their Kia 4x4.

I'd love to replace my R32 with a 330 Coupe, M3, M5, S5, RS4, TT RS, etc. I'd certainly not feel I was driving some sort of fashion accessory so much as one of the best cars money can buy.

Zero - is that in the right section?!!

Agree with it though. I had an R32 (mk4) and now have a 335d. Splendid car but I don't reckon it's very "cool."

There is nothing cool about any kind of [s]cycling[/s] motor vehicle. At all.

Fixed that for you coogan.

Sorry double post.

See, that just sounds stupid

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I haven't had a car in 5 years but this reawoke my car lust. Mmmmmmmm.

Haven't you seen the news? The last thing they are is cool

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Darn, and I was so close to saving up the £170k 😥

Still cooler than any pushbike though

How can a car be cool just for being a car ?
Anyone with enough money can walk in to a show room and buy one.

Cool is what you do with your vehicle, like driving a T55 down the M42 or doing wheelies in a 22 ton 6x6 truck. 😉

The only cool car is batmans, any of em,

There is nothing cool about any kind of cycling. At all.

Why? It is fine as it is.

I can't believe that this is still running.. as someone has pointed out.. even entering a discussion such as this is the antithesis of cool... everyone here is at the very best... (and I'm being optimistic here..) at the very best.. pretty much the opposite of cool..

bike companies being cool...?
cars being cool..?
crazy driving...?
tour de flippin france competitors...!?

saints preserve us..
GIVE it UP.. for the sake of the children..

Cool: On-One, Nicolai (despite being fugly), Kona A.
Uncool: Trek, Marin, Spesh, 'Dale.
Can I have an uncool bike then, please?

Agreed with Yunki and Coogan. Nothing relating to Cycling or this Forum can be described as cool, nor is it anti-cool ergo cool

I love cars and cycling but both are definitely NOT cool.

Most mega enthusiasts are just geeks (me often included).

Cool doesn't write on internet forums.
Cool doesn't try and define cool.
Cool just is cool.

Ferarris are great cars in lots of ways, but I would never consider one cool. They're too self conscious for that. However, cool is in the eye of the beholder, and I remember thinking they were very cool when I was a child.

My 05 Specialized Enduro was cool cos it defined a new class of mountain bike.

I just sold it.

D'oh.