shiny things, precious things

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=edward%20and%20tubbs%2C%20precious%20things&rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SNYK_en-GB&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#

I think 'posing' is as much in the mind of the person who sees it as the actual 'poser'.

But maybe I'm just lucky that I don't know anyone who goes on about how cool they are because of their £5k bike.

Goan – Member
You should try having GT and Inners local to you – then you'll know what posers are. They are the reason I ride SS a fair bit – you cant beat making Rambo look like a clueless ****.

deary me 🙄

I'm guessing you are pretty much what most people hate about mtb'ing.

George, I'm off for a ride in the local woodsy bits with mrs J. Shall I take the singlespeed, ride the tats off it and make her (on her full bounce nice bike) look like a clueless ****?

Of course I bleddy won't! And why should it be any different for anyone I don't actually know?

Cleaning your bike makes you a poseur? FFS

Now repeat together:

some people with top end kit who are better than me
some people with top end kit are worse than me
some people with useless kit are better than me
some people with useless kit are worse than me

You should try having GT and Inners local to you – then you'll know what posers are. They are the reason I ride SS a fair bit – you cant beat making Rambo look like a clueless ****.

macho singlespeed poser

There will always be those who cant afford what they think they deserve and who will despise those who can afford more than they need. Their envy blinds them so much they neither see that next year the bling bike will be in the classified with over a 50% discount so someone who deserves it may just about be able to afford it. If the rule was we can only have what the trail requires and what we are able to ride then we'd still be on muddy fox couriers or prestige stumpjumpers. You would not be able or allowed to go down to your LBS to gawp at that repulsive nomad or enduro you don't need because as no one else can have own Specialized or Santa Cruz cannot be bothered bringing in just the 10 models that riders could legitimately claim to own.

Likewise the mags would have little point existing and we would only have mlehworld to go to discuss this pointless topic on.. I apologise most sincerely for adding to this thread… however please let us applaud the Hora's of the world for their valued place in the cyclists redistribution of excessive wealth program.

I think 'posing' is as much in the mind of the person who sees it as the actual 'poser'.

But maybe I'm just lucky that I don't know anyone who goes on about how cool they are because of their £5k bike.

Good point. Threads about ATGNI/posers/snobs, or stories about guys on crappy old halfords specials making people with nice bikes eat their dust say more about the preoccupations of the posters IMO.

If people can afford the kit and their kids aren't going hungry then good luck to them.

ive gotten two new bikes this year, one of them hasnt even been more than 50yds test on the road/pavement/carpark.
i know what tyre pressures i use – ok so thats more to do with my lazyness, 30ish psi, its where the mark on the track pump is and it suits the HT, FS and car.

*slicks eyebrow with thumb*

You should try having GT and Inners local to you – then you'll know what posers are

Another reason I stopped visiting there, did my head in but still I passed them and the SSers on my tired old Rockhopper.

Ok, expect I am still waiting a phone call from peter :wink:, I most of the time don't care less about what people ride or not ride.
And I am all with max, expect fro the hora/ton bit. We need normal sized people to participate at this program so I too can have bargains 😉

I'm probably a bit of a poser- I like fancy stuff and all this new trendy freeridey gear. But meh, I'm out on me bike,it's a laugh.

I pose as having significantly greater gnarl than I do.

Because, at 31, I am increasingly unfit and have appreciably more body fat than I did 10 years ago, I have also got a heavier bike and do things like wearing body armour to cover for the fact that I can't go up hills as fast as I used to be able to.

My pace down hill has not changed greatly in the 10 years. 😀

I like riding with people who're genuninely passionate about mountain biking and who can ride the kit they have well, whatever the kit. I rode with a couple of mates recently who have 6 inch AM full sussers, they're professional guides and they rode awesomely. Respect. A couple of weeks later I rode with a guy riding an ancient hardtail with one brake – he was ahead of most of the rest of us on our 5 inch full sussers. Respect again.

Surely it's about genuine passion for the sport, irrespective of the kit?

Surely it's about genuine passion for the sport, irrespective of the kit?

I suppose that's what the people obsessed with other people's kit are gettng at, except that they seem to think they know how much passion people with nice stuff have or don't have.

brooess – I'm not sure you can measure passion by performance any more than you can by looking at someone's bike

I've never met barnesy (SF) but he rides several times a week, tkes pics every time (?), takes out newbies and then seems to spend ages on bogtrotters' website once he gets back.

his bike had a rohloff and the tattiest saddle I ever saw – both at the same time (?) so one-all there in the gear stakes. I have no idea how good a rider he is but he seems passionate about biking to me because of his commitment to it

I've combined/confused my argument a bit… just for clarification: I like to ride with people who ride well irrespective of the kit AND I like to ride with people who are genuinely passionate about the sport – and the people who spend time introducing others/managing websites etc count as passionate to me, irrespective of ability and kit.

i have a bike that cost me loads i ride it all the time the cranks are well worn.The bike is kept spotless so it allways works well and so i like the way it looks.
The last time i got it out of the van at gt the group of blokes next to me who all had posh bike that looked like they had not seen a wash in a long while took the p*ss in a whats the point of having a bike like that if you never ride it styllee.i pointed out that i had had it two years and just looked after it more bullsh*t followed.
whos more flash? the guy who looks after his stuff or the guy that runs it into the ground in the fastest way possible?

A while ago I came to realise that posers are AMAZING for our sport;

– They increase the numbers in our sport.
– They spend shed loads of money making sponsorship for our athletes a more palatable experience for manufacturers and suppliers.
– The high end kit they buy will encourage manufacturers to trickle down the good stuff for the rest of us sooner.
– They find out what's good and what's not as they buy it first, so we know what to buy a few months down the line.
– They inevitably sell off last month's kit to buy this month's kit, so we can pick it up a bit cheaper.

I honestly struggle to see the downside of anyone who spends lots of money on bikes.

tart off the bike tart on the bike. can't help it.

at least i'm young and got the good looks to back it up!

I will put my hand up to liking nice kit. I am running 3 mountain bikes at the moment.

A five year old Turner 5 spot which now sees semi regular service at trail centres and in Scotland etc. It is running old Mono M4's, lots of Thomson it and some spangly hope pro 2's. All of it is well over 2 years old and the whole thing runs beautifully despite having a lot or miles under it especially in its first 2 years when it was my main bike.

A 1 year old Superlight, with Tech X2's tubeless and RS Rebas. This got used all last winter as my main bike and has proved to be very reliable. Definately a keeper and still pretty much imaculate. I keep it clean and do occasionally get comments about it being a new bike which has seen no use despite having done a good 2000 miles including a pretty wet winter.

My latest is a Cotic Simple (Singeltrack told me to buy it) new frame, forks and brakes but the rest is pretty old. Again this is spotless.

When I buy new I buy decent kit that lasts and generally keep it. Second hand stuff tends to come and go a bit.

Am I a poser, I don't think I am as bad as some and at least I ride rain or shine now and don't complain about it.

What about being left behind by someone who likes to think they are in a race when it's supposed to be a fun sociable ride?

Explain to me what's fun about stopping every 10 yards to watch you check pressure, adjust mech, adjust brakes etc. in the cold and wet 😕

Al things that could have been done BEFORE you met up.

Selfish bastids.

I once saw a really fat guy with a £2500 stumpy fsr pinch punch trying to go up a kerb.

I also once met a man who had £900 carbon forks, a stumpy ht carbon frame, full xtr, and a £800 wheelset. He had put slicks on it so he could use it to commute to work. He didn't even ride mtb. He said he'd never gone off road in his life.

trackstanding just for the hell of it. Grrrrrrrr…

Ooooh dear I had no idea it wound people up so much, but if you practice trackstands on flat bits then when you need those skills (close to stalling uphill or choosing a line downhill) they are pretty damn useful.

Oh and can we define "blaming your kit for your short comings"? Theres stuff on the edge of my ability that I would do/try on a ickle play bike but not a stretched out xc setup. Do I fall into this category?

I have 2 nice-ish bikes and I take good care of them.
They cost me a lot of money and if I wanted a bike that rides/looks/performs less well (which a poorly maintained bike will), I'd have got cheaper kit to start with. Do I do my kit justice? I don't really know, I'm an average rider I suppose.
It's kind of like an ugly bird with an expensive haircut really.

I have a few bikes, I like to change my HT frame every now and again for no reason other than to try something new (usually every 6 months or so and always second hand). I like having shiny low weight kit and for this I am "a poser" so be it – keeps me happy when I am out riding and i ride quite a bit more than some of the people who make certain "comments" about changing my bikes too much (My main one I have had over three years).

As for tyre pressure, I check it before most rides then leave it there, cant be bothered with changiong it for ups/down etc etc. Very rarely check shock/fork pressure unless it doesnt feel right.

As someone else said earlier, I couldnt care less what other people ride, as long as they dont get in my way and if they do then let me past, the same as I do for faster riders.

I do unnecessary (and rubbish) trackstanding sometimes when waiting, just to avoid putting a foot down and hence stop riding

I've tried to find it but can't, but there was once a great thread on MTBr with a guy posting about how he and his buddies only buy expensive bikes and kit and just hang at the trail head! Not sure if he was trolling or not but it was a right funny read!

just come back from a staines trail centre weekend, i have a lovely bike (imo) and i am nowhere near good enough for it (tiny tezzers!) but it was sooo, good to ride and i appreciate how good it really was. (first proper ride on it, last bike was stolen) At the end of the day, when riding, the bike should disappear. It is a tool at the end of the day, used to facilitate riding/scaring ouselves! I really wish it had enough money NOT to care about the bike i have, but i don't, so i clean and look after it. saying that i could spend ages just looking at bikes…

I buy what I want when I want with my money and don;t care what anyone really thinks about it{apart from the missus don't tell her},I also don't care what others spend their money on

maybe they should bring out a licensing scheme that gives you a budget you are allowed to spend at the lbs,we could call it the antioffence license

The kit I have is way beyond anthing I need. What is the problem with that? I love to ride and get out at least twice a week, and I can't stop myself from shopping. The two things work well together.

Plus I don't pay for half of it. 😀

the more kit people buy, the better off the industry is and the more choice / lower prices we all get. i like posers and people that buy lots of kit, why not?

bikes are a good thing to go ott spending on. cars less so.

Almost everybody is faster than me, but not many people (especially outside the rarified atmosphere of STW) have nicer bikes. If that means that occasionally some pr1ck will see me riding my Epic (very) slowly up hill and think "all the gear, no idea" or "look at that fatso on a nice bike" as they pass then so be it. It's their problem not mine.

I can afford to have nice bikes and I ride them a lot (both days at the weekend and at least 2 or 3 nights each week currently). That makes me happy so I don't care what anyone else thinks.

If someone on a shonky singlespeed passes me and then goes onto STW to crow about being a riding god by comparison – well then good luck to them.

james-o agree +1. if i bought a car to match my driving skill it would be a picasso (!) yet if i could afford it would i buy a porsche? damn right i would, and lots of others would too.

I love these posts!! I have two "nice" bikes a five and a mojo one is built up heaver than the next the mojo was a dream bike and with the offer on a stif I went for it. I have a good spec on both nicer on the mojo xtr etc but thats what I wanted and saved for I could give a monkeys what people think.

Its my hobbie and once all the bills are pay and kids etc have what the need then my money I spend on bike stuff, I ahvemate who spend 50-60 quid in the pub twice a week and think bike is a waste of money!!

I keep both of them clean and in good nick they last longer and work better when you do this! 🙄 I see a lot of too cool to clean people esp at centres but thats their money not mine. I get them both filthy crash on them etc they are mountain bikes they get knocked dirty crashed on etc doesnt bother me. I hate scratching them in the garage or if they get knocked over but on the trail that happens and is another battle scar with a story!!

Didnt Jo burt do an interview in ST and talk about about this??

Not bothered by MTB posers – they can do their own thing AFAIC.

As for other things … I've bought a couple of cars in the past that have led to people classing me as a poser, but 1) I'm into cars and appreciate them for far more than shallow value, and 2) I don't give a sh1t what other people think.

Other than that, I did have £500 of custom irons made for me a few years back when I was trying to pick up golf, but they only took a few shots of my game. I've figured since then that I'm just crap at golf.

How did cleaning your bike get mixed up with posing here?

Aren't people who clean their bike back to showroom condition after each ride just a bit anal (no offence)?

I'm too lazy/busy to clean my bikes, not too cool.

No point cleaning your bike as it'll just get dirty again.

Having a shiny £617181920 bike and all the latest gear is fine as long as you have the skills to back it up. "All the gear, no idea" posers do annoy me somewhat but to be honest I know I'd be the same in their situation if I had the cash. Why buy a rubbish bike if you can afford a good one? Can't deny they annoy me a little still…

surely, the better a rider is, the less they need a good bike (Goan, QED)

ATGNI is the proper way for things