bldzr

Fixed gear gallery forums hate on my notorious blog

man, I didn't even get started on the FGG.

maybe I should.

sloppy robot

whatd you expect? that rant is wicked retahded..

bldzr

my thought is that if people are that easily offended by it, then the piece really hits the mark. That, or they're waaaaaaay too ****ing uptight. funny thing is, I was talking about a specific thread on this specific forum, but different people uninvolved in any way took it as a personal attack on themselves.

whatever, more views mean more attention, and hopefully more back-room deals over piles of coke at interbike.

I am the greatest troll ever.

jet sanchEz

As I’ve said in previous bouts of columny, no. It’s not just about riding the bike. Being a messenger is so much more than that. It’s about learning to love and hate your bike at the same time. It’s about riding through rain, cold, oppressive heat, snow, and wind. It’s about riding when you’re hurt because you still need to make that pittance. It’s about riding with the ****tiest hangover you can imagine. It’s about the community of hardened riders, who have learned that “velo love” is hippie bull****, and the real love comes from having a few pints with your mates at the end of a hard day. The difference, internet folk, is that you have to put your time in. That unnamed, elitist, cliquish, jackass of a messenger is absolutely right. When you first start, you can’t eat or sleep enough. You come home and pass out on the couch with your radio still sounding off. You get up in the morning with such horrible cramps that you swear you’re gonna quit that day. Then all of a sudden, five years later, and you can’t imagine what other job you’d be doing.

This had me lol'n

ZachS

You said what a lot of people think, and it puts folks on the defensive, because I think they recognize a lot of themselves in your remarks.

I also think you are mostly wrong and needlessly divisive. But that does not bother me. It is entertaining as hell to watch people try to justify their fashion/bike choices (when there is really no need for them to do that in the first place).

explody pup

Nah. A great troll does so without anyone ever suspecting that they're being played. Your efforts are hamfisted.

dobber

So you work a job just like any other joe-blow. Big deal.

So who's the elitist now?

Momentum

I love the fact that this is starting all over again here only a couple of months since the last time.

I love the fact that anyone who gets wound up by this article, instead of finding it funny, is proving the point.

I really love the fact that I live in the jamaican part of London and loads of old dudes start converstaions about how they used to ride fixed wheel in Jamaica before they came to England in the fifties.

bldzr

and there you have it. all the old jamaican cats in London and the super OG puerto ricans in NY were rockin fixies with flat pedals waaaay back in the day. If you can't skid on flat pedals, yr a damned poser.


p.s. yes I am an elitist. I am a pompous ass. and EVERYTHING I do is ham-fisted.

mattface 

Fixed gear bicycles were around long before bicycle messengers discovered them, and I personally blame Sheldon Brown not bike messengers for introducing me to the joys of fixed gear.

Single strap bags predate the bicycle by quite a few centuries. I've been carrying one since the early eighties. I got it from bannana republic. they called them paratrooper bags back then. Messengers didn't invent the single strap bag, but they did ad a lot of refinements to the design to make them way better for bike riding, and for that I am grateful.

I cut the bottoms off my pants after they got ragged, and grease stained. It's not exactly rocket science.

Lots of people are eliteist, not just messengers, and not just on the internet. everyone likes to think they are original, and everyone else is a pale imitation. In reality, there is nothing new. Every new fashion, technical or social innovation is derived from bazillions of things that came before it. I like what I like you like what you like. I have the utmost respect for messengers and the job they do. I know I couldn't do that job, not because I can't ride a bike, but because I have a lousy sense of direction. Lots of folks couldn't do my job, and most wouldn't want to, but what does any of it have to do with one person being better than another?

rustang

im not a messenger. i just started riding a fixed gear this year (first bike i've owned in 17 years). i'm learning pretty much everything i know about my bike either through taking it apart, or reading about how to take it apart on the internet. on paper i'm probably alot like those you're describing, but that doesn't bother me. i hate most those people too. so now besides riding a bike, we have misanthrope in common. cheers.

mcatano

Please stop. Please.

humble_biker

LMAO
Messenger culture has spawned some of the biggest weenies cycling has ever known.

mcatano

Stop it. Now. Please.

juanblanco

your internet infamy probably just doesn't know any bounds.

sloppy robot

bldzr
...

go read some jim goad.. he was actually good at what you try to do

i only comment becasue your self-congratulations is killing me...

rustang

actually, i take that back. i was a messenger for 6 years...only difference is i drove a honda civic and my message was 'pizza's here'.

Jerseysbest

"But I ask those who see _____1_____ as haters or elitists to remember that if it weren’t for _____1_____, you wouldn’t be _____2_____, you wouldn’t be wearing _____3_____ or those _____4_____ or that _____5_____."

Fill in the blanks, it can work for anything

mcatano

I'm begging. Please. Stop.

bldzr

no he wasn't.

sloppy robot

ha.. of course youd disagree...

this is my opinion...

if youre going to take the time to tell people why you are better then them, at least make it hurt.

dont offend if youre not going to offend big. You kinda *****foot around it with all these "dont get me wrongs.. " and such.. but the subtext is all "im better then you" so write that.. dont make the reader kinda have to maybe figure it out. I would love to hear your honest to god opinion why hauling packages around in the rain makes you think youre better then other bikers. Ive done that job...i somehow missed the trophy presentation though and viewed it as dishwashing on wheels..so id love a winners perspective, not a polite speech.

thats my critique

evanyc

i'll say the same thing about messenger culture as i do about punk: if the most meaningful aspects of your culture are matters of fashion, and you're getting upset about that fashion being stolen, then you need to reassess the values of your community.

that said, getting upset about bldzr's column is silly. mike dee wrote the same column a year or two ago and people got all huffy. it's just one group of people looking for superficial acceptance getting upset because another group of people won't give it to em. ride your ****ing bikes.

s_9

i said it before and I'll say it again. he's the greatest troll ever. WHO ELSE has brought the SAME CONVERSATION up TWICE and gotten under everyone's skin BOTH TIMES? Bldzr has. He's my ****ing hero.

bldzr

notice that mike dee is our highest profile writer....

coincidence?

dobber

adulation and ************, I think you've got the two confused