The subtlities of bike shaming and the unseen effects of othering

We have all done it.  It's terrible to have to say it as we look in the mirror, but the fact of the matter is that at some point along the line you, just as well as I, have been on the giving end of some form of bike-related shaming.  Whether it was a subtle assumption we harbored about a cyclist based on their apparel, or an idea we dismissed due to supposedly improper or lacking vocabulary, bike savvy, or overall presentation; we have more than likely put someone, for some reason, into a confining box.  Though it may not be perceived as divisive, every time someone is othered they are slowly made to feel alien, distanced, confined and relegated into some lesser realm of existence.  The byproducts of shaming are often initially small and subtle, but the overall cumulative effect of constant affirmation that one is not hip, sexy, white, wealthy, sporty, knowledgeable or experienced enough will subconsciously vex even the strongest psyche.  The real question that persists is how one can possibly feel comfort, inclusion and reciprocity when we are constantly being made to feel that we are beneath a perpetually impossible level of cool.

Magazines, blogs and instagram feeds are still lined with images of expensive, high end, race-forward, white, rich, male and highly sexist imagery.  Bike shops still sing the sounds of hollow banter that sends messages of snobbery and elitism that would likely make even the most confident shy.  Group rides often send messages of the aforementioned in clique-ish like groupings that only further distance feelings of inclusion.  

a middle aged, white, female cyclist that isn't afraid to get off and walk

Stepping back with compassion

Everyone was a novice at some point.  We all pick up with an interest and start somewhere with our ambition regardless of background or previous experience. The fact of the matter is that generating the inertia of a future hobby/passion/career can be one of the most difficult moments during any new process.  By having the support and love of friends, peers and acquaintances we can solidify our steps toward already existing goals or new pathways.  Though support and care often go unspoken, it is this foundation that oftentimes generates an otherwise lacking amount of confidence.  Seeing both those close to us and faces in distant places encouraging us to work with what we have, when we have it, wherever we might be so fortunate as to have it is such a massive step in forming tangible images of ourselves.  When we are shown and told that it is perfectly ok to be a novice, to make mistakes, to fall on our asses and get back up laughing; we become so much more comfortable in our own skin, whether alone or in public places.  

It is when we see these messages from people of power, status and popularity that we often begin to revert the mentalities that dictate our feelings of sub-parness.  It's when writers, athletes, artists and business people decide to flip the script a bit that we begin to feel a little more human - when we are shown that it is ok to make goofy errors: use seemingly inadequate gear to accomplish activities often otherwise depicted, cycle with riders of better fitness than that of our own and congregate with people of differing genders, class, age and skin color we slowly begin to water seeds that grow in a way that is contrary to negatively normative imagery ideologies. 

a woman of color, working on a second hand bike,
in normal clothes, in a public setting

Walking and talking with purpose

 Its easy enough to talk about and conceptualize a world where marketing, individual actions and overall acceptance, inclusiveness and adequacy are a reality across the board.  One can sit back and think that by saying we subscribe to a certain attitude, mental trajectory or lifestyle that one is suddenly freed from said confines.  It's much easier to talk up the aforementioned than it is to implement them into an active practice.  Much more convenient it is to criticize and point fingers than it is to engage in a consistent line of action that parallels our words and ideas.  

It takes braveness, confidence, and motivation to start negotiating scenarios and lifestyles with a newfound element of purpose.  To step into situations and places where scrutiny and shaming might inevitably come to surface is a huge element that could not be more important in the fight against any form marginalization may take.  Walking into a bike shop or group ride as you are; with the equipment, age, gender identity, and level of fitness is one of the most empowering things we can do for ourselves and others.  By showing people that the general consensus and status quo will not dictate our goals and attitudes, we show the world that we can truly be who we are, go where we want, move at a rate that is our own, and be truly confident in our step and stride along the way.  So please, help be a patient, loving, compassionate member of this struggle we all face in nearly every realm of life.  Please help others believe that they too can walk through the doors of acceptance and inclusiveness.  Most importantly, please help do it by allowing your words to correlate with your own direct action.  The next time you go out for a ride, try inviting a friend of differing gender-identity, skin color and age.  Try going for a group ride on your "commuter" bike.  Try walking into the bike shop wearing the same clothes you would if you were shopping for groceries.  Please, make efforts in practicing ways that show everyone that it is ok to be human, that it is lovely to be yourself, just as you are.  Set the example you want to see, and help show people that they can be themselves with the same confidence that you yourself might maintain.

How bicycle design changed in the late 80's/early 90's and what its remnants entail

If by some divine swing of fate, unlike half of the worlds population, you never threw a leg over a  late 80's/early 90's bicycle, you managed to miss out on the snapping sound of plasticky index shifters, overly twitchy handling characteristics, the bland in overall appearance (bar loud flashy neon splashes and loud, attention getting decals) and uninspired lack of accents and artistic touches that graced the lines of bicycles from previous generations.  You missed the feeling of oversized tubing and over inflated tires deadening the ride quality of your already rough-in-nature ride through myriad neglected suburban streets.  You missed the simple, elegant yet understated aesthetic of design that spoke for itself without the need for gimmicky acronyms or hyper-branding-logo-mania.

  What you didn't miss was an overall feel of quality, care and craftspersonship.  You didn't miss the longevity of a hand built wheel, the nuance of a pin stripe, the inherent suspension in a reasonably gauged tube set and the buttery smooth feel of solid and rebuildable components.  Come to think of it, you probably didn't miss much, so no need to fret.  The only problem is that we have hardly shifted from the M.O of the 90's as things seem to be mostly status quo as usual.  So what the hell happened and where did the lines between quality and cheapness become so slowly blurred that we ceased to realize that we were eventually buying products that were literally designed to be obfuscated if you were lucky enough to get said life expectancy in the first place.

A quintessentially 90's bike: riveted chainrings (non replaceable), plastic everything, narrow bars, Jurrasic park logo kit.

Fast and easy 

What ultimately gave rise to the design of late 80's early 90's bicycles may still be up to speculation, but my opinion is that its lineage can very much be traced back to a few key variables occurring simultaneously.  Ever increasing use of automation, plastics refinement and the proliferation of cheap, inexpensive electronics and manufacturing processes gave rise to the rapid growth of the ultra poor in quality, copy and paste, mass produced bicycles that we now see gracing the back yards and garages of millions of houses and apartments the world over.  Couple this with the inertia and subsequent deflation of the mountain bike boom and you effectively have what may be remembered as the definitively pronounced era in throw away bicycle design and overall quality degradation.  Poorly manufactured, designed around racing/fitness-fad fueled marketing campaigns and slapped together by underpaid department store assemblers (wanting so badly to call them mechanics): the common-day 90's bicycle was born.  

Long gone were the days of hand brazed frames, tubes bent/mitered/handled by humans, head badges riveted to frames and components that one could actually mix/match and truly rebuild.  The good-ol reliable bike that could be handed down to another person after having had a previously good spin at life is very much a thing of the past now.  Out with quality aluminum bits and ornamental ques that denoted old derailleurs and shifters and in with the stamped steel and pressed on polymers that were seemingly snaped together like a cheap kids meal toy.  Old sun rotted plastics render shifters and derailleurs inoperable.  Vinyl and nylon flake and chip away after a generation under the rigors of normal use.  Unevenly wound up and tensioned machine built wheels lack the longevity of their handmade, quality counterparts and develop fatigue induced spoke breakage and failure.

Sure; many of these elements of poor quality and cheap, rushed manufacturing stretch back to the bike American boom of the 70's and further, but the speed and growth at which we saw the throw away bicycle proliferated was never as prevalent.  The worst part is that what followed was a staple benchmark for entry, mid and often high quality bicycles throughout the world.  As the successes of Americans in the european racing scene became common place (twig, hampsten, phiney, lemond etc..) we saw a huge resurgence in fittness oriented cycling right around the same time as mountain bike grown was exploding.  The lightweight, race-forward mentality of road cycling crossed over with the demand for mtb bikes and helped spawn a new generation of hybrid-ish road/mountain fitness machines with low manufacturing standards to meet the demand of  the "more for less, quicker" mentality that had already permeated the psyches of the every day, 1980's consumer.  Sales boomed and franchise shop growth skyrocketed as bicycles that serve a generation-at-best worth of life necessitate frequent parts replacement or outright replacement in the guise of "upgrading".  A mammoth surge of worldwide popularity saw what might range in the billions-figure of bicycles produced well into the mid 90's under said practice.  Eventually the momentum and sales figures tapered off, but the industry adopted standards that well eclipsed the 00's in terms of design, manufacturing, materials usage, proprietary componentry and overall paralleled build quality that continue to underscore the "consumer" bicycles we still buy at department and outlet stores.

this is what mass production tig welding looks like.. your bicycle, like many of mine most likely bore a similar inception

Poor components on solid frames

If there is a huge plus side to the aforementioned it is that many of these nearly dead bicycles were thankfully built around what often times were fairly sound cromoly bicycle frames.  Though rough in build quality and and inelegant in appearance, as bicycles of the early 90's shed their plastic pods in a cocoon like fashion they simultaneously birth innumerable frame sets that predicate the function of community bike shops and co-ops alike.  Many aspiring DIY mechanics such as myself have cut their teeth tinkering on old steel mtb and hybrid frames.  Replacing said parts with quality replacement bits is as educational as is cost effective in making good with the forgotten stuff of yesteryear and can be done with few specialty tools.  The quantity of these bikes is so pronounced that small bike repairs can supplement business by repurposing/retrofitting mountain bike/hybrid machines for new students and commuters when repair volume is low.  The fact of the matter is that my job at the community bike shop would probably not exist if these old bikes were not kicked to the wayside. My work is to literally rebuilt old forgotten, neglected or unloved bikes that are usually in horrific, seemingly unrehabilitatable condition.  More often than not it is the lower end, late eighties/early nineties  diamondback, fuji, trek, specialized, etc that underscore these bike builds and help get people out on two wheels.

 I can't help but wonder if bike shops could thrive or some even exist if the quality of bicycles had not become so poor, incompatible and proprietary in nature.  Would we have shops in the same numbers if the service life of bicycles was what it once was?  If obsolescence and incompatibility were not so commonplace I wonder what our garages, landfills and bike shops might look like today?