Are there really two kinds of cyclists? Urbanists and bike advocates often draw a sharp distinction between sporty recreational cyclists on one hand, who use their bikes for fun and exercise, and utility cyclists on the other hand, who use their bikes to get where they need to go, like work, school, groceries, or appointments. In this video we argue that the distinction isn’t as clear as it might seem.
References:
North Carolina study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15568318.2017.1382622?journalCode=ujst20
Ireland study: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261842820_Swapping_the_Lycra_for_the_suit_determinants_of_cycling_for_transport_among_leisure_cyclists_in_Ireland
Bicycle Dutch on a “wielrenner” versus a “fietser”: https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/lycra-on-the-streets-of-the-netherlands/
Spanish study: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17450101.2022.2057811?scroll=top&needAccess=true&role=tab
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41 Comments
Yes there is two types of cyclist:
1. commuter infrastructure cyclist
and
2. everybody else.
I argue any distinguishment in cycling is elitism🎉
Or
Only Something you do in business. Either its a business vehicle on personal use or business use.
Bicycle is my primary mode of transportation. Most things I need is in 2 km radius
very clearly there are 2 different group of bicycle riders in my country, cyclists who ride to show off their gear and usually in group riding in the middle of the road on weekends, and commuters who ride alone in slow pace to their destinations.
In good cycling cities yes the distinction doesnt matter. In other places with worse cycling infrastructure lycraists are the people who cycle 5 wide into the road when there is a bike lane, deliberately blocking traffic or cycle on the painted line between lanes basically half in the car lane and because these cities have bad bike infrastructure they are the majority of bike users
You can see at as spectrum, on extrem you have the Gümeler (Like we call them in Swizterland) who put there racing bikes on the roof of there car
drive to the starting point of there tour, 1…3 passes and then drive there car, with bikes on the roof back home in there Aglo house (Aglo: Swiss slang for suburbia).
They never would use there precious racing bike (5 kg or less) to get some bread around the corner.
The other extrem is just to lazy to walk. And we are all somewhere between.
Thank you for this.
most of the time a lycra biker won't even wave hello when i'm on my bike running my errands.they also won't ride in a single line on the road which makes motorists hate big riders even more.
Being Dutch, I would strongly recommend you guys do keep the distinction between cyclists and wheelrunners. Everything said in this video can be applied to the distinction between ordinary car drivers and SUV drivers: "They both use a motorized vehicle for business and private life, they use the same road, and they mostly drive the same speeds, so why distinguish them?" Well, everybody will understand that SUV's are worthy of being referred to as SUV's rather than just cars, because there are a few elements that DO make them different from normal cars: they are inherently more dangerous and they are more often driven by anti-social people. The fact that some ordinary car drivers are more dangerous than most SUV drivers doesn't negate that. If we can't distinguish the two, then we can't address issues that in reality do apply to one group more than the other. I'm specifically referring to the problem of wheelrunners regularly riding at significantly different speeds than everybody else, and wheelrunners more often choosing to use the car lanes than ordinary commuters do. With the latter, they will harm the willingness among car owners to sympathize with all ordinary cyclists who would never do that. If we didn't have the word 'wielrenner', I think we would often find ourselves confused about discussing policies and projects. For example, do we want to build the new bikelane to be convenient to use for just cyclists, or even wheelrunners? Does this new brake system on the market serve all bicycles, or is it specifically targeted for wheelrunners?
Thanks for these videos.
Haha, lycra wearing Lance Armstrong wannabes 😊 where i live, it's exactly like that 😊 elitist mindsets.
Saying mamil race bike riders are cyclists is like saying gym rat bodybuilders and people working manual labor are the same thing.
the fact you use sport bikes as utility bikes is more a indication of how dangerous it is to cycle over there than you being weird or liking that style of bikes more
if going faster is safer due to having to keep up with cartraffic due to lack of proper infrastructure(following dutch standards here) of course you would sacrifice comfort
and no hills are no exuse we dutch have them too ours are just man made like dikes and raised bridges and stuff(which there are a fuckton of) which like for those just get a normal bike with gears problem solved no need for a sport bike
In The Netherlands barely anyone bikes for fun. Only a few people (often middle aged men) who have a second 'sports' bike and a helmet, or some boomer couples who like to make trips. But they are quite rare. I think they are under 1% of total cyclists. Kids ride their bikes to get around, and because kids are kids, they play sometimes, but Dutch kids rarely say: 'Let's go outside and ride our bikes!' unless they just got a new one of course. They take their bike to go to a friend or a playground a few blocks away, but that's not fun, that's transportation. If the destination is fun, that doesn't make the bike trip fun. Many people here go to the bar by bike. That's not because they like riding their bike so much. It's because they can't drive when they come out of the bar. Or simply because they don't own a car. But if you spent many many hours of your teenage years biking to school in wind and rain (like most Dutch kids have) you never bike for fun again, or at least not in the next 20 years. You only do it out of practicality, because you can't affor a car (yet), or other reasons, but not for 'fun'. Nobody ever takes their omafiets out of the garage just to have a fun bike ride. Many people actually hate it, mostly because they have to do it every day. To me, a multiple day trip by bike is the worst possible vacation I can think of. Sometimes I see people do it, and I always hope they are foreigners who still enjoy biking. Often they are.
The fact that in your area there is no clear distinction between 'wielrenners' and 'fietsers', only shows that you don't have a true bike culture yet. In the Netherlands people don't go to places on their expensive brand race bike. If you have to go somewhere and you just use your bike to get there, you want a bike that is as comfortable as possible, not necessarily fast, you don't want to wear a helmet or special clothing, you want to be able to bring your stuff and/or your kids, and you don't want your cloths to get dirty, just so you hate it as little as possible. So seeing someone in North America going somewhere on a race bike without fenders (let alone a back seat) with cycling shorts and a helmet on, that is not a 'fietser'. He's not cycling for comfort or to reduce their aversion as much as possible, so they must be doing it for other reasons.
I can see how in North America the two are often intertwined. If you only want to get from A to B there you don't go by bike, so you always need secondary reasons to do that. But I think that's just because you're in a foetal stage of a biking culture. If you want your culture to change into a fully grown bike culture I don't think it's something you should strive for. Because in a fully grown bike culture people rarely bike for fun. They do it out of necessity. As long as people still can do it for fun, it's just a luxury and you'll never be taken seriously by governents who need to pay for your bike lanes. 'Go find a different hobby' they'd say, and I can see why.
I guess my point is that if you want your bike paths, take the fun element out of your cycling or at least don't stress it too much. There are many other advantages to cycling besides 'fun'.
Commuters and roadies: fighting for lanes in the city
Meanwhile MTBers: watching it from the hills and eating popcorn
Hmm – where I live we have these beautiful mixed use recreational paths but, while we do have some dedicated bike infrastructure to actually go places it is generally really, really poor. As a recreational cyclist on an ebike on a MIXED USE (walking, cycling, blading, scooters, etc.) path posted MAX 20 M, it is annoying AF when (I have an ebike, it has a SPEEDOMETER) going 20 km/hr I have some lycra-clad 30-something blow past me at way over double my speed. Just plain rude. They may be outliers, but they are vocal, entitled and arrogant and destroy the experience for everyone else, like a "Karen" in the grocery checkout line can ruin twenty people's days.
I would love to use my ebike instead of my car – can you convince the police to actually give-a-s**t about bike thefts and the retailers to give-a-s**t about safe, secure bike parking? NO? Yeah, welcome to Canada …
Wheelrunner is such a fucking metal name for a cyclist
Speaking as a mountain-biker who uses his bike for everything from bar-runs to multi-day trips, i will tell you that the lycra-clad roadie crowd are their own breed and generally not super friendly (that includes the off-road wanna-bes called 'gravel bikers' too). Things like Strava, watt-meters, kgs/watt output and data consume their time more often. Sadly, the XC tribe has picked up said virus along with the lycra…
There are multiple different tribes within cycling and we are all fiercely tribal. I'd rather not be in a room full of Lance Armstrong wanba-bes and I'm sure they'd rather not be in a room full of dirt-clods. As per the feisters, they're more cyclists by necessity than actual hardcore cyclists whose life/lifestyle actively revolves around cycling and is their passion/part of who they are.
Thanks so much for this. I've tried to be at ease with MAMILs (Middle Aged Men In Lycra) but seemed to find it wired as I am a commuter cyclist. And when I cycle for enjoyment and exercise I do so in casual clothes, like I did when I was a skater. This video made me decrease my disdain of MAMILs. Thanks for the great work at Oh The Urbanity!
just 2? Dont forget the throw away bike thieves, The rare custome bikes, trikes, electric motor bikes, honkers, pegers, trickbikes, recumbants, cross country, mountain trail blazers, stunt junkies, traler haulers, mobile vendors, bikeshaws, the motorhome bike, the frankenstin bike part horder bikes,
My personal view is there are two mindsets at work, there are bikeriders and cyclists. The former uses a bike for mainly utility purposes and nothing more , the latter love all things about the bike as a perfect machine..
The very WORST cyclist that needs identifying is the "urban douchebag": All costumed-up in their ridiculous kit, imagining they're about to win the Tour de France, endangering the lives of every other cyclist on public bike paths….sometimes even so oblivious as to yell at other riders. Utter RRRSholes.
On your point about how you wouldnt say the same thing about drivers, i disagree. The moment i see a car coming up behind me with blacked out windows/modded wheels/loud muffler/etc, i know im about to get passed by someone who treats the road like its their personal racetrack. Its pretty similar while biking too, with these riders who treat it more like a sport. Id say the distinction is good to have so we can call it out.
If I see a grown ass man riding a bike with a basket on the front of the handlebars, I run him off the road.
The distinction is that there is a 'tribe' of bicyclists that chooses to apply their bicycles for entertainment and fitness but overlook the danger and terror that they are causing with the part of bicycle-user who use the bicycle for practical and enjoyable ways to provide for their daily transportation. The sporty tribe generally moves around like an aggressive pack or a herd at ridiculous speeds and generally little regard for consideration of all other beings in their path. They bully, yell and curse when forced to even marginally slow down or respect rules of the road and generally present a threatening manifestation of their own selfish perception of their 'fitness' and vent their hubris over what they see as 'the lesser' road-users. They approach their path as their personal property that solely exists in service to their need to exercise their drive towards speed and fitness herding behaviours.
We call those the 'Spandex-maffia' or the 'Lycra-fetishists' and they are regarded as being, at best, a bullying dangerous nuisance and ,at worst, only one (tiny) step above dog-excrement in being as useless and hazardous to the general wellbeing.
In NL the bicycle infrastructure is intended and was designed for individual use with speeds up to 25 km/h and not the ridiculous up-to 50 km/h or higher speeds that the Spandex-crowds prefer to move around with.
I ride between 10 and 15 km every day for exercise and fitness. I don't ride in the city because that's too dangerous. I'm retired now, but when I was working I would drive to work because I didn't want to show up for work covered in sweat and wearing exercise gear.
no there are infinite
Although I cycle around 2000 miles / 3218 km a year each year for the last 20 years, I am neither of the two pictures in the thumbnail. With that said I cycle for exercise and recreation. I don't cycle to go to any store. They are too far away, with large hills in between and too dangerous to get to anyways. They have marked some bike lanes on the streets (share the road / not separate lanes) along some of the way but it's a bit ridiculous as few would climb that large of a hill on roads that the cars are going 40+ MPH / 64kph to get to a store.
Yes, there are "cyclists" and there are "bicycle users".
Only two types? I don't think so.
There is more than two
I dunno, people ride sport bikes for commuting because that’s what’s on the streets of Montreal. In any case, I hardly ever see Lycra warriors in Rosemont. These tend to be middle aged men for the most part, so whatever.
I think electric bikes are going to be the catalyst for better urban bike infrastructure. Many people who otherwise wouldn't ride a bike are now on two wheels instead of four.
Within the next decade I wouldn't be surprised to see more electric bikes on the city streets than cars.
Max speed should be 30 km/u
We in the Netherlands have a phenomenon called aso wielrenners!
On bike lanes/trails/shared trails- slower riders and pedestrians stay to the right. Faster riders pass on the left when safe to do so. Dogs always have the right of way . Not rocket science but requires spacial awareness and a little patience at times. We are all on the same team wanting better city infrastructure.
There's people that commute seriously long distances to work too. If you cycle 15+km one way, do good aero and low rolling resistance sound bad?
I would say three kinds of cyclists. 1) The Utility Cyclist or better Utility Bike Rider. 2) The Casual Exercise Bike Rider. And 3) the Hardcore Cyclist. The first is the casual commuter and errand runner. The second is the person who rides for exercise but refuses to use an exercise bike because they are BORING. The third is exactly who you think they are. All groups have members who can be called "Friends of Bevis" (1). But it seems that the third group have a higher percentage than the first two that meet the discription.
1) Friends of Bevis, aka buttheads
There is bicycling for transportation and the sport of competitive bicycle racing. There is also touring. My own bicycle use has always been for transportation, exercise and recreation. That said, I have nothing against the sport of bicycle racing or touring.
I know this is a dutch (well Utrecht where i bike 50km day) view but i think for us its not really about the type but the speed and willingness to stop of groups and as a result you are missing a big new group that esp. in the netherlands ebikes can't be ignored anymore. Each group has its own issues the biggest one with 'wielrenners' is the higher speed and unwillingness to slow down, with ebikes quick startup and speed, with delivery ebikes/scooters speed and running red lights. with school kids going slow, riding in groups 3 or 4 wide and just doing whatever swinging all about. This is ofc. not true for all of them in each group but you can and in the netherlands where predicting and pre-empting what is going to happen in next 10seconds on a bicycle is a must has to be part of your internal model. The wielrenner vs fietser was true for many decades but its now way more complex with 5 or 6 different 'prototypes' that whether you like it or not share the road and in some ways (esp. here) there is more variation in the bicycle parth (including people walking, dogs, kids) than for road cars now. Its not a big deal but its always good to name them and try to curb some of the extremes.
I am.a car-free cyclist, and I prefer using roads to get places (without all the form-fitting athletic garb). I often see transport cyclists in videos like this moving almost at walking pace, or maybe jogging pace on all of these pieces of bike-centric infrastructure. I prefer to move a bit more quickly and minimize travel time. Yes, it's good for fitness, but transport is my primary bike use – I use it to get to/from places and for grocery shopping. Walking pace riding would take far too long, and actually be more dangerous. For example to the furthest grocery store it would take almost an hour to walk to one way, but it only takes me 20 minutes to ride there. I feel like how I use my bikes is kind of conveniently omitted/overlooked, or even mocked by the transport cycling advocacy crowd. Maybe the slow riding is fine for more dense urban areas, but even then why waste the time when we could be getting somewhere a bit more quickly? I also am concerned that bike-centric infrastructure would be coupled with laws banning bikes from public roads – something that would basically needlessly make cycling a chore/dd huge time to trips. Citing stats and generalizing wouldn't help someone like me in such a case. I want to use the roads, not a bike path.