CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

A Mini-Outbreak of Hipsters

(123 posts)
  • Started 11 years ago by Wilmington's Cow
  • Latest reply from gembo

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  1. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Hipster #1
    A bike white enough to be a ghost bike, fixed wheel, so having just the one brake (on the front) would have been fine, but for the fact he also just had normal flat pedals (riding in normal trainers) and no straps, so possible 'braking hard' control issues there then. Drop bullhorns and so on. Dress code however wasn't hipster (baseball cap, blue waterproof jacket, shorts, Nike or simmilar trainers)

    Hipster #2
    Ticking all the boxes. Fixed wheel bike (with toe straps) covered in stickers saying things like "F*** Cars", single brake (loses points on total hipsterness for having one), teeny tiny narrow bars with a bit of a rise on them. Riding very slowly, but skinnily moving up the inside of any stopped traffic (I reckon he was rather frustrated when I slowed to a trackstand in the bike lane because the lights ahead had turned green and the next car in the queue was indicating left). Dress code was pretty hipster too.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. crowriver
    Member

    It's all those Lahndahners up for the Festival, innit?

    Mind you, I keep seeing this young lady walking her white, drop handle bar fixie around Leith Walk (never seen her actually riding it: hipsters do a lot of walking with their bikes as an accessory).

    Before the summer I recall a pink mohican hairdo and skinny jeans. Now sporting a blonde mop with one of those '1940s washerwoman' head scarves, dungarees, etc. Think lead singer of 'Everything But The Girl', early 1980s.

    By 'eck! Young folk these days, etc. grumble, drone...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. Smudge
    Member

    Fashion over function, the (already passe) craze will soon pass, I predict the hipsters gaining downtube shifters, drop bars and rapha style next. At least it's not a carbon fest, I mean, that is soooo last year dahlings ;-)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. crowriver
    Member

    I predict the hipsters gaining downtube shifters, drop bars and rapha style next.

    Nah. Too expensive, complicated and serious. I think the hipster fixie meme still has a way to run yet until something equally cheap, easy and distinctive comes along.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. recombodna
    Member

    Doesn't matter what you ride ad long as you do.... ;-)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    "Nah. Too expensive, complicated and serious. I think the hipster fixie meme still has a way to run yet until something equally cheap, easy and distinctive comes along"

    That's probably right - the 'distinctive' thing is funny, it still is here, but from my last couple of trips to London they must be looking desperately for something new to stand out with...

    Of course I'm hoping come Christmas to be in possession of a new fixed frame, but hipster is unlikely, especially when I put brakes on front and rear, and have healed-broken-arm-friendly wide bars...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    "
    At least it's not a carbon fest, I mean, that is soooo last year dahlings ;-)

    "

    Thus spake the Brompton convert.

    Don't worry bicycles will be passé soon - more roads, more cars (everyone will want one).

    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. crowriver
    Member

    Probably a bifurcation will occur.

    Female hipsters will migrate to, say, vintage Raleigh Twenty shoppers with sensible Sturmey Archer 3-speed gears and white wall tyres. Indeed, I've seen numerous examples around Leith the past year or so.

    Males, more difficult to call. BMX?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. crowriver
    Member

    Don't worry bicycles will be passé soon - more roads, more cars (everyone will want one).

    Depends largely on 'economic growth', insurance premiums and oil prices I'd say.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. Smudge
    Member

    (Grins), good points, I wonder what a hipster is called once they are no longer hip?

    Maybe the next way to stand out will be some sort of chopper/bobber/lowrider, or perhaaps BMX's again? I dunno, I'm too old and untrendy to be allowed to know :-))

    @chdot, gotcha! I knew someone would bite at the carbonfest comment, which I admit was put there out of pure devilment ;-))

    Posted 11 years ago #

  11. kaputnik
    Moderator

    There's a fixed I sometimes see heading opposite way from me when I take the "back streets" route (H2EP on the Spokes map) to work. It has 4-spoke aerowheels front and rear, ridiculously narrow bars and the fixiclyst wears one of those skateboardy style helmets.

    I've never "got" the desire to use such wheels on a city bike, beyond the fact they are apparently more bling than other wheels. I'm not sure what they're meant to offer.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  12. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    For couriers I understand the reason behind such wheels (and usually just one of the wheels) is they're quicker to lock up, not having to thread a D-Lock between multiple spokes.

    That saving of... Oooh.... Must be at least 3 seconds, makes all the difference.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  13. chdot
    Admin

    "
    I wonder what a hipster is called once they are no longer hip?
    "

    WC might know.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  14. crowriver
    Member

    I wonder what a hipster is called once they are no longer hip?

    An old square?

    It's very age sensitive methinks.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  15. ARobComp
    Member

    How did the hipster burn his mouth?
    He started eating the pizza long before it was cool....

    There has been in increase in the hipster fixie thing over the years. I remember back when we had fixies at uni but we had drops and MASSIVE gears - terrible things.

    And anyway - everyone knows that Hipsters only have one idol. Santa - he's the worlds biggest hipster. He only works once a year and spends the rest of it judging you....

    Posted 11 years ago #

  16. Uberuce
    Member

    I can top that. I may have hallucinated it because I don't think PS/ruggtomcat and Amir saw them too, but on a Hilly Tuesday I saw two teeny-riser-bar fixies up by Duddingston, at least one of which was fully brakeless. Couldn't see the front end of the other.

    At the time I was riding a steel frame from 1988, might as well use it as an anchor weight, which admittedly had front/rear brakes. It's now got a better front brake, drop bars and downtube shi... *looks up to Smudge's comment* Yes, well.

    My wee blue floofy is fixed, although somewhat ruins the hipsterism by having MTB-width flat bars, V-brakes, mudguards and rack. I still can't quite get used to the disassociation from your own speed that freewheels inevitably produce. Man.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  17. pjmatthews
    Member

    Spotted leaving the Heriot-Watt campus, a Chopper with hipster as rider. I suspect this could be the way forward once the fixie is no longer hip.

    I hate hills. Give me gears. I don't care if I'm uncool.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  18. crowriver
    Member

    a Chopper with hipster as rider

    Male, I presume? Yeah, Choppers and maybe vintage Raleigh Grifter or BMXs (Raleigh Burner?) could be the new meme.

    Grifter:

    Burner:

    I still reckon I'm onto something with the vintage 20 shoppers for lady hipsters though...

    Then:

    Now:

    Posted 11 years ago #

  19. seanspotatobusiness
    Member

    I don't understand the alleged popularity of the fixed-gear bicycle but as someone already said, at least they're riding a bicycle. Maybe it will act as a gateway-bicycle into a life of hard bicycles.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  20. Min
    Member

    "WC might know."

    OOH! Suit you sir!

    Posted 11 years ago #

  21. Kim
    Member

    @Wilmington's Cow who said "No matter what you ride, so long as you do"? Or to put it another way, who cares... ;-)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  22. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Indeed, just not seen often in Edinburgh - was more perturbed by the potential for disaster with a non-rear-brake fixed without being attached securely to the pedals; and teeny narrow bars threading daftly down the left of traffic.

    At no point did I actually comment that their choice of being a Hipster was 'wrong' ;)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  23. Greenroofer
    Member

    Saw a young woman on a hip bike a couple of days ago. Singlespeed with matching blue rims and hubs and (I think) those handlebars that point forwards and turn up at the end (bullhorns?). It looked very cool.

    Didn't taken in much more about the bike than that: the young woman in question had quite short shorts and a lot of tanned leg, and while I was genuinely interested in the bike I didn't think it was appropriate to be seen peering at it too intently in case she (or Mrs Greenroofer) thought that it wasn't the bike's frame that I was interested in...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  24. wingpig
    Member

    "...and (I think) those handlebars that point forwards and turn up at the end (bullhorns?)."

    Normal non-hipsters have those too, though the perceived hipsterishness of them was a contributing factor in me putting up with uncomfortable drops for so long.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  25. wee folding bike
    Member

    The memsahib knows I'm likely to look at bikes rather than women so she doesn't get annoyed.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  26. RJ
    Member

    Hopster?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  27. Wilmington's Cow
    Member

    Mr White Bike


    Hip by blackpuddinonnabike, on Flickr

    Posted 11 years ago #

  28. Greenroofer
    Member

    He's so hip that his wheels have no spokes. Now that's clever.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  29. Tom
    Member

    Showing Off - the penultimate stop on the road to Disaster.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  30. Min
    Member

    I don't think it is right to take photographs of people without their knowledge and put them up on the internet for people to discuss them/their fashion sense/their choice of bicycle colour.

    Posted 11 years ago #

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