Bike Anti-Porn - When Things Go Wrong

msw rear rim with no brake, long valve stems, blue nubbin on saddle nose, grips, brake lever, brake cable outer length , fork, grips.

Anti is quite different from merely not aesthetically pleasing...

Yeah uh, not a single thing on that thing is 'anti', it's simply not optimised for photographs. And I got to say, I hate the attitude that bikes must look a certain way to pass muster. It's elitist in a really daft way and only puts people off.

^^^^ I sense a theme. RIP first sweet fixie

Yeah uh, that's not what I said though is it? So kindly don't go twisting my words.

The joy of all of our passions is the subjectivity from which one's own views are constructed. Art, fashion, politics, all follow similar lines and it's what makes discussing them interesting.

So to summarize subjective thread is subjective, nobody's opinion should matter to the owner of said bike as long as they enjoy it. Now can we put the mob to rest and have a nice cup of tea together? :) (emoji use to infer actual friendly statement not a provocation!)

My first build. I didn't even know I bought a set of tubular wheels, or what tubulars were in fact.

So far the least anti in this thread IMO.

Boast post

my first build circa 2008

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🤷🏼‍♂️

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peoples first builds

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The first photo I could find of my old Fuji. Please note brake caliper sans cable or lever.

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Also, front light taped to bars

4 different shades of yellow/gold. Strong work

4 different shades of yellow/gold

Which I have subsequently changed to three other different shades 🙂
I don't have pix, but it actually had yellow stripes on the tyres first time around.

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Saddle seatpost combo looks snappy

SLR on a Kalloy SP248, both bombproof

My point is more that this is the 'anti' thread, you're just basically talking about bikes that aren't pron. If that's the point of this thread, a vast majority of bikes would belong in here, which would completely cover up the actually 'special' bikes - like this, which I still remember fondly:

https://www.instagram.com/jokfil_bike/

Now that's anti.

Plus it's a company doing it rather than just some guy putting together his bike in a maybe less-than-perfect way. Other than that, I'm currently having a hot chocolate, I hope that counts too :)

I agree! That bike is basically fine. The grips look a bit weird but other than that it's totally inoffensive.

Seems that people are simply not sustaining a high level of anti recently.

flippantly uses pejorative term, yet feels the need to defend an inanimate object
WAC

Oh come on, don't be shy.

We can agree to disagree and perhaps I did a poor job in fully explaining why I think it deserves being placed here in only listing the visual evidence and not the conceptual/ideological ones.

All of the things I listed out are in and of themselves completely forgettable but, in my opinion when you place those within the context of the aesthetic/style/subculture the owner is attempting to attach themselves to it elevates it from forgettable to a poor pastiche.

They clearly want to to be considered cool/stylish/knowledgeable about fashion/trends otherwise why adorn it with a Carhartt sticker? And so it's this grabbing to part of something with minimal effort and no care that is so poor, completely style over substance, not dare I say it too dissimilar from a kid putting a big exhaust, wing, and underlights on their Micra.

I understand where you're coming from. The Carhartt sticker is actually anti, yeah. I didn't think the rest was really noteworthy though. As much as this thread is obviously for making fun of bike 'designs' that just went terribly wrong, I'm not a fan of 'gatekeeping' subcultures etc. - but especially not over things like valves or brake cables that are 'too long'.

But maybe that's also just because I am definitely not a part of that subculture in any way, so I feel less annoyed be people clumsily copying it, and more annoyed by people making fun of other rider's builds.

Is there a way to reset this thread?

Maybe Pengy can save us