winston people on posh bikes who look the part get pissed off if you draught them, coz it makes them look like foolish poseurs if you can keep up with them on a manky fixed wheel
Most of my roadie mates wouldn't have a problem with a fixed rider being behind at all. But they're going to try and avoid be drawn into a race with you on the streets.
None of the posh bikes we own are insured (the value is too high, you couldn't insure something you race with anyway), and we certainly don't want to risk the bike just for a 5 minute burn-out. Roadies also like to pace themselves, the pace may be above 20mph, so it appears to be fast and is good for hitching a ride, but pace themselves they still do. It's more like a gentle training ride on the streets. Nothing to cause a fuss about, and the thing that would make us feel most foolish would be harming the bike outside of a race or 'serious' ride. And if you're drafting comfortably at the closer to 25mph mark we're going to be seriously impressed with your gearing or spinning (we will notice).
For the record too, whenever I've chatted about messengers and fixed wheel riders, there's always a stack of respect from other roadies. Either for the all-winter riding, or the stop/start nature of messengering (which we're basically not used to and would find kills us), the riding fixed up hills whilst still weaving through traffic, the wearing of denim and heavy fabrics, how you all seem to cope without a hydration routine, etc. There's no animosity towards fixed riders and messengers... that's saved for the commuters who are dangerous as hell and dare to risk harm to our lovely bikes, exceptions made if the commuter happens to be a cute girl.
If you've ever read Catch 22, the common parallel is that roadies tend to believe (mild paranoia) that everyone in the world is out to hurt their bike. So long as they're not feeling that when you're drafting because you exude the air of an experienced cyclist, there's no problem with it beyond the greediness when the work isn't being shared.
Most of my roadie mates wouldn't have a problem with a fixed rider being behind at all. But they're going to try and avoid be drawn into a race with you on the streets.
None of the posh bikes we own are insured (the value is too high, you couldn't insure something you race with anyway), and we certainly don't want to risk the bike just for a 5 minute burn-out. Roadies also like to pace themselves, the pace may be above 20mph, so it appears to be fast and is good for hitching a ride, but pace themselves they still do. It's more like a gentle training ride on the streets. Nothing to cause a fuss about, and the thing that would make us feel most foolish would be harming the bike outside of a race or 'serious' ride. And if you're drafting comfortably at the closer to 25mph mark we're going to be seriously impressed with your gearing or spinning (we will notice).
For the record too, whenever I've chatted about messengers and fixed wheel riders, there's always a stack of respect from other roadies. Either for the all-winter riding, or the stop/start nature of messengering (which we're basically not used to and would find kills us), the riding fixed up hills whilst still weaving through traffic, the wearing of denim and heavy fabrics, how you all seem to cope without a hydration routine, etc. There's no animosity towards fixed riders and messengers... that's saved for the commuters who are dangerous as hell and dare to risk harm to our lovely bikes, exceptions made if the commuter happens to be a cute girl.
If you've ever read Catch 22, the common parallel is that roadies tend to believe (mild paranoia) that everyone in the world is out to hurt their bike. So long as they're not feeling that when you're drafting because you exude the air of an experienced cyclist, there's no problem with it beyond the greediness when the work isn't being shared.