Hipster or not?

'invoke'

Damn late night induced stupidity.

Cool.

Though I know fuck all about bikes :)

Cheers.

I thought I did till I came on here. No longer.

Fella at work just bought a black Ridgeback hybrid thing. It's quite nice, similar tubing profiles to the IRO.

Cool.

Though I know fuck all about bikes :)

• repped for posting a pic of Porter Wagoner... The Rubber Room is one of the greatest songs ever written... :D
  

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get some off these babies...
http://urbanspectacles.com/images/beye6.jpg

Sink, for fucking fuck's sake.

Good point...

Well I'm in a quandary. I'm at a stage I could go either way. Do I got for respect or do I go hipster? Here's the background;

• I am a washer (well was). I used to wash pits and pubes back in the 80's and washed my face in the 90's. I haven't however been a hand washer. I've used them but just as tools.
  
• I wanted a new sink as I'm moving to london, got a few bidets but used my mates classic sink and I wanted one. Knew about Armitage Shanks sinks as I'd shaved with one a few years ago and liked the feel.
  
• I don't intend to wash again. I may get a bug and get involved but right now I don't see it happening. Going to do some shaves but nothing on the body.
  
• I'd seen some amazing looking sinks and loved the Shanks aesthetic. I love clean design and yes I admit it's fashion accessory as well as bathroom furniture.
  
  

Sometimes I wish I never joined here, then I could be washing my sick Genipits (Genitals Armpits) blissfully unaware people wanted me to die! But that's not the case. If I do something I like to research and really get involved. I decided against buying a Shanks sink. 1 because I'm not going to use it in the bathroom and 2 because I really didn't want to end up butchering a classic sink because I didn't know what I was doing.

So I ended up with a 90's plugged Ikea. Nobody is going to miss it so I'm free to do what I want with it. Now most people want the respect of the tribe that's relevant to them (and the situation) Hipsters want other hipsters to respect them and normal people to envy them. "Real Washers" (we need a term for the alternative of Hipsters!) want other real washers to respect them and envy them.

I either try to go with restraint and make sensible aesthetic choices form and function but I could easily get it wrong. There's a lot to learn and I can just imagine the mixer choice tap fitment fail I'd get. The bowl is already to small for me (6'4") so that's instant abuse but too late I love her already.

Or I make choices based on form over function. Nothing to stupid I'm not that kind of guy, not plugless with a shallow bowl. Just looks a bit before brains. God sometimes I want to get a soap dish just because I shouldn't. Maybe with "Yeah it's a soap dish but it's pretty" on it. I loved my flannels in the 80's but I think I'd look stupid with 20" flannels.

So what should I do? Go respect and then be envious of the way other people's sink look or go fakenger and know I'd feel guilty the whole time? Difficult questions at difficult times.

have you tried using a hip bath?

get some off these babies...
http://urbanspectacles.com/images/beye6.jpg

I sit slack jawed.

yeah, just wait till someone has a crash in them. that would be messy

Jesus they make some crazy frames. I don't have the bottle to wear these...

http://urbanspectacles.com/images/abbeer2.jpg

I'm not sure which group I fit into.
But am older than the 20 somethings, and closer in age to the 40 somethings. So I reckon I'll start my own group...

Hipakengers

ache-engers

I'm not sure which group I fit into.
But am older than the 20 somethings, and closer in age to the 40 somethings. So I reckon I'll start my own group...

Hipakengers

Hip-replacementengers.

Zimmer Framengers

Glucosaminengers.

Euthanasiamengers

Hip-Opsters... Use search... ;p

"fixie"

pukes all over cock

Unapologetically so I do like nice things. And I don’t mind paying a premium for high quality brand name products. Yet building my first fixie I can’t seem to escape the stigma of allegedly buying into pretentious marketing schemes and designer guff. Correct me if I’m wrong, but over the last decade or so, it’s like then bicycle scene has been hijacked by Rapha styled hipsters, treating their bikes more and more like a fashion accessory than a ride?

Perhaps you know where I’m coming from, particularly if you’re of a certain age. Maybe like me you bought your first Mac in the dos-ages, at a time when the disambiguation of U2 meant a high-altitude American reconnaissance aircraft and the use of a mouse and graphical user interface was something reserved for the happy few. In those days you didn’t have to justify your lifestyle choices, or your reasons for spending a small fortune on a laptop, since owning a Mac, let alone a high-end bicycle, generally was considered more eccentric than cool.

Today it’s different. Lifestyle aside, the gap between the ostentatious and discerning sophistication - a genuine appreciation of outstanding design, quality, and functionality - is closing fast. From baby milk to mobile phones, taste and style has become a consumer commodity, something you can subscribe and unsubscribe to with just a few clicks, in fact there’s app for that.

Thus sat between two chairs, on one hand wanting the very best, and on the other struggling to come to terms with my own insecurities and the fact that riding my new bike I would forever be branded as "one of them", if you know what I mean? For the first time in my life I can actually afford to pick and choose, but ironically money doesn’t even come into the equation. Say for the sake of argument, I could easily spend a month’s wages on restoring a 1968 Pinarello back to its former glory and no one would bat an eyelid, but building a modern alley-cat type racer… I don’t think so!

fixie

...

That wasn't very helpful really was it. I agree with you though; as soon as I tell somebody that I ride a fixed gear I am immediately on the defensive, despite the fact that I ride everywhere with a helmet, high vis and five lights - not very hip.

The biggest problem I find is trying to explain to somebody why I spent a fortune on a bike with one gear without sounding like a pretentious tool.

non pretentious reasons for riding fixed, might help next time you need to explain to someone:
low maintenance, cheap, most of london is flat and gears are pointless, frequent acceleration at lights wears a thin 9/10 speed chain, pedal brake gives immediate control in unpredictable traffic, constant pedalling improves technique (you turn smoother circles, a more even output of power is more efficient), less need for rim braking saves wear on your rims, and on brake pads, fewer parts on the bike make it lighter.

Also Rapha (or any technical bike wear) is distinctly not hipster.

Odd post.

I guess I'm of a similar age as you, judging by the cultural references. But I think I fall onto the complete opposite side of the argument. In my case, I'd like to think I appreciate both function and form, but I don't feel the need to own them. If someone wants to have a perfectly restored vintage bike, then I'll be happy to admire its looks but I wouldn't covet owning it. For me, it's ALL about the ride. I put parts on the bike that make it the shape I want, I only clean the bike when I need to and worrying about stratches and bangs just doesn't come into the equation. What's "trendy", or other people's bike preferences aren't really my concern. At the end of the day it's not their arse in the saddle.

ALL about the ride

This is pretty much all it comes down to with me too, but it seems quite impossible to explain this to people without them thinking I'm an arse. Maybe I need new friends...