More on bikes and social media
Posted on 07. Apr, 2009 in Bike industry, New Media, Trends
When I was 15, I saved most of my summer earnings at Harris Cyclery to buy a set of Spinergy Rev-X race wheels. I knew those were the wheels for me, but I had no idea what tires to use. I asked the head mechanic at the shop – a fellow by the name of Sheldon Brown – and he expressed a strong preference for Clement Criteriums. So that’s what I got.
Point being, the bicycle isn’t something about which we have a common cultural understanding in the same way that many of us instinctively understand cars or baseball or that you’re not supposed to eat ice cream for breakfast. Granted, my example is an esoteric one. But the idea is that – beyond simply learning how to ride as a kid – cyclists rely on sharing individual experiences with each other. That’s why social media has been so significant in both professional cycling and the more utilitarian uses of bicycles.
Since my post about Twitter’s natural fit with the rapport between pro cyclists and fans, Levi Leipheimer has provided a far more succinct explanation than I ever could.
Anyone who enjoys riding a bike could have written that tweet; anyone who enjoys riding a bike can relate to it. That’s a really powerful emotional connection enabled by social media.
Making a more commercial connection, social media has driven the small and underserved market outside western Europe for television coverage of pro cycling’s less glamorous races. This spring, I’ve noticed a flourishing of blog and Twitter links to pirated online video streams and YouTube clips from little-known races like the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
When it comes to the more general usage of bicycles, social media has been perhaps even more significant. Outside of racing, cycling is a non-hierarchical culture where everyone learns from each other… and from people like DL Byron of the Bike Hugger blog. According to his bio, he’s never been a pro cyclist or even worked in the bike industry. But his personal experiences on the bike are more than enough to write a great post about The Bike Basics for novice cyclists.
It’s that time of the year, when I’m at holiday parties and being a cyclist, I get asked about a lot about cycling. And that’s cool. I don’t mind answering the same questions over and over again. Just like when it’s bike-to-work time or Seattle to Portland season, many cyclists just don’t know the basics we know.
I’m posting the typical Q/A here as a collection and asking our readers to add to the tribal knowledge with your tips and suggestions. Those can range from eating on the bike, to riding in the rain, to what you carry in your saddle bag.
Expanding on the idea of a collective knowledge, I’d add that many of us experience cycling almost as a set of secrets passed from person to person. It’s a culture based on one person teaching another, which makes it a perfect application for tools that simply amplify the reach of interactions like the ones I used to have with Sheldon Brown. Not every cyclist can receive personal advice from probably the most famous bicycle mechanic in history, but through social media every cyclist can share experiences with Levi Leipheimer, DL Byron, and everyone else who rides a bike.
Terrific post Josh. I’ve started riding again recently for the first time since I guess I left school. It’s one of the most enjoyable ways of getting around I can think of. I feel good about the way I’m moving myself about. I like that I feel closer to my neighbors and neighborhood. I notice a lot more now than from just walking or jumping into cabs.
Not bad considering it’s Bangkok.
It was quite a story bringing the bike back from Huntington Beach to Beijing where I was living and then on to Bangkok where I am now.
Suddenly I needed to know all about how to move a bike around on international plane travel.
Anyway. I think there is a mutual sentiment within social media and the bike community. Without fail every single person who works in a Bike shop has really impressed me with their knowledge, manners, enthusiasm and friendliness.
I didn’t know it till I started on bikes again, but bike people are my kind of people.
Hi Josh,
Great post! Strongly agree with your fews on the sharing of knowledge.
I have a number of high school kids in my neighborhood riding fixies. They have come to me for mechanical help as well as questions concerning racing. I do my best to answer their questions and point them in the right direction.
Recently, I had a few tag a long on one of my early morning road rides. It was a cool morning and a few were ill prepared for the cold. I handed out brown paper bags and told them to stick the bags under their jercies. The bags at least kept the cold off their chess until it warmed up.
A few hours later the bags were dumped in the trash at the Starbucks in Huntington Beach,CA.
If you get a chance, follow me on twitter at: @AlanLamb
Take care, Alan
Isn’t the experience of cycling mostly about the cycled route itself? We have created a social web application to share exactly those favourite cycling routes, and over 100,000 cycling routes have been saved and shared so far: http://www.bikemap.net
Very good comments about ‘tribal knowledge’. I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve received, and given, cycling advice through Twitter.
I’ve been kept informed about urban safety campaigns, recruited companions for rides and received expert mechanical tips.
Cycling isn’t just growing, it’s growing in many different ways, among many different kinds of people. The right bike, route or advice for one person may not be the best approach for another. So mechanisms like Twitter are fantastic for embracing the millions of conversations that help us to help each other keep rolling.
Cycling is great. So is the web. When the two come together, it has to be a good thing.
I was lucky enough to be a mechanic under a chap called Simon Daw, known locally as probably the finest wheel builder in the East Anglian region of the UK. The knowledge I’ve gained from him has proved invaluable as a mechanic, as an MTB guide and as a friend of other cyclists.
Unfortunately Simon is no longer in the trade, but I know how much he was valued as a source of information in the south eastern road scene and how people would cycle great distances to see him in his shop. Unsurprisingly he’s now a teacher and is discovering social media – whether he’ll use this to rekindle cycling contacts or whether it’ll be used for his many other interests remains to be seen, but he’s been my primary passer-of-secrets in the this sport of ours and I can only hope that I’ve been doing his knowledge justice in what I’ve since passed on to others.
Great post!
I had exactly the same reaction to Levi’s Twit. That feeling crosses all age groups and abilities.
At 65+ I get excited revisiting old routes and exploring new ones, particularly hilly ones.
I never raced and likely won’t, but feel great comraderie following Lance, George, Levi, Ivan and Johann on Twitter.
Thanks,
George Straz
Awesome post. Well said. Seems like social media both brings the whole community together and yet lets everyone find and identify with their own little niche (or two, or three) that best fits…