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The Vandal Voice Since 1898
Home arrow Front Row arrow Hipsters cycle for fashion
Hipsters cycle for fashion Print E-mail
Written by Rachelq Harman - Argonaut   
Monday, 30 November 2009

When the sun is out and the temperature is a comfortable 75 degrees, the temptation to be outdoors is too great for anyone to resist. For many, this equates to parking the car and pedaling around town on a bicycle, at least until it starts to turn cold again.

In the springtime, people of every age, gender and political orientation can be seen meandering down the sidewalk or zipping through the bike lanes, enjoying the warm weather.

Only once there is snow on the ground do the true bicyclists emerge — those either foolish or hardy enough to withstand freezing winds and numerous tumbles onto icy pavement. Among these true bicyclists are hipsters.

While often not the most skilled riders, or the most experienced, hipsters have something many bikers do not — an extreme sense of pride. In recent years, bicycles have become synonymous with the hipster way of life.

 

Fixed gear road bikes are particularly popular. They’re more difficult to ride then the average cruiser or mountain bike, giving the rider badass points. They can go fast, allowing the rider not only to look cool zooming through the streets, but to also spend more time creating a carefully unwashed look before leaving the house. And they evoke the good ol’ 1960s, which is always a plus.

Bicycling, no matter what the weather, also provides plenty of potential to run into fellow hipsters and show off their trendy cycles and accessories. It’s a constant struggle to have the most fashionable bike, what with the abundance of styles of handlebar tape, racing tires, seats and frames available. 

Luckily, the advantage of riding a bicycle is that no matter where you go, people can see not only the stylish bike but also the carefully selected outfit worn while riding it.

What’s the point of investing hundreds of dollars into one’s bicycle if it’s only to be seen four months out of the year? And so, as the warm summer months come to an end, the hipster community keeps on cycling, even when other methods of transportation are available.

There’s nothing cooler then being seen cruising up to the local coffee shop, all bundled up on a fixie. It impresses fellow hipsters and shows not only how intense they are, but their environmental consciousness and superior level of fitness.

After all, being a cut above the rest is what being a hipster is all about.


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Comments (2)
1. 02-12-2009 13:04
 
Student
This article is absurd and lacks any clear direction. What kind of "writer" spends their time cutting people down, and so ignorantly no less? The beginning of your article talks about how only the true cyclists emerge during the winter, then you go onto to say that “hipsters” bike in the winter as if they were stupid for doing so. By your own logic, you are calling these hipsters, which you are obviously trying to cut down, true cyclists. Is it that you dislike “hipsters,” or that you are jealous of them, whatever they may be? Your argument is unclear.  
 
I will be the first to say that fixed gear bikes are impractical and certainly a fad; I myself have never seen the point in owning one, and in fact, own a road bike with 27 gears. But to mock someone for spending money on a bicycle instead of a car is ignorant. What is more, “hipsters” typically spend their money on kitsch older bicycles, typically old steel frames. You very argument is, again, unfounded. 
 
And to mock any person for being environmentally conscious only displays your ignorance about issues that are central the human condition, something that writers should know something about as their only audience is human. Stop trying to get everyone to agree with your ignorant and unfounded opinions and start learning something in college that will make a difference. I do not expect you got a very good grade on this article as your observations, points of argument, and general ideas were widely unfounded. 
 
The main thing I would like you to realize is that there is no point in judging people in the manner you just have. Hipsters (and a self-proclaimed hipster I have never met, meaning it is a title you bestow upon a person after observing them from a distance and never getting to know them) are just like any young person trying to fit in. People are all influenced by some subset of society to act or be the way they are, you are obviously influenced by the part of ignorant American society which feels that it is necessary to judge the absurdities of everyone but yourself. You cannot seriously believe that the way you live your life is better than some skinny kid in flannel shirt riding a bike with one gear? If you do, you are not perpetuating equality but closed-minded social superiority, the same closed-minded superiority that once fostered slavery and racism.  
 
Next time you feel like commenting on society, don’t. You obviously have a small grasp the world as it is, don’t subject those of us attempting to educate ourselves with your unfounded ignorance and bogus superiority.  
 
Lastly, your comments guidelines state that personal verbal attacks will be deleted, therefore this article I am commenting on should be deleted.
Registered
  
ryanbeitz
2. 03-12-2009 16:48
 
What a joke
1. What is wrong with being a hipster? What did they do to you? Not invite you on a bike ride? Just wondering. 
 
2. You most certainly are labeled a hipster. You have a shaved head and a silent "q" on the end of your name. 
 
3. Argonaut, why would you run two silly anti-hipster columns in a row, let alone run them in the first place?
Registered
  
M.Bear

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