Who is he? Some guy who lives out in the sticks in Connecticut who capitalized on the hipster trend of "unracer" bikes and made a business out of it. /n/ told me to hate him, and initially I did, but after some adventuring of my own - he made a lot of sense to me.So this is a Ronnie Romance thread.
>>1986815ultraromanace?
>/n/ told me to hate him... the same /n/ that loves Yehuda Moon?
lycra schizo here. my beef with "unracers" is that despite having loud obnoxious opinions on what I'm allowed to like, most of them are not subject matter experts and in fact are attracted to "unracer" culture specifically because they are hostile to expertiseI don't pay much attention to instagram stuff but this guy seems to know something about bikes, so I have no beef with him. I only have a very general idea of who he is and what he stands for so if I'm completely off base here I'm open to being told I should hate him if someone can explain why
Watched his video on frame comfort, dude has no clue what he's talking about.
>>1986819there is nothing worse than a group of spandex whores cutting you off and thinking they are some road authority. I usually do dangerous overtaking on my single speed around them to make them scream
>>1986829if you don't want to be passed, don't be slow
>>1986815He’s ok. Kinda gives off perv vibes tho for some reason
>>1986819My beef with unracers is their disregard for modern ergonomics which they dismiss as "marketing"But they're quite happy to buy whatever neato meme bar is in style this week.Also they hate triples.
>>1986838you niggers don't even understand the importance of cadence it's hilarious to see some fred blowing past you on big chainring while on flats only to be completely left behind on climbs because the fag can't keep the cadence or shift to the right gear. Same deal with those dentist homosexuals in groups.I like bike touring bros and single speed riders a lot more because they actually know how to ride their bikes properly. They do it for enjoyment not fad points.
>>1986847>all this seething because you couldn't figure out how to adjust a derailleurI know it's hard for your ego to take but did you even consider taking it to the shop instead of just cutting it off in a rage?
>>1986852unfortunately money can't buy skill boi, Unracers bros unite
As a retrogrouch I have no idea who this is, but we can team up against the e-shifting disk tootling lycrascum.
>>1986845when unracers say "marketing" what they mean is it's designed and sold by a vertically integrated manufacturer that has been in existence for more than 10 years. what they consider "authentic" is stuff sold by a drop shipper on instagram offered exclusively in the following colors: silver, vegetable tanned leather, oiled canvas
>>1986815trying to grift off a $2000 unracer allum frame with a steel fork is insane considering that higher spec (deore, cromo fork) 2000-2010s hybrids of that description are the last bastions of good price /quality on the used market. Pic rel is like $100 all day from a boomer who just got an ebike, sometimes practically unridden, and with nice parts. If it's a disc cope then there are disc ones too.
>>1986869
>>1986815>sweater with shorts
>>1986815i am of the divergent species of hippy that likes to go fast down the mountain
>>1986886I ride in shorts above 5c, legs just dont get cold enough when you pedal
the unracer philosophy makes a lot of sense to me, but everyone who mentions it is some rich asshole retard faggot who pays $2,500 to dress like a woodworker from the 1940s,
>>1986815the brakes are dishonest.
>>1987093welcome to the party. nobody has any beef with people who don't want to get deep into cycling hobby drama. 99.99% of cyclists don't give a shit about hookless vs hooked or pogacar's favorite brand of ass lotionwhat we hate is people who put on a big performance about being a down to earth totally chill regular dude who doesn't get into all this hobby drama, and then it turns out they are deeper into hobby drama than just about anyone who has ever touched a bicycle and their particular brand of hobby drama just happens to be loudly shitting on other people's idea of fun and being a total prick about their totally chill relaxed non-judgmental boutique vintage-inspired "not for cyclists" cycling apparel made by some retired investment banker in a rich people's summer vacation hamlet in new england where if you don't wear vintage-inspired "not for cycling" clothes in exactly that style you're the one being judgmental, because unracer logic
>>1987098I think most of this happens in your head man. Unracers will fit in peripherally on a relatively inexpensive used bike. This is where most of the style comes from, and it's also what most of the bikes of even the most serious proponents will be. The idea of unracing is that racing is so ubiquitous that it requires a counterpoint, not that it is in itself invalid. Imo racing and unracing are mutually benificial. The real snobbery exists towards department store bikes and uninformed consumers and it's mostly coming from mechanics who have real and sensible experience of why those things are not good for people. Now trying to make your premium boutique product attractive enough to sell through marketing is just grifting. There's really no other way to go about it. Imo you can look down at that sort of activity as stupid and meaningless in the same way as you can look at almost everything as stupid and meaningless, lets say we reduce the world to only what isn't stupid and what are we even left with, all culture is pretty much gone. Everything is stupid and you're just being conveniently selective about your grouchiness.
>>1987096The brakes are dishonest because there is a serious performance advantage to aero brake levers. They pull the cable in a different direction which makes them inherently more powerful. People think it's just about neat cabling or modern ergonomics but it's really about braking performance. And he found a unique aesthetic because these things had been left in the past, left on proper classic builds, or left on beaters. This is a $5000 bike with a fucking XTR mech and fat tires to ride offroad. Cantis can be excellent brakes, but they need to be optimized at every level, and you can do that more than in the past. Back in the centerpull days pro riders would sub MAFAC levers for universal ones which worked slightly better. It's bad enough to have a fashion bike but i've seen numerous builds like his with non-aero levers. He's created a fashion for it. It's as bad as people who like vintage brake pads.
>>1987096he doesn't even have brake hoods. It's offensive how bad the braking setup is. It's not:>rim brakes are goodIt's:>brakes don't matter Very valid perspective on a beater. Awful perspective on a $5000 gravel bike.
>>1987104those aren't unracers though, those are just people who have inexpensive used bikesit's somewhat like people who just happen to not have clothes with a lot of visible logos and branding, and the "quiet luxury" trendsters who are neurotically obsessed with the brand and the flex and they go around hoping someone will notice their "unbranded no logo" brunello cucinelli dad hat that supposedly makes them a more noble person than the rapper with the gucci hat. at a very superficial level they purportedly have a similar mindset but in fact they are coming from a polar opposite position
>>1987109>>1987107>>1987096That's what you're mad about? Non-aero levers work fine with cantis if you're going be in the drops the majority of the time.But I completely agree though that this kind of bike is ridiculous if you have to buy a new frame. I built multiple bikes like this in the past for less than $500/each and they were fun, but part of the point is also that they're cheap and you're turning what's otherwise just an old bike/frame into something rad. Here's a picture of one of my bikes from 12 years ago.
>>1987123>shogun with champion tubingnice bike. Guessing it's a shogun 600 or higher.Shogun has one of the coolest headbadges with the samurai image.Personally, non-aero levers I only brake from the drops, which bleeds into me mostly braking from the drops which is fine for me.
>>1987115>those aren't unracers though, those are just people who have inexpensive used bikesNo dude. The people buying shit from blue lug for example are still mostly fucking with inexpensive used bikes or atleast started out doing that and have an affinity for it.
>>1987123>work fineyeah but that's within context. jagwire canti pads 'work fine', as do the thin stamped steel cable stops, as do most cheap brake arms, but if i saw an otherwise high spec build that didn't have kool stops, a stiff hanger, or nice cantis, it would piss me off. That bike has tires and gearing that are twice as wide as yours, it's designed for far gnarlier riding, and it costs significantly more. I don't even mind using retro parts/ tech on new builds necessarily.New frames are expensive but it's a good thing that they're being made because if nothing else, they enrich the used market.
>>1987090very, very. very bad for your knees
anyone else here just ride for the love of it? Not to flex, not to larp as lance armstrong, not to be a hipster faggot, just to ride in the fresh air away from the bullshit of the modern world?I have a few bikes, all are different, but they have one thing in common, I love riding them, they fit me, they are comfy, they are good quality, if rather old, steel framed bikes, I get overtaken all the time but i don't care, I'm not in a race, I'm just out for a ride. even if i'm going somewhere I'm not in a hutty, I give myself plenty of time and intend to enjoy the journey.everytime I see someone on a road bike with lycra they never look like they're enjoying themselves, the don't look relaxed or happy or that they're paying attention to the world around them. my favourite cyclists are the ones who are wearing normal clothes, they always seem to have time to say hey, or nod politely, smile, they sometimes stop to chat about bikes or decent rides around here. but the lycra wearers have no time for that, they are busy racing against no one, head down terrified of a wrinkle in their shorts catching the air. I feel sad for them to be honest, and the money they burn in this pointless miserable uncomfortable race against no one. my most expensive bike cost £200 from a mate at work, i never bought a single item of clothing 'for cycling',
>>1987200Most people start with this mentality and then ride a modern bike or wear a chamois and realise 'oh this is better'Unracers look at the same scenario and think 'hmm how could i make this worse'
>>1987205Ben cycling since i was 4 years old anon, I'm now 36, I haven't changed a thing. My first bike was second hand from my cousin and I only ever rode used bikes since. Don't get me wrong, they are nice bikes, well built frames with quality tube sets, good components that are kept well maintained, tight rim braking, clean gear shifting, kino friction thumbies, smooth grease packed bearings, light and supple tyres. each bike is set up to make riding it a joy, efficiency and comfort are core to that, but speed? As I said, I'm not racing, I'm riding.There's a tendency to assume that anyone who didn't fall for the consoomer 'new bike every year' 'lycra makes you faster' 'be aros bro' memes is somehow out there suffering. Of course some no doubt are suffering, usually through ignorance and laziness when it comes to bike tuning, but they are not suffering as much as the £5000 annual spenders eternally locked into a self made war against the lower atmosphere.Actual racers I respect, that's different, these are athletes competing against other athletes. But the sunday loners driving themselves mad for a second shaved off what should be a joyful excursion? Tragic figures rightly reviled by even non cyclists.
>>1987200>>1987209>totally non-judgmental chill dude thinks you're awful and you don't experience human emotions because you didn't buy his twee vintage shityeah, it's unracer time!
>>1987200>>1987205Cassettes cost $1000 now. Jockey wheels cost $500. Cranksets unglue in half. Bottom bracket shells haven't really worked for 20 years. Racers would feel at home getting fucked in the ass with $200 steel surly handlebars, blue lug twine with shellack, and paying dylan in san francisco to reimagine the potential of gaspipe from chang.
>>1987213what currency is that?
>>1987205>ride a modern bike or wear a chamois and realise 'oh this is better'when does modern start? The only thing that's really changed in 30 years is disc brakes and that basically means a 'modern' entry level bike isn't even lighter than the 30 year old one.
1987215don't reply to the bait
>>1987211yeah you're right. I used to seethe at roadies too but then i realized most of them are bros, and the old rich ones like old bikes. >>1987200yes absolutelyAs for roadies not acknowledging you on the road... I mean come on that is totally meaningless. I challenge you to do a long climb that is popular with roadies and see what they have to say to you at the top on your old shitter. Give them a real chance.
>>1987213A modern 9 speed is comparable to top of the range 1990 group-set except back then you'd have 8 speeds and a 26T Hollowtech 2 is bombproof
>>1987223>Hollowtech 2 is bombproof>With our dedication to safety and quality in mind, Shimano is issuing a---->The affected model numbers are DURA-ACE and ULTEGRA branded cranksets with the following model numbers: ULTEGRA FC-6800, FC-R8000 and DURA-ACE FC-9000, FC-R9100 and FC-R9100-P
>>1987223>back then you'd have 8 speeds and a 26TI thought we were talking about racers vs unracers? unracers aren't limited to 26t cassettes.
>>1987226That failure could happen on a square taper it's nothing to do with the interface it's the cranks themselves
>>1987228>disimiliar metals and plastic glued together is just as strong as a single forged piece uh huh ?
'hollowtech' refers to the crank arms being hollow. There is square taper hollowtech. Hollowtech 2 does mean a bottom bracket standard but what it really means is that the cranks are hollow and that construction is prettttyyy sketchy and was completely fucked for like a 10 year period Probably the worst fuck up of shimano ever.
>>1987217> I challenge you to do a long climb that is popular with roadies and see what they have to say to you at the topwon't happen, unracers think climbing is torture that defeats the whole point of riding which is "not to flex"remember, climbing implies an elevation change and elevation change implies a certain thing could be "greater than" and a certain other thing could be "less than". whereas really it's all the same, EXCEPT (this is very important) except if it makes me feel morally superior, in which case it's the true way to go and everything else is wrong and dumb
it turns out that going fast is fun and rewarding, at least for some of us>>1987213>paying dylan in san francisco to reimagine the potential of gaspipe from chang.sensible chuckle
>>1986815do I need to buy wool socks and a scarf before I can call myself an unracer or am I already there
>>1987213>reimagine the potential of gaspipe from chang.Hehe
>>1987197It's not.
>>1987232climbing is cool because then you get to go downhill after>>1987261wool socks are my favorite socks. undies, too. scarves are kinda zesty tho
>>1987200The thing with roadies not giving you a nod always is that when you're out on a ride that's already been going for couple hours and you're the 318th guy coming towards them on normal clothes on a normal bike they just don't bother with a wave or a nod. The same happens even with other roadies in places where roadies are extremely common. If you stop somewhere and the roadies are stopped they're most likely open for a chat. Especially so if you stop at a cafe or on top of a big climb. Most of them don't do it to flex or larp as Lance. They do it for the exact same reason you do it. Because they love it. Their expression of the love is just in a different form. Racers are also the last people to race some random people they come across on their rides. If someone races you after you come across them on a ride it's guaranteed that they don't race their bike.Also I started with the mentality that I don't need bike clothing or a road bike. But first I got some bike shorts and soon enough I had a road bike. Because they're simply comfier than non bike clothes while riding and when you're spending a lot of time on the road a road bike with aggressive geometry is actually the comfiest.
>>1987200Hell yeah, 100%. I felt like joining a local cycle club but the lycrafaggotry really didn't appeal. I'd rather join a more relaxed, [spoiler] party-pace [/spoiler], kind of group. Cycling to and from work helps me to decompress. It's the perfect way to dived work from home.Clothing wise, I am the same way. I have a cycling shirt, but I still wear my gym shorts from high school.I am blessed to live in a country where cycling is encouraged, drivers aren't assholes and you will find something new whichever direction you go.
>>1987215Shifting improved by leaps and bounds. I do not ever want to ride a friction shifted 3x7 freewheel again.Also plus tires, or even 29ers. They were not feasible with 90s tech.
>>1987462indexing and cassettes are late 80s tech. they had 700c bikes with 2"+ tires in the 1890s.
>>1987123>if you're going be in the drops the majority of the timetrue considering the extra leverage. but coming from someone who is pretty much always on the hoods non aero levers are so fucking uncomfortable. any sort of performance decrease aside, descending on super rough terrain quickly or long road rides tax the fuck out of my hands. buying a pair of modern trp levers was an insane improvement in terms of comfort. big ups to anyone who can rock it i suppose, but i don't disagree with your sentiment. though, he has an established brand so i digress.on a side note, i really never noticed a major, major performance increase switching to aero levers for side pulls, but that was for something with an already short cable travel. dunno.
>>1987660not that gay. gayer than /fa/ or /trv/. probably on par with /lgbt/ which you'd think would be the gayest board of all but that's /fit/t. enjoyer of males
>>1987746fit is not as gay anymore, it's been co-opted by zoomers who obsess over not jerking off and fitness influencers. i mean conceptually, it's pretty gay, but still>>1987660>what the fuck is this board? bicyclists??yes faggot
>>1987660bi cyclists, faggot
>>1986847Breh some of the fastest roadie's I know are hobby mechanics. Don't be such a fag with your anecdotes
>>1987098This is why I don't like the path less pedalled guy. 90% of his content is talking about how he's doing.his own thing, how GCn is fake, how he likes it slow and you should too, etc... Real niggaz are like rj the bike guy or Ollie
>>1986815>get paid fatt staxx to ride a bike while being attractivefuck it good for him
>>1986856he exists at the intersection of Grant Petersen and Chris McCandless
>>1987261please get rid of that awful plastic thingy
>>1986815w2c handlebar bag guys?
>>1987822my "violence bear" brand light? no. it strobes blue and red and scares tweakers.
>>1987823I’m thinking about buying something like this to Jerry rig. Bad idea?
>>1987929go to goodwill and rummage through their shit. i find rear panniers all the time.
>>1987929Army surplus bags convert pretty easily to bike bags, usually have lots of buckles/straps/loops that make it simpler to rig.
>>1987935this, also thrift store camera bags. lots of old camera bags are really nice quality.
>>1987823Specialized Fjällräven S/F handlebar bag with the compact S/F handlebar rackHave the rolltop bag, only waiting on the rack to be shipped
>>1988064>Specialized Fjällräven S/F handlebar bagPlease be joking.
>>1987823It's custom/hand manufactured by a 80 year old japanese master craftsman and costs three thousand dollars. Too expensive for you kiddo
>>1987823That's a Carradice Nelson. It's actually not a handlebar bag, it's a saddlebag. The pockets on the side are annoying with drop bars. >>1988107The craftsperson who makes it signs the bag. Mine was made by Emily.
carradice is a good style to copy if you rig up a bagthere's a thin internal dowel and then holes in the bag which the flat leather straps go through, and loop around the dowel. Good way to add some stiffness/shape to a bag and it means you don't necessarily need to sew anything to add the straps. wooden dowels of all thicknesses are cheap/easy to buy although ime old dowels can be quite a lot stronger than the cheap hardware store pine ones you get now so worth looking for old ones.
>>1988106not him, but why? a 13l bar bag for 120 euro doesn't seem too bad. roll top bags aren't my favorite, but they have their place. lot cheaper than a rando bag from acorn or swift, but you lack the accessibility to the bag while moving of course.i don't really like the rack, but the bag seems ok.
>>1988107The carradice stuff is very affordable for goods that are made in UK. Excellent value if one wants that style, no hipster bullshit.>>1988197You have to add the 100 euro rack to it, though they were just at 40% discount or something so he probably got them for almost half that. The Fjällräven/specialized thing comes off to me just as corporates milking annoying millenials on the bikepacking trend, which is why I guess that reaction. I'm sure they are completely fine as bags.
>>1988119why do bongs always look so dysgenic?
>>1988226Vikings stole all the good looking ones to breed.
>>1987231These cranks are hollowtech 2 and aren't hollow just a simple solid casting.Hollowtech 2 refers to the BB now
>>1988788I've got the Alivio triple hollowtech. I've done thousands of kms, but I'm open to recommendations.
>>1987096That front mech must shift like a dream.
>>1986815Ultraromance Fabio bags are now collector's items due to the closure of the factory.
serious question for you fags (specifically the lyrca fags), Why don't you guys where padding? Particularly along your sides? Like I know nobody plans too/wants to fall, but if you do, you're blowing up a 700$ XXS kit stretched too it's limits and scraping up a lot of skin. I know it's 'aero' but I feel like 1. you're better off training in less specialized things (so you're faster on race day) and 2. you don't race so why not pick something that actually take a hit and go buck on them streets?
>>1989053can you please post this into chatGPT and ask it to rewrite it in standard early 21st century american english so I can respond, thanks
>>1989053last time i ate shit on my bike i was covered in bad grazes and having hair stick to dressings was seriously painful/annoying. So, Mr Safety, why don't you shave your legs?
>>1989057so why aren't you wearing padding? that's what I'm asking
>>1989061For the same reason you're not shaving your legs. It's fucking gay
>>1988788I guess if something is hollow it counts....That's confusing.>>1989053Crashing on the road leads to 2 types of injuries.Serious life changing ones that are rare like broken collar bones. TBI's, crashing into solid objects.Or you have road rash, which is probably 90% of the crashes.I don't wear padding since it restricts cooling, restricts movements, and it's so rare for me to crash on the road I just don't care.My shorts were 50usd on sale a long time ago, and half the time I wear addidas trackpants.I wear a helmet and gloves.
>>1986815I hate both "unracers" and lycrafags. It's a shame that pretty much every bike club is one of those two. I just want to ride with people who go on a normal speed, ride a normal commuter-type/cheap roadie, wear normal clothes etc but we're the minority in this shitty hobby
>>1989120i get mistaken for homeless, but never an unracer or lycrafag.
>>1987295looking gay isn't comfy.
>>1988788Solid casting is solid.Alivio means "relief" btw
>>1986815Forrest Gump
>>1989120your mistake was trying to make riding your bike a social event. I swore off riding with other people the first time I took a girl I was dating for a bike ride>anon what are you thinking about>are you mad at me?>what's wrong? what's wrong? oh honey where are you?>oh we can just stop there and have lunch. what do you mean no locks? no we can just ask the employees to watch our bikes! (attractive women think it's normal to ask strange men to do outlandish favors because they have been conditioned to expect the entire world to revolve around them)>why are you going so slow? I'm not an invalid just because I'm a girl>why are you going so fast? are you trying to get away from me?>why are you behind me now? don't you want to talk?I don't care if people think I'm miserable either, I'm not obligated to smile at every single person I see, normies ruined cycling
>>1989707meds
>>1986847holy seethe
>>1989707Never had an issue riding with the bros
>>1986840the beard
>>1989750it's the chlidish name "ronnie" coupled with the frequent overexposure of his nearly fully naked body that nobody asked for, because they came for bikes and instead got a weirdo in a thong riding a bicycle. it has a whiff of "just gonna keep pushing your boundaries little by little and try to slowly desensitize you to inappropriate nudity with my disarming childlike persona"
>>1989762And? Are you afraid he's gonna jump out the screen and rape you? He mostly does voice over on his videos. I'd be riding shirtless if I had the body.
>>1989825anon said he gives off perv vibes "for some reason". this was taken by someone else as an implicit question: "for what reason?" speculation ensued. and then you got offended. you are probably ronny the sex pervert.
>>1989762honestly I just get homosexual vibes off him. asian wife, oddly close relationships with hairy guys etc. could be some polyamory creep shit ofc too. wouldn't be surprised if there's some wanking videos from omegle off him.
>>1989905yeah nothing says "homosexual" like having sexual relations with both women and men
>>1989905How can people even remotely take this massive faggot seriously? I'm not even a lycra fag either
>>1989905Jesus Christ..
So what are this guy's credentials, what has he achieved to make his opinions worth listening to, or paying $2000 for an aluminum frame signed by him?
>>1990160Idk, makes non-competitive cycling kind of fun. He's a total hipster, he shills very expensive, cottage-industry gear, but you realise this business are not giant corporations, hire local people, and pay fair wages, it makes sense. Listening to some of his talks, and you get the sense he wants to keep this hobby out of the hands of big shitty corporations, that want to push the latest anally-controlled blue-tooth shifter, or some other irrelevant bullshit to lycra weekend warrior boomers. It just so happens he is a bit of a personality.
>>1990234Do you really need a flamboyant exhibitionist to tell you that riding bikes is fun? Also not being a big corporation is not a pro when you peddle worse products for more money.
>>1990234so he's an asshole then. since you seem unaware, micro electronics and bluetooth are not cutting edge technology, you don't need "big shitty corporations" to do that stuff. and "irrelevant lycra boomers" are just people who spend enough time on bikes that they're more interested in comfort than appeasing people (you) who hate bikes. taiwan has hundreds of small boutique shops producing oddball bits and parts, you just don't like them because they're not rubbing their nutsack for you on instagram let alone bashing the people who keep the market alivehopefully his factory never reopens
>>1986815he's a wealthy poorfag (Bohobo) driving up the cost of good parts, I have no other objections>>1986818for me road bikes are only fun when going fast, otherwise they have no purpose unless you have the worlds strongest bike lock.
>>1986818>I'm not obsessed with speed, I just seethe about how fast I perceive others to be going because I'm almost never actually on a bike
>>1987228mathematically unlikely
