Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Does the type of bike you ride and what you wear determine how you get treated on the road?

I ride my flat bar on my commutes with 2 panniers on the side and 90% of drivers out there are polite to me. I wonder if I road my roadie with backpack if that attitude changes? Also if we're in our tights, does it change things as opposed to work clothes (generally I see those that have come from the workshop/warehouse apparel riding).

No. I get treated with the same level of respect, caution, fear, love and loathing regardless of what I happen to be riding at the time.

What does seem to make a difference is whether I'm lit up like a Stealth Bomber or the MCG...

The only time I notice a change of attitude is when I am towing the kid trailer,in terms of bohth patience in waiting until it is safe to pass and in completely changing lanes to overtake. I can only speculate that some drivers are of the view that it is ok to endager the life of a cyclist, but there may be consequences for running over a child

find_bruce wrote:The only time I notice a change of attitude is when I am towing the kid trailer,in terms of bohth patience in waiting until it is safe to pass and in completely changing lanes to overtake. I can only speculate that some drivers are of the view that it is ok to endager the life of a cyclist, but there may be consequences for running over a child

+1 to this, except it's when I have a baby seat on the back. I remember a yehuda moon cartoon about exactly that but I'm too lazy to find it

Edit: Got over my fit of lazy...

find_bruce wrote:The only time I notice a change of attitude is when I am towing the kid trailer,in terms of bohth patience in waiting until it is safe to pass and in completely changing lanes to overtake. I can only speculate that some drivers are of the view that it is ok to endager the life of a cyclist, but there may be consequences for running over a child

I suspect its the same thing with those kiddie seats on the back.

Ozkaban wrote:+1 to this, except it's when I have a baby seat on the back. I remember a yehuda moon cartoon about exactly that but I'm too lazy to find it

Edit: Got over my fit of lazy...

Jeez you really need to work on your laziness if you can't sustain it for more than 2 minutes at a time

Nope - makes no difference whether I'm in full lycra on my CF roadie or on my touring bike in touring gear. Most motorists are courteous and considerate, with only the rare bogan feeling heroic...

find_bruce wrote: Jeez you really need to work on your laziness if you can't sustain it for more than 2 minutes at a time

Possibly Actually, I thought "How hard can it be to actually find the image". I've struggled with finding old yehuda cartoons before but the Google-fu was strong today...