Freds

tunney

Why would someone commute to work in full ToI An Post gear? Whole lot - shorts, socks, ss jersey - and it was cold this morning.

Raam

tunney wrote: »

Why would someone commute to work in full ToI An Post gear? Whole lot - shorts, socks, ss jersey - and it was cold this morning.

gotta wear something

digitalage

plonker!

E@gle.

Freds like to think they are pro, If you wear full team kit then you just may be a fred

kenmc

tunney wrote: »

and it was cold this morning.

Really? I thought it was absolutely perfect this morning!

Caroline_ie

I am getting one of these An Post kits ( hopefully ) this week ... Not sure I'll wear it for commuting, but I ll wear it on a spin...

tunney

Well I had to wear my disco jacket and my disco ss jersey on top and disco leg warmers under my disco shorts to stay warm. Went for the disco winter socks rather than the disco summer socks as well.

hunnymonster

I find it hard enough to make sure I have matching socks (that are mine - 2 athletes in the house is a pain in the socks dept) let alone getting the whole kit to match. I did think it was a bit chillier this morning though.

E@gle.

tunney wrote: »

Well I had to wear my disco jacket and my disco ss jersey on top and disco leg warmers under my disco shorts to stay warm. Went for the disco winter socks rather than the disco summer socks as well.

Disco stuff is ok as long as you dont have a Trek painted with disco team colours

tunney

E@gle. wrote: »

Disco stuff is ok as long as you dont have a Trek painted with disco team colours

Of course I do - otherwise it would all be wrong wrong wrong.

crashoveroid

tunney wrote: »

Why would someone commute to work in full ToI An Post gear? Whole lot - shorts, socks, ss jersey - and it was cold this morning.

Wear what you want if you like it wear it A buddy of mine is a female pro and love the lotto gear and has a kit and wears it training is she a fred Too LOL

'68 Fastback

I agree that the matching fred suit is a bit lame, but if they didn't exist you wouldn't get the pleasure of zipping past them in jeans and a raggy ould t-shirt now would you?

Raam

My name is Raam, and I'm a fred.

Quigs Snr

I have seen very good riders wearing full matching team kit, riders that you would not describe as Freds thats for sure.

For most cyclists the obvious signs are: Toeclips, runners, socks that come over the ankles, hairy legs, non-cycling shorts, reflectors on the wheels, Baggy Hi Vis jackets (during the daytime) etc.... Saddle too low. Anyone got any more ?

Of course there are those who reckon if you are not racing with at least a B license then you are also a fred.

Raam

Quigs Snr wrote: »

I have seen very good riders wearing full matching team kit, riders that you would not describe as Freds thats for sure.

For most cyclists the obvious signs are: Toeclips, runners, socks that come over the ankles, hairy legs, non-cycling shorts, reflectors on the wheels, Baggy Hi Vis jackets (during the daytime) etc.... Saddle too low. Anyone got any more ?

Of course there are those who reckon if you are not racing with at least a B license then you are also a fred.

Tyres half flat.

tibor

Fred?

penexpers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_(bicycling)

Chips Lovell

Wow Tunney. You must have great eyes to spot what socks someone is wearing. They all look to same to me.

Looks like this forum is coming of age now that we're having debates on whether is cool/not cool/fredish/poseurish to wear certain kits.

I wear my yellow TDF jersey with matching shorts and helmet into the office most days.

tunney

el tonto wrote: »

Wow Tunney. You must have great eyes to spot what socks someone is wearing. They all look to same to me.

Looks like this forum is coming of age now that we're having debates on whether is cool/not cool/fredish/poseurish to wear certain kits.

I wear my yellow TDF jersey with matching shorts and helmet into the office most days.

Okay I didn't see the socks but I *imagine* they were ToI

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

Wow Tunney. You must have great eyes to spot what socks someone is wearing. They all look to same to me.

Looks like this forum is coming of age now that we're having debates on whether is cool/not cool/fredish/poseurish to wear certain kits.

I wear my yellow TDF jersey with matching shorts and helmet into the office most days.

Did you get that yellow bar tape you had on order?

Gavin

What a load of bollix.

tunney

Verb wrote: »

What a load of bollix.

Was that you in the ToI gear then?

Gavin

tunney wrote: »

Was that you in the ToI gear then?

Yellow and green? My favourite colour combo.

BH2008

Although I agree a full TOI kit, or any full kit on a commute to work looks a little sad...I still am of the opinion that the more people cycling to work the better, regardless of their attire.....unless its a world champ jersey!

flatface

Damn, I did not know what a Fred was which means I must be one.

Raam

BH2008 wrote: »

Although I agree a full TOI kit, or any full kit on a commute to work looks a little sad...I still am of the opinion that the more people cycling to work the better, regardless of their attire.....unless its a world champ jersey!

So we have to buy special commute kit now instead of the kit we already have?

hunnymonster

It also depends on your commute. My shortest commute distance is 24 km but sometimes I take the ferry and go the long way in, in which case I can rack it up to about 80 km.

Diarmuid

penexpers wrote: »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_(bicycling))

You learn something new everyday!

BTW avoid KOM jersey's like the plague. Self respect disappears faster than you can imagine when a 60 year old passes you and your polka dot jersey half way up a climb. Not that I'd know or anything

E@gle.

Raam wrote: »

Tyres half flat.

Straps from bib shorts on over your jersey is a common fred attribute.

Raam

E@gle. wrote: »

Straps from bib shorts on over your jersey is a common fred attribute.

Unmatching water bottles.

Chips Lovell

E@gle. wrote: »

Straps from bib shorts on over your jersey is a common fred attribute.

I saw one guy in Spain wearing just bib shorts, no jersey.

Vélo

Hi my name is Aquinas and I'm a Fred!

Can you get counselling for this?

Raam

OK, now that we have determined that we can't wear any team kit, what are we allowed to wear? Is it permitted to be branded in any way?

Also bikes, all the teams use bikes (I checked), so presumably we can't use any of those bikes. Which ones are we allowed to use?

BH2008

Raam wrote: »

So we have to buy special commute kit now instead of the kit we already have?

Pretty much....neutral colours preferably......think you missed my point, personally speaking I wouldn't wear a full on kit for my commute, but I only commute 12km to work so I don't need padding or pockets and for me baggy shorts are fine, on the other hand if I had a longer commute I certainly would have no issue with the gear, my main point is that I'd rather see a lot more people on their bikes than in their cars....what they wear isn't an issue! The world champ jersey comment was tounge in cheek.....

Raam

BH2008 wrote: »

Pretty much....neutral colours preferably......think you missed my point, personally speaking I wouldn't wear a full on kit for my commute, but I only commute 12km to work so I don't need padding or pockets and for me baggy shorts are fine, on the other hand if I had a longer commute I certainly would have no issue with the gear, my main point is that I'd rather see a lot more people on their bikes than in their cars....what they wear isn't an issue! The world champ jersey comment was tounge in cheek.....

Aye, I know what you mean. I always wear cycling shorts and a jersey on my commute as I tend to belt it in and arrive sweaty. When I started I used to wear somewhat regular clothes on the commute, but I'd never switch back.

Quigs Snr

I think team kit is ok.... (better to have your own club kit though according to some Fred rules I read on the internet once).

Fred-ish-ness is a serious problem at times however. If you get one turn up for your club spin it can be disaster. We had one show up (GAA shorts and socks), strong as a bull but only half as smart as one, every time he would stand up on a hill he would throw his back wheel at you, caused a few riders to go down.

After that I measured peoples fredness in terms of their ability to handle themselves in a bunch. It can be bruising to the ego for some cyclists, I was on a charity ride and met up with a serious bunch of cyclists (won't mention the club name, suffice to say it wasn't my own club), we were hammering along in a paceline all day long until a middle aged man rolled up on a ladies mountain bike with a basket on it and his lunch in it wearing a huge sweater with the sleeves cut off. He proceeded to rotate around this paceline like a bleedin pro rider on a 100 euro mountainbike with half flat tires. I had only just started out at the time and was well impressed, I was chatting away to him but noted that no-one else was and very gradually I noted the pace increase, by the time we hit the first long climb of the day it was race pace and the guy was dropped, after that it settled down again for the rest of the day.

Moral of the story... lot of snobby people in cycling. I concur with the opinion that its just great to see people out on their bikes, in that respect the Sean Kelly was Fred Heaven, but hey the more people out on the bike, the more respect the rest of us are likely to get on the roads from other road users. But I don't mind a few disparaging comments on freds, as long as they are just harmless ribbing (I know I got plenty of them when I started out !)

Chips Lovell

I've a boatload of replica jerseys, way more than I need, because I kind of collect them. They're mostly from old, defunct teams. I've only one kit with matching bib shorts, Domina Vacanze, cos you have to really with that one.

TinyExplosions

el tonto wrote: »

I've only kit with matching bib shorts, Domina Vacanze, cos you have to really with that one.

And my god, you look great in it!

unionman

hairy legs? Check
reflectors on the wheels? Check (on my fixie anyway)
Baggy Hi Vis jackets (during the daytime) ? Yep, that's me
Saddle too low? Despite my best efforts, yes, that too.

My name is unionman, and I've been a fred for three years.

michaelm

Caroline_ie wrote: »

I am getting one of these An Post kits ( hopefully ) this week

Caroline - do you know if any of the TOI mechandise can stiil be bought, and if so where? Had intended to get some stuff last week but didn't.

________________________________
www.flickr.com/photos/mmolamphy

TinyExplosions

michaelm wrote: »

Caroline - do you know if any of the TOI mechandise can stiil be bought, and if so where? Had intended to get some stuff last week but didn't.

________________________________
www.flickr.com/photos/mmolamphy

You can get it here

ROK ON

What about "fun" jerseys. I have a skeleton top, a bert and ernie top, and internal organs top and a tunnocks tea cake yellow jersey. Am I a fred?
I hope so after all the effort I have made. Now that I know fredishness pi**es some folk off, I will probably go completley OTT about it now.
Have to get some pink team kit, lime green team kit etc.
BTW, hairy legs and different water bottle.

Chips Lovell

From now on Tunney will be coming along to boards spins to conduct a Fred Check. More than 2mm of leg hair and you'll be sent right back home.

Raam

el tonto wrote: »

From now on Tunney will be coming along to boards spins to conduct a Fred Check. More than 2mm of leg hair and you'll be sent right back home.

I best not wear my new Lampre team hat that arrived today. I got it cos it's cheap. Yes, I'm a Frugal Fred, the worst kind.

Canis Lupus

Is putting a cheap plastic rear mudguard on your new bike fredish?

I wasn't aware of all this. Boards educates me again.

tunney

ROK ON wrote: »

What about "fun" jerseys. I have a skeleton top, a bert and ernie top, and internal organs top and a tunnocks tea cake yellow jersey. Am I a fred?
I hope so after all the effort I have made. Now that I know fredishness pi**es some folk off, I will probably go completley OTT about it now.
Have to get some pink team kit, lime green team kit etc.
BTW, hairy legs and different water bottle.

I don't think it pisses people off. Its a bit like someone who wears full ManU kit and shin gaurds when playing heads and volleys on the road with a few mates - harmless yet very very amusing.

Raam

What about Assos kit? Is that Fredish?

tunney

el tonto wrote: »

From now on Tunney will be coming along to boards spins to conduct a Fred Check. More than 2mm of leg hair and you'll be sent right back home.

I've passed alot of the boards spins "boards 100, 200" etc etc out in the hills of wicklow over the summer. A few Fred Checks already made

christeb

ROK ON wrote: »

What about "fun" jerseys. I have a skeleton top, a bert and ernie top, and internal organs top and a tunnocks tea cake yellow jersey. Am I a fred?
I hope so after all the effort I have made. Now that I know fredishness pi**es some folk off, I will probably go completley OTT about it now.
Have to get some pink team kit, lime green team kit etc.
BTW, hairy legs and different water bottle.

I think I have to admit to Fred-like tendancies too. But surely improvement is down to the price of your gear rather than any athletic ability???

I also wear the top which is based on this picturehttp://luthor.altervista.org/queen01.jpg, from the Bicycle Race single by Queen

RobAMerc

Can I ask what it is here in Ireland that we are all so obsessed with what other people are wearing or doing ?

Jaysus - people here never stop going on - look at yer man in the blue car, look at her with the big sunglasses on - where does he think he's going with that hair?

Christ can't people crawl outa bed, just pull some crap on and head off into the dredgery that is work in whatever attire they wanna wear without a whole boards thread being devote to it.

I hate to tell you guys but there is a huge population out there that see you on your bike and no matter what your wearing think to themselves - "Toss*r".

Rant over - sorry guys.

Raam

tunney wrote: »

I've passed alot of the boards spins "boards 100, 200" etc etc out in the hills of wicklow over the summer. A few Fred Checks already made

Was that you in the completely plain kit? Barely saw you.