Boys on bikes!

fat bloke · 13-05-2020 8:06pm #1

I dunno if it's just around us -Firhouse/Knocklyon area -but the increase, from basically zero, in lads on bikes is absolutely astonishing.
Yes there are more families on bikes out cycling, yes there are girls as well, and yes there are plenty of men of all ages, old and new, as always. But the biggest trend now harks back to when I was a lad (:)) which was that the bicycle was the default method of "gadding" about if you were a teenager.

It's fantastic.

They're out in 2's and 3's and even 10's, and they're exploring and wheelying and climbing the highest local hills and careening down them without a care in the world. All the things that make bikes fun and make cycling great - craic and freedom and and bit of risk.

I'm almost every day up to the featherbeds on my training path up and down and a couple of days ago there were about ten young fellas, on all sorts of bikes - hand me downs, new hybrids, cheap mtb's, BTW-scheme cast-offs, gathered there at the top of the featherbeds at the right turn which brings you very steeply down to Gleann na Smól. Obviously local ish lads, and yet quite possibly the first time any of them had ever cycled up the top of the hill and they were building up the dutch courage to zoom down it. -Again, just exactly what I would have done, and did, (though not in Dublin) with my mates when I was their age.
Yesterday, going past the viewing point -four lads together, on the motliest selection of bikes you ever saw. A rusty aul clunker with I'd swear to God 3 speed sturmey archer, a brand new cube hybrid, an aul racer thing, and all being led up the hill by a fella on a BMX!!! - I mean fair feckin' play to him, if he sat on the saddle he'd box his ears with his knees

. That's a hard hill on a fixie, let alone out of the saddle the whole way up.

It's been like that now pretty much every day for months with increasing regularity, but every time I see a gang they're further up the hill then before and there are fewer walking. It started out and there'd be 5 lads half way up the Gunny, hardly 200m pedalling done and they stopped, leaning on the crossbars, or walking and panting. Then the gruppettos started making the Hellfire, now they're reaching the viewing point and beyond.

I'm sure at some stage they'll be the latest scourge on Liveline. 2 wheeled boy racers, scaring pensioners and worrying sheep etc. But until then, it lifts my heart and gives me hope for the future. :cool:

crosstownk · 13-05-2020 8:42pm

Yep - I've seen similar. I'm just down the road in Terenure. Plenty of young lads out on bikes. Great to see. All in good form and enjoying themselves.

Great to hear they're tackling the hills too. As a teenager I did exactly that - up to the Hellfire, lock the bikes, walk the rest of the way. Then the best bit - zooming back down. All long before the Tallaght by pass and back when Morton's was on a country lane :eek: I remember one lad came down the hill at speed with no brakes on a Raleigh Grifter using his runners as brakes.

Mental.

Really good to see that some young lads have put down the PS4 and are getting out an about and enjoying the bike.

07Lapierre · 13-05-2020 8:46pm

Great to see...did the same when I was a kid. Now I’m 52 years old and I’ve started playing PS4!

magicbastarder · 13-05-2020 9:22pm

has anyone else noticed a big increase in the number of carrera bikes on the road? is carrera the brand which enjoys the 'most likely to have been left sitting in the back of the shed till now' accolade?

crosstownk · 13-05-2020 9:46pm

magicbastarder wrote: »

has anyone else noticed a big increase in the number of carrera bikes on the road? is carrera the brand which enjoys the 'most likely to have been left sitting in the back of the shed till now' accolade?

Lots of Carerra’s but I’m also I’m seeing lots of Trek bikes too. Mostly hybrids and all sparkly clean.

martyc5674 · 13-05-2020 9:48pm

And the reason?- they are not all been run around to scheduled events every evening of the week (hurling/football/piano/martial arts/tennis/horse riding/flying lessons!) so they being forced to get a bit creative and out and about a bit.

punisher5112 · 13-05-2020 9:49pm

Seeing outside bike shops all around Dublin and outskirts where the new bike boxes are in piles outside, sales seem to be through the roof and yes there are way more out cycling then ever before and big families too....

You can also see a huge increase in walkers and runners too of course.

listermint · 13-05-2020 9:52pm

Was definitely hanging around the firhouse knocklyn areas when I was a young lad chasing ladies. Cycled all the way . Ah the days

eeeee · 13-05-2020 9:56pm

Can't wait till it's gangs of both boys and girls on bikes tearing around the place.

If there's one thing to learn in this lockdown, it's how to wheelie. It might take me longer than a year :pac:

magicbastarder · 13-05-2020 9:59pm

i only recently learned that my brother once 'borrowed' my prized muddy fox courier comp, when he was about 17, and in a bid to impress some local ladies, decided to pull an endo in front of them. problem was, the brakes were better than he was used to, so he managed to faceplant himself in front of said ladies, and somehow do little enough damage to my bike that i didn't notice.

punisher5112 · 13-05-2020 10:10pm

magicbastarder wrote: »

i only recently learned that my brother once 'borrowed' my prized muddy fox courier comp, when he was about 17, and in a bid to impress some local ladies, decided to pull an endo in front of them. problem was, the brakes were better than he was used to, so he managed to faceplant himself in front of said ladies, and somehow do little enough damage to my bike that i didn't notice.

What did the ladies think....

sy_flembeck · 13-05-2020 10:35pm

I brought my bike to the LBS for a repair yesterday and he told me he had 60 bikes in front of me. There were bikes of all colour and creed everywhere. He only took mine in at all because I'm a regular customer. Great to see

NSAman · 13-05-2020 10:38pm

now if we can only get the “old lads” out of Lycra... all would be good with the world.

Tenzor07 · 13-05-2020 10:40pm

Yea plenty of Gangs of lads cycling around in groups, maybe 10 or something....around city centre/North Dublin... Loads..

When I see them however I put the hammer down, i'm cycling a fairly good bike, and with laptop bag on my back i'm not taking chances...

These groups could be quite intimidating when they pedal around in their groups, tracksuits/hoods up, some of the sorts i've seen would whip your phone or bag, the Gards won't chase them...

Crocked · 13-05-2020 11:28pm

crosstownk wrote: »

Yep - I've seen similar. I'm just down the road in Terenure. Plenty of young lads out on bikes. Great to see. All in good form and enjoying themselves.

Great to hear they're tackling the hills too. As a teenager I did exactly that - up to the Hellfire, lock the bikes, walk the rest of the way. Then the best bit - zooming back down. All long before the Tallaght by pass and back when Morton's was on a country lane :eek: I remember one lad came down the hill at speed with no brakes on a Raleigh Grifter using his runners as brakes. Mental.

Really good to see that some young lads have put down the PS4 and are getting out an about and enjoying the bike.

I had to do that as a kid from the Hell Fire back down after brakes went to ****e. The smell of burning rubber would make your eyes water. Tyre had worn though to pretty much the runner insole by the time I got home :pac:

retalivity · 13-05-2020 11:48pm

Tenzor07 wrote: »

Yea plenty of Gangs of lads cycling around in groups, maybe 10 or something....around city centre/North Dublin... Loads..

When I see them however I put the hammer down, i'm cycling a fairly good bike, and with laptop bag on my back i'm not taking chances...

These groups could be quite intimidating when they pedal around in their groups, tracksuits/hoods up, some of the sorts i've seen would whip your phone or bag, the Gards won't chase them...

Same in d8. Local scrotes have all taken to 2 wheels, and a lot of the bikes appear ro be new and/or ill-fitting...
These lads dont appear to want to tackle any hills..just pull wheelies, block traffic, and roar shi1te at ppl

Tenzor07 · 14-05-2020 10:56am

retalivity wrote: »

Same in d8. Local scrotes have all taken to 2 wheels, and a lot of the bikes appear ro be new and/or ill-fitting...
These lads dont appear to want to tackle any hills..just pull wheelies, block traffic, and roar shi1te at ppl

Seem to be everywhere around city centre and a lot of the rougher areas of the city, they've moved on from Horses and scramblers probably due to the success of the Gardai tackling the issue...However they all know that the Gards are unlikely to try and disperse them, what Gard wants to be seen to pursue lads on bicycles in a patrol car, and any foot patrols won't catch them....

Mc Love · 14-05-2020 11:01am

I'm cycling all the roads I used to do as a young un now too - Really fascinating to see the changes in the environment

padd b1975 · 14-05-2020 11:06am

Lots of young lads on road bikes.

Are they back in vogue?

TheBoyConor · 14-05-2020 11:22am

Most of the good bike are probably robbed.

cletus · 14-05-2020 11:30am

This thread started out so positively...

TheBoyConor · 14-05-2020 11:31am

Do you really think a 13 or 14 year old is going to go out and buy an oversized hybrid bike?

Idleater · 14-05-2020 11:37am

padd b1975 wrote: »

Lots of young lads on road bikes.

Are they back in vogue?

I was chatting to the guys in my lbs - must have been before Christmas- and they were saying that the kids (youths) were all into the bikes. Specifically 29er MTB, but hybrids an a second choice.

Gangs of them tearing around on footpads. There's so many here that some gangs have to use the road. It's funny to see.

I got comments on the my Brompton (obviously failed on wheel size) and road bike (pointing out wheel size seemed moot) but they didn't notice (or care) that my mtb was 26"

cletus · 14-05-2020 11:54am

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Do you really think a 13 or 14 year old is going to go out and buy an oversized hybrid bike?

Is there any chance that any of them are taking whatever bikes are in the shed at home? Dad's BTW scheme bike etc.?

It's depressing that the first conclusion jumped to when we finally see young kids on bikes, being active etc, is that they're all scrotes on stolen bikes.

MojoMaker · 14-05-2020 11:59am

I think there's definitely a bit of "borrowing whatever's at home" going on yes. Great to see alright and easy to differentiate between the enthusiasts out for a bit of capering around and the troublemakers out in packs, with hoods up and looking for mischief.

TheBoyConor · 14-05-2020 12:03pm

Yes, of course some of them might be genuinely borrowed from family or friends.

But I don't think it is completely unreasonable to expect that when it is a large gang of juvenile males, that a significant portion of the newer and better spec bikes are going to be "borrowed" on a more permanent basis, and to expect that some of them will just end up in the canal after the joyride is over.

While it is good to see young lads out on bikes, I'd be worried that they will be down on the greenways and walkways by the canals abusing and intimidating passers by. There is an ongoing major problem with gangs of youths knocking people off of bikes to steal them. They do it down there because the paths are narrow and you can't avoid them, you must pass by them. They could push you off, or they might swing a punch or stick at you as you pass by. Often they don't even want the bike - it is bike jacking for the thrill and sake of it. Steal your phone too if they can get it handy. People have been injured and are intimidated going down there.

fat bloke · 14-05-2020 12:06pm

For a crowd that hate labels, we're awfully quick to label!

Anyway, they're not louts unless they're wearing lycra, everybody knows that.

Sam Quentin · 14-05-2020 12:14pm

The bikes should be turned upside down with the lad still sitting on on the saddle and the serial number verified...then on your way with a clip round the ear.

[Ps: this is meant as a humerus post and I think it's great to see as it's exactly what I did as a kid]

cletus · 14-05-2020 12:15pm

TheBoyConor wrote: »

Yes, of course some of them might be genuinely borrowed from family or friends.

But I don't think it is completely unreasonable to expect that when it is a large gang of juvenile males, that a significant portion of the newer and better spec bikes are going to be "borrowed" on a more permanent basis, and to expect that some of them will just end up in the canal after the joyride is over.

While it is good to see young lads out on bikes, I'd be worried that they will be down on the greenways and walkways by the canals abusing and intimidating passers by. There is an ongoing major problem with gangs of youths knocking people off of bikes to steal them. They do it down there because the paths are narrow and you can't avoid them, you must pass by them. They could push you off, or they might swing a punch or stick at you as you pass by. Often they don't even want the bike - it is bike jacking for the thrill and sake of it. Steal your phone too if they can get it handy. People have been injured and are intimidated going down there.

Significant portion? How many teenagers on bikes at the moment do you think have stolen them. Are we assuming here the majority of teenagers in general are criminals?

I teach in a secondary school, so I'm around teenagers quite a bit. Hanging around in a group and being loud doesn't make you a criminal, it makes you a loud teenager hanging out with your mates. Most of them are not aware of the levels of intimidation this can cause people, especially when they are not attempting to be intimidating in the first place.

Are there young lads going around on stolen bikes? Yep. Is it the majority of them, I sincerely doubt it

magicbastarder · 14-05-2020 12:15pm

i guess that when my parents were sold a bike too big for me because 'he'll grow into it', people looked at me when i was cycling it and assumed i'd nicked it.

fat bloke · 14-05-2020 12:19pm

There could be a delicious up-side to scrotes-on-bikes, statistically a significant proportion of them will experience the stinging pain of having a bike stolen from them.

Boys on bikes!

Comments