Freds?

What exactly is a "Fred" as it was brought up in another forum? I looked it up via Wikipedia and got a laugh, but I'm guessing if you don't fit into a specific category you don't count.

Do we as women do the same thing as guys when it comes to calling someone a "Fred"?

If I buy an expensive bike (was looking at several), get some decent cycling clothes, a nice helmet, but have no experience and go to a bike trail, the "true" cyclers will call me a Fred?

I'd buy a good bike because I know quality. I have decent clothes because biking in jeans and a heavy T-shirt is uncomfortable. I bought gloves so if I fall (and I have) I don't scrape my hands to pieces. So if I go to a bike trail to gain experience and apparently if I don't ride the right way I will get ran over by Fred haters?

No wonder most people don't ride.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong:

Fred probably rides an old steel Trek, it's steel and quality but old.
Fred might be wearing one of those '70's mushroom helmets.
Fred wears Converse tennies, high white athletic socks and khaki shorts.
Fred has one or more high vis mesh vests with the triangle on the back.
Fred still has the plastic pie plate on his (or her! Fred can be a girl) bike.
Fred has downtube shifters ...

But the real thing that defines Fred is ... Fred will ride sprint and/or climb your freaking legs off! :p ;) :D So if you see Fred it's always from behind. :cool:

I'd never heard of Fred until just now. From Wikipedia:

Quote:

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The roots of the term "Fred" are unclear, though some believe it originated from[2] a touring rider named Fred Birchmore from Athens, GA. In 1934-35, Birchmore rode around the world on a bicycle he named Bucephalus. Birchmore and Bucephalus traveled approximately 25,000 miles. Bucephalus is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.[3][4][5][6] In one famous incident while touring in Italy, Birchmore passed a bunch of racers during a race he had crossed paths with by chance. And despite going up hill on his loaded 50 pound non-racing bike, he passed the finish line well ahead of the racers. The cheering crowd at the finish line assumed him to be the winner of the race. [7]

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Sounds like if anyone's calling anyone else a Fred, they're just jealous.

By reading the Road Cycling subforum on BikeForums, I get the impression a Fred is anyone with a practical bike, like commuters and utility cyclists. Also anyone with safety equipment like mirrors, reflectors, refective vests, etc. In other words, those of us who use bikes as more than toys.

While I do take the dork disks off all my bikes as soon as I get them home from the LBS (I keep my derailleurs properly adjusted, so no need for the plastic spoke protector), I left the reflectors on the bikes that are ridden at night. The climbing bikes are stripped down with no reflectors or fenders because they are daytime bikes for climbing hills, so performance is more important.

I am sure that I have been called a Fred by some fast roadie - I show up to club rides with a Camelbak after all, and two of my three bikes have the plastic pie plate - but I don't worry about it :) I also don't have drop bars or skinny tires on any of my bikes - including the custom one...

Maybe the appropriate woman version would be named Ethyl.

I've been a Freda for a long time. Over last 18 yrs.

I've never had a bike with dropped down handlebars. And I have 4 bikes. :D
Nor have I ever cycled with skinny slicks.

C'est la vie.
Meanwhile I have done 500+, 1,000+ kms. touring rides, etc. with packed panniers.

It makes me giggle whenever I hear of roadies who absolutely refuse to ride with panniers. Sure it's not suitable on their road bike frame..but some would just refuse to cycle any bike with a bike rack. That attitude is just ancient.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by goldfinch

Maybe the appropriate woman version would be named Ethyl.

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(di-)Ethyl Ether?
/chemist

Sounds like "Fred" is not a bad thing to be called. :)
I'm in the "road geek" group. Road bike, spandex, hydration pack, SPDs, pie plate, lights and reflectors...

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Originally Posted by Owlie

(di-)Ethyl Ether?
/chemist

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I was thinking Fred and Ethel from the I Love Lucy show and had a slip!

I had two precious baby dolls when I was a little girl. One was named Molly Ethylene. The other, Polly Ethylene. :) Geek from the get go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by goldfinch

I was thinking Fred and Ethel from the I Love Lucy show and had a slip!

I had two precious baby dolls when I was a little girl. One was named Molly Ethylene. The other, Polly Ethylene. :) Geek from the get go.

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I love it. I also completely missed the reference. Oops.

I've heard a female Fred is a Wilma.

LOL. I guess I am a Fred.

I didn't know what pie plates were until I looked it up. Check. Have them. Not sure I should take them off, but I don't care. It looked like too much of a pain to get them off anyway.

I bought lights..front and back. I really don't want to be run over by a semi truck going 60+mph. As a driver, I appreciate that you are visible so I don't accidentally hit you.

I thought about getting one of the vests with a triangle on the back but didn't want to look that desperate to be seen.

I put different grips on my mountain bike that are comfort style as my hands were really hurting. (I took my bike in to get my computer working and the guy loved them. Said he was going to order some in for the store) It doesn't look pure mountain bike anymore, but I don't care.

I have cheater clipless pedals. One side is flat, the other side is clipless.


I also got the impression that a Fred was a wanna-be racer that bought TOL everything to be cool and fit in even though he knows nothing but pretends to be an expert. That's where I was sort of worried..LOL. I saw everything in a practical way, not to pretend to fit in and I'm sure not an expert.

It's also interesting to walk into a LBS and see how the staff react to people coming in. I may not know much, but I'm not about to let you treat me like I'm stupid. If you can't be bothered to answer my newbie questions without rolling your eyes I can buy elsewhere. I've learned that much from buying sewing machines from dealers. Thankfully; my LBS has been really great about my newbie status even if there is some minor eye rolling.

I'd probably move closer to the Fred status if I bought the electric bike I was looking at the other day. LOL.

I have a name for cyclists without lights but it's not Fred and it's not nice.

Last Monday Channel 15 came out to do photo shoots of our ride (I can't find where/if they did a story, which I wanted to see, because this is the local station that aired a story after cycling fatalities and serious injuries where they interviewed a council member who lectured cyclists that they all needed to ride as close to the curb as possible... the fact that the two crashes happened to cyclists riding on the sidewalk didn't seem to matter...)
... I came there from work... street clothes and my Xtracycle. Everybody else (which I don't think is that common) was pretty much lycra kit and sleek road bike ... I figured I could find the video if they put it online and say "Find the Fred!!!" Since the previous week's ride had been in brutal winds and people had said they'd gone out too fast, the pace was slow enough for me to spend time in the lead, too :)

Well, I still have the dork disk on my road bike. It's not huge so I don't care... I also have a mtb saddle on my bike - it's shaped right, lightweight... and has a fox on it. I also have the super-bright DiNotte lights and a rearview mirror. And when I ride alone, I wear screaming yellow or orange. Bite me.

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Originally Posted by PamNY

I have a name for cyclists without lights but it's not Fred and it's not nice.

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Probably the same as what I called the lady I saw riding her bike in the fast lane of a 4-way highway today. No, she wasn't fast. No, she wasn't turning. No, she wasn't in the middle of the lane, she was close to the double yellow line. No mirrors, no lights, five cars all piled up behind her. I was driving the opposite direction and changed myself to the slow lane. But she had a helmet, and was smiling. :eek: