Talk:Bicycle culture

Scope of this article?

This article has potential but at the moment it doesn't quite know where it's going. Bike music anyone? The introduction is misleading: cities with a lot of cyclists may well also have a strong bike culture, but culture is not about using bikes for practical transportation. It's about creative expression, taking bikes and cycling as the starting point. The article needs a well-defined scope and a lot of work. Here are some suggested headings, feel free to add/edit. ProfDEH (talk) 08:40, 28 November 2008 (UTC) To cover in reasonable detail:

• Printed word: biographies, travel books...
• Artworks, unique and mass produced
• Bike film / YouTube
• Clothing: Lycra, grunge, fashion
• Eco-trendiness
• Unusual / decorated / customised bikes
• Meeting places, social groups
• Stolen bikes, outlets, precautions

Refer to, but covered adequately elsewhere:

• Bicycle messengers
• Bike rides and activism
• Specific events like Critical Mass
• Sport
• Transportation / cycling facilities

No need to include: ?

Globalize

While this article has got some international content; it is, at the moment, got far more information on US cycle (sub)culture than anything else. I think this article has real potential, both regarding the subculture in many (most?All?) English speaking countries, and places where cycling is more mainstream. While it seems clear that what is needed for the "integrated cycling culture" is fleshing out, I'm less sure about the "American" cycling culture. It seems to apply to me here in Canada. As the term "America" is used internationally to refer to "The Americas" as well as the USA, the section heading is not acceptable as it is. Of course "Bike culture in the USA" would be one option, but I think we can get something that more accurately reflects the bicycling subculture in the different countries it exists in. (I'm familiar with Canada, the UK, and Australia, and the States to some extent...Well, just Seattle really) And there seems to be enough overlap that it makes sense to me to name the section Cycling as a subculture, or similar. What do people think?--Keithonearth (talk) 06:12, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Don't know if you saw this on Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Cycling:

The Bicycle culture article potentially covers a big gap in the cycling articles - the area of bicycle-related cultural activity. There are some interesting issues that could be included: an overview of the many cycling organisations and social aspects (Critical Mass, Ghostcycle etc), the influence of messenger culture, clothing styles, printed artefacts and video, individualisation and customisation of bicycles. Many of these trends are international and there is no point discussing them on a national level.

The difficult thing is to decide what exactly this article is supposed to cover. What do you make of my proposed contents list (Scope of this article above)? It would be good to get more thoughts on this.

That US section reads like there is an American organisation called Bicycle Culture which has a unified agenda and programme of activities - far from the truth. I think the international angle is a promising starting point. There is never going to be a representative country by country account, and most of that American stuff happens elsewhere too. Read the first part of the US section and then think what you're going to say about the UK - it'll be a lot of repetition, perhaps a note that Brits are more cynical. ProfDEH (talk) 07:24, 13 December 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the link to the project page, it's good to see this is already mentioned there. I'm glad to see this is generating some interest. I think the above suggested scope looks excellent, but really applies primarily to "cycling sub-culture". The "integrated cycling culture" section needs fleshing out. I'd like to change the American Bike Culture to something else like Cycling Sub-Culture and have it refer to the cycling sub-culture existent in countries like the USA, Canada, UK, Australia. And I imagine others, but I'm not sure where else. Japan may prove unique, as it's my understanding (not been there) that both cultures we're talking about exist, mamacharis [[1]] and fixies. Sports cycling also crosses this divide, being popular with the cycling subculture in the English speaking countries and in countries, Belgium comes to mind, with integrated cycling culture. Perhaps it should have it's own section.--Keithonearth (talk) 20:06, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

When I discovered this article it seemed to have swung in the opposite direction. From a US anthropoligical definitions of words perspective the title of this article itself is meaningless nonsense. Drn8 (talk) 16:13, 10 July 2014 (UTC)

Resource, example Portland, Oregon

• Developers Cater to Two-Wheeled Traffic in Portland, Ore. by Linda Baker nytimes.com September 20, 2011
  • Example: 3907 N Williams Ave Portland, OR 97212 Bike Bar and a two-block stretch of the street houses the United Bicycle Institute, which teaches bike repair and frame building, at No. 3961; the Friendly Bike Guest House, a hostel that caters to cyclists, at No. 4039; and EcoFlats. 99.181.129.46 (talk) 05:39, 25 September 2011 (UTC)

Prod

I removed the prod as I'd rather see it debated properly at AfD if it can't be rescued. My feeling is it should probably exist, but it's really not my field and maybe there is no RS to help ... is it a real thing? Anyway, I have raised it at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Cycling#Bicycle culture in the hope that clever persons will turn up with knowledge. Drn8 please feel free to AfD it - at least it will get talked about! best wishes to all DBaK (talk) 18:34, 19 June 2014 (UTC)