The Bike Thief

[KeithE]

What does this mean?

[Dave Roberts]

No surprises in this, but the greatest surprise to me was the number of people who passed both by without paying more than passing attention.

[TrudyU]

Ed: Of course the narrator has a point to make when he says the two males are dressed similarly. But to a seasoned cyclist they are not. I believe even the novice passer by may have been put off by the black kids baggy clothes, which are not suitable for riding, whereas when the white kid had the bike lose he jumped on and started riding uninhibited by his clothing.

I would like to see the experiment run again, twice, with them dressed alike in jeans and once with the white kid in the baggy clothes and the black kid in jeans that fit. The girl looked to be most properly dressed for serious cycling on that type bike.

I think the black kid would get hassled more than the white kid, but not as much as in what we see in the clips provided.

[KeithE]

The most striking thing about this video is how the blonde was treated - males drooling over possible gratitude? I guess I expected the white/black difference.

Reminds me of the time (pre-marriage) when my roommate and I invited over a couple of good looking gals from our bowling league to play cards. They tried to elicit our help in a stereo system theft “business” they were involved in. We never even thought of getting involved (their theft ring or in them), but neither did we call the Los Altos cops (the place they said they did most of their “work”).

[TrudyU]

[KeithE]

[TrudyU]

Ed: Keith in the dozen or so Wheelmen of America sanctioned Century rides that I have participated in, I never saw any one riding in a Speedo, nor in blue jeans. Most of us wore thigh length Spandex Cycling shorts. However at the few locally organized hill climbing events I observed when we where in the Adiro ndacks probably 10 to 15 % of the riders did wear jeans belted well at at the waist and the pant leg did not fall over the shoe. As did the baggy cargo pants worn by black kid in the clips we are discussing. These events where held at least in part on hiking trails with foliage growing close to the path making long covering for the legs almost a necessity. And By the way that was a "Mountian bike that was chained to the sign post.
Fact is I have see many bike mechanics dressed much like the white guy in hundred's of Bike Shops from Chicago to Key West.

As for no one else bringing up this point. Maybe no one else who noticed it thought it was important to bring it up on U-Tube, I didn't either. I don't do U-Tube, BL.c is the only cyber addiction I allow my self. I brought this point up here because the clips where being discussed and I think I have a point that had been missed. I think if the Producers wanted honest informed opinions they should have presented the two guys more equally.