I don't know about "driving all the fun out", but whenever riding a bike comes up in conversations with Americans, they seem to assume that you need to go full-

I don't know about "driving all the fun out", but whenever riding a bike comes up in conversations with Americans, they seem to assume that you need to go full-spandex, $1000 racing bike with all the accessories just for your commute. I always assumed this was because in the US, riding a bike is a weird, dangerous activity, so the only people who did it was complete weirdos, but I could also see it being a dudebro cultural thing ("making [your method of commute] your identity" as the other poster put it)