3 ms·

Do you know many non-cyclists with a $5k bicycle?

• jeffbee 4y ago
  Non-cyclists are not the kind of people who would know what a "status symbol" bicycle is. They can only be a status symbol among bicyclists! Other people I've never met: non-bicyclists writing 1500 words in the Atlantic about bicycles.
  • morelisp 4y ago
    Ah, right, because the objects that denote one a cyclist are not per se "status symbols", because...?
    • vladvasiliu 4y ago
      A status symbol needs shared context for it to work. The "other" person needs to know what makes an object "status worthy". In the case of bicycles, people who aren't particularly interested in the subject won't be able to notice the difference between a $100 supermarket bike and a $10000 Tour de France bike (or however much that costs). Both bikes will simply register as "bike". So if someone buys an expensive bike for the status, but only ever crosses paths with people not knowledgeable enough, no one will notice it's an expensive bike, so the bike won't be perceived as a status symbol. Just the fact that people will get on a bike daily to commute to work or get groceries, likely doesn't make them care enough about the finer points of the discipline to notice "status tells".