Geraint Thomas 2/3s of way through NHS Zwift fundraiser; Philippe Gilbert fined for riding bike outdoors in Monaco lockdown; Press snappers looking to frame cyclists? Shurely shome mishtake; Paramedic has bike stolen during 12-hour shift + more

@wingmanrob

Being ginger (with a hard "guh" if you please), I'm well aware what abuse is like, which is why I don't tolerate it happening to others. Being sexually derogatory to anyone is absolutely unacceptable - there is never a reason. Do we merely "look the other way" if racism "isn't our thing"?

Hambini deliberately acts like an immature arsehole so I always ignore him. I don't care if he was the cleverest engineer in the world (he's not but he loves to tell you how he's smarter than all the rest, which shows he's insecure). There are plenty of equally or more intelligent people who don't play the race card when challenged or hide behind the excuse of being on the autistic spectrum.

@wingmanrob - you might think being a redhead is a rough deal (I know what that's like, it's pretty tame) but it sounds like you're unwilling to acknowledge what offence really is and the deep-seated prejudice is out there. Just look at recent articles on here to see what a few misleading newspaper images has done, giving some an excuse to abuse people simply for riding a bike. But it's a lot worse for people - especially women - in the public eye.

Simon, whereas I agree with the main thrust of your comment, I'd say that ginger prejudice is not "tame", regardless of your personal experience. Hatred of gingers is accepted and even encouraged in Britain, in a way that the demonisation of (most) other out-groups isn't.

We who visit this site all know what it's like to be "otherised", if only for our chosen mode of transport. It's not a competition about who has it worst, it's about acceptable behaviour to other human beings.

Captain Badger wrote:

Simon, whereas I agree with the main thrust of your comment, I'd say that ginger prejudice is not "tame", regardless of your personal experience. Hatred of gingers is accepted and even encouraged in Britain, in a way that the demonisation of (most) other out-groups isn't.

"Hatred of gingers"? Really?!?

Let's get some perspective. My sister, a number of friends along with many others have been teased and bullied but so have many other people, for all sorts of things - wearing glasses, having a speech impediment, a genetic condition, being a Roman Catholic, having a parent who is a little odd... We've all seen it and many of us have experienced it to one degree or another. But describing that as hatred substantially diminishes the awful experiences of countless people who've had far, far worse experiences than being called a few (unoriginal) names or excluded from a group of adolescents.

Like I said, your experience isn't everyone's, and it's not a competition. You seem now to be arguing the point that you disagreed with Wingman on, and it's like listening to Four Yorkshiremen; "Now, we 'ad it tuff!"

For me, bullying of any sort is unacceptable, no matter who is on the receiving end.

I know his work and it's perfectly decent but he's hardly Robert Capa or Don McCullin is he? Both of whom were avowedly anti war unlike Eddie who seems to see it as badge of honour.

Perhaps he should keep his mouth shut rather than trotting out lazy stereotypes. 

They say the first victim of war is truth which clearly prepared him with the experience for taking fake photos of cyclists (allegedly).

Another saying that comes to mind is 'honour among thieves' what with all the other photographers leaping to his defence.

Bit ironic that a photographer doesn't like his photo being taken.

It does make me wonder if his award winning war photos might have been somewhat "manipulated" too.

If a certain "narrative" gets your pictures in the newspaper and adds to sales (or indeed "clicks") then everything is justified, right?

Aside from anything else, taking photographs of people cycling through a park hardly qualifies him as an 'essential worker'.  Maybe he should stay at home and save a life

OTOH its not a job he can do from home, is it?

With a very long lens he can 

He's quite knowledgeable about engineering but seems to know nothing about anything else - I got about half way through one of his videos where he repeatedly laid in to "chavs" who he described as being "...one step ahead of people on benefits". 

He seems to have a very dim view of everyone who isn't him. As I commented on said video he has a lot of engineering knowledge contained within an unfortunately small mind.

Did road.cc really need to reproduce the entire crass sexist rubbish up there? ^^ 

Quote:

Having watched some of his videos, Hambini makes some interesting points and he's pretty good at debunking a lot of cycling industry nonsense.

Anyone can sit there and swear lots and say that this that and the other is bollocks and shit but that's not debunking, that's slagging off. 

I think the debunking that's being refered to is not the swearing and insults but when he uses tools that most people don't have such as a CMM to show the very poor standards that some manufacturers are supplying.  Quality that wouldn't be tolerated in other industries.

These manufacturers are using slick marketing, including product placement and superficial reviews, to mislead the public into buying poor and sometimes dangerous products.

Look at his discussions on bearings.  Assuming that's something you're interested in, against a background of saturation marketing, he's been one of the only people to point out that cheap ceramic hybrid bearings are not worth buying.  He's backed that up with numbers and detailed explainations of why.

The problem is that if you make personal, childish insults about people or hold grudges against people based on their appearance, then that message gets lost in the noise.  Even if yes they are selling snake oil, it's enough to point that out without getting personal.

lio wrote:

I think the debunking that's being refered to is not the swearing and insults but when he uses tools that most people don't have such as a CMM to show the very poor standards that some manufacturers are supplying.  Quality that wouldn't be tolerated in other industries.

These manufacturers are using slick marketing, including product placement and superficial reviews, to mislead the public into buying poor and sometimes dangerous products.

Look at his discussions on bearings.  Assuming that's something you're interested in, against a background of saturation marketing, he's been one of the only people to point out that cheap ceramic hybrid bearings are not worth buying.  He's backed that up with numbers and detailed explainations of why.

The problem is that if you make personal, childish insults about people or hold grudes against people based on their appearance, then that message gets lost in the noise.  Even if yes they are selling snake oil, it's enough to point that out without getting personal.

Thanks for better articulating my point Lio. 

I personally believe that Hambini shouldn't be attacking people personally and sexism along with other forms of discrimination is never called for. However, there does appear to be an appetite for this if you check out the number of view he has and the comments below his videos, it's probably part of the reason why he's adopted this persona.

Quote:

The problem is that if you make personal, childish insults about people or hold grudes against people based on their appearance, then that message gets lost in the noise.  Even if yes they are selling snake oil, it's enough to point that out without getting personal.

Very much this - he might have a point but sitting there calling someone a complete utter **** doesn't make that point. Slags off a journo for not having an engineering background - that's the whole point, a journo is someone who can listen to the facts (or snake oil, depending on your view) and translate that often very technical info into an easily readable article for the layperson.

Quote:

it's probably part of the reason why he's adopted this persona.

This is where the entire media and news industry has failed miserably. It shouldn't be about "persona", it should be about putting the facts across. Not mixing the facts up with a whole load of offensive personal insults, opinions and waffle. 

crazy-legs wrote:

Quote:

it's probably part of the reason why he's adopted this persona.

This is where the entire media and news industry has failed miserably. It shouldn't be about "persona", it should be about putting the facts across. Not mixing the facts up with a whole load of offensive personal insults, opinions and waffle. 

I agree 100%, it's sad that we're in a society where whoever shouts loudest gets the most attention. Hambini's is a smart guy beneath all of his ranting and I think he's cottoned onto this. 

There could be a discussion to be had about the relationship between the media and the bike industry but I fear that this could never take place in this current environment. 

One only has to look at the world of video games and the utter tragedy that was Gamergate to see that any attempt at decent discussion and reason is drowned out by horrific discrimination, death threats and harassment.