i still feel they come across as completley prententious, blowhards that opitimise what the mission has become.

You may have read my comments on this blog. They’re usually fairly left, anti-capitalist, etc. You may have seen a comment of mine on this very post making fun of this site’s constant marketing based posts. The point is, I’m sensitive to the issues you’re raising.

However, it seems like your main problem rests with the fact that you had a negative interaction with the store owner/staff and you’re upset that people who you perceive lack credibility/authenticity are allowed to sell something you believe has been stripped of its authenticity to the general consumer public (for prices you believe are inflated).

However, your general stance cannot truly be differentiated from that against which you rail. Your stance is predicated on the idea that there is such a thing as authenticity in consumer choices. Quite simply, there is no such thing as a truly authentic consumer choice that can be reached through acquiring a certain type of good or service cannot truly be differentiated from any other consumer choice. If we believe that any buying pattern or pattern of ownership makes someone “cool” or “authentic,” we’re playing the same game you’re accusing Mission Bicycles of playing: purchasing or owning something can give, or reaffirm, a desired identity. When counter-cultures or alternative cultures go mainstream there’s always this type of lamentation because before it took more time and effort to achieve a desired look or identity. Now Mission Bicycles has made it easier. That difference still doesn’t make the fact that it cost more time, energy, knowledge to get into fixies a decade ago inherently better than what it takes now- they’re both consumer oriented perspectives that support the idea that owning something can make someone better than someone else.

Mission Bicycles is a local business. They encourage people to ride bicycles. How can you possibly have an issue with that given that you are either a messenger, former messenger or associate yourself with that scene?