Is this a 'P' thing? Honestly, I've missed the conflict some of the people here are mentioning. i just assumed the forum had slowed down a bit because it had literally slowed down and become a bit of a pain. I came less for a while, but it seems to have picked up a bit again. It's still not what it was, perhaps, but it's a lot better than most.
I think the idea of a forum being a community vs 'just a bike forum' can be stretched too far sometimes and STW gets it about right. Bikeradar and mtbr are extreme examples of this where one became pretty much just a minority gang of online friends who'd get overly defensive against new members and regurgitate the same crap ad infinitum, and the other has been organised to death based on percieved cycling niches and geographies.
Chocolate Foot was a laugh and way more non-PC ... but that wrapped up years ago. Plenty of people from this parish frequented it for a time. Very Surrey Hills focused IIRC.
Nowt I really spend time with now.
Chocolate Foot was a laugh and way more non-PC … but that wrapped up years ago. Plenty of people from this parish frequented it for a time.
I very much miss Chocolate Foot, it was a great forum, but not really for the thin skinned, most STWists would faint at the conduct on there, there was no "Trolling" as such, because you could post pretty much anything you wanted...
My favouriute random feature was when the swear filter function was adjusted to change certain innocuous phrases to something more offensive...
My favourite random feature was when the swear filter function was adjusted to change certain innocuous phrases to something more offensive…
That's easily done 🙂 Stu at Bearbones has extended the swear filter there to include "rig" => "bicycle"; "bidon" to "p*** bottle"; "Rapha" to "Expensive hipster brand" etc.
What was the kid in Viz that would blurt out random offensive sentences? It was only one drawing rather than a storyline so you'd get "Soapy t** w***!" Something like that as "Quote of the Day" perhaps?
I think the idea of a forum being a community vs ‘just a bike forum’ can be stretched too far sometimes and STW gets it about right.
All forums are communities.
STW is perhaps a pretty extreme version of this. I know lots of people from here and it's genuinely made a positive difference to my life - Hit the North and the people I've met through it have given me a sense of confidence and self belief I never knew I had.
Even though I can't make the Monday night pub rides anymore I still read the threads and raise a metaphorical glass to people I consider friends.
I've met lots of the people who work for STW - good people trying to do their best.
When depression hit, this place kept me going, along with all the people I know away from here.
There are lots of folk on here I'd love to meet. Loads. Especially those I find frustrating on line.
I'm involved in several real life clubs, cycling, mountaineering, gaming and feel the same about those too.
This is a good place.
Life is complicated.
Communities and social networks make us better people.
All forums are communities.
STW is perhaps a pretty extreme version of this. I know lots of people from here and it’s genuinely made a positive difference to my life – Hit the North and the people I’ve met through it have given me a sense of confidence and self belief I never knew I had.
Totally agree, and that's what I meant about STW having a good balance. Those threads are really just a minority of what gets posted (I've pretty much never read them), where some is straight forward 'does X work with Y?' stuff and some is community stuff. I've learned things from and shared things with people on here that I'll probably never ride with, about trails I'll never ride on bikes I'll never own, and more, but one of things I appreciate most is that it's still a relatively large and open group compared to some of the more 'insular' forums.
Whitestone, that would be Rude Kid.
Not sure what people’s problem is. Singletrack isn’t a charity - running a forum costs money. If you don’t want to pay then don’t pay; if you don’t like the ads then don’t use the forum.
I'm quite surprised how poor other bike forums are; the main forum I frequent - SELOC - which is a Lotus related forum - is way more active than any bike forums, which is weird given how niche it is.
JP
The problem is, its really hard to build a user base for a forum.. so yes I guess a lot get started by people being frustrated with the options available.
I cant believe they've made the new classified how they have - I find it as poorly decided as the other changes as of late.
I'm a web dev.... its a cringe moment from here seeing how its been executed and handled.
Maybe I'll make a coop bike forum. £1 a month and all profits after hosting and development go to charity.
www.peoplethatridebikesanddonttalkmuchaboutbikes.co.uk ?
Seriously.. what name?
If the opportunity came up to fix this place... I would! for my hourly rate of course!
What do you mean "fix" it? Everything is going according to plan.
No one's yet mentioned http://www.mtbe.co.uk/
Was the first MTB forum I joined, but left it after finding a local forum which slowly died so I came here, just as all the moaning about the forum started, by all accounts.
mtbe was great until there was a falling out between mods and users (forget why)
A bunch were banned and set up their own forum on some free platform
Postings tailed off dramatically and it's tumbleweeds there now, I don't think the alternative really took off either
If the plan appears to involve ruining it.
The only other one I use is cyclechat https://www.cyclechat.net/ I see it as more road/commuter oriented but its popular. perhaps too many sub forums but must admit I do enjoy the "your ride today" which is in the 'cycle chat' part of the 'community' forum (see what I mean?).
Have to admit though, there were days when I wasn't too keen on going out and you read some of the 'your ride today' posts and it gives you (me) the mojo back 🙂
I love it on here. It’s a great place to get advice on any subject, you can argue until you’re blue in the face, have a laugh, experience kindness, tragedy, see a bunch of relative strangers pull together to support another stranger and occasionally talk about bikes.
All that for less than two quid a month. It’s better value than Netflix.
I've added one to my site that I set up for my videos, if anyone wants to give it a go? However you'll be the only ones there so far! ... at least you can watch a few vids whilst you wait for everyone to turn up 😃
The problem is, its really hard to build a user base for a forum.
I set this up when STW was proper borked -
http://tilstwisfixed.freeforums.net/
About 4 people signed up and they've all died. 😆 Format works though!
Tempted to join DezB’s forum but scared it’ll be like The Ring
tbh its ll going to facebook isnt it. Theyve setup all the groups over there and can easily see the interactions and push things from sponsors more easily.
enjoy this while it lasts imo.
Just looking at facebooks demographics and this forums. Hmmm. Quite the Venn diagram from hell.
Sadly, I can’t see a solution unless we cut Mark some slack AND he realises that this place isn’t ‘just a bike forum’.
That's the problem, they/he do see it as just a bike forum. It's this, and the attitude that goes with it, not the changes themselves that rub people up the wrong way.
These threads are a bit like the family sat around a hospital bed discussing the imminent demise of the bed's occupant!
I don't know about it being "hard" to build a user base, I suspect it's as much "patience" and the "right people" getting on board. How long did these forums take to become a "community"? You'd be looking at a similar timescale for anything new.
@eddiebaby - that sounds like either near 100% crossover or near 0% crossover.
The problem is, its really hard to build a user base for a forum.
I set this up when STW was proper borked –
http://tilstwisfixed.freeforums.net/
/a>About 4 people signed up and they’ve all died. 😆 Format works though!
Trouble is you have to register to see what is going on. Most folk would prefer to see what the place is like before committing themselves.
Trouble is you have to register to see what is going on
I can help with that - nothing, cos no-one's registered 😆
It's just registering with "freeforums", not my one specifically btw.
Forgive me for not really understanding what everyone's complaining about. I've been a member of this forum since it was GoFar, and a subscriber to the magazine from issue 1. What's so wrong with it that everyone is upset? Except for that weird 'span' thing popping up? I got that for the first time the other day, but managed to shift it because I spotted there was something weird going on in the preview panel. Is that what everyone is annoyed about?
The forum's definitely quieter since its reboot a few months ago, but is that all so bad? I'm actually posting a wee bit more on here again because a lot of the annoying fannies seem to have packed their bags and left.
It still has a diverse content of bike and non-bike related subjects, I'm still entertained and informed both digitally and in print. What's your problem with it??
just as all the moaning about the forum started, by all accounts.
2002?
