[Closed] Who was banned today?

Given that Tolstoy and Dickens both used the word 'mincing' in their works - in ways that reflect the current use which is not sexual - I'm happy describing my riding style as occasionally mincing.

"from my years of living" - a fantastic phrase that gives gravitas and deeper meaning to whatever a young man says. Most excellent.

think drac hits the nail on the head in a pub or with mates you know your mate is not racist or homophobic so if a comment is made you can laugh it off - se ewhy some comedians can be offensive and not offend [you knwo they dont mean it] Guardain [intentional] readers but chubby brown does for example.

if you want to judge people by their online persona - by and large a fiction

Grumpy Mark - Nail, Head.

If you think you know GRF based on what he posts on forums, then...

... you don't know GRF.

homophobic - it's the last thing he is. He does like to wind-up prissy straights though.

Well clearly we didn't know he was a fun loving legging pulling individual, just as he clearly didn't know how some people would react to his posts. The point is since he is the distributor of certain biking products, he should keep his fun loving leg pulling to people he actually knows, instead of coming onto an internet mountain biking forum and gracing it with his witty banter, causing offence and damaging his business reputation in the process.

EDIT: What Mark said.

[url=

I'm offended![/url]

Some might say that one of the joys of the Internet is that you can behave as though you are in a pub with your mates but it is in public.

Pity the poor old publisher who has to deal with it.

mark - got an answer on when MTFU, mincing, jeycore etc stops being banter and starts being homophobic? I want to be very careful that my insults are on the acceptable side of the homophobic/not homophobic line (Singletrack version).

TooTall - gay didnt mean gay then either. We all know what people are implying when they type it (mincing).

Though that is also info I have gained from my years of living.

Says the;

16 year old mountain biker from Leeds

Classic! PWNED
Also, funny that a 16 year old is calling grown adults "softies"

Some might say that one of the joys of the Internet is that you can behave as though you are in a pub with your mates but it is in public.

Evidently not everywhere on the internet and not everywhere in every pub can you behave the same.

mark - got an answer on when MTFU, mincing, jeycore etc

Mincing refers to be effeminate which does not mean being gay

MTFU - just means toughen up

However, it's the context we also take into consideration insulting people is not tolerated no matt what word you use. If you receive a warning your going to far it's a good idea to stop and not carrying on.

I bet everyone who has taken offence uses SPD's. Jeyers.

Mincing refers to be effeminate which does not mean being gay

Drac - thank you for the clarification - so if I tell you to "MTFU you mincing jeyer" then it would be OK if eg the context was "I poo my pants on 2 foot drops" but not if it was "Anyone fancy a ride up Fairmile Bottom on Saturday?"

I'm glad that's clear.

I'll leave it now.

Happy Riding!

Some might say that one of the joys of the Internet is that you can behave as though you are in a pub with your mates but it is in public.

This G.R.F certainly is obsessed with gayness:
G.R.F stands for Gaylord Rock Focker according to his profile 🙄

Thanks for that pedantry there Junkyard it is good to know standards are monitored in every corner of the Interwebz

I know I said I was going to leave it, but couldn't resist highlighting this as an example of the acceptable side of homophobia, er, gay, sorry, jey innuendo

http://www.singletrackworld.com/blogs/2009/09/el-scorchio-notio/

I'm sorry I'm missing something there the author said he didn't want to wake up next to Mark, have you seen Mark? I'm sure you'd understand why if so.

Err it's not homophobic to not want to share a bed with a friend/another man?

Despite the question mark thats a statement not a question

pastcaring - Member
this forum is funny, open hostility and bullying are tolerated but someone obviously taking the piss isn't?

if people reported him for taking the piss, maybe i should of reported the R.lepecha for abusing southerners and people who grew up on council estates? but found his adolescent indignation rather funny!

there was some great come backs from others and was a funny thread. beats what tyre for... any day!

PC gone mad!

'PC gone mad' = capacity for independent critical thought gone AWOL

[i]'PC gone mad'[/i]

I'd prefer 'PC living with mental health issues', please.

And the picture caption?

100!

winterfold - Member
And the picture caption?

Is innuendo

And the picture caption?

What about it?

Like already mentioned it's an innuendo, maybe if it had said "Don't bend down in front of me I'm not gay, even though I wear SPDs and GRF believes that makes me gay." You'd have a point.

My pals and I are guilty as most for the typical round the table banter that no one actually means.

Problem is when it gets out of hand. We were down in Cardiff for the Scotland vs Wales footie friendly and witnessed a guy in a kilt & Scotland top seriously abusing a young turkish lad in a takeaway with what I'm guessing he thought was funny racist 'banter'. What was actually coming out his mouth was a disgrace and the young lad looked pretty shaken up. The rest of the Scottish guys (us included) kicked him out the shop and told him he was out of order. Didn't stop the insults though.

Very easy for someone to think they are still being funny when other people have stopped laughing a long time ago.

I never took any offence at the linked post but then again, I tend to ride flats!!

so if i call someone a brown nose is that racist or homophobic ? 😆

What was actually coming out his mouth was a disgrace and the young lad looked pretty shaken up. The rest of the Scottish guys (us included) kicked him out the shop and told him he was out of order. Didn't stop the insults though

Yeah, all you Jocks are really racist

Thanks for that pedantry there Junkyard

Yes jey innuendo - so that's ok then - so if we think Are You Being Served good were probably alright

Junkyard sorry - how about "it's like a snug bar in the pub with only your mates or your local where everyone talks shit and noone cares"

Anyway it was Marks metaphor so if it's a shit one I was onlytrying to carry it through

Mark - I've just got GRF's side of the story. It's quite different to your's , unsurprisingly. I wonder where the truth lies...

I am dissapointed to see a picture of me apparently taking advantage of Mark under a large cross at the top of a mountain in the mist has made it onto this thread as evidence. 😳 I would like to point out that I am wearing flats and baggies.

That is all I have to say.

[i]I am wearing flats and baggies[/i]

heels just don't work at altitude, do they?

FWIW (I'm not one of the most regular forumites, so perhaps not much)
a) it's not 'our' forum, it's STW's forum - they make the rules, and while being a Premier member does mean you pay them for various bits and bobs on the site, they *still* make the rules. So while we could shout double standards if we so wished, it ultimately doesn't matter, cause they pay for the server space.
b) I've read enough wrong stuff on the internet that it doesn't bother me, but not knowing G.R.F even as a stw member before seeing the thread in question, it did take me by surprise. It may have been a tongue-in-cheek piece of trolling (there was a lot of effort put in if it was), but either way, it comes back to point a).

So what are the odds on GRF placing any ads with STW ?????

and in turn STW accepting them ?????????????

god, old people take this interwebs buisness far too seriously.

it doesnt take a genius to realise that due to the progression of the english language alot these insults dont mean the same thing they meant 1 or 2 years ago. for example, when i call my homosexual freind a gaf i am not referencing his homosexuality, just his effeminate manner, and that would go for anybody, gay, straight, male or female.

theres a south park episode called fags i think, it explains it perfectly.

Trekster - Member
xiphon - Member
Just read that dog/spd thread in question - are people really that sensitive??

CharlieMungus - Member
I really can't see how people don't see what was posted as offensive

Never been the on the receiving end of bullying

Fortunately I have skin sufficiently thick to withstand keyboard warriors. Although I'm sure a keyboard could give me concussion if beaten with it sufficiently hard.

Don't take the interwebs so seriously (especially STW), you might hurt yourself.

Take care xx

Oh, and I ride a bright f-ckin' pink bike - the most common question I'm asked is about my sexuality LOL

Winterfold, Every email that I've received and sent has been CC'd in to Carlton at Bikebiz. I believe they are contemplating a story. I've only posted direct quotes from his emails including the many threats of, 'You geuninely can go f--- yourself and you'd better do it quick before I do it for you.' which generally formed the sign-offs to all his emails to us if I had to. His emails have been abusive and threatening but by and large empty of substance and so we are at the moment not planning on taking any further action.

He isn't banned anymore and I've invited him to come back and explain that he was only joking to everyone - he's even free to post copies of our email conversations if he would like to. I have no problem with being quoted.

I'm tempted to publish the entire thread of email correspondence. Frankly it's only out of respect for the rest of his staff and the potential consequences it may have on them that i've chosen not to do that so far. His abusive actions and the threats he's made against us should not reflect on the employees of his company or the brands that he represents in the UK.

You geuninely can go f--- yourself and you'd better do it quick before I do it for you.

And I thought he was being homophobic, but he really just wanted to get closer to Mark 🙂

[quote=Mark]I'm tempted to publish the entire thread of email correspondence. Frankly it's only out of respect for the rest of his staff and the potential consequences it may have on them that i've chosen not to do that so far. His abusive actions and the threats he's made against us should not reflect on the employees of his company or the brands that he represents in the UK.

I'm in full support of this - he's made his bed, now he must lie in it.

Unfortunately for the brands he represents, he's now been crossed of my potential sales list.

The brands are welcome to find a new distributor (to whom I'd then become a customer of), that's the great think about a free market...

Simple.

His abusive actions and the threats he's made against us should not reflect on the employees of his company or the brands that he represents in the UK.

But they do, don't they? No-one wants to deal with a d***-head, even (perhaps especially) if they purport to be 'wacky'/'zany'/'hilarious' types who "love a good wind-up" and are "the life and soul of the party".

And if he trots out the TJ Defence*, he's even more of an arse than I thought. Which, frankly, would be [i]very[/i] difficult.

*Sorry TJ, but it neatly describes the situation. No offence intended.

I wouldn't post them Mark, you'd have to ban yourself for swearing.

Angry-pirate - Member
god, old people take this interwebs buisness far too seriously.

it doesnt take a genius to realise that due to the progression of the english language alot these insults dont mean the same thing they meant 1 or 2 years ago. for example, when i call my homosexual freind a gaf i am not referencing his homosexuality, just his effeminate manner, and that would go for anybody, gay, straight, male or female.

theres a south park episode called fags i think, it explains it perfectly.

Try telling this to the kids struggling to make sense of their sexuality and hearing the word gay slung around in the playground as an insult all the time.

just e-mail them to all P members as a special treat for our loyalty.

What he said an no need to have ago about age either TBH, I am not sure we fought battles [ litterally] for homosexuality to be accepted - see section 28- so that you could use the insult liberally to anyone.
the constant association withanything gay as mincing, effeminate and soft is tiresome tbh. yor defence that you insult many is also an intersting one. What is wrong with being effeminate BTW oh wise young one?

One of the campest men I know is straight as a die. He can talk fashion and shopping (not quite sure what the difference is), loves TV soaps, and has a good number of pink shirts. He waves his hands a lot, has a selection of daft hats, and has been known to prance. Ever since I've known him he's been fending girls off.....seems they like the just-gay-enough sort of bloke.

On the other hand....there's Gareth Thomas. I'm not sure he'd have a clue how to mince anything other than opponents.

Someone shouted "gay ****" at me while I was riding my road bike earlier today.

I thought it was a couple of 12-year-old-ish kids I'd just passed, but now I'm starting to suspect it was this fella.

😕

Someone shouted "gay ****" at me while I was riding my road bike earlier today.

my whole family.. that's four generations and inlaws too.. all shout "gaylord" out of the car window when passing a roadie..
it could well have been one of my lot in a bad mood I guess...

My best mate at school is gay now but was not out at school. All the girls loved him and he copped plenty more action than I did. Never forgiven him 😉

Hi Mark I'm 110% sure the post-banning emails would not look great. Like I said he can be a complete nob at times. But is that where the story starts?

A good mate of mine was test editor then edited a UK windsurfing mag for over a decade and was not afraid of giving GRF's kit a bad test so I dare say I have seen worse - but they always got over it.

Magazines need distributors to advertise, distributors need magazine readers to know about their products, especially if they are niche and expensive (so more Singletrack than MBR). Editors need to assert their impartiality and independence. Closeted dwarves from Kent need to vent their Napolean complex. You are luckier than my mate in that GRF is not a big player in MTB where he was the Trek of windsurfing, so you have more freedom to tell him to sling his hook. But ad revenue is ad revenue...

I respectfully and politely suggest that is in both your long-term interests to find a way of putting this behind you without either of you losing face so you can do some trade in the future.

cheers

(PS sorry to any mods or posters if I've been rude or a PITA in this thread)
(PPS good tactical move unbanning him, should be good for a laugh, or nothing will happen)

Sweet

Blimey, who called for the voice of reason?

Blimey, who called for the voice of reason?

Voice of reason?! He defamed GRF in his opening para - and we all know GRF doesn't take well to that!

defamed - damaging the good reputation

given what has been posted I suspect saying he can be a complete nob is quite easy to defend in court given the thread and subsequent e-mails.

Thanks for your concern guys. But, as Junkyard has sussed, I am absolutely certain that what I said about GRF would not 'damage his reputation in the eyes of his peers' or however McNae puts it. In fact I could word it a billion times stronger and it would still not be a libel 🙂

If I said he didnt honour warranty on his products, or was not to be trusted in a deal, or his handshake was worth **** all - that would be different.

But... in most cases there is a gap between what peeps are like online and what they are like for real. It's just very large in this case.

Enough. I'm going riding. 😀

What did he say about egg beaters ?

Your comments are appreciated but really, if this really was a PR stunt on his part it has gone terribly wrong. His emails to myself and the moderators were simply unacceptable verging on criminal. He's very lucky we've excercised considerable restraint in response to them.

It's true that magazines are reliant on distributors large and small for business but at what price? For us that price does not extend to disgraceful verbal abuse by email and attempts at legal threats. If that's the behaviour we have to put up with to close an ad deal then we don't want that business. The bike industry the world over is populated to an unusually high proportion by amazing people with an incredible passion for riding bikes and making the best bikes and kit they possibly can. Graeme's behaviour is tarnishing that reputation.

Graeme needs to moderate his online behaviour and up his communication skills by a considerable margin. He can start with an apology. The moderators deserve that at least as do the brands he represents.

looking at grfs original post more people seemed to get upset at him slagging off spds that using some particulaly childish homophobic comments

and anyone who doesnt see him as being homophobic and thinks im being a whinging guardian reader, well they probably start sentences with the phrase 'im not racist but....'
in which case theres not much can be done for them

Mark - have you copied any of this to the manufacturers he purports to represent?

No we haven't

Magazines need distributors to advertise, distributors need magazine readers to know about their products, especially if they are niche and expensive (so more Singletrack than MBR).
...

I respectfully and politely suggest that is in both your long-term interests to find a way of putting this behind you without either of you losing face so you can do some trade in the future

I would not involve *his* clients - only publish what has happened between STW and him.

Then when his clients find it - who says they don't already read STW - they will pull the plug.

Do surf sales even represent that many bike brands. Large ones?

Dakine packs, Transition bikes.

FWIW I thought it was so stupidly over the top thatit had to be a joke - liek a clarkson esque persona doing this. No one is that thick. It was still a rubbish joke and he kept digging and he should have stopped. His rants at STW towers seem rather unedifying and [ from what I can tell] make him appear a little unhinged/unpleasant - he did not take the ban well clearly. Ah well there is a long tradition in over reacting to a STW ban

[img] [/img]

my whole family.. that's four generations and inlaws too.. all shout "gaylord" out of the car window when passing a roadie..

Quality, I think im gonna take up this practise. My lads 2 and half, think its a good age to get him into it 🙂

I rember the good old days when all mountain bikers hated all roadies.

hehe.

Can I just take the opportunity to say that both the "community" and the mods do a really good job of dealing with things like homophobia etc on here - it really is a pretty fab place to be...

There's always going to be an idiot come along once in a while but they don't last long (or we all learn to laugh at them rather than with them!!)

Thanks!!

Rachel

+1

Although the Twitter stuff is legendary, can't believe that guy can have that attitude and still be in business, the man's a PR disaster.

Enough of this bullshit already...

What none of you appreciate, is the bastards asked me to come and post here in the first place, I warned them of my style and it aint to everyone's taste, it comes of a long history of riding pre dating all of you and them and being a survivor of an era of freedom of speech and expression sadly long gone.

So I'm banned whatever, it ain't the first time and it probably wont be the last, that isn't my beef.

My beef was a) No warning and b) when the warning did come an hour or so late and I responded with an 'LoL you'll be sorry', some patronising fella who should never be let near a keyboard, never mind a twitter account then proceeded to act in a manner that drew down the red mist. Spreading all sorts of bile and accusations which I do have recorded, then encouraging this nasty lynch mob attitude that is so prevalent these days once cowardly folk spot an easy target.

Now to defuse all this, if there are any real Gay fellas here (note the use of Gay rather than Ghey which means something entirely different) and they took offence (which I very much doubt) then they have my wholehearted and abject apology and my assurance that in real life I am no such thing and don't really believe that pedals with clips in could provide a lasting civil partnership. (Nor that northerners get confused when the light reflects badly when they ride on slag heaps.)

As to the spat with the STW heirachy as it since turns out the guy Mark is (I was genuinely unaware at the time) well thats for us to work out should we feel the need, but that shouldn't be done publicly, the very reason we're in the position we are in.

Now I'll not be bothering you again, you can continue shaving your legs, clipping in, mincing down singletrack, discussing which tyre has the fewest nobs and gently evolving into the Roadie scene you seem to so desperately crave, I'm still the old school who doesn't care for Roads and Roadies..

I'll say it again to you, I'm sorry I bothered you and apologise to those that were offended.

Goodnight and Good Riding. (Try and remember why we're all here now and then)

being a survivor of an era of freedom of speech and expression sadly long gone

You [i]are[/i] funny!

it comes of a long history of riding pre dating all of you and them and being a survivor of an era of freedom of speech and expression sadly long gone.

What a tosser. I very much doubt you were riding before all of us and your attitude stinks to high heaven.

just going to copy and paste this to all the brands you distribute.

might point out that your an angry old man aswell.

it comes of a long history of riding pre dating all of you and them and being a survivor of an era of freedom of speech and expression sadly long gone.

What a tosser. I very much doubt you were riding before all of us and your attitude stinks to high heaven.

Now there you go again.. dude you have no idea about me, my riding or commercial history, suffice to say I was there at the beginning and pretty much started the ATB scene in the early 80's, but then like me you're welcome to your opinion and thousands have died to ensure you remain free to voice it...

Now gimme a break eh? I said I won't be back, damn page hand't had time to reload before one of you sad b'stards kicks in..

I am now gone and won't look back.

bet you do.

I'm still the [s]old[/s] [b]new[/b] school who doesn't care for Roads and Roadies

fixed it for you

bikes are bikes, just ride them 🙂

Right - so I was riding real offroad routes in the early 70s on my own adapted bike. So yes - your statement was bullshine - as for starting the ATB scene - get a grip sunshine.

Charlie Kelly? Geoff Apps?

Whatalotofnonsense.

Very entertaining though. 😀

can I have a free Transition Bandit please?
email me

I was there at the beginning and pretty much started the ATB scene in the early 80's

Are you a Rockstar Vatican Assassin too?

if there are any real Gay fellas here

The fact your phrasing seems to suggest that you think that is unlikely shows how removed from the real world you are. You sound like a prize dick, full marks to Singletrack for not want to do business with you.

I thought you were going? I guess not.

If the post prior to this one was serious then... well, all I can do is shake my head and wonder "did I just teleport back in time to high school?" (the difference between "Gay" and "Ghey", really?! Let alone actually using the word "ghey" non-ironically?)

Put it this way, if I didn't know you were older, I'd guess you were about 15.

As someone new to the MTB community, you're not giving me a very good impression - ie, if you are representative of the MTB community at large then I'm not sure I want any part of it "Old School" or not, but it seems that you're the exception not the rule.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graeme_Fuller

😆

pretty much started the ATB scene in the early 80's

what a shame that he won't be around to prove that statement.....

Don't scare him away folks - his delusions are pretty funny.

What a tool!! What's with the different login?

I can't wait to forward this thread to a mate who's sells a lot of Dakine stuff in the NE.

graemef, you appear to be the Gerald Ratner of the mtb world.

Go back to surfing, perhaps they suffer your attitude as you were there at the infacy of worldwide surfing.

a survivor of an era of freedom of speech and expression sadly long gone.

[img] [/img]