[Closed] Private Chat Forum, members only

That's generally how commercial businesses work, yes. I went to Tesco yesterday and the bastards were only offering milk to people willing to pay for it.

I didn't even know it is a thing.

1st rule of private chat forum................

Wait till you find out about the secret Facebook group.

I’ve said too much...

I didn’t even know it is a thing.

Wait till you find out about the secret Facebook group.

I’ve said too much…

Novichok-laced energy bars for you...

That’s generally how commercial businesses work, yes

Sorry, I didn't realise the forum was a money making commercial business.

My bad

 

If it is a Private Members Club, will I get a free lap dance from Cougar, Drac or one of the secret mods if I join?

You can join for about 7o a day 🙄

There isn't a "private members" forum, there is a members forum. It is currently in beta and mostly consists of half a dozen "testing" threads along with discussions which will be of massive importance interest to non-members such as feedback on the latest issue (which they don't have) and questions about users' subscriptions (which they don't have).

I didn’t even know it is a thing.

It went live a couple of days ago. It's linked from the Forum Overview page (which I almost never use so I tripped over it by complete chance shortly after it appeared) and by an extra handshake icon at the bottom of the left menu bar. This is a stopgap fix because as I said, it's a beta test. It might go away again tomorrow.

2.50GBP/month, so that's less than half a London pint. And you get a free, secret forum!!!

(and get to read the full reviews, a digital copy of the mag, etc.).

Sorry, I didn’t realise the forum was a money making commercial business.

My bad

Well, now you know. Mark &co. don't just do it for love. It's almost like it's a business to them O_O

Sorry, I didn’t realise the forum was a money making commercial business.

Gosh. How can you've been here ten years and not realised? That's a problem in itself and one I'll stick under the owner's nose.

Singletrack is a primarily a magazine / media publisher. They have a real bricks 'n' mortar office and employ maybe a dozen staff. If no-one subscribes, buys magazines or merchandise, or clicks on the odd advert occasionally, the lights go out on the site and forum for good and they're all off down to the job centre.

So yes, money very much does talk I'm afraid.

t’s almost like it’s a business to them

Those Lamborghini's don't pay for themselves, you know!

Well, now you know. Mark &co. don’t just do it for love. It’s almost like it’s a business to them O_O

Appreciate that for the the mag, yes. Forum no, initially done to promote the mag, then try and monetize it does irritate me somewhat. Particularly when forum costs are probably more than covered by members anyway

Particularly when forum costs are probably more than covered by members anyway

They’re not.

Particularly when forum costs are probably more than covered by members anyway

I assume you have the figures to back up that statement, and haven't just pulled it out of the sky?

I’ve had all sorts of help and advice on here for years. It costs £2.50 an month. If STW have the brazen nerve to make a small profit out of that £2.50 AND keep the forum running then hats off to them.

I’m really not sure what you’re complaining about stgeorge.

EDIT: I’m not convinced you’re a real saint either.

They’re not.

I think you must be doing something wrong, really

Wait till you find out about the secret Facebook group.

Yeah, but wait till you find out about the really secret Facebook group.

I’m really not sure what you’re complaining about stgeorge.

Not complaining, just sad, £30 a year some people can't afford, and to be marginalised for being cash poor is sad.

The digital sub is £20 mate, if that helps?

Yeah, but wait till you find out about the really secret Facebook group

Come on, everyone knows facebook is old school. TikTok for the win

EDIT: I’m not convinced you’re a real saint either.

No way, just the road I used to live in 🙂

marginalised for being cash poor is sad

Relax and carry on as you are.  I predict that a forum for a subset of the membership is not going to take off.  In fact I have 20p on it

I don't care about the members chat but the click through ads are a bit much. I used to subscribe but then the website became pretty much unusable and the owners were grumpy and uninterested.

If I subscribe again does it stop the website going down all the time?

If I subscribe again does it stop the website going down all the time?

It’s worked well, without ads, since I subscribed a couple of years ago.
No complaints here.

Appreciate that for the the mag, yes. Forum no, initially done to promote the mag, then try and monetize it does irritate me somewhat. Particularly when forum costs are probably more than covered by members anyway

Your £0 per month contribution probably doesn't stretch as far as you think...

Lamborghini’s

Uh-oh.

I didn’t even know it is a thing.

The secret forum has been a thing from the beginning.

Just no-one thought they'd be daft enough to try it (again, allegedly)

I used to subscribe but then the website became pretty much unusable and the owners were grumpy and uninterested.

Awaits the banhammer....

Is it just me and a few who realise that everything that you might want to legally have, enjoy or partake of ultimately costs money?

I've had the odd moan about the site when things change and I don't like it but for what I get from the forum (mostly), the magazine (somewhat) and the collective wisdom here it's worth what little they ask.

The days of making money just from a magazine with adverts are dying fast and hence the number of magazines is dying too. They have to do new stuff and find new ways to make money as love don't pay the wages or pay the internet bills for forums.

Makes me sound like a defender of the team, I guess I am in this instance, but they do a cracking job with little so either put up, cough up and go to another "free" forum, complain there and see how that goes perhaps?

Probably the only members lounge that captainflashheart can’t waltz into

Forum no, initially done to promote the mag, then try and monetize it does irritate me somewhat.

They're not trying to "monetise the forum" (aside from the advertising which has existed longer than I've been here), they're providing a space where members can discuss things of absolutely no relevance to non-members, such as "my magazine hasn't arrived". Which I've just explained once.

The only way a members-only forum would monetise anything is FOMO.

Particularly when forum costs are probably more than covered by members anyway

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

No.

I think you must be doing something wrong, really

Tell you what. If you know better than a company that's been doing it for over a decade, why not go set up your own forum doing it 'right'. You'll be rich!

to be marginalised for being cash poor is sad.

Oh don't be melodramatic. You don't get the magazine delivered either, or access to exclusive content, or well any of the other reasons people actually subscribe to the site in the first place, and this has been the case since the forum was in orange. Why are you complaining now all of a sudden?

My local gym won't let me use their treadmill so I'm being marginalised! Of course, I'm not a member, I'm just being discriminated against!

Wait a minute.

"St George"...

Complains about not receiving member benefits from a club he used to be a member of but isn't any longer and feels like he's being punished...

We've seen this movie before, haven't we boys and girls.

🙂 LIKE

Sod off you and get that button implemented.

Are the classifieds any better on the paid for bit , if so I might join again

And yet, here everyone is, rather than anywhere better.

Odd, that.

Not complaining, just sad, £30 a year some people can’t afford, and to be marginalised for being cash poor is sad.

This thread again! It’s like £2 a month to be a member of this ace little community. I have two kids, a stay at home mum in Mrs F, a mortgage for a broken house and a job that doesn’t pay loads. Even I can afford £2 a month FFS.

If you like hanging out here and want this community to continue to thrive then pay up. If not, go join Twitter or something. If you’re genuinely that poor then consider getting rid of whatever it is your typing your posts on. If I were that strapped for cash a mobile phone contract or internet connection would be one of the first things to go.

I've got no idea how many years Ive subscribed, not the whole shebang that's for sure but probably 12+ out of the twenty. I was around not long after the website launched and have 'used' it been part of it and enjoyed it since. I will continue to do so as long as I am able private chat or otherwise. It's part of the cycling business and cycling community and to exist in both it needs to be a business.

So you'd like me to pay for you then ?

(It's just like the Brexit debate....no we don't want to pay to be a member. We just want everyone else to pay whilst we still use all the facilities for free....and not follow the rules we don't like either)

Sod off you and get that button implemented.

I'm happy to pay my membership just for that line, thank you 🙂

This thread again! It’s like £2 a month to be a member of this ace little community.

... and it's entirely optional. You can fully partake in the forum, for free and unrestricted, if you agree to be served a few adverts instead. The only thing you're missing (now) is somewhere where people can go "hey, I haven't received this month's issue, what should I do?" without gumming up the rest of the forum.

Jesus. This entire thread is "I can't read posts discussing issues pertinent solely to members because I'm not a member". Y'all are gonna shit yourselves when you discover that all mains tap water in the UK is now halal.

I’m happy to pay my membership just for that line, thank you 🙂

I may have handed in my Moderator card, but anyone hoping I'd also handed in my Grumpy Internet Gobshite card are likely going to be disappointed.

Like and Share if you think this is a disc race.

@robertajobb - very nicely put, couldn’t have said it better myself.
Now, as far as I can remember, I’ve been on this forum for around eighteen years, I used to buy the magazine every month, but stopped some years back, after a knee injury stopped me riding, and I stopped buying other mags too, probably saved me £40-50 a month.
I started subscribing again last year, because I get so much from being on here, this is a real community, shown by the genuine compassion expressed by members to others when something bad happens, as has been the case with the loss of my partner recently.
I’m genuinely touched, and more appreciative than I can adequately express, for the personal messages that have been sent, and comments made on the forum, for that alone it’s worth the meagre amount it costs me every month, and I’ve never even bothered downloading the digital magazine.
It’s odd, actually, that considering how long I’ve been here, back before the Big Hack, (ask yer dad), but I don’t actually recognise the username stgeorge.
All I can say is, son, put up or shut up.

@Cougar...