So tell me - how did you and STW first meet!?

We were introduced by a mutual friend (in about 2003ish)

I think i came here from Bikeradar... they then morphed that into a completely rubbish forum backend... i never went back again.

Eeeee..... I think I met Chipps for the first time on opening day at Carron Valley trail centre c.2005. Been a subscriber since issue 1 though, and on this since the Gofar days.

Bike magic refugee in 2001.

2003(ish), working on an analyzer in a lab as a summer job during 6th form that took quite a while to run through samples. So obviously I was spending my earnings on the classifieds as quickly as I was paid. This was back in the days when to get any bargains you had to be ruthlessly quick to call dibs because the classifieds was so active.

Probably didn't start regularly buying the mag or subscribing until issue ~40, I was more into DIRT.

Found the Hope XC front hub that was probably the first thing I bought (as part of a wheel) the other day. Annoyingly I sold the matching rear on a bike over Covid.

2004 I think, trying to find like minded soles to ride with and came across the forum on a search. Met lots of great folks since and still here.

When ever issue #1 came out I guess....

Went on the first Verbier girly week, 2003 ? Turned me from beaches, big waves and strong winds, riding the bike on windless days to big mountains and long flowing trails.

I joined the forum in 2012, was a lurker for a bit beforehand, subscribed about 7 years ago i think, but had bought a few issues of the mag before that.
Turns out i'd met Mark a few times before i'd even been on the forum as we have mutual friends. I was on here a couple of years before i realised Mark was the publisher!
All the times I've met Mark and been away on group weekends I've only ever talked bikes or Singletrack once!

Weirdly, through snowHeads (the winter sports forum). Used to spend the winter on there and had nowhere to post over the summer, someone suggested here and I've barely been back to snowHeads since.
Would have been circa 2006 I reckon, maybe 2007.

Read the first issue of the mag in the old cafe at Coed Y Brenin one day when we were waiting for the rain to ease off.
Subscribed to it when we got home.

Was recommended to me for some reason in 2003ish, and having no other MTB m8's, it was revelation for the knowledge & terrifying cliques (I didn't dare post for ages)

Picked up issue 3 from Harry Hall Cycles in Manchester.

Cycle show 2001? Selling issue 1 on the stand I bought one don’t think I subscribed until issue 3 maybe.

another bikemagic refugee.

I first bought the magazine from whsmiths because I liked the cover photo, prob about 2006.

I discovered the forum later when bikemagic started to smell of death.

I had to attend a wedding and was searching for sartorial advice, Google sent me here. After some great advice, I went with white boat shoes and an indigo blue suit. The ladies were totally wowed.

I probably found this place after googling some random bike question... or maybe not bike related haha.

Lurked occasionally but only really moved here after the MBR forum shut down in 2018(?).

Actually meet? Well I saw Chipps, Mark and Amanda at the Midweek Madness race at Lee Quarry a couple of years ago... was too shy starstruck to say hi though 🤩😊

for me, from the bikemagic and MTB-Wales.com forums. something happened with Bikemagic, can't recall what, and MTB-Wales.com was hacked and never recovered, so STW it was. a move away from the gravity-jumpy trend of some of the other MTB places and a focus on just getting out on bikes, doing whatever it is that makes you smile. .

Relative noob, maybe a only 4 or 5 years at the most. Roadie who was an occasional mtber, wanted to get more into the ITT off-road scene and stumbled here looking routes to ride and made the mistake of opening the forum, been trapped here since.
Also similar to Weeksy was previously on bikeradar but that went downhill with a small number of posters running amok and pretty much bullying other members. They then changed the forum and that was enough for me.

Was on the forum when the idea of crowd funding a mag came about so pretty sure I bought into it then. I got a free t shirt which I still have!

I was searching for MTB parts and someone told me to try bike forums (bikemagic etc) then I found STW. Another forum member also suggested STW so I hang around and that's more than 20 years ago I think since 2001 or something like that.

p/s: friend that recommended me was doing Transalp in Germany/Switzerland or somewhere recently ...

June 2013 - found a pair of DHB shades at Cannock, and this was the first place I found to ask if anyone had lost them. 🙂

Bought a bike off someone about 20 years ago who recommended the forum as a good place for advice/routes etc, so I logged on, then took out a mag subscription and I'm still here.

I can't imagine my enjoyment of mountain biking would have been anything like its been without this place. I've ridden all over the place with loads of different people off here, a lot of whom I now regard as some of my best mates.

I'm off up to Scotland this weekend with the rest of the Monday Night Pub Ride crew to ride bikes and drink beer. It'll be bloody brilliant, because it always is!

Went on a trip with a mate who was trying to get an article published about the development of lift accessed MTB trails in ScotlandShire, not sure it ever went anywhere though, so that’s when I first hear of the Mag, guess around 2009?

Was on the, then, MBUK forum, that then became bikeradar, the road side of which seems fairly active, inc off topic stuff (they have a brexit and anti Tory thread? Not going down that rabbit hole…) but the MTB side is a ghost town. I think Northwind may have mentioned here, first enticing me across…

found a pair of DHB shades at Cannock, and this was the first place I found to ask if anyone had lost them.

I hate to be pedantic but you already knew someone had lost them. You wanted to find who that was.

2005ish, seem to remember reading comments referring to this forum (or rather the old pre-crash one anyway) over on bike magic.

I hate to be pedantic

Tell the truth - you enjoyed that really 😉

This thread has Heaven's Gate video testimonies vibe.

I had to go looking at the mag archive. The first one I bought was issue 4 because it had a Dekerf review in it. I never did own a DeKerf because I am a cheapskate when it comes to bikes.

First used the forum in 2005

I subscribed *before* the first issue! I can't actually remember whether it was via a newsgroup or mailing list, but I vaguely knew Shaun through one of those, along with a bunch of other relevant people.

Digression: how's AndyA these days? Haven't heard of him in ages?

Issue 1 - I was given a 'fee' copy with my shiny new Orange Sub5 from Riks Bike Shed at Mabie.

Like a bad smell, I am still here.

(And I *think* I was on a the predecessor site - Gofar? as well as MTB Britain from an early time to find routes.)

Saw it mentioned on the bikemagic forums and joined then, around the time the first issue came out. Spotted the first issue for sale in the old bike shop in Heaton Moor (John something? He was the Ellsworth dealer for the north of England) so bought it, I think I got issue 2 from the stand at the Mountain Mayhem race at Sandwell (plus a free pint glass that I stll have, though the logo wore off years ago) then subscribed shortly after. I was around for The Great Hack and rejoined the forum straight away

I've lost interest in reading MTB mags - as well as STW I used to subscribe to Cranked (from the kickstarter), but unsubscribed after accumulating a year's worth or more of unread mags. Will be taking out a digital only sub shortly though

I followed someone who left uk.rec.cycling (Shaun) to follow a dream. Lurked for a while and then became more involved when I started to ride and teach the kids to ride MTB. Been active about 13 years.

shitshifter days !

not seen Andy for a few years Gray, he got married again and last I heard was working at the bbc

Very early on I saw the mag in C-Y-B shop/Cafe, then when got back into biking again in 2003 I remembered it and found the forum.

I was on the mountain bike britain forum I think it was called, which I'd found by chance just looking around for stuff. It was a bit slow moving though, not that many members. I was reading a thread about a group ride they'd been on and someone mentioned about meeting the STW group on the same loop. So I searched and found this. Sometime around mid 2005 I think.

I think I first heard about it on the old mtb-uk Topica list. Back then it was Gofar and I was one of those that bough a subscription before the magazine even existed.

I've been here ever since with various usernames over the years, also as an advertiser and a contributor (both here and Grit.CX).

I spent most of the early days of STW doing studenty things like drinking copious amounts of beer and smoking funny cigarettes so I didn't even know of it.

Got back into MTB around 2010, joined here in 2011 and just lurked until MBR got shut down (because of GDPR allegedly). I've subscribed on and off since then and still lurk but I do post a bit more now.

Fell out with bikes 15yrs ago and at that point I'd not been following any bike press since mbuk mbr back in the late 90s.

Got riding again 9ish years ago picked a copy of the mag up as it had guy Martin on the cover...

Joined the forum February 23, 2014.

Made some great mates and had some great rides over the years.

I hate to be pedantic but you already knew someone had lost them. You wanted to find who that was.

I suspected, certainly, but I don't think I could go as far as to say I knew - it may, for example, have been a flamboyant litterer. 🙂

I was something of a late bloomer in terms of starting MTB and discovering STW. I did a Google search when looking at options for my first build. Ended up with a 26” Bfe and an addiction to a forum.

Wanted advice on stripping and repainting an old aluminium frame, and found that on the very friendly forum, then picked up the mag in a news agent.

Hooked ever since.

I don’t think I could go as far as to say I knew

What is knowledge anyway? That word carries a heavy burden. (Steeples fingers). Let's unpack that word...

I was introduced by a few (former) members including DrMallory and dirtygirlonabike. Hung around after that when I started working in TheBikeChain. A few of the regulars started up Mlehworld which has since morphed into a Facebook Group. This was all pre-hack.

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This is my second(official) user account though. I had a stalker on my previous one so was allowed to set up this in its place.