[Closed] What first brought you here?

Cake. Turns out it was a lie.

I stumbled across this place whilst scouring the internet for advice on parts for my first full bike build. It was a Cotic, so I was welcomed with open arms. I then lurked for a good while before becoming a regular poster and like to think I have definitely made a good contribution in the talking bollocks department.

Foot and Mouth.

The Magazine - 2004.

2006, when organising the first Hit the North. Was sat in the shed/office of an old University mate, and artisan trousermonger, who said it was a good idea, but that I should sound out a bloke called "Chipps" who had a wed forum.

Bike Radar changed their forum, they made it horrific... i left and came here..

I first joined way back when ..and found it too " big " ..so never used it ..

I've been on a few forums ..the last one prior to rejoining this was probably the best ..only about 100 members spread across the country ..but quite regular meet-ups for riding ..no roadie content (!) and mainly friendly  ..alas without any warning it closed down overnight.

One or two of the members from that forum are  on here ..

I'm warming to this place ..but still serving my apprenticeship..and do like the bollocks too..

Cake. Turns out it was a lie.

Yeah, they told me there was a nice big sponge

The death of another mtb forum. There was a spectacular falling out between a few users and owner, they created another forum and a lot of users jumped ship, but neither really worked after that with days between new posts now.

Bored at work, a guy on SnowHeads mentioned an MTB forum that was worth a look, I've never left. It can be an odd place at time here but ultimately there are some wonderful people and I have had a huge amount of help and advice over the years.

Joined to sell a bike (an awesome Santa Cruz Blur) in 2003. Never left!

There's cake?

(Iirc, one of the early mags had a page about the forum in)

I'm here against my will! I think my bike got stolen and I signed up to post a stolen add!

I actually joined almost as soon as I moved to the UK in 2003. I was lonely then, and looking for people with something in common. I had been a member of the IMBA in Canada, and discovered here that they were linked at the time to STW. But I was really only a lurker then.

Meanwhile, I moved to Wales and became quite active on mtb-wales.com until it died. That’s when I became active on here.

The number of connections I have made, the amount of help I have received, and entertainment I have enjoyed since is incalculable.

I came looking for advice on a brake bleed problem. 7 years and 3 mtbs later I still don't know the answer

There was a thread on bike radar about a thread on here that was in full argulympian swing (drug use iirc), folk on BR were pointing out what a collosal bunch of bellends you all were. Here I am, 7 years later...

Foot and Mouth.

I jumped here to get some sensible advise that I couldn’t get on the then rampant BikeMagic forum.  It declined, this was bigger... here I am.

Hit the North! Someone posted a photo on here of me wobbling on a muddy slope. It was the year when I got on the podium for being 3rd woman out of about 4!

We started riding with a couple of big hitters off here , lurked for a while then joined .

The slow lingering death of the Bike Magic forum.

someone recommended the classifieds...

I had a road bike and wanted to swap for a cx bike I was told a new site had opened up and it might be worth a shot. I swapped with a guy called Ian who i still see on here occasionally. I thought it was a scam at first though due to my mistake on a meet up point we arranged a particular junction on the A1 and I went to the m1 both had services on them we then arranged to drive towards each other and meet midway and it actually worked lol still miss that bike though a USA flag coloured beauty but the cx was ace

I came for the articles but now I just stay for the pictures

I was happily tootling along on the GoFar forum....then they moved everything around (like my local Co-op, grrrr!), but I thought I'd hang in there and give the new format a try....erm... that was a wee while ago now.

to raid the classifieds to build my first proper mtb that didnt weigh as much as a black hole. I think it cost about £400. On the advice of fellows at the MTB club like nickc ^ sometime in 2001.

Unfortunately I cant find any old photos of my Trek 4700 with Noodle-SIDs but now it's my brother's pub bike.

Fred.

Swiped right instead of left by mistake. 2003 when I signed up for the Bike Verbier ladies week. Talk about been thrown in at the deep end.

Aye, BM was much the larger sit in the early 2000. (stumbled across that to find the C1XV) but BM was just too unweidly and slowly gravitated towards here.

All the fatbike threads.

It was a good place for single speed and although I stuck with single speed while very few others have it remains a good bike and bollocks forum

Same as tails

I think STW was mentioned in a "What other forums are you a member of?" type thread, on what used to be an excellent snowboarding forum back in the early 00's.... (can't remember the name, think there are others on here that used to be over there... does anyone remember the name of that SB forum? )

Anyway .... can't remember the last time I used a MTB in anger ... so definitely here for the bollox.

I had a calling to educate middle-aged men about listening to new music instead of old.

I failed.

Seriously though, I can't remember. Think it might've been a question about some forks. But then, surely I bought the forks off the classifieds..?

hodgynd

I first joined way back when ..and found it too ” big ” ..so never used it ..

I’ve been on a few forums ..the last one prior to rejoining this was probably the best ..only about 100 members spread across the country ..but quite regular meet-ups for riding ..no roadie content (!) and mainly friendly  ..alas without any warning it closed down overnight.

One or two of the members from that forum are  on here ..

I’m warming to this place ..but still serving my apprenticeship..and do like the bollocks too..

^^^^ pretty much what Hodgy said.

Spelling mistake.

I was trying to smoke a form of cocaine, but just the one time.

Google

I was trying to smoke a form of cocaine, but just the one time

Youd have been better off with the crack, far less of a compulsion to use it than here...

I stumbled across the mag in a shop when I was at the height of my mountain biking mania, then discovered it had a website. Even had some articles published in the mag, way back yonder, though I still haven't been paid for them....

I was trying to find out who piddled in my shoes and the trail led me to here.

So long ago I can't remember.....

I wanted to know if a headset came with a crown race included.

My first full suss mountain bike in the classifieds about 10 years ago.. an Ellsworth Joker. My Dad still has the bike and pootles round on it with my mam (on her hybrid) - romic coil shock and all!

I needed a place to test my new argue-bot code.

Or I think it was a question about upgrading my (first) hardtail..

The Friday Kylie.

Lurked for years and then BikeRadar went to shit so joined the mass exodus!

Was trying to get back into biking and googled routes in the Surrey hills. That led me to the routes section of the ST website where I printed off (those were the days) a route map. Whilst there I realised there was a forum attached, used to like hanging out on SCUK snowboarding forum so thought I'd give it a try.

Basically realised I was wasting too much time reading all the bollocks but by then it was too late.

Never really did get back into mountain biking but saw a PSA on here about London Road frames. Whatever you think about them it got be back on the bike properly for a (reasonably) small oint oi cash.

Pistonheads just wasn't bourgeois enough any more.

I used to go on mtb-wales. People would post links to STW tagging them with things like "OMG look what the idiots are kicking off about over there" Lol.

Gofar closed, some magazine started, it had a forum.

I used to come here when it was all fields.

i'd heard rumour of how the other half lived.... cars with heated wing mirrors apparently. I came to check out if it was true

Link to the Picolax thread from another site (Difflock.com)

Was searching for long off-route route advice, specifically the Wessex Way.

Still haven't ridden it.

I was searching for ways to remove Sudocrem from a cat.

Originally came looking for local trail advice.  Still here about 8 years later..

The slow lingering death of the Bike Magic forum.

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Bought a magazine at the Singletrack stand at a Mayhem event some years ago, never heard of Singletrack magazine previously, thought I would check out the forum.

I found Chocolatefoot forum searching for local riding, kicked about on there for a while. STW was mentioned, lurked here for a bit, asked questions I needed answers to, but stayed on CF for the bantz/abuse until that died a death.

I crossed over from Southerndownhill/Ride.io forum as it slowly died, plenty of others seem to have done the same and even kept the same profile name.

sounds like this place is the out-of-town superforum hoovering up all the custom from local high street forums.

I was trying to smoke a form of cocaine, but just the one time

You'll come for the cocaine, you'll stay for the craic?

I'm here after my OH started buying the magazine.  That would've been mid-2012.

I was looking for a single mattress - Google brought me here are a brief foray on Single Muslim...never got that mattress (or the Muslim) - got distracted by the bollocks on here.

I met a girl who was trying to get me interested in mountain biking and I found this site. I think it was around 2003.

I came here from GoFar, after they started a magazine and I subscribed to the first five issues for a tenner (subscriber number 113 IIRC). I think I found GoFar via the uk.rec.cycling usenet group?

Lurked for awhile but moved over properly when Bikemagic started its fall into slow lingering death.  Not especially active but the few peollp I have met in person have been sound.

Links in the off topic section of a guitar forum ( and thinking about it on a radio control glider forum too). I only had a hybrid for commuting at the time. Within three years I had 7 bikes. Bikes are the best thing I ever got in to.

I was hit round the back of the head with a set of Bombers by a girl called Louise and she blamed you lot.......

has been invaluable, learnt nothing about bikes, but i can install a wood burner and know exactly which Thule roof rack works on a Audi RS6.

Remember when they used to publish a list of the top 10 posters in the mag? Funny that. Wonder who'd be on the list these days.

Pirate raid from BM.

I wasn’t hard enough for BikeRadar

the lure of fat blokes in lycra

I was looking for alternative uses for a set of old bombers.

I was searching for blow up dolls and found an image of some bloke using a track pump to blow up an airship, followed the chain back here to find some angry badger getting some stick. Being an animal lover thought I'd join up.

I had to put the work in to get here. We were hiding in Borders in Glasgow on a piss wet through day and I found the magazine, issue 7, and got to the website from there. But getting online meant going to the local library, then I spent way too big a portion of the summer holiday down there on here, being mercilessly picked on (for being an arsehole). Then stuck with it, because the advice is useful.

Got recommended to try here via the LPSG forum, I just didn't fit in there

Pirate raid from BM.

😆

Yes. YES!

The very first time, I was a BikeMagic user, (seems most were!) something posted there, from here made me join and be an a-hole for 5 minutes until I was banned. Can't imagine why I thought that was funny, but there you go.

Joined again properly, (presumably with a different user name) when I got bored of BM.

Some friends I used to cycle with all hung out here to chat shit when not on bikes, Snakebite, Scruff, PQ, Singlespped keith and a few others.......place was much smaller and more like a group of mates back then

From GoFar, although there was a mail list as well in those days, can't for the life of me remember it's name.