[Closed] who uses other forums ? How friendly are they ?

What rubbish. Go away fool.

Most of the ones I've been on are just dead. Certainly not as interesting and varied as this one. I think the good ones are the ones that keep coming up in google hits, often for stuff not related to their topic 🙂

twits yes that's better sorry mods

The fact that stw comes up in google hits reflects google's omnipresent capability of tracking what you look at regularly and then tailoring search results to provide matches from those sites. It took me a while to figure out how it worked as I couldn't initially work out why DIY related searches kept turning up things from stw.

The fact that stw comes up in google hits reflects google's omnipresent capability of tracking what you look at regularly and then tailoring search results to provide matches from those sites.

Have to say I'd never thought of that, explains why all my porn searches keep coming up with posts by Hora in STW....

do you find other forums unfriendly

I happened to view some threads on bodybuilding sites a while back (don't, I know how that looks), but you wouldn't believe the level of shouty self-righteous ramblings that can burst out from nowhere.

It's like STW on steroids 😉

The fact that stw comes up in google hits reflects google's omnipresent capability of tracking what you look at regularly and then tailoring search results to provide matches from those sites.

Is that how it works? I didn't think it was.

I visit a few other forums, a couple of bike ones and a couple from my other hobby, bike ones generally alright, bit cliquey. The other ones are split - one is hugely elitist, and there are a lot of dicks, but some good content, the other one is very friendly.

There are other forums??! 😯

Is that how it works? I didn't think it was.

Yeah, google do track your viewings, especially if you use Chrome and will present results from sites you often use if it can find any.

I've used a fair few forums over the years and all have been pretty friendly. They all have their characters and keyboard warriors though.

I only have enough spare time in my life for one forum.
Once you get the filters set,there is some interesting and helpful stuff on here.
It can be a bit like a Big Brother experiment at times ,but you soon find the threads/posters to avoid. 🙂

I used to be on a very good windsurfing forum that I made a lot of friends on, some I met off there and are still mates. It was a bit like this at one point, bit of banter, lots of tech, some bighitters*, great meets, event info etc.
Loved my time on there. 😉

Yeah, google do track your viewings, especially if you use Chrome and will present results from sites you often use if it can find any.

That's the wrong way round, surely? It ought to show you hits from sites you DON'T go to, that'd be far more useful!

Use a surfing forum which was one of the first 50 internet forums set up in the world ( pretty sure thats true ) it was a very bumpy place no moderation, you could post under any name, utter anarchy, we invaded at least two other forums and got one shut down 😳 it was one of the most entertaining creative places I have seen. It is where I first met Surfmatt.

Due to true malice it now exists as a shadow of its former self but is still inhabited by a tiny hardcore.

Not at all friendly to start with, but if you arent a twit you will get on fine.

Oh and it is invisible.

Bike Magic's forum was mostly friendly, there was a cull, and its all friendly again. Unfortunately the cull left but just a few members, so feel free to pop over and join in and double the ranks.

There's a great thread about fingernails ATM.

In all seriousness BM's front page has improved to surpass STW's in my view, more, better and in depth reviews and articles turning it much more into an MTB online media stream somewhere better that STW's front page and IMB's magazine style format.

I talk quite a bit of rubbish on the Fell Runners forum. Usually handing out shonky/dangerous advice to newbies. Not the most active of forums.

Dead friendly when people do post tho.

I used to go on Bikeradar until I found this place, there is a user on there called cooldad who is generally a va un ker to almost anyone who posts, and he jumps on every thread. Pretty much killed the whole forum.

I occasionally use BikeRadar forums, but it's a lot less friendly than here - seems to be populated by a clique who would probably describe themselves as the sort who don't suffer fools, but in reality are just rude.

One is enough for me now... and even then, I can't summon the enthusiasm to post regularly. STW has its moments, but somehow (maybe I've been on too long) it seems more mundane now than it was last year.

The Commencal Owners Club forum was good for a while too.

Blimey jekkyl, great minds and all that...

Use a surfing forum which was one of the first 50 internet forums set up in the world

I still use [url= http://www.mono.org ]Mono[/url] which almost certainly predates it.

In all seriousness BM's front page has improved to surpass STW's in my view, more, better and in depth reviews and articles turning it much more into an MTB online media stream somewhere better that STW's front page and IMB's magazine style format.

I just go straight to the Forums via a bookmark, haven't looked at the front page in years....

As above the great thing about STW is it's lively & there's never a dull moment

Some of the other bike forums seem elitist and are moderated with a heavy hand. Some of them are so specific they only have about 5 posts per week 🙂

Away from bikes I'm into motorbikes, hiking, gardening, surfing and the outdoors in general but STW is unique

BTW the in-laws are seriously into caravanning and sometimes email me links to caravan forum posts that they think might be of interest to me e.g. mountain biking in Norfolk. Have been tempted to sign up and troll just for the hell of it 😈

of all the ones ive used, two have been friendly enough to meet and make real world friends.

one of those would scare the pants off ya, the other would just take the pants off ya.

Only really this and the Football365 forum.

F365 is pretty friendly/funny though you probably need a certain sense of humour to enjoy it and if you're somebody who's easily offended it might not be advisable. It's massive though and incredibly busy, even more so than here.

Advrider is the US motorcycle equivalent of here but much, much bigger. That's very similar (but politically the opposite).

weightweenies forum is good for road bike advice, as long as you don't state something obvious like "why not use something a few grammes heavier but much more aero" :p

local MTB one too.

French ski forum: friendly and civil, perhaps because so many know each other IRL.

Local triathlon forum: egos the size off ... despite most people knowing each other IRL.

Peugeot 605 forum until last week when the Peugeot went: extremely helpful. I'm convinced that if non-one had done the job then someone would have disappeared into his garage for a few hours and pulled his car to bits just to be the first to post pics.

Bike Magic was fantastic, but it's just not got the traffic to hold my interest, which is a shame, as there are some good people on there.

I quite like BikeRadar, it's different to here, IMO there are a lot fewer people who know what they're talking about! There's a few morons, but fewer people I actively dislike. That said, most of them seem to have been banned from here anyway! It's a bit militant at times, threads get locked for not complying with 'the rules' and there are a stupid number of sub fora, and certain mods are regarded in a deity like state by many, which is a bit odd.

I used to frequent MTBBritain.co.uk before it became popular and filled up with idiots. Also, www.ukgser.com when I had a GS motorbike.

The chat forum on here is the best forum I've found so far though.

#checks BM to see who has posted this week#

It seems that most of the good people on BM are also on here and those that used to trash the place know they wouldn't get away with it here so have gone elsewhere.

Interested to know which campervan/self build forum is unfriendly. I left a popular one recently but only as I was feed up paying £15 a year when the vast majority of posts were replies to newer members.

certain mods are regarded in a deity like state by many, which is a bit odd.

Sounds to me like a policy we should be implementing.

I used to use Snowheads a lot and always found it very friendly. Good bunch over there, very welcoming.

I use another "hobby" one. It is good for a bit of info but it is dead if you want a laugh or a bit of banter.

I made a comment about something being rolled in "turd glitter" and got a ban.

Only really been a user of two. One was a windsurfing forum but the big hitters there were on a different level. It could be fun at times though.
Another was a model aircraft forum and was dryer than my windsurfing kit has been these last two years.
This place kind of strikes a good balance for me. Not overly moderated but safe for work.
I know a few of the people on here were users of the same Windsurfing forum. I know of one for sure and suspect that there are a couple more too. I even have a hunch that the main protagonist (Contributor In Chief) comes here now and again.

I used to use 2 diving forums - YD was friendly, fun, quite a few niches, lots of banter, one affair outed in line etc. The other was rebreather specific, a bit more technical, a but less fun but still friendly enough. Both were fully loaded with avatars, sigs, reputation scores etc - certainly don't miss all that clutter.

I was an [b]mtb-wales.com[/b] user, which I loved, and which essentially got me through my PhD (it made periods of wordblock more amusing, and gave me incentive to get as much written as possible so I could get out and ride).

I am also a member of a VW T4 forum, which is helpful, but not busy enough to hold my attention, and finally, a forum related to my working life that is interesting enough but too slow. Indeed, I can post something and think it has gone dead, only to see it get a response weeks later.

At the end of the day, though, STW is my home.

I occasionally use the Thorn forum as it's very good for anything Rohloff related. It's very friendly and helpful.

LFGSS - The Friendliest Forum on the Web™

Been in here for ages.
I have a login on Arb Talk and another one on Landyzone but dont hang around there for any banter, just info.

I did used to spend a lot of time on the UK Boarder forum which was fun and met some nice people many years ago. Used to be meet ups at Milton Keynes snowdome IIRC and sometimes beers in London Town.

I dont really have the energy to cultivate such a well-respected, superior, and iconic identity on another forum again.

I used the RunnersWorld forum when I used to do a lot of running- it was friendly, and quite lively with good advice.
I also tried Mumsnet very briefly, when my son was a baby, as it's very well known and often quoted in the press, but I found it incredibly unfriendly with a nasty element. I saw comments from people saying you had to be a regular poster for a year before you were accepted!

I like STW, lots of humour 🙂

Retrobike, Timetrialling fourm and Weightweenies for sepcific bike stuff
XCRacer for racing stuff
Transit forum for van stuff
.
The TTF, WW and Transit ones take themselves very seriously.
.
But mostly here for general stuff and a read of random things. The others are OK but not very active (XCRacer particularly, 50,000 readers a month but about a dozen forum posts)

I was on MTB - Wales for a bit and it was a mean sprited haven for tosspots. Some good info but there was a cadre of posters that must of been involved in some kind of love triangle. If one disagreed with you then the rest would weigh in to give you a kicking, reminiscent of how TJ was treated on here.

What happened to it??

I used to use Bikeradar.

There were a couple of decent guys on there like Supersonic who would always offer decent advice. There were also a couple of shouty idiots.

Most other forums can be summed up by one phrase:

"HAVE YOU USED SEARCH?"

I like STW for the ability to get an answer on just about anything not just bikes