Cycle Chat or Bike Radar?

beckenham

I've been solely using this forum but have just joined Cycle Chat as well. Which do you think is the better of the 2?

dazzawazza

I prefer this forum

Smeggers

This one meself.

However, the problem lies in the split itself. In that so many of the original C+ people are split between the two sites, making both of them less busy, therefore neither are much good (in comparison).

I fear if the mutiny hadnt occured, then this site would be brilliant (yes, I am one of them).

heavymental

Smeggers wrote:

This one meself.

However, the problem lies in the split itself. In that so many of the original C+ people are split between the two sites, making both of them less busy, therefore neither are much good (in comparison).

I fear if the mutiny hadnt occured, then this site would be brilliant (yes, I am one of them).

My thoughts exactly. I wish everyone would get back on board. I don't think this format is particulalrly bad and is certainly easy to get used to.

jibi

This one, because I can get the views of over 100,000 cyclists

and

www.bikeforums.net

works for me.

arranandy

Cyclechat and bikeforums are blocked by the firewall at my place of work and as someone recently got dismissed for interfering with their PC's firewall setting I shall be sticking to Bikeradar

piedwagtail91

when this one works properly it may catch up with cc.if the eviction hadn't been so rushed and handled a lot better they may not have lost as much support.
there is a fix for anyone who can't get on cycle chat at work. it just another site name i think.
it doesn't affect me so i didn't take a lot of notice.

beckenham

What happened with the evictions on the other site?

alfablue

arranandy wrote:

Cyclechat and bikeforums are blocked by the firewall at my place of work and as someone recently got dismissed for interfering with their PC's firewall setting I shall be sticking to Bikeradar

Cycle Chat has an alternate URL that will probably work for you - http://www.Cycle-Cafe.net

Mosschops2

beckenham wrote:

What happened with the evictions on the other site?

I don't think there were any!!!

beckenham

piedwagtail91 wrote:

when this one works properly it may catch up with cc.if the eviction hadn't been so rushed and handled a lot better they may not have lost as much support.

Mosschops2

I basically agree with Smeggers.

As I said on CC just seconds ago...

I went to (ie found) C+ because I wanted technical information (of a most basic level), and was therefore drawn to Beginners. I stayed there because of Cakestop.

The CC beginners / know how is very quiet - it is currently a site based on cakestop / soapbox.

As I rarely come here (although that is now twice today - for the first time in about a month) and I like the new layout - it seems that the cakestop and begineers are still very quiet here. I do agree with you Smeggers that some / many are split between the two sites (and more than likely 2 or 3 others), and consequently there is no current hub of activity.

IMHO for either site to prosper, the basis for the road-based BR (completely unfamiliar with the rest), or CC has to be based on bikes somehow. Back in the C+ days - the core of the activity was based around know how and beginners.

Whereas now, all four areas (BR: KH & Beg; CC: KH and Beg) are really very quiet.....

Yorkshireman

The 'Lurkers' to 'Members' on line ratio on here rarely seems to be better than it is just now "In total there are 130 users online :: 29 Registered, 1 Hidden and 100 Guests " ... Thats pretty quiet compared to what C+ used to be at a similar time of day
C-C shows "Currently Active Users: 73 (49 members and 24 guests) " and acf is showing "34 Guests, 72 Users ". Which possibly proves that quite a few people may be logged in whilst supposedly working 8)

jibi

That the majority of users are supposed to working be is one the most famous truisms of the web.

Go on any forum in the evening, (of the same time zone,) and traffic, and viewers is maybe a tenth or less of the daytime traffic/viewers.

BikeRadar road is starting evolve its own identity, it is not or never will C+, its BikeRadar!!!!

Everyone has a choice to post or not, and to complain or praise, in those posts.

Make suggestions to the admins if you feel there is still something wrong, work to make it better than just say the grass is greener somewhere else.

I love change, suppose its cos I 've been using the internet since Bulletin Board days and direct dial up back in the 80's and the web since it began.

Enjoy whichever forum you decide you want to post in,wherever your Efriends congregate and post.

Its not which is best but the one you feel more comfortable logging on to.

Just like the bar Cheers. "Where everybody knows your name...".

Cheers

george

mangaman

This one's much better I feel

I think all fora get stale after a few years - the same old threads again and again

A virtual clear out of a small group to form a splinter forum has now happened twice since I joined and both times things picked up again

Personally I found the whole baby elephant thing wearing a bit thin

Nice to see some new faces around i reckon

hangsheadinshame

Well this i the forum you love to hate. But it is cosy and homely. Always the same posts (for the last 3 years!) Namely - > "Which new bike", "So and So is a doper", "How do I lose weight", "How do I raise my power", "Which Turbo trainer", PTP, "Helmets good/bad---fight!", "Which tyres", "Which wheels: handbuilt or factory", "Creak from transmission", "How do I change my cassette", "Which bib shorts", "RLJs!!!!", "This black cab right, he beeped", "S M I D S Y" etc etc.

I remember asking how I clean my chain 3 years ago. Still the same old forum. Still very valuable to noobs and pretty valuable to old hands. Better than the cliquey offshoots but I do understand the frustration of the cliquey offshooters. Personally I prefer the smaller, local, club and race forums like timetrialling.co.uk and veloriders and club fora. But this was my first favourite.

Bit dull though init really? Just the same old cronk over and over again. Sigh!
London bias: check; Beginner bias: check; Heavy handed, market led moderating: check.

phreak

I used to go on C+ a lot more and it was a shame that one had to go as it did seem to divide the community. I suspect any splinter forums will have their merits in time as they each develop their distinctive personalities.

snakehips

I went and had a look at CycleChat but it seemed a bit quiet so I never got round to registering.
Then I went on the Dunwich ride and noticed a group of people with acf jerseys. Does anybody else remember that exodus from C+?
After the event I checked here , CC , and acf. Little mention if it here , none (that I could find) on CC , and a very active thread on acf including photos from a couple of contributors which showed me and my pals before the start.
So I registered with acf primarily to thank the posters of the photos.
So there you have it. I still visit this place. acf interests me at the moment because they have a lot of people doing the PBP next week. I still lurk on CC occasionally but I can't convince myself to register on it.

Snake

hangsheadinshame

I remember you snakehips from right back when I started using C+ (not the current username I have now). I remember the ACF split and I read the forum often but find them all far wittier and better educated than I so rarely post in case I expose my ignorance

on the road

I mainly use this forum but I pop over to CycleChat now and again and maybe make the odd comment, but I prefer this one.

dannygcp

I am still reserving judgement and visiting both from time to time.

I still think Bike Radar is too big and incoherent, and risks suffering from a lot of churn in membership rather than building up a "community spirit". While there have been some good threads, others have been marred by people expressing some pretty juvenile attitudes..

Bike Radar also still has technical niggles which have been discussed at length elsewhere on the forum.

I prefer the look and feel of Cycle Chat and so far it has been much more lively than I expected. It also has no intrusive advertising!

I actually think there is room for having more than one cycling forum on the net so would urge Bike Radar members to support Cycle Chat, and visa versa.

formerlyknownasbonj

on this one there's more talk about cycling, but on cyclechat there's more banter and nonsensical debate. The "mutiny" was a bit pathetic really, it only occurred because people were whinging because their 'screen' didn't look exactly the same as it did before - it was all about silly things like the font and what not and that they had to scroll past the MTB section, even despite the teething problems with the software it was perfectly usable as a forum.

hangsheadinshame

They both use the same software I think. They both look like phpBb2 deployments with different levels of custimisation (just like Veloriders is too). I think due to its sheer size and the churn this forum is better as there are no all powerful cliques. ACF and CyclChat are just to "in-crowdy" for me.

Big Tcp

I'm a member of CC, BR and VR. I like CC because it's quite intimate and easy to keep up with what's going on. I'm coming on BR more and more though as CC can be a bit quiet. I don't find CC cliquey at all, and I don't count myself as being one of the in crowd.

Veloriders (VR) is very cliquey and very race orientated. If you posted on there as a complete beginner, you'd get ripped to shreds!

I'm a member of the TT forum as well, but I never go on. They're just a load of boring testers, unsurprisingly!

I'm still a bit cheesed off that I have to have a stupid "cp" at the end of my username on BR. Makes me sound like a big bottle of antiseptic!

dannygcp

formerlyknownasbonj wrote:

on this one there's more talk about cycling, but on cyclechat there's more banter and nonsensical debate. The "mutiny" was a bit pathetic really, it only occurred because people were whinging because their 'screen' didn't look exactly the same as it did before - it was all about silly things like the font and what not and that they had to scroll past the MTB section, even despite the teething problems with the software it was perfectly usable as a forum.

I think the "mutiny" really happened because Future Publlishing were so poor at communicating what they were doing and launched Bike Radar before it was ready. I don't personally mind that the screens look different, but "silly things like fonts" are actually a serious issue if your eyesight is less than perfect.

I agree that parts of CC suffer from some pretty silly threrads but then so does Bikeradar - just browse through Cake Stop to see what I mean.

McBain_v1

Could not give a rat's ar$e either way really

Blonde

Yorkshireman wrote:

...Which possibly proves that quite a few people may be logged in whilst supposedly working 8)

I never log off. I just stay logged in as it's easier to check for new posts/threads more quickly that way.

alecstilleyedye

are we still talking about this :roll:

let's move on!

rrsodl

Well, it was quite a while that I had not come this way and I must say I'm glad that I did couse this is, in my view, a better forum than CC. I just wish there was an option to search for the latest post in the sections that one is interested in.

Rick