Emigrating - to a new forum
Very few posters left, and no point staying if it crashes during the races.
Any decent homes for BR refugees? I mainly follow road racing and workshop.
Comments
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It's a great place if you want to talk politics and socio-economics through.
"I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]0 -
Yeah, I'm an infrequent flier here but enjoy the (mostly) intelligent nature of the debate.
Is there a forum of last resort that people migrate to when this place goes T-U?
Like my slightly less sane namesake, I stumbled across here initially to discuss road cycling but appreciate that like Johnny Homes, people have come here from a number of different angles.
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Cake is just weakness entering the body0 -
Yeah, I've wondered in the past if we could find a (stable) refuge that we could flock to if BR decided to call it a day. Like others, I really appreciate the posters here, with the breadth of experience and remarkably civil discourse.
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BTW, to be fair, Admin George did pick up my email when I told him that the forum was down and thanked me for alerting him.
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Tik tok is where the youngsters like me hang out these days.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי1 -
I'm not sure anywhere offers quite the same mix. Places like Reddit are much more active on the UK politics/news angle, but the quality of discussion is much lower (and seemingly getting worse). Their pro cycling community is also extremely quiet.
This place is obviously dying a death though.
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Who says I want to hang out with youngsters? My echo chamber rarely plays a tune they'd recognise (actually, due to Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, it's largely a vibe derivative of that, but that's a discussion for another day)
If you think this place is quiet though, I looked through a few this weekend: YACF, Cyclechat, roadcc, singletrack to name a few, and I'd struggle to call any of them active compared to this place.
Can anyone suggest anywhere suitable?
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Cake is just weakness entering the body0 -
Almost sounds like we should have a Cakestop Cooperative Forum.
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There's a site called "Facebook" for older people, I think.
For me, cycling as a sport is not much interest, I have long since passed through the stage where talking about tech is interesting, and there are only so many times when a what wheels or should I get a bike fit thread induces me to post. Those are a bit too GCN or Cycling Weekly "how to wrap bar tape in 75 easy steps" or "18 reasons you are not getting faster", none of which are "your age".
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I hang about on YACF occasionally, v seldom contribute, there can be some 'entertaining' stuff in POBI (politics and other big issues) and The Pub, but comparitively little cycling, partic pro, discussions. Quite a bit on distance, audax etc but then that's no me... Then there's other stuff which can be informative, on legals, tech etc.
I quite enjoy on BR the PTP guessing of GT, monument et al winners, would miss that if or indeed when this forum eventually grinds to a stop.
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I think most of the active 'fora' came from somewhere else:
YACF filled a gap whilst Audax Uk were still stuck in their courier font phase: are they still there?
Bikeradar came from a consolidation of the cycling+ forum and others servicing other titles in the same stable of magazines
Cyclechat seemed to be a reaction to some of the moderation and migration caused by the C+ migration
I lurk (& despair) in a couple of thriving football fora. I'm not sure why cycling should struggle. Maybe it's the common geographical roots of them.
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Cake is just weakness entering the body0 -
I suspect that geographical/team forums will always be lively - I'm admin on a FB one for Exeter and it's got 23k members and still growing rapidly (mostly older folk, being FB). The level of contribution is, not surprisingly, mixed, and you'll not get anything intellectual out of it.
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23k members of an Exeter cycling forum? Or is it a trumpeting forum?
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Haha. Plenty of anti-cyclist, pro-rose-tinted-glasses nostaligists who think that a city centre with a dual carriageway down the middle of it was soooo much nicer than what we've got now, and who seem to think that Exeter would be lovely without a thriving university bringing all these pesky students who spend their money in Exeter, and without all those lovely green fields being built on for people who want to live in Exeter.
On the plus side, as admin, I do get to delete posts and ban posters.
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Have they sorted the SUV parking capacity in Topsham yet. No way I'm bothering with the trip if I need to walk far.
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Just bring a Chieftain tank and park it like Kenny Everett, avoiding old Almeras, please.
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Just reset my password on Cyclechat. There's some familiar names from the past: anyone remember Keith Oates?
There's some bloke called BrianTrumpet who seems to on be on there every day too.
Can't comment too much about the content, but the user interface: it's as if they want people to enjoy using it.
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Cake is just weakness entering the body2 -
I only do photos on there, but the photo thread here is actually more interesting and higher quality, and better chat about the photographic qualities.
I don't venture into the political thread there, as the level of discourse is Facebookish, if not as bad as Twitter.
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I did join there once upon a time (I think) but haven't been on in many years.
There was a chap on here who moved to that forum, I want to say he was called Bendertherobot....?
He rode a recumbent.
There was a really nice chap on here as well, whose username escapes me now, but he used to have a blog where he reviewed kit, and I bought a couple of handlebar bags from somewhere abroad once, maybe the US, and I think I sent his onto him.
Anyone know who I mean?
He had a Giant and maybe a Cannondale, and bought some Juin Tech brakes I think.
Think Roubaix was in his username or the blog name perhaps.
If this forum dies, I may not bother joining another one to be honest.
Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
Scott CR1 SL 12
Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
Scott Foil 181 -
Like most commentators here are saying, I have found many chats here entertaining, amusing and informative- not infrequently in the same thread.
The hosts are really trying my patience though- spam, “upgrades” , loss of server connection. click-through is already very low, but I definitely won’t be looking at the advertorials if I don’t visit the forum, which I assume is why they bother at all.
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Should ask for your money back.
Pinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי1 -
Yeah, similarly I must admit I am amused when friends go all angry about something FB does (often just a minor tweak), given the service they provide (I shudder to think how much data storage they are paying for for me) comes at no direct $ cost.
I assume BR management can see how much the forum costs and how much traffic it generates, and I don't suppose it's flattering. So each time it comes back, I'm just grateful, as it really does help me think about issues through engaging with a good mix of intelligent people who I'd not engage with otherwise. It's kinda nice too that it's pretty much self-regulated too, which reflects well on the members.
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Hate the break the news to you Brian, but on FB, you are the product that is being sold.
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I'm very well aware of that, being a FB tart. That said, it's surprising how much one can at least block out a lot of the intrusive stuff. (I no longer get adverts from Tesco for Farmhouse Cheddar when I refer to 'cheesy music') Similarly, I take great pleasure in blocking anyone on Twitter whose posts are labelled as 'Ad'.
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I get that, really. Which makes it surprising that they bothered with platform “upgrades”. Must have cost them a fair bit, when the benefits are not obvious. Or was it the only option because of the underlying mechanics of the site?
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Didn't a few people try mumsnet until they got banned from there?
Could always just set up in some random forum and make ourselves at home, as long as we all pick the same one.
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Weirdly, I think the cycling bit is the glue that subtly holds the thing together. Or it's a catalyst. (Sorry @First.Aspect - I stank at chemistry - C at O-Level was my peak.) But it lurks behind the interactions. Also, I don't think there's one Cakestopper who doesn't have some sense of humour, even if a lot of it is deadpan sans les emojis.
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I don't think Rick has a sense of humour.
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I'm not sure that the upgrades were necessarily new Rolls Royce options, rather more of an MOT on an old Almera, and they had rust to deal with, and the 2000 pages of Brexit thread in the glove box fell out into the passenger foot well.
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On the last upgrade they're was collateral damage with several forumites being lost for a bit by mistake plus no body could join for a while either. Having looked at other forums whilst waiting for action I can honestly say unless mtb related on some sites anything else seemed relatively dead. Personally think the forum bubble has burst and the website owners are waiting for it to turn around again. Maybe. As an over mid 50s person I cannot stand Twitter sorry x / tiltok / face whatsit or anything similar.
Too many bikes according to Mrs O.0
