LFGSS - a very bad experience - what's yours?

Some time after I joined this forum, I joined LFGSS. I'm not a London fixed gear cyclist but it was obviously a very well supported and lively forum. Then I made a terrible mistake: I dared to cross reference a 'bike for sale' advertisement to the advertisement for the same bike on this site. I did so because the photograph upload facility on LFGSS wasn't working properly. The result was a death sentence without possibility of reprieve - I was banned from the site for life. I've written very politely to David Kitchen (Velocio), the guy who runs LFGSS, not once but three times, and have never had the courtesy of a reply. It's hardly the spirit in which fellow cyclists normally communicate with each other.

This is particularly strange because he is now setting out to raise a 3rd round of funding for his Microcosm IT business. You can find plenty of information about this on the LFGSS site. He has already raised funds through crowd-sourcing at Seedrs.com. I've read his proposal, and even considered investing but I won't be doing so for two reasons. If the way he treated me is indicative of his customer service policy, his business is going to fail. Customers have a way of making their grievances known. Secondly, at no point in his sales pitch to investors does he make a compelling case for how his forum IT platform will offer benefits over those that already exist, are well proven, and well financed. In other words, I see no reason for it to succeed. And certainly no justification for the £2 million valuation that David Kitchen put on the business for his most recent funding round. I have a feeling that the 'Dragons' would roll around the floor laughing at that number. Of course, by initially appealing to cyclists to fund his efforts (which will probably include his salary, unless he has an independent source of income), he exploits the fact that we all feel more warmly towards those with whom we share a common interest. It creates an instant bond of trust, even though there is no logical reason why it should do so. My advice to amateur investors would be to proceed with great caution. Funding businesses through Kickstarter and Seedrs is a very risky business, as this independent article clearly explains: http://www.kernelmag.com/yiannopoulos/2 ... from-you/#. I am all for innovation, particularly in cycling, and I'm very much in favour of supporting fellow cyclists to get cycling-related businesses off the ground. I've run my own successful businesses, or been a major shareholder in the businesses, for over 30 years, so I do have a grasp of the basics here. But if would-be cycling entrepreneurs like David Kitchen want our money, showing fellow cyclists the most basic courtesy should perhaps be a pre-requisite.

Has anyone else received the same kind of treatment from LFGSS?

Good morning,

In answer to your question "Has anyone else received the same kind of treatment from LFGSS?" - the answer is yes, there have been other sellers who were banned for cross posting notably a Dutch seller who sold some great bikes.

Richard

Thanks Richard - I confess it was my mistake for not reading the rules thoroughly enough, or at least not remembering them - but the subsequent treatment seems quite out of proportion to the offence. I think I'll stick with posting here and on the CTC

LOL

It is much calmer here than on lfgss! I had noticed the ad and thought you might get a warning but obviously not. I have noticed cross posting of links to lfgss here - not sure how that would work with their rules.

Stick with the best - HERE!!!

Richard

It’s promoted as a trendy progressive liberal sight but I think it actually pretty autocratic pretensions and vain. If your views are not shared by Velicio then you may well be banned especially if any of the clique complain.

I have challenged some of the posts/views on the web from the point of view of a older cyclist who learnt his trade the traditional club based route. I upset a few regulars specifically relating to over priced kit and dangerous bikes and was threatened with a ban if I made further comments. My hunch is that the LFGSS has strong links with the cycle trade who of course want to promote brand identity fads and ‘trendy’ overpriced kit.

I agree with you Tim. It's a very strange place... but not as strange as the £2 million valuation that Velocio has put on his new forum venture to attract naive cyclists to invest in it via Seedrs. I think he'd be laughed out of the programme on 'Dragons Den'!

Do a skid.

Do you speak English too?

is your post about the treatment you consider harsh given selling on both and not "following the rules" or his IT ventures and their merits or otherwise in your view; there seem to be several points but some of it sounds like sour grapes in light of your experience which may or may not be valid but probably doesn't help. I think it's a general feature of the internet that some of the more colourful fora (forums) also often have a strong group as moderators and there often seems little room for manover on the basis if you don't like it go start your own. It's not limited to bikes.........

David,
My post is about two related subjects. When I received rather strange and unfriendly treatment from LFGSS, and the site owner clearly felt that polite emails from his users should be ignored, I wanted to find out what kind of person was running it. A little online research revealed exactly that. It's some who seems to show little concern for fellow cyclists except as potential investors for his little scheme. I speak has someone who has run four successful businesses over the last 30 years and it seems to me that the camaraderie that we should have as cycling fans is being mercilessly exploited here. It would be negligent of me not to have written the original post. Although I accept that my treatment at LFGSS may have coloured my views, the facts are still there for all to see. There are many people now deeply concerned about the potential of direct investment websites to exploit and cause substantial losses to the hapless investors that participate. I use this site and numerous others but all of my experience on LFGSS has been bad - so I give it a miss these days.