The next BOTM special - a few ideas

Given the success of the Klein BOTM month special last month, I was wondering what the next special is likely to be and came up with the following possibilities.

Manufacturer - ie Kona, Fat, Pace, Specialised etc etc
Best of British - Minimum entry requirement frame and at least one other component??
Stars & Stripes - The best the US can offer
Steal is Real - steel frames only
Ti Wonderland - Titanium frames
80s Hits - bikes from the 1980s
Special year - ie pick a year say 92 and work to it
Eurotrash - something continental or just not Brit, Yankee or mass produced Asian
Hard men - Rigid bikes
Soft as nannas scones - Full suspension bikes
My shiny thing - frames with a polished finished
Plastic Fantastic - any frame materials other than metal (excluding lugs)
Threes a crowd - frames without the standard main triangle - Trimble and others
Passion for Purple - minimum 3 purple anno components

While the choice is not mine, I thought there may be some general consensus for a future special.
Anyone have some personal favourites??

They all sound good but a few of them might result in similar bikes being put forward by different people.
I'd have a shot at Best of British, Ti Wonderland and Passion for Purple but i'd get my arse kicked (plus, the Vit ain't ready yet...)

Special months for fully rigid and fully suspended bikes sound interesting - lots of variation to be had there.

Hey are you anti Aluminium or something? lol, I saw a steel bikes and a ti but no aluminium think it sounds like quite a good idea, if it was run along side the normal bike of them month instead of replacing it.

They make bikes in aluminium now?

Whatever next!

:? Not too sure if I agree with BOTM specials. You could end up waiting a long time for a suitable category.

It all seem a bit too elitist.

thanks for your suggestions!


BOTM will never be replaced, but variation does keep interest! There were many new posters on the Klein BOTM and lots of good bikes to drool over.


There will be more specials. There is a 6 year plan that has been drawn up to include every sub-catagory possible. Using the taguchi method I can then determine the most popular brand of frame, size, component and bias from resulting special BOTMs.

Actually I lied about the plan. Not sure what I am doing after lunch never mind in 6 years.

Remember, although it gets international interest, vote rigging and forum controversy, tis only a bit of fun

sunchaser":o0t9kbm0 said:

:? Not too sure if I agree with BOTM specials. You could end up waiting a long time for a suitable category.

It all seem a bit too elitist.

Click to expand...

I thought the idea of a special every now and then was just to add a bit of variety, and most of the categories are relatively broad and personally I don't see anything wrong with nominating a bike which may have previously been up for a normal BOTM.

My categories are suggestions only to promote a bit of conversation, and are all for a bit of fun. I'm sure they could be refined further and expended further to maybe include equally obsure categories such as the following:

Budget Bangers - anything which has cost you less than X
Rock Shox Bouncers - anything with a rock shox fork
A few E's - E stays only
Missing Links - anything with a linkage fork
Action Shots - entry photo must include you riding your bike on single track (could alternatively be titled ugly mugs....)
Team Gear - bike and matching jersey or other team gear
Road Warriers - road bike special
Glorified Coke Cans - Aluminium bikes (no I'm not biased most of my bikes are made of the stuff )
etc
etc
etc

Possiblities are endless...

Changing the subject slightly we could also start a Retrobike sticker thread where you post a shot of you bike with Retrobike sticker in some artistic scenery - just a thought...

Participate or die...

To extend the spirit of interactivity to more 'members' - what about some other participatory monthly competitions to run concurrently with BOTM - I for one only intend to do builds in the winter months so wouldn't have anything 'new' to show off for over half the year (and I don't have a Klein ;-) ).

How about 'best photograph of the month' aka BPM - could be a ride, a bike, a shed etc. - anything that captures the retro spirit. To avoid dangers of server swamping, we could limit one shot/entry per 'member' per month.

JV could come up with some suitable prizes and the winners snaps (if we were is issue an agreed format/spec) could form the basis of a gallery feature, an exhibition or even, dare one say it, a calendar....

Neil

PS. BTW I had my doubts about the special BOTM when it was first announced (the elitist criticism was mostly due to picking Kleins as the first one, if we'd gone with Kona ;-) - no-one would have muttered a word!) - but am happy to admit that it did make great viewing, bringing out bikes that peeps wouldn't have normally entered in BOTM.

I think Photo of the Month is a top idea ... anything retro related and could end up being really amusing !!

Photo of the month is a great idea!

Best take my camera next week..