The Off Topic Aftermath thread

[marin man]

I am a "newbie" my self but have helped people out on here numerous times with manitou fork servicing for free,info and rebuild instructions for the above as well as karma gifting people chris king goodies , crown races so they can ride,brake pads,etc etc etc.just because time is spent by some in off topic,it does not mean they have nothing to offer,infact quite the opposite as a lot goes on by pm that people do not see.

Some people maybe spend to much time on here,but I am guilty as well of that ,but when you are self employed and nothing is happening it keeps you sane....or possibly insane to be on here and talking to your chums.

Some people just get a bit full of there own self importance and ride rough shod over everybody,I have done this in the past and not on purpose...(sorry).But other people are considerably more guilty than my self I think.

And as for spam,what is off topic chat if not spam in its entirety,it rarely is bike related and when it is,the same can be seen on other sections of the forum as well.

It is just a place for people to share funny photos and news articles and for a bit of a debate now and again....at least I thought so.........

(oh and a place for death threats to be thrown about willy nilly as well )

 

[Easy_Rider]

Only a suggestion but would a "General MTB Chat" spilt from "Off-topic" work? There are many MTB threads (not just modern chat) that don't fit into "Retro MTB Chat" but get lost in "Off-topic." I'm just musing.

 

[john]

Only a suggestion but would a "General MTB Chat" spilt from "Off-topic" work? There are many MTB threads (not just modern chat) that don't fit into "Retro MTB Chat" but get lost in "Off-topic." I'm just musing.

Not such a bad idea. Will give it some thought...

 

[lewis1641]

Its dissapointing to see negativities still been thrown around.

I dont agree with what appears to be current thinking of only 'established members' opinions counting for much.
Unless this forum genuinely only wants the original 10 or 20 members from 'bitd' to be posting then there has to be more of an acceptance of 'new' members.

Ive seen a couple of comments recently along the lines of 'you dont go to RB meets, and youve have never met another member so keep quiet'. If thats the real feeling then there is a problem.
I for one have been to an event where RB members were present, but kept a low profile at the time for my own reasons. I have also met several members offline to trade/go for a ride. Does that make me more valid?
If RB members are more keen on chatting with members they have met, then I think there needs to be more of an emphasis/drive toward inviting new members & even longer established members that have yet to show their faces, to certain meet & greets.
I dont think there is enough effort to encourage 'freshers' to events, and for the more shy amongst us, the prospect of such a meet can seem fairly daunting.
I think a big drive to get everyone to meet up in one way or another could help with the harmony online.


Anyways, I have at least in recent times learnt to take things a whole lot more light heartedly (believe it or not).
Because I now know that if people dont agree with me they are clearly wrong

in response to this (in a non argumentative way!) i dont think of myself as being above anyone here due to post count or number of retrobike members i have ridden with.

the truth is though that i feel closer to say, fluffychicken than i do dr.s or marin man as i have ridden with fluffy chicken several times. i get his humour, i understand the way he posts.

i dont think anyone is saying it makes you a more complete member to attend group rides but it really does make posting easier (and more fun).

the down side i guess is that banter can form between longer term members that can look a lottle clique-y to newer members perhaps.

as for effort being put into organising rides, there is a lot of effort by a few people. a lot happens behind the scenes. the trouble is a lot of people dont want to, or feel they are not fit/fast enough to join in.

if you look at most rides organised on here (either official national status events or "i'm off for a ride tomorrow at 10, anyone wanna join me" people generally say that anyone is welcome.

as for the off topic section, i thought it was just that. banter that has nothing to do with retribikes

 

[IDB1]

as for the off topic section, i thought it was just that. banter that has nothing to do with retribikes

I put modern bike questions in there coz there's nowhere else to field them..

Or if I'm unsure where to put something I err on the side of caution and don't just chuck it in 'retro' and hope...

Easy_Rider's idea would fix that (for me, at least)...

Since hyper-posting has been mentioned and, given my post count, I am probably most guilty...
I would love to be out, especially on my bike - it's cool as flip (imo). And I'd also love to chip out to where the RB kids hang out for a trundle too... but current circumstances dictate that this is not much of an option and I'm stuck indoors.. Since I only really play online where I feel 'safe' I spend a ridiculous amount of time on here.

 

[KeepItSteel]

Its dissapointing to see negativities still been thrown around.

I think a big drive to get everyone to meet up in one way or another could help with the harmony online.

the truth is though that i feel closer to say, fluffychicken than i do dr.s or marin man as i have ridden with fluffy chicken several times. i get his humour, i understand the way he posts.

i dont think anyone is saying it makes you a more complete member to attend group rides but it really does make posting easier (and more fun).

the down side i guess is that banter can form between longer term members that can look a lottle clique-y to newer members perhaps.

as for effort being put into organising rides, there is a lot of effort by a few people. a lot happens behind the scenes. the trouble is a lot of people dont want to, or feel they are not fit/fast enough to join in.

if you look at most rides organised on here (either official national status events or "i'm off for a ride tomorrow at 10, anyone wanna join me" people generally say that anyone is welcome.

I mostly agree.
I guess im guilty of not getting around the different threads more, I barely ever cotton on to various rides.
Ill keep my eyes peeled for more casual hacks.

Perhaps some way of being more assertive in approaching newbs is what I was thinking, other than letting them happen across a ride on a random thread.

 

[The Ken]

Seperate "General Cycling" and "Off the Radar" threads would be great, I would still visit both.

General Cycling could include...
Modern Cycling stuff
Cycle politics
Cycle news items
Cycle sports items
Cycle workshop tips
....Basically anything involving a bike other than the eyecandy thread.

Off Topic would be everything else as well as the eyecandy thread.

 

[lewis1641]

Its dissapointing to see negativities still been thrown around.

I think a big drive to get everyone to meet up in one way or another could help with the harmony online.

the truth is though that i feel closer to say, fluffychicken than i do dr.s or marin man as i have ridden with fluffy chicken several times. i get his humour, i understand the way he posts.

i dont think anyone is saying it makes you a more complete member to attend group rides but it really does make posting easier (and more fun).

the down side i guess is that banter can form between longer term members that can look a lottle clique-y to newer members perhaps.

as for effort being put into organising rides, there is a lot of effort by a few people. a lot happens behind the scenes. the trouble is a lot of people dont want to, or feel they are not fit/fast enough to join in.

if you look at most rides organised on here (either official national status events or "i'm off for a ride tomorrow at 10, anyone wanna join me" people generally say that anyone is welcome.

I mostly agree.
I guess im guilty of not getting around the different threads more, I barely ever cotton on to various rides.
Ill keep my eyes peeled for more casual hacks.

Perhaps some way of being more assertive in approaching newbs is what I was thinking, other than letting them happen across a ride on a random thread.

When i was deputy aec i used to keep an eye on new members introducing themselves. If they were local i'd pm them. I also went through the member list and made current members aware of what was going on. I know i'm not alone in doing that and i know i didn't do anywhere near as much as other deps and aec's

 

[orange71]

"ask not what your forum can do for you but what you can do for your forum." a president didn't say once.

 

[Dr S]

If RB members are more keen on chatting with members they have met, then I think there needs to be more of an emphasis/drive toward inviting new members & even longer established members that have yet to show their faces, to certain meet & greets.
I dont think there is enough effort to encourage 'freshers' to events, and for the more shy amongst us, the prospect of such a meet can seem fairly daunting.
I think a big drive to get everyone to meet up in one way or another could help with the harmony online.

If people spent less time pissing about in General and Off Topic and looked towards the rides and area group sections they would see that Retrobike has been busting a gut to get more people to rides this year.
We always warmly welcome newbies to rides in the hope they like what they see and come back for more.
As for fears of not being fit/ competant enough to join in, look at me, I'm a right old donkey and got to be an AEC!

The rides are there, the welcome is there. Join in!