Foo - Time for a new forum?

So...Joe strikes it rich and sells out for millions? Who bought? Walmart? Ah...the times, they are a changin...

Things will not change much. Those things that are are only going to be for the better.

I'm going to agree with Smashy on this one. BF's will remain the greatest cycling forum on the web as long as I have a word to say about it.

What happened?

I musta missed something.

Things will not change much. Those things that are are only going to be for the better.
...company line...:rolleyes:

A big coporate buyout of a small little company. Here we go again.

no wonder Brian refused to let me change my name....

I feel we all need a group hug or something. I feel so lost. :(

Joe sold BF to Internet Brands.

As an admin of a pretty big forum (And several smaller ones) I can tell you it's in IB's best interest to not upset the way things are. I'm sure the people who will take care of the forum now are aware that too many changes (including in your face ads) will destroy their investment.

It's my guess that this place will be just fine. And if it isn't, you'll all go spend more time on RBR or MTBR, or someone will come up with a new forum.

Now that I went and looked into what's happened, I have a message for the new owners who also it appears own a hybrid website:

HYBRIDS ARE WASTEFUL AS HELL COMPARED TO TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS EXISTED FOR DECADES.

oh, it'll be ..fine...

Now that I went and looked into what's happened, I have a message for the new owners who also it appears own a hybrid website:

HYBRIDS ARE WASTEFUL AS HELL COMPARED TO TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS EXISTED FOR DECADES.


I wanna get a Prius :)

My head is dizzy. I need sugar.

oh wait. Is this watcha doin?

Now that I went and looked into what's happened, I have a message for the new owners who also it appears own a hybrid website:

HYBRIDS ARE WASTEFUL AS HELL COMPARED TO TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS EXISTED FOR DECADES.

... and almost a century and a half :)

I agree though. A good fuel-efficient econobox (yaris, fit, xA, or even my Focus) trumps any hybrid on total cost of ownership, total environmental impact, and usually reliability. But bike > all.

Bikes aren't so safe, and they can't do a consistent 150 mph.

A car with long stroke hybridized turbo diesel engine powering the front wheels, with the exaust gas re-routed to an air compressor tank to power rear wheels would get well over 100 mpg in the form of a bulky sedan or small to medium pickup truck or SUV, simple as that. And it would have some very big performance potential. This has been known by automakers for over 20 years.

I didn't say bicycles :P

I didn't either.

See, motorcycles can't either. Sure they do for a while, then your bloody carcass splatters all over the freeway, and your bike ain't goin so fast anymore.

wonder how much Joe paid to start this thing, how much he's put into it...and what he got for selling it....in other words....the net..net

need tissue for cry?

cry? why? Is it unlawful to be curious?

Joe stated that he got enough to persue his next project, but to my knowledge he hasn't stated what the project is, or if it'll even be a website.

In any case, let's just wish Joe luck, and hope for the best here on BF. He put Brian in charge as the forum Admin, and I trust Brian. It sounds like Brian will be able to work directly with the network and server guys at Internet Brands.

The beauty of the net is that if you're no longer happy, you can always go somewhere else, or if you have the skills, build something better. There are at least 5 foosters that I can think of which could carry the torch if things go sour here.

Really, though, I'd give the new owners a chance to show us what they can do. I, for one, like the thought of less foo outages and SQL errors. :p

"Really, though, I'd give the new owners a chance to show us what they can do. I, for one, like the thought of less foo outages and SQL errors. :p"

I could go for that too...

Gosh, maybe *this* was the reason for the disturbance-in-the-force feeling, not jsharr's moderatorship. Come to think of it, they add up to something quite terrifying in combination :eek:

If anyone needs me, I'll be running for the hills :D

WHat makes you think things are going to be changing that much, just because BF has a new owner? The people most deal with are not going anywhere.

Ah, I was just kidding. ;) Congrats to Joe! :beer:

Gimme a break. Joe created value, established a good thing, and someone else saw the value of it. The new owner will be very concerned with preserving that. I don't understand why so many people react to change negatively.

I believe the sale to Internet Brands was a good thing. As much as I like BF and appreciate the work of Joe and others, how many times was the search function down? How many times did you have trouble logging in to the site in the past? How many times was the server slow or in need on maintenance? It was enough so that I was frustrated, and I suspect others were, too.

When a venture grows, it needs more more resources - both technical and financial. I think this is a good thing for Bike Forums. If Internet Brands Squanders it's investment, that would indeed be a shame, but I doubt they got where they are by failing. I for one am optimistic about the change and wish Joe the best.

Gimme a break. Joe created value, established a good thing, and someone else saw the value of it. The new owner will be very concerned with preserving that. I don't understand why so many people react to change negatively.


I think the issue on peoples minds is that the only reason business people buy places or websites out is to make money. Joe wasn't making a killing on BF because a forum is a place to exchange ideas, not sell stuff. Hence the donations and the server problems. Since it's unknown how much the deal was for (as it should be I suppose), speculation of motives of the new owners can only go 2 ways that I know of. If Joe let it go cheap so he could move on, that's one thing, and its not a very big deal. If Joe made a mint, there was a reason for it, and it would speak volumes of the new owners intentions.

I'm unlikely to complain regardless, because I already disagree with many forum rules and policys like censoring PG words and having a womans forum but no place for gross guy posts. All I need from bf to be happy is a foo like it is now without adds that I can see. If some financially driven new owners turn a profit in the mean time, who gives a ****?

well said...

I think the issue on peoples minds is that the only reason business people buy places or websites out is to make money. Joe wasn't making a killing on BF because a forum is a place to exchange ideas, not sell stuff. Hence the donations and the server problems. Since it's unknown how much the deal was for (as it should be I suppose), speculation of motives of the new owners can only go 2 ways that I know of. If Joe let it go cheap so he could move on, that's one thing, and its not a very big deal. If Joe made a mint, there was a reason for it, and it would speak volumes of the new owners intentions.

I'm unlikely to complain regardless, because I already disagree with many forum rules and policys like censoring PG words and having a womans forum but no place for gross guy posts. All I need from bf to be happy is a foo like it is now without adds that I can see. If some financially driven new owners turn a profit in the mean time, who gives a ****?

The fact of the matter is that users are almost as good as liquid assets. A company like Internet Brands can bring BikeForums in-house and toss it on a beefy web/database environment with several other forums, portals, or community websites. What does this mean? It means that BikeForums gets world-class hosting, a full-time team of network admins, systems analysts and developers, and in return, a more stable and hopefully faster experience. What additional costs would Internet Brands incur from this kind of thing? Not a whole lot.

So, basically, they paid a one-time expense for 65 kilousers. More users on their services makes them a more desirable company. Sure, advertising revenue that WAS being sunk into hosting is now lining some pockets for a change. Sure, there may be some more ads or a layout change in the future. BUT, who knows? The fact of the matter is that one big company can profit on a web site this size when it's added to a larger portfolio of content, where a small team or one person could not make much money running it.

I was a child of the Detroit auto industry bust of the 1980's and my family suffered horribly for it, so I tend to be pretty cynical about all business matters. When I first heard about this sale, I had some concerns, but I thought about it and what I do know. I know that Joe is a human being with principles. Over the time I have spent as a moderator, I have come to learn that Brian is, too. It is my opinion that Joe would not have sold this site to just anyone, and Brian would not have made the committment to being primary administrator to a site owned by an unscrupulous concern. I work for a nonprofit organization myself primarily because of my wariness of much capitalism beyond local and small scale. I would never devote my hard-earned leisure time to a place that is owned by people that make my stomach turn.

I've seen enough such that I have no problem with keeping an open mind and an optimistic outlook about all of this. The IB folks seem to just want us to keep on being ourselves. Besides, I think it will be great fun to seduce Stir Crazy and JPMcG into putting the fun between their legs. :D This is, of course, where our SoCal members can be of great service. ;)

wonder how much Joe paid to start this thing, how much he's put into it...and what he got for selling it....in other words....the net..net

If you include manhours?...I could guess but that wouldn't be polite. Unless bikeforums is now publicly traded? :)