gcthree

Sydney is the reason I rarely ever post here anymore. You ask a legitimate question, and you get an answer with attitude. I live in NY, and if I want attitude, I simply have to walk outside and get it. I no longer suffer fools gladly....least of all on a forum. Can't all these guys just go start their own forum?

Serpico

you guys are either nosepickers or overly-sensitive

sydney has flamed me before, I just consider it the price of admission (for his mech advice/help), he also cuts through the bull***** and has saved many nubs from getting ganked on eBay (for overpriced, overhyped used bikes)

I usually read the road forum, not this one---the roadies appreciate his help and give respect

ease up, and don't smoke so much carpet

Jesse Smith

You don't have to pay the price of admission. Advice here is free market-oriented. There are many sources- many sources that don't come in an ugly package. Knowlegable posters who berate people remind me of the Jimmy Fallon character "Nick Burns: Your Company Computer Guy" from the SNL skit. They follow the archetype who were probably picked on in their younger years, and once they become proficient in an area, they act like an abusive parent who were themselves abused as a child.

sydney

Too bad Dr. Phil can't collect royalties from all the muppets that play him on the internet...LOL.

Jesse Smith

When I referred to this archetype, I was speaking in a general sense. Don't think I was pointing fingers at you. In fact, I'm new to this forum and until now, I've never read any of your posts, so I wouldn't know if you fit the archetype.
Who's Dr. Phil? Was he the long-haired sax player?

kurtarndorfer

ROFL!

sydney

www.drphil.com

nick burns

It seems to me it's the people who won't take the time to actually crack open a good bike manual, check parktools.com or sheldonbrown.com, or even try google, who take the most offense to a harsh response.

Of course, my view my be a bit biased.

rmfnla

I'd be thrilled if people just tried a thread search before posting, unless maybe we haven't had enough "BB Stuck"-"Creaking Cranks"-Frozen Headset/Seatpost"-"Double to Triple/Triple to Double"-etc. posts yet.

Ed Holland

Amen to the last two posts. There is plenty of sound information out there if one makes even the slightest effort to search for it.

Keywords: Effort

Ed

Sydney_A_Muppet

I dunno, it makes a lot of sense to me to ask for help before wasting loads of time doing time sucking research.

Like when I go to a new city, I like to ask the locals " where's the best place to get a beer and a decent meal ?" Much easier than digging through the phonebook or internet.

How about when you are lost ? isn't it just easier to pull over to the gas station and ask a human for directions ?

How about when it comes time to buy a bike floor pump ? I'd rather ask the old cycling dude which pumps he suggests I consider, SILCA, ZEFAL or one of Shiny Chinese models at the swap meet than read advertising hype and endless bicycle guide reviews.



How about when you install your first wireless router ? wouldn't it be easier to ask somebody who's done it to explain, describe and assist you ? Or would you rather slog through a lengthy PDF file loaded with technical jargon, confusing diagrams about IP addresses, DHCP, MAC addresses and WEP encryption schemes and directions that when followed to the letter still don't get you on the network ?

There is nothing wrong with asking people directly how to do something. We all do it.
If we didn't there really wouldn't be much reason for this forum would there ? We'd all be reading every word on Sheldon Brown's site and fixing everthing perfectly.

Jesse Smith

I could see how it might be a problem is the knowlegable posters find themselves wading through pages and pages of questions waiting for one that's truly worthy of their response. It's mildly annoying at the most. And if they're concerned about the time they wasted clicking on an unworthy question, why waste even more time replying with a sharp tongue? It's obvious that you'll at best succeed in possibly influencing that one particular poster to perform a search before posting. But you know damn well there are fifty new members waiting to take his place. It's a losing battle.

Al1943

WTF? Real men don't ask directions.

Sydney_A_Muppet

Muppets do.
Getting lost is for dummies.

v1nce

If have only been on this Forum for a few short weeks but i can't say that so far i have found sydney's posts particularly enlightening or funny. But i haven't read all of them so maybe i will still change my mind. I just don't think (even if it is kind off funny at times) abuse is a nice thing when someone does it on as regular basis. It is fine to tell people to read manuals elsewhere but i don't know about insulting them.

All i know is that the people i really respect are the ones that are very knowledgable as well as patient, helpfull and humble such as Sheldon Brown. I have no respect for bullies, the answers given by bullies usually strike me as far more stupid and silly then almost any noob question.

georgiaboy

Ok, What about this price disparity:

Peter White Website: MKS Sylvan Touring $ 36.00

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/pedals.asp

Alfred E. Bike Website: Mks Sylvan Touring Pedals $ 18.00

https://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&SKU=PD4010

Ouch! I've just been gouged!

v1nce

That is a rather huge difference. I do think no one bike shop can stay in bizz and be the cheapest at everything but double the price?! Come on!

Plus to get back the debate, the fact that the person in question seems to be able to scare of posters almost completely with his aggro and attitude. Well that pretty much clinches it for me. I don't care if Armstrong himself and his personal mechanic come here and post, if they give people grief and people then don't want to come back i say they should go elsewhere or change their tune. But that's once again just my opinion. It is quite possible that the person who spoke up is just one of many (those others truly never came back anymore or posted anymore) scared off by the attitude described. A pity.