Okay-I appreciate numbers and statistics. For some reason I was looking at the various posts and noticed that there are only about 5-10% replies for each post that is "viewed". I'm curious as to why that is. Don't you want to know as well? Please answer the response that best fits most of your situations.

"After reading a post this is what I normally do."

Thanks for participating!!

I generally reply, even if I don't have a clue what I'm saying.

I generally log in late at night and I don't reply because typing wakes the family.

I only have time to read-not reply.

I cannot type.

I do not know how to reply.

I enjoy "watching more than participating".

I usually reply when I have something to add.

I'm very new and just coming up the learning curve and don't have much to add.

Oh well, as you can see I have not mastered the poll stuff. I guess I'll just have to do the same thing I do when I can't master a bike repair......take it down to my LBS.

Uh - you're not getting very many replies either.

Most of the views are by "guests" - folks who are visiting the site/forum and are not even able to reply.

If you will look at the bottom of the forum listing of threads, there is a place where it lists those on line and the "guests." Generally, there is a ratio of about 1 signed in member to 3 guests.

I don't respond, simply because I think I respond too much as it is, and often the topic has been completely covered, and I have nothing to say, or it is about a topic of which I have no knowledge.

When I do respond, and I see my thoughts in print, I frequently edit the post - sometimes several times, as I tend at times to be hasty and a bit harsh in my statements, and I try to calm myself and my writing down a bit. Or I have made a silly typo. Sometimes I delete the post completely.

And sometimes, after participating about 4.5 years, and I have seen the same question about 25 times, I just yawn! :D

So Dnvr, just out of curiousity, what are the three most popular questions you've seen over the past 4.5 years? (Not the answers, just the questions.)

And -- are you going to help jppe learn how to make a poll? :D

I have to think too long to come up with an intellegent answer. So I usually just read.

#1 - I'm a beginning biker. What kind of bicycle should I get? And variations.

#2 - I have just ridden 5 miles on my new bicycle and am exhausted. How can I train for a (whatever) - century, you name it? And can I do it in (some period of time).

#3 - My seat hurts. Shouldn't I get one of those big broad gel seats to be more comfortable?

#4 - Just out of curiousity, what are the three most popular questions you've seen over the past 4.5 years? :D

And sure, I will help jppe on a real poll, although it seems you have become quite an expert yourself.

I look at things I find interesting. If I can contribute something new or wish to support some point of view then I post. If I see harsh words being used I go elsewhere. If I start a new thread it is usually when I need to learn something I can not find by searching.

I have a question that's been asked before, but I'm too lazy to search for it.

HOW DO I PLACE A PHOTO HERE IN THE TEXT PORTION OF MY POST. IN OTHER WORDS, HOW DID GARY GET HIS "ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT BEARD" PHOTO IMBEDDED IN HIS TEXT?

Thanks.

Piece of cake. First post the photo somewhere else on the net (like pbase.com, or whatever). Then, go to that photo and copy the URL. Then, come here, open a post or respond to one, and click on the box on top that is supposed to look like a mountain (I think). It will ask for the url. Past that in, and here's the important part! add a .jpg after the pasted URL. Without the .jpg nothing will happen.

See? Easy.

If you (all) answer my posts in german I'll try harder and more often to answer your posts (including a web search and sometimes funny google translation concerning all of your slang items)
marmotte

I will try to answer as many post that I feel I can contribute to- but when it comes to "which colour should I get in Look pedals" or something elase that applies solely to road bikes- I do not reply. Just out of interest- what is the best colour pedals to get?

Entschuldigung, aber, Ich haben wenig Deutsch.

Sometimes I reply when I think I can add something positive to the dialogue, but sometimes I say something stupid, because, well, that's what I do best.

Don't apologize, jcm...

Sometimes the language thing is quite funny:
when I was young (some years ago now :p ) I had a french girlfriend during summer hollidays. She couldn't speak german or english, I couldn't speak french. So we decided to speak latin (we both had it in school). You can imagine our conversation?

Great poll jppe!!
I read many more threads than I post on. If I feel I have something to contribute I will add to the thread. As for beginning threads I will do so if have something amusing or that I found interesting and want to pass onto others. I also sometimes post about rides because I find reading others riding reports to be of interest.

I reply only if I think I have something to say (others may disagree about that...). My replies are of varying value (some things I have good knowledge of, others I merely have opinions on). Either way, my replies (or original posts) often provoke violent responses. Denver still hasn't forgiven me for disparaging the shifting of triple chainrings! (I still contend that they shift worse than doubles, but I concede that if you ride steep terrain they are a perfectly justified necessity.) Since I provoke such rancor, I've added "Senior Curmudgeon" to my BikeFourms user name. Páce.

After an initial flush of giving my opinion on every topic, I've pulled back and try to reply only when I have something to contribute. If a post about derailleur adjustment already has 20 responses, there's not much chance I can add anything useful. When I see a post no one's addressed, or I know a better way of doing something, or I have a strong opinion, then I'll post. But nobody needs to read "Turn in the low-gear limit screw" 14 times.

Truth is, I'm mainly looking just to expand the personal database and [God knows] rare's the time I have something generally useful to add.

Here's a spin on the theme: How many posts do you totally ignore because the title is a yawner. . .or another "Glorious Ride Today". . .or "Do You Recite Poetry While Riding" post.

Regarding poetry, it's a big YES for me, but all the lines rhyme with "Nantucket".

I think that I echo the majority of the group here--I don't feel the need to post in areas that I either have no experience in, or have nothing beneficial to share, or don't have a strong opinion about. But I certainly do enjoy learning from the rest of the group. What's the adage: something about keeping your mouth shut and your ears open?

Then sometimes I want to reply--but just can't find the words. Gary's becoming one with his bicycle photo, for example. I just can't quite...grasp...the... words...;-)

John in Oregon

Big Paulie.....what you're saying is that I'm too bo-hunk to figure it out. Trouble is, you're probably right. :o

'Course, I do know how to de-bloat a cow. [Believe me, you don't want to know-- although the technique could be used on a few members over in RoadCycling :rolleyes:

Easy for you! You may be a rookie when it comes to gearing but not in this area. Thanks for this advice - I have searched in vain for a clear answer. Now you may have created a monster - I'll have pix for every reply! Wanna see my new home-made tool?!?!?

Um, I'm not quite sure how to answer that!!! Big Paulie, you got any thoughts here?? :D