I think this sums up best the way I feel about it. I see so many sites undergoing "facelifts" and "improvements" and getting bogged down and losing their character in the process. I would really like to see Bike Forums stay as it is for the forseeable future.

The biggest problem is going to be money, isn't it?

I don't think advertising is the answer: not only is it intrusive and often obnoxious, but it's undependable--look at how many sites fold because they hoped advertising would pay the way, only to have that dream rudely shattered.

I wonder if voluntary donations will do it... I kind of worry about that aspect, the money part. I sure would hate to see this site vanish, even though I'm not a very active cyclist right now. It's fun to exchange posts about tangential or non-cycling stuff, too, and this is BY FAR the most intelligent and entertaining group of people I've found on the Web.

Amen to that. The only other forum I visit is a tractor forum. Mostly honest hard working farmers there. I've never found another forum on the Web that I've spent so much time at and really look forward to visiting as this one.
It's working fine right now Joe, I wouldn't change it too much.:)

Fatal Justice thanks Jon R for his observation and promises that it will never happen again.

Oops! Wrong troll :eek:

Joe,

Having read a good amount of the post here
I do have another suggestion:
A retro/vintage forum.
I would wager that those of us who fall into the
RetroGeezer :D catagory would appreciate it.

Marty (part time retrogeezer)

Joe,

I really like it like it is. I've been on other topic-related forums and this has attracted the best bunch of people of any I've seen. Lot's of viewpoints and lot's of toleration (sp?) of those varying viewpoints.

That said, a simple low-bandwidth design would be nice for when I access via dial-up at home.

Please don't replace the forum discussions with chat. Any info is then lost for those who can't log in for a real-time discussion. Also, I have found that I just can't follow discussions in chat mode (I guess I'm chat challenged).

Add my dangling chad to the "it ain't broke" column. Okay, maybe we need some additional smilies/emoticons. But I can't think of any right now. ;)

But, being a pessimist, here's my concern. As the site grows in popularity, and volume of posts, I'm concerned that the sense of community will suffer. Right now, you can go off topic, butt in to someone elses discussion, etc., and it's all cool, nobody gets too bent out of shape. When a regular poster disappears for a while, people get concerned. I don't know what the magic is, Joe, but this site's got it! So, I hope it doesn't change too much in 2 years!

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I have talked to the host about the speed problems. I'll go ahead and create a wattered down version of the forums as well, currently, you can turn off avatars, signatures, and attachments in your profile. This should help speed up the forums for dial up users.

BTW, the reason i ask? I just purchased the book "Community Building on the web, secret strategies for succesful online communities" The first chapter talks about focus, and what you expect out of your community :)

Great book, i hope it helps me make this great community better.

Nnoooo :) You'll notice I also included myself in the wasting space part.

Being able to follow discussions while cycling might be cool

I have taken some of the feedback from this thread and created a handful of threads in the Suggestions and Feedback forum. Feel free to check thoes out for more details.

Again, thank you!! :)