merlinextraligh

Is it my imagination, or is Bike Forums a lot less active than it used to be.

Haven't bothered to look at stats but it seems like there are fewer posts, and fewer active posters.

My assumption is that they way people get information is migrating from message boards to youtube, and social media.

This place used to be a lot more fun. Oh well I guess you can only argue Shimano v Campy, Mechanical v Electric, disc brakes on road bikes, etc. for so long.

Where's r600DuraAce when you need him?

RPK79

Well it is summer. A lot of cyclists spend their free time riding instead of posting about riding.

10 Wheels

You lonesome?

merlinextraligh

it usually picks up in the summer because people are riding more and thinking about riding, and equipment, and issues.

It would appear most BF posts are done while f'ng off at the office, not out of time otherwise spent riding

obed7

I have not noticed too much slacking off...and the spammers are not for sure....like grapes, posts come in bunches.

redfooj

back in the days message boards were the best sources of information. the ones with an early start held all the advantages.


nowadays all the information is on youtube. and people can interact on facebook groups that they already check on daily basis.

RPK79

Maybe people finally figured out the search option. You really want more inane posts about what to pack in your seat bag?

Dan333SP

I think this is a big reason. Almost all message boards that I frequent seem to have had similar declines over time. I personally prefer forums for questions/information than social media, but a lot of other people do not.

To make an obtuse comparison, I still carry a small camera on rides (a model that the OP actually recommended to me in a previous thread, Canon S110). Almost everyone else I know still takes photos, but they use their cell phones and think I'm crazy for having a "real" camera still. Same sort of migration.

topslop1

I come here to get away from poopbook.

shafter

The bike fitting subforum is definitely dead. The 50+ is dying...

topflightpro

Hahahahahahahaha!

RPK79

Really though there are 13 threads in this sub-forum that have been updated in the last hour. There are 32 threads that have been updated today. I would call this an active forum.

merlinextraligh

No I want more chicks in bikinis riding cervelos

RPK79

Use the "search function".

Let me google that for you

bikecrate

That just doesn't sound right.

Bah Humbug

People are running away from the terrible new software version.

floridamtb

Don't forget about whether to wave or not

dksix

@merlinextraligh

I actually thought about you yesterday while riding, that I hadn't seen any post from you lately. Glad to see you're still around.

wheelreason

Let me see, you get a bike that's better than you'll ever be, you push down on the right pedal, you push down on the left pedal and repeat. Everything else is just din. Its not cycling specific, happens with every bored...

thin_concrete

Now we're talking. Good work.

BillyD

There are certainly multiple reasons activity has declined over the years. One that hasn't been mentioned yet is the influence of Mr. Armstrong. If you recall, the popularity of this site grew in direct proportion to Lance winning tours. The longer his winning streak the more Americans were attracted to cycling and the more posters joined BF. Bike Forums was the place to be if you were into cycling, the place to be seen and heard.

And when Lance bit the dust, so too did the forum activity begin to decline. We die-hard cyclists, the ones still here and the ones who were hear before Lance, tend to think everybody thinks like us, but it's simply not so. Lance was incredibly influential in drawing a new generation of enthusiasts to cycling. Everybody wanted to be like Lance, the American cycling hero. And when his popularity departed, so did many of them. Without their hero their interest waned, because after all, this activity really isn't for everybody. Sure many stayed in the game, and many of those groupies stayed here, but it's nowhere near what it used to be.

topslop1

Resisting clicking on this at work. Thanks guys!

BillyD

This is the thing I can't figure out. This place was so exciting and so much fun back in '05, '06 and even '07. People came here to have fun, not to engage in arguments and not to prove they know more about cycling than everybody else.

WTF is wrong with so many people's self-esteem that they have to flock to the internet and seek to prove they're smarter than the next guy?

WTF happened to people's lively, jovial attitude is what I don't get? It changed like night and day.

mcours2006

I've only been on this forum a few years, so this feels quite normal to me. I was on a running forum (still am, but less frequently) that used to be quite active. Then there was serious of spam attacks followed by a software 'upgrade'. After that the place wasn't the same. Probably more than half the members left in a matter of months. I hope that fate doesn't befall this site.

Jarrett2

I've only been here 3 years and it does seem to be declining even in that time.

I wondered if people were going to other forums or just the interest in discussing cycling is decreasing.

Also, as I become more knowledgeable, I've noticed less threads interest me. Not to mention once I starting riding steel bikes, the marketing engine ceased to interest me for the latest CF design and hence the discussion of them.

Basically, I'm not sure if its the forum or me, or a combination.