At first I thought I would string this out with one "Giant California" and we are all "Dudes". But I think the real point is we are all individuals on line or off line. We do better communicating with people that lean in our direction. We tend to give people of like mind more of a break than people that are too different. And it also depends on how anchored we are to one subject. There are also hot points that people should know about. Helmets, saddles, clipless or not, frame material all are dead end subjects. Because face to face is instantaneous those debates don't last long and hardly ever pop up in a group setting. But on line it can take days before all interested parties get in their opinion on a first pass basis.

The things I don't like or care for related to cycling in these forums are the same things I don't care for in the real world. Once a debate between two of us takes place on those issues we have no need to address the issue again. Plus I have found in real life there is less of a debate on such issues are recumbents, Steel, Aluminum, Ti or CF or components. In a forum on line we feel like someone has asked our opinion and once expressed we tend to feel we have to defend it. No we don't have to defend it but why else would we be posting in a bike forum? Passion for cycling is my guess.