I agree... I'm fairly new to this forum and I've learned that people here are extremely willing to help out. What I also learned (the hard way, I might add) is that people here are not as willing to hold your hand and baby step you through the bike buying process. Just this morning I saw yet ANOTHER thread comparing one $200 bike to another. The answer is, they will both get you from A to B, but the number of times is really luck of the draw. You may never have a failure on a $200 bike, but chances are, you will. And chances are, it will be catastrophic.
It only takes a few minutes to do a little bit of research on your own, yet this escapes most people. A quick Google search outside of this forum regarding anything bike-related almost always, at some point, directs you back here to find the answer you need. It's annoying that people just aren't willing to even try. I'm not being a dick. I did the same thing and learned. I'm a member of camera and fountain pen forums as well and many times I've had to direct people to existing content and it sucks to do it over and over and over again.
Also, "This or That" threads and "What do you think about [INSERT SUBJECT HERE]" threads are just festering pools of opinions. No one bike is perfect. No one bike works for everyone. You'll almost never get an overwhelming majority of people that choose one bike or component over another. You have to take a little initiative and sort through the information given and make a reasonable decision based on the information you have accrued. Sometimes it takes a little work. I mean, thank God Louis Pasteur didn't just give up on vaccinations when he didn't get an answer handed to him, or we would all be over on the wheelchair forum trying to figure out how best to get around with polio.
Does any of this make this forum a joke? No. And it's insulting for you to say so. You jump in a thread that isn't yours, bring no valuable information and insult the entire community in less than 10 words. You don't like it here? Stay the hell out. I'm with Dave Cutter and many others on this one.
Here... You guys can have your soapbox back now. I'm done with it.
