As a recent newbie, I think that the ten post requirement is excellent and should not be changed for reasons mentioned concerning SPAM.
As mentioned, GOOGLE searching on the desired topic yields at least several previous Bikeforums threads on the subject as well as threads and links from other forums and sources. My belief is that if you have anything useful that you can mention that might help someone in a current post, or that might help someone searching for that information in the future (for example: someone GOOGLING, searching old Threads/posts on a specific topic).
My belief is that if you have a suggestion, question, design idea, MacGyver tip, opinion, or/and an interesting story that isn't unrelated, then share it.
Don't get bent out of shape by comments from others who may disagree with your opinion. Folks are not trying to be mean, it is mostly personalities and the colorful ways that they phrase their comments. You have to expect that folks will have differing opinions and that goes for the equipment that they deem worthy of riding.
Life would be much more dull if everybody had the same dislikes and opinions.
I've been someone that has viewed bikeforums for years. Some friends have been here for a long time. They actually encouraged me to register and post because as they say, you know a lot about the bikes folks have totally forgotten about. That is not true, as I know a little bit, and everything else that is related to what I do know about old bicycles is just stuff that everybody who was around back then, knew, but mostly forgot about because things were mechanically simple.
I think that anybody should try to contribute and help someone with a solution or perhaps a useful idea. Often, we do let our own opinions on what is a decent bicycle cloud our judgement when providing responses to certain threads. Certain bicycle riders need only something that meets basic needs. It is the same thing for someone that is just learning tennis, or someone that plays golf but that cannot yet break 85 while playing the ball down and putting out all putts. It doesn't matter in that case if they are using IRONS from the sixties, or seventies, pro-line models or kmart clubs, because they are hacks with poor swing fundamentals and thus no new irons will help them. Someone that is simply going to ride at a leisurely pace, and wants to ride seated upright, can do fine on almost anything including a $125 Wal-Mart Special or something for $45 from the flea market or the church's yard sale. We should provide useful information that helps the poster sort out his/her bicycle problem, even if it is the YUGO / CORVAIR / VEGA of the bicycle world. I do understand that many folks here are employed by or are proprietors of local bike shops, and they have a vested interest in selling the bicycle brands that they carry, and discouraging folks from buying anything new from Tar-Jay, Wallyworld, Amazon, or The Bay. A bicycle is fairly basic in its simplest form. Simple works fine for certain folks. I do think that folks should be helpful and for more than 95% of the contributors on bikeforums, you do find that they provide helpful information and guidance. You'll never get much better than 98% because you'll always have jerks. Bikeforums is actually really good in my opinion in the contributions of folks who do post here. There are much fewer jerks here than you'd likely find on other forums. I don't know why there are the unhelpful jerks from time to time. Perhaps alcohol consumption and/or perhaps the belief that any discussion of a cheapie, junk, walmart, gas-pipe, boat anchor, pos, that has a market value or new cost that is below $300----somehow..... I think some of these snickering jerks think that somehow having any thread space or discussion that is devoted to some basic, low-end bicycle, somehow lessens their nice bicycle.
My suggestion is look at it this way, bicycling is fun and not everyone needs or wants the latest-greatest road bike, or a high end hybrid or top quality mountain bike. There is a place for those Wallyworld and Tar-Jay specials and it isn't the garbage dumpster. Properly set up and adjusted, even the most inexpensive bicycles can function okay for many. I think that we overlook that some folks just want to get out and ride whatever they have. My opinion is that we should try to always provide helpful information to help anyone that seeks to get their bicycle sorted out so they can ride it. We should try to provide helpful information or helpful links or direct the poster/person with a question to youtube or a particular repair manual or whatever can possibly assist them. Telling folks that they currently have useless junk that they should place in the dumpster or curbside for trash pickup is NOT what we should be doing. Yes, there are times that someone may have something with a cracked or bent frame or something so severely rusted that advice such as this is warranted but in most cases, we all should try to provide helpful information if we can. That is what I think. Overall, I think bikeforums is great. I like the debate and varied opinions that differ from my own.
Maybe it is a product of growing up in a large family. You just don't take it personal when somebody argues with you on some subject and calls you an idiot or worse during the heat of the discussion. I guess what I am trying to say is that we all probably should remember that perhaps some folks are not as thick-skinned and may not realize that there is nothing personal in such an exaggerated Joe Friday / Howard Cosell type of blunt/curt response.
Heck, I don't know if you can get it much better than it is because you always have personalities and crowd behavior which sometimes carries it too far. I do think that Newbies have only minimal requirements that are easy to meet. There is no reason to change the 10 post requirement.
Just try to be more civil and helpful with responses no matter with a newbie or an ancient fossil who may start, or contibute to any bike forums thread.