Right. A person can use forums as sort of a guide for advice, but (to me) it isn't on the same level as talking to somebody knowledgeable face to face ... unless maybe you have corresponded with a forum member often enough that you have a good feel for that person. (Not sure if I worded that right ... no offense intended to anybody).

Babble mode on:
This brings to mind the time my buddies and I pedaled cross-country so many years ago. At that time, the bicycle shop that set us up insisted that we wear toe clips to go cross-country. (FWIW, I don't think we had clipless pedals back in those days). After reading some of the posts here, I'm not so sure it was necessary. They also insisted that we all carry cloth (maybe satin?) sheets to somehow use as part of our bedding (which we never used even once) and also that we don't use kick-stands of any sort due to the extra weight. Being young kids with absolutely no bicycling experience, we took most things they said as gospel, which for the most part was the right thing to do. I know we weren't exactly thrilled having to wear the tight-fitting woolen biking shorts with the chamois either. I'm not exactly sure how much they helped, but they sure didn't hurt.