Just curious--how long has this forum existed? From looking at the "join dates" of other members, I don't recall seeing any that date before 2006, the year I joined. Does the Forum not date back much before that? Or do members just lose interest and wander off after five years? Or what?

Lotek has been around since 2001. I don't think the forum is much older than that.

The original C&V forum was added to the bikeforums site sometime after the site's creation. There's a handfull of the original posters around still-- Lotek, USA Zorro, T-mar, Luker (who I haven't seen in a bit), and myself. Probably one or two I forgot, this is a friendly board and tends to keep many of it's users. Lotek prolly knows the dates better than I, but it's older than 2006, IIRC.

edit: when I joined BF, there was not a classic and vintage board-- it started about six months after I joined (maybe less). Sometime in 2003, then.

Yeah, think some time around 2001 is the correct start date. Quite a bit before my time.

If you click on the headings (e.g., "last post by"), it resorts the column ascending/descending.

So it would appear that THIS was the first ever C&V post (July 2002).

Lotek was there - so too was John E. I don't recognize the others.
It appears though that posting was very very sparse until about 2004

- But I didn't join until April 2009 and missed out on several years of incredible C&V insight and wisdom!

it was at least 2000 becouse of this
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-vintage-bikes

^ That's July 2002 not 2000.

^^ but it does show postie's join date as Sep. 2000.

yea i know but the date postie join is 2000

They joined bikeforums.net in 2000. There are other subforums here.

- but the OP was referring to "this" form.

For Bike Forums in-general, you would at least have to figure out which sub-forum received the first post.

I think that post was prolly moved. If you look down a bit, the postings really start in March 2003-- there's a flurry of them. I think ones earlier than that were probably all moved; there's a few of them, maybe five.

I distinctly remember this board being formed and thinking "hey, a place for me!". It just showed up on BF one day, and I think we have Lotek to thank.

To bolster my memory, here's a very early thread, "Cool, new forum:"
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ol...new-forum

On a related note - I've often wondered about WHY BF's got started in the first place. Was it just some hobbyist/enthusiast setting up a website for diversion - or some commercial enterprise to sell advertising?

The board had no advertising when I joined. I remember when it and the "red star" memberships came in, which made it so you did not have to see ads. There was quite a stupid frou-frou over it.

I think the red star memberships were only 25$, which included not having to see the ads and (supposedly) lifetime posting in the for sale areas. Last time I tried to post in the for sale area, though, BF would not let me, though I don't have any problems with the C&V for sale subforum. I keep meaning to ask about that. I'm just too lazy.

BikeForums.net got big in a hurry back when the news broke about a specific type/brand of bicycle lock being opened with the end of a Bic ballpoint pen. And yes, Lotek probably had something to do with getting C&V added, one in a long list of things we can blame, I mean credit, to him.

I'll see what I can find out.

It was set up by Joe Gardner, a cycling enthusiast who ran it for quite a while till he finally sold to Internet Brands a couple years ago.

When I first joined Bikeforums in July 2005, I quickly migrated to C and V. The folks I remember being the most active during that time period were luker, TheOtherGuy (or ThatOtherGuy?), Number 6, USAZorro, Dirtdrop (now GrandBois), Cuda2k, JohnE, lotek (and I'm sure others I'm forgetting). Scooper, I believe, joined not long afterwards, and provided more info on old Schwinns than I would have ever imagined (my main focus on the forum was old Schwinns at the time). Cuda2k, PastorBob, Duane041, BobHufford, Sierra; we and many others discussed the heck out of Schwinns, great times. I've probably done more posting on the mechanics forum all in all, but I can't get classic old bikes out of my blood, I still love C and V. Oh, and Cuda888 came along sometime soon after I joined I think, and he's contributed a huge amount on a lot of subjects of course. Yep, this is a great forum.

Great forum, my arse. Think of all the bikes I could have built while I was goofing off here.

i lurked and just read for a few years before i joined.

that is all.

It's been interesting to watch who comes on with a flurry, posts daily for months, and then just disappears. EjustE comes to mind. He Joined September 22, 2009, made 3673 posts in 11 months exactly, his last post was on August 22, 2009. (see https://www.bikeforums.net/memberlist.php)

EastHill was another great contributor. She left for good reasons, which she confided in me. She and I used to post in the 50+ but both quit at the same time because it got so snarly, and not in a SnarkyPup sort of way.

I've only been a part of it for about 5.5 years at this time. Time does fly.

I think I joined the day after you posted that ancient lady's bike, PB. It was the saved from the dump thread that really pulled me in.

Wow, over 6000 pages of users, that's almost 20000 users.

I show ejuste as having posted as late as 7.29.2010, but your point is taken.

Agreed. I miss her forum participation.

Every time I pop in here, I see some familiar names, and some not so familiar... I think it adds to the value of the forum to get some variety, with a touch of consistency.

Now, if I could just get motivated enough to complete one of my projects...

I think the ones who stick around are those asking for repair help.
- Most who are just looking for an appraisal don't stick around, but some do - especially if their question is more along the lines of "what did I just buy?", instead of "how much can I get?".

I came here as a bumbling newbie wondering what the hell I'd gotten myself into with a 3-sizes too big, 1020 steel Schwinn Traveler. If I recall correctly I was promptly told to use it as a boat anchor by one member (RIP sydney), USAZorro was a great help, as were many others. Then Lotek comes around and starts tempting me with reasonably priced dutch Reynolds 531 steel. In between there I repainted an only slightly too large for me Centurion, all in the course of like 5 months.

// lets see if we can turn this thread into a "blame everything on Marty" thread while he's not looking.