Topics come, and topics go...
 

Just sitting here wondering...

I've been an on-again, off-again participant in the 50+ forum since about 2005, if memory serves (which it often doesn't!).

I've seen many topics come and go, and get hotly debated, or occasionally ignored, as people come and go. Some topics are perennial - what bike should I buy? Should I go clipless? Dealing with a health/injury concern (especially in 50+), ride reports, requests for saddle recommendations, etc.

So, without resorting to some sort of statistics, do you think are the most frequently posted topics in this forum?

Does it bug you that what goes around comes back around?

Do you have any pet peeves about a given topic coming around again, finding yourself saying, "Oh, not again!"?

To me, it's pretty much all good, except when the dialogue devolves into personal attacks (pretty rare here) or "I'm the expert here on this, and you're all fools for believing anything other than what I say," (which is also pretty rare).

I find that I often learn something new from an oft-repeated subject.

N+1 related

Aging

Training

Misc cycling equipment

Rides & trips

Where has Digital Glee gone

Dogs

Triple vs. double cranks

Bicycling magazine

Pie

Various aches and pains, mainly pain in the neck.
Foot, leg, knee, hip soreness, breakage, or replacement.
Commuting complaints and agitation.
Yes, I often say "oh no, not again"

There are always repeat postings from newbies who compliment this forum for being nice and mostly civil. I agree.

Topics popping up again & again don't bother me. I skim over the topics and make it very easy for myself by not clicking on something that I have no interest in. Personally, I am partial to pie & zombies ;) not so much crank sets and bar tape.

Lycra, helmets, clipless, blinking lights, cyclometers, gps, cell phones, "I almost got run over!", "I got hit", "Another biker killed", followed by..."how do I carry my gun?", N+1, pie, beer, carbon, and most recently.......mountain bike invasion :).
RAGBRAI, century, metric century, metric system, "Is a fitting really necessary", "what size bike do I need", "how do you clean your chain", saddles...followed closely by another Brooks saddle thread....

REPEAT.

Several topics keep appearing and The peeve I have got is that The poster is told to do a "Forum Search":notamused:

Clipless or not- Why does my Butt hurt-Knee problems are just a few but the poster is probably new to cycling and has a question that he/she would like an answer to. For him to be told to do a forum search is going to turn them right off 50+ and possibly cycling.

Searching is no big deal(to me). Threads are what keep discussion boards going. I know one discussion board where the "Search Police" hounded people until the board just died. No one wanted to post anything for fear of being attacked. It doesn't happen here and thank God! Discussion is what keeps these things going. If everyone did a search and found the answer without posting, there would be no discussion.

+1

Ongoing discussions give newer members a chance to chime in on the subject. I think people forget that if a thread was posted a year ago, there are hundreds of new members who haven't seen it yet.

I'm not here all that much. If a topic is common or repeated, I might not even know. The quality of people here is quite good. You can get interesting posts in just about any topic.

And most times if you DO search, you don't turn up what you want anyway. AND many times the thing you are discussing is changing so fast, the answer is out of date, relevance-wise any way. I know that to be true with cell phone discussion boards and even biking is changing pretty quickly too. It also gives new members a chance to "fit in".

Mine get locked more often than not!

Republican Zombies that walk on water for example!

That is a good list of the most popular topics.

Leg shaving will come up 3-4 times a year.

I'm searching more now than I did when I began here. I do know how many must eye-roll when certain subjects come up and are constantly repeated and answered. I certainly appreciate how patient, helpful, and informative people are here. I just want to say thank you from a newb(though I did have a road bike in my 20s.).

Don't forget average speed and how many mph is a road bike worth!

is there an FAQ with all the answers to these topics?

Crazy! He's gone crazy!!

I was thinking of bringing up zombies but was afraid to do so. It pleases me no end to see the surge of enthusiasm for waking up and realizing that poor old Aunt Maudie, God rest her soul, is going to be staggering down the street ANY DAY NOW trying to get some brain sandwich.

Lest we be thought to be prematurely weird, my son tells me that on college campuses the nation over, planning for the Zombie Apocalypse is quite a hobby. Over on the General Cycling forum there was a "what is the best bike for the zombie apocalypse" that went on for months. I think the best answer was a tandem recumbent, with the stoker firing up the trusty 30 cal whilst the captain negotiated the ruin and body littered streets.

When I get lonely and scared I think about the Zombie Apocalypse and it eases me right down.

All this talk of zombies reminds me of the days of the Diegos, and what happened to them.

Oh how I long for those days.:cry:





:innocent:

I don't post on any thread involving Brooks saddles, the merits of steel frames, the best width of tire,........Any more.

I figured they'd show up here sooner or later.

Repeating topics doesn't bother me because, if I don't think that a topic is going to interest me, I just skip over it. How hard is that? Although I was a regular poster at the time, I missed the whole Diego thing because I simply skipped over all of the posts.

After midnight one of the local TV channels played movies that were originally the second feature at the drive in theatre. The movie I remember most is "Biker Chicks in Zombie Land" The character development, cinematography, script, casting and directing were each worthy of an Oscar. Unfortunate they were Harley Chicks. They did have steel frames, mind you.

The fact that it was shot entirely in 4 days with one camera on a desert town in the US set, all for under $10,000 only added to the movies mystique and charm. The intense drama was captivating.

My only question is, "Why don't we discuss chain lube here?"