And if it's grease, what kind? Homebrew? Wet? Dry? Steel cut?

Keep in mind that nobody here is paid for posting (I don't think). We all have a different knowledge base. Most wouldn't truly be "experts", but the pool as a whole can become more "expert" than many single individuals.

If a person wants an "expert answer", then they can go to their local bike shop and pay someone $100 an hour to give that answer (keeping in mind that the person is actually only getting paid $10 an hour). And, in some senses a collective community may be better/smarter than many paid technicians.

Ask a question like "What's the best pedal". At a store, they may show you their stock. On the internet, you'll get 100 different opinions. Suggestions that you've never considered. And, perhaps equal reasons to go with cleats, flats, or clips. The individual must then sort out the answer. Yet, at the store, you can try them on. On then internet, you can ogle photos and listen to anecdotes. Very different.

Ask "what's the best tire", and one has to keep in mind that few respondents have the resources to put 5000 miles onto multiple tires within a dozen different brands to actually determine "the best". And those that have done that probably refer to tires that were discontinued 30 years ago :eek: We've all had something work, or go bad, but haven't conducted randomized controlled trials.

I will say that I hope the first half dozen posts in a topic generally stay on topic. Once people think the OP's question has answered, why not ramble a bit. Perhaps that is part of the "entertainment" aspect of this website. How did we actually jump from pre-owned Bike Fridays to Ford Model T cars to classic Raleighs? Oops, that might have been in part my fault, :p but that is part of the life of a thread on the internet, both entertaining, and informative.

I love this place!

You guys are in luck. I have forgotten more about bikes than anybody else on this forum will ever know, and if you ask me about something I will say I forgot it. What were we talking about, now?:p

Disgusted

I think it is interesting that this OP started at 8:30 this morning has already elicited 54 responses in about 10 and a half hours (on Super Bowl Sunday, no less). Don’t we cyclists have anything better to do?

Actually with the other posters I was interested in enough to reply because much of the discussion has been so introspective. Back in December I replied to this post “How do you use this site?.”

And on a different thread,

It was started at midnight last night ... 12:29 to be exact. OP probably hasn't been back because he went to bed.


And ... it's quite obviously winter in the northern hemisphere. :lol:

i got my riding in this morning as the sun came up, dropped off some things for my daughter who is in college about an hour away, then spent some time cleaning up the garage. I'm kicking back the rest of the evening with the iPad while hoping Denver can beat Carolina.

As for the recently departed, too bad they feel as they do but I much prefer the atmosphere that exists on BF than something overly and usually biased, moderation.

What's worse than a discussion that may be rough around the edges? Answer: Trying to censor a discussion or establish requirements for how one must answer (other than basic rules of courtesy which each site establishes).
If a discussion doesn't arrive at a unanimous conclusion (and why should it?) readers can takes information offered and choose whether to apply it to their situation.
There are no Bike Gods with the One Right Answer, there are people here with varying levels of experience.

Such is the nature of the internet. It's full of true and false information, opinions, entertainment, jockeying and gamesmanship.
The flipside is that the right to free-speech is too often abused and moderators are often accused of bias and censorship. That's one trick of the trolls.
To ensure they get their comments posted, trolls accuse the moderator of censorship and bias.


In BikeForums, I recognize a name I would not respond directly. I know the game too well. At most I indirectly address the troll's issue but only if I feel if there's still anymore worth contributing.

Oh man thats a good one...:)

:lol:

Eh, it aint that bad compared to 4chan.

+1.

Wait a minute... you've been here twice as long as indy and have more than twice the amount of posts! :lol: :thumb: Well done!

4chan, 7chan and their ilk are much more relaxing and amusing than most forums, if not as informative or useful for community building and friendly conversation.

The advantage to anonymous forums is there's no reason to be offended by anything. Anons should have no emotional, ethical or moral investment in any thread. There's no reason to take offense at any insult because nobody has any idea who the other posters are, unless they choose to use trips. They're like Fight Club. Trouble occurs only when, as with boxers, some idiots forget to confine their sparring to Fight Club and drag their undisciplined attitudes into public.

The tricky bit with forums that permit pseudonyms, aliases and semi-anonymous posting is that there's never any consensus on how such forums should be moderated. Most participants get it, but it takes only a handful of dunces to spoil the broth.

Overall, BF is moderated about as well as any, and better than many. It beats a hobbyist niche site I used to moderate, which lacked a consistent, coherent policy on moderation, use of aliases vs. real names, or any way to block or ignore idiots. It gets even trickier when you realize each sub-forum within a niche or hobbyist discussion site has its own unique personality, and each sub-forum must be moderated as a unique entity, rather than trying to impose excessive uniformity on every sub.

Read this.
Meatball Wiki: RightToLeave

It applies to 99% of online communities. Including this one.

I got refracted once

No, it's another term for 'spanking the monkey'

All of them. In any event, my point was to suggest to the person who I quoted that the OP hasn't been reading the responses.

I totally agree. ...no, wait...

Meh.. this is really the wrong thing to get bent about. If you ask 10 people a question about lube, you'll get 14 different answers. But, whatevs... don't read through the B.S. and find the gems. I only posted because I'm offended that this is a topic. U wanna go? Bye.

I have to say in a world where advertising and marketing reigns supreme, forums are a breath of fresh air.
Sure you have to sift through things that some idiots say to get the accurate info, but you have to do that with any source of info these days.
Take magazines for example. I can't take them seriously anymore. They will say good things about any company that is willing to write a check for the most part.

On a forum you get real feedback from real people. Sometimes it's garbage, but more often than not you meet some people who you can identify as a person who knows what they are talking about, or even find lots of people agreeing on one thing and you can kind of use that as a guide to find the most accurate info.

Yeah, just wondering why all the hype for a singer who sings the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. Why all the cheer? Is it the singer's performance that's the big deal? Or is it what the National Anthem represents?

Personally I've found this board quite helpful. I have an extended "bike gap" I quit riding bikes when I got my first car and have only recently returned to the fold so I sometimes feel like I'm in a strange land when I read about all of the newly developed technology in biking. Half the time I don't know what is even being talked about till I stick with the thread long enough to get it.
Every board, like every bar, has some people looking for a fight and it is best to avoid both but most posters on this board are at least trying to be helpful. Differences of opinion are what make horse (and bike) races.

Oh no! A difference of opinion on a forum full of many random people?! Who'd have thunk it?

What?! Not everyone here has the personality and tact of Mary Poppins? Why, you'd never see THAT in the real world!

Quick! Quick! Serenity now!!!!!!