I've also been on some forums where there is a group that all races each other to scream "Do a Search!!" every time a new member asks a question. The problem is, very seldom do the actual questions get answered. Anyone who does a Search just finds a bunch of dead-end threads which all end with some other member screaming "Do a Search!!"

Thank you. I have never understood the need to tell a newbie to “do a search” or calling them a troll or to crap on them in general. If someone isn’t going to provide information, why answer at all?

As a long term volunteer at my local co-op there are very few problems that come through the door that are novel. I have explained every aspect of bicycle mechanics thousands of times and, often, have had to explained how to fix the same problem multiple times per day. The person coming into the shop…and the person behind them…often don’t know anything about bicycles and I do. Sharing my knowledge is the reason I volunteer there. There are times when something novel comes through the door and that makes all the repetition worthwhile.

I’ve done the same thing at my work where the people are more learned but they don’t know how to do the procedure that I developed. I’m there to teach them as much as I know about what I am doing so that they can do the procedure or use the instrument like I do. Along the way, I may learn something as well.

I take the same attitude here. Anyone who asks a question about bicycles deserves as courteous and knowledgeable an answer as I can give…even if it’s the same question as you’ll find three threads down.

The biggest problem with BF searches is that with the amount of meandering that goes on in threads an even remotely sane new member will literally run from bicycling and try a unicycle….

​​​​​​….no gears, no lube, no brifters, etc.

John

Just so you know, anyone getting banned here or from a sub forum that they are complaining about for existing, wasn't on him. I have the final call if need be which is rare because they work together so well to maintain a healthy balance here.

The moderation team discusses each and every single reported post that comes in. How to handle a situation is always a group decision.

The thread now has strong competition form the "Are they fooling us?" thread.

It would seem Bob Dylan was prescient. The first sentence of that post seems to be the inspiration for the quote in your sig.

I don’t think it is bad form to tell someone to do a search IF you give them some search terms to use. The problem for many newbs is that they don’t know what to search for.

Another nuance here is the general search function on the main page is a piece of crap that does not work. You have to do an “advanced search,” and a newbie is not going to know that.

Generally, I don't just chime in to make some random noob feel bad. I might be generally snarky and cynical, but I don't need to be mean to people, unless they deserve it. I also don't have the bandwidth to be the nurturing elder to every freshly-hatched cyclist. In my neighborhood, sure; but on the internet, there are others far better suited than I.

I don't consider myself any gatekeeper of "The Way" (quite the opposite, in fact) however, I will call out willful ignorance when I see it; and I do take a little pleasure in skewering curmudgeonry, only because you Boomers are such snowflakes about it

And to be honest, the same can be said for almost all forums' search feature. It is almost always easier for everyone involved to just answer the newbie's question and be done with it. Even if it is for the millionth time.

Oh, I was referring to a Google search. I would not subject anyone to the one on this website.

Is that on your LinkedIn profile?

Hand me that skewer .... ugh, no, not after you stuck it in that far .......

You say that like that’s a problem?

...as a Boomer, I find it somewhat titillating to be snarkily and cynically skewered. I know it sounds perverse, but keep me in mind. It's a turn on when I am made to feel cheap, and I blame parochial schooling for much of this. Other likes: long walks on the beach, dogs, steaming hot cocoa near the open hearth after a long day of skiing, and repainting steel frames (but only because the paint fumes get me high.)

Turn offs: TT funny bikes, beef without horseradish sauce, bagpipes, and hamsters.

Okay this thread has run its course. It's nothing but chit chat now and nothing to do with cycling or the topic.

Thank you for playing.