Matt

Delayed post, but we snuck out from behind the screens and headed up to Piket-Bo-Berg this past weekend for a taste of what would have been The U 2020. Great to get out on some demanding, fun trails. https://www.instagram.com/p/CFcaNRDFHwt/

Sorry to hear you got caught by this guy. If you haven't already please report this to FNB. Scammers frequently use eWallet and similar "send to mobile" services from other banks. Although the services themselves are useful, it makes life very easy for scammers to get money without the need for a bank account.

Where possible we always prefer to publish as much local availability and pricing info as we can get. In most cases we'll receive press releases well ahead of the launch date which gives time to get all those ducks in a row. Unfortunately there are times where a press release goes up as-is and will be a repeat of what some have seen elsewhere, but there will always be a good chunk of folks who read it for the first time here. On pricing, I have seen local retailers offering pre-orders at around R10,400. It also seems you can order online from GoPro with their bundled subscription offer for $499 (~R8,300) including shipping and taxes. We'll need to confirm that there are no hidden duties etc. (from the details at checkout it appears that includes all taxes and duties).

Yes, it's the international press release. We'll share local details as soon as we have confirmation.

Good stuff! Thanks for the feedback ????

Hi SwissVan, It should be sorted now. There was a styling issue that pushed these buttons off screen in some browsers. Let me know if you still have trouble.

Kakpraatsanie please contact us via help@bikehub.co.za to provide with further details and we'll assist. We've suspended this account given our rules around duplicates and the trolling/offensive postings you decided to make in other topics.

A separate winners article was posted last week, check out all the winners here: https://community.bikehub.co.za/features/_/news/event/versus-virtual-ride-congratulations-to-our-winners-r8159

To be fair to them the link was missing when first published

They're included now and there's also more technical info in the initial launch press release here. We're awaiting confirmation of local availability, but here is the device only pricing: Edge 130 Plus - R 4,399Edge 1030 Plus - R 12,999 More info available on the ZA Garmin site here.

The vision has not changed. From day one as a high school student the aim was to commercialize it. Sure, back in 2004 commercialization meant some pocket money. But since 2010 it’s been my full time job, passion, and my only source of income. And since 2013 we’ve had other full time staff. I’m not quite sure what vision you’re referring but I think you’re confusing yours with mine.

We have got a holographic avatar ribbon in the works. Said to make views posted more balanced.

Unfortunately Payfast only supports some local debit cards: https://www.payfast.co.za/features/payment-methods/debit-cards Are you perhaps with FNB? It's the only major local bank not supported via debit card through Payfast. We are looking at other payment options and will let you know soonest. Sorry to you both for the inconvenience and thank you for trying to sign up!

Did you read the intro article or the Bike Hub Plus page? Asking that sincerely to know whether you've read the details and just don't see the value or haven't actually seen the benefits. A recap: Plus as it stands is in a very early stage and the benefits will improve & expand over time. With that we expect it will appeal to a broader set of users (and give even more value to the early adopters).

The key point is that you don't have to pay. If you don't have an issue with ads and don't see value in other plus benefits you don't need to sign up. A premium subscription is just one piece of a bigger puzzle in terms of a scalable, sustainable revenue model for Bike Hub. It's by no means a silver bullet. I won't go into all the details, but a major part of the strategy is around offering a secure payment mechanism for Classifieds where we do take a small % of a successful sale. This will offer added convenience and safety to transactions for both buyers and sellers. It will also be optional. For us, any paid elements, be it a membership or once-off / success based fee, are all about added-value. We have to provide a solid base product which is freely available. If we fail to do that and push too much behind paywalls we break something that works and open the gates for competitors.

Thanks for reporting this and apologies for the delayed take down. These spammers attempt to sign up daily to post rubbish but 99.9% are stopped at the gate! This one got through and unfortunately had some time to go to town ????

We normally see numbers in the 170-220k range depending on the season. April was slightly up relative to depressed March numbers but still on the low end of that range. In April we saw a 20% growth in forum activity, but had a 50% decline in Classifieds activity. May was a different story though, posting our best numbers traffic wise in roughly 12 months. We suspect in part as a result of people getting out on their bikes more in level 4 and more newbies came looking for advice and options to get out on two wheels.

As I touched on in the lengthy post prior, this was a big topic of conversation and consideration for us. Is it the right time to launch this given the major financial crunch many will be facing. Are we being tone deaf or insulting in even asking? We launched with much apprehension considering the current environment, but chose to push ahead given the key principles of the offering: #1 it's optional #2 we're not restricting or altering the "free" Bike Hub experience In terms of perks... most definitely. These will expand over time and we're keen to learn more about where Hubbers see value. We know that won't be the same for everyone, but we also know there's much room to grow the value proposition.

I can understand the concerns and there is merit in some of what you're saying, however it's important to look at what we've communicated in full context and I'm happy to give transparency. In December we did launch the update and explain some of the shifts. This is the full version of the excerpt you quoted: Community is at the core and even with the increased focus on Classifieds, community underpins everything we do. The Bike Hub community grew within the the forums, but it extends to all areas of the site. There is a community within Classifieds, community in the Forums, and some overlap. Covid 19 impacts It's no surprise that Covid 19 impacted Bike Hub as it has most people and businesses. As you've rightly pointed out, Classifieds activity declined significantly in April. And advertising revenue was hit hard. Thankfully both began recovering in May and we're seeing a continuation of that trend in June. The impact of lockdown was not the driving force behind Bike Hub Plus. It was obviously a factor in the timing and frankly in that regard we felt it's not an ideal time to launch a paid offering or to ask people to part with money. Ultimately we went ahead with the confidence that it is 100% optional and we're not taking features away from those who don't sign up. Advertising You're quite right that there's a risk that advertisers see less benefit in advertising on Bike Hub in a scenario where a significant percentage of our users are blocking ads. Even without Bike Hub Plus blocking ads is a risk to us. Although we've always leaned in favour of user experience over advertising revenue, we are already impacted by freely available ad blocking thanks to the proliferation of intrusive advertising across the web. We work with some fantastic brands in the local bike industry and will continue to do so. We firmly believe that a less cluttered and more refined advertising environment on Bike Hub can offer more value to advertising clients, while still respecting the choices of Plus users. In May 2020 Bike Hub had 238 650 Unique Visitors. If 10% of that number were Bike Hub Plus members (which would be VERY optimistic in our view), even if they all blocked all advertising there remains a compelling case to advertise on Bike Hub based on the audience reach. Sure, even at low percentages perceptions will matter, and it's our job to ensure we communicate effectively with the market around that.

All the details are in the intro article here: https://community.bikehub.co.za/features/_/news/industry-news/introducing-bike-hub-plus-r8134 And if you'd just like to sign up here you can do that here. I know we've been overpromising on this one without any delivery. Short version: Agree it's much needed, we'll see if there is a short term solution on the current forum platform. Long version: The forum platform we're running now is a very old version in dire need on an update. It's necessary to support much needed features like mobile uploads (which should be a default) and to ensure ongoing stability & security. Updating the forums requires us to undo some of the customisations we'd made over the years (e.g. Classifieds, Events, Stolen Bikes). The big one (Classifieds) is complete so we're well on the way to completing this step, but realistically it's still a few months away.

Definitely, we've got some new kit in the works (early phases), but plan to expand that into other merch. We'll start up a separate topic soon to source feedback on what items would be popular, e.g. coffee mugs.

Thanks to everyone for the support. Not only our new Plus subscribers, but every member who continues to be a part of the Bike Hub journey. Thank you. We know the introduction of paid memberships will raise some questions. We know it's not going to appeal to everyone or be possible for everyone, and that's okay. Bike Hub as you know it is not disappearing behind a paywall. But for those who find value in the Plus features or simply want to support what we do, it is an option. Ultimately revenue from memberships will enable us to do more to continue improving the platform into the future. Although some features will remain Plus specific, broader ongoing improvements will benefit all users.

Please could you forward it to me on matt@bikehub.co.za we'll look into it.

Bike Hub Plus is only available for private users, not Dealers. The Classifieds benefits will be more appealing to the regular traders, but are not intended for dealers. In future we may look at separate subscription offerings which cater to dealers, but the focus here is on our users. The primary benefit for you, or any forum focussed user, is the ad-free experience. There are two levels to this... By default Plus members will not see any 3rd party advertising which does make up a significant portion of the ads you'll see on Bike Hub, but we have less control over these and they can very often be pretty spammy if we're honest. You'd still see banner ads from our direct clients, i.e. ads for companies we have a direct relationship with, typically for the local bike industry often promoting new products or not-to-be-missed sale. Less relevant to an expat, but these would be relevant and we hope useful to SA based users. All plus users do have the option within their profile to turn off all advertising which would be 100% banner ad free.

I think you may have misunderstood what Plus is about: 1) There's no change to the standard Bike Hub experience. It's free to use or post ads for private members 2) The 20% discount refers to the optional paid upgrades (Boosts) you can apply to your free ad