20 Years of Bike Hub

[DieselnDust]

On 9/27/2024 at 4:49 PM, Dicky DQ said:

Also been hanging around for 18 Years, in the beninging is was a fun place with lots of good scraps, now really just a sales platform with a forum as an aside and plenty of woke moderation for all the pansies. Another sad day was when the comments on the ads were banned. I suppose you need to pander to the masses. Sad but there it is.

Not much the masses but potential litigation must be kept at bay

 

“do you know who I am questions “ have morphed into “do you know who my lawyer is..? “ questions.

[Morph]

On 9/23/2024 at 1:25 PM, Matt said:

In the earlier years Bike Hub / The Hub was really the only place to talk local cycling online. Social media as we know it today barely existed. There were many "insiders" sharing and engaging on the platform. 

I think two major factors changed that:
- Social media: Facebook (2006/7), Twitter (2007/8), WhatsApp (2009), Strava (2009), Instagram (2010)... 
- The infamous minutes and competition commission investigation "cooled" a lot of industry engagement & sentiment

If it weren't for that little "Notice board" buy & sell section on the forum I'd wager the forum alone wouldn't have survived the social media onslaught. The classifieds opportunity was the reason I opted out of a promising career to pursue The Hub full time (firmly nudged in that direction by a number of low-ball acquisition approaches based around formalising classifieds). 

Big H... now that brings back some memories.

[DJR]

Interesting ........ I see I have been around Bike Hub sonce 2010 and posted around 15 000 times ......... methinks I should get a life ......... 

Just kidding ........ thanks and congratulations Matt ......... are we going to have a BIG party for when the baby turns 21 next year? 

[SwissVan]

14 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

Not much the masses but potential litigation must be kept at bay

 

“do you know who I am questions “ have morphed into “do you know who my lawyer is..? “ questions.

Since when did South Africans become like Americans and their lawyer talk?

@matt and @nick one thing that irritates me with the bikehub now is every time I login it takes me to the classifieds home page, I never use the classifieds so it’s a nuisance. Is there a way for me to change it to go directly to the forums home page?

 

Edited September 29 by SwissVan

[Paul Ruinaard]

Been here 16 years. Eventually switched from an alias to my name as i felt if you are willing to have an opinion behind a keyboard you must be willing to back it yourself and not hide behing an alter ego (like most keyboard warriors IMO) You need to own your points of view and that certainly tempered my willingness to fly off the handle. Started as IQof2. 16 years =  Thats a long time in any ones books especially mine.  I arrived here after a lot of us migrated over from a forum in Jhb called Spinman - I think it was a guy called Terry who ran that  - that forum was properly crazy. When I got here i was quickly taught some house rules by the "sheriff" and his posse. I have had my fair share of scraps in here with people on technical topics and many other areas which are completely cycling unrelated. The details fade but the feelings remain. We have counselled people through divorce and crashes. Advocated for discs and tech vs old skool.

The epic threads fade from memory but the ones i still have saved somewhere are the ones about needing to stop for a "bossie" after the carbs skommel up in your stomach after day 2 of a race and you are 6 hours in. What do you use for wiping? I still to this day ride trails looking at furry leaves and grasses and thinking about whether they would be appropriate. The post about the furry leaves not being a good choice and the rash that resembled baboon butt for a week still make me cry with laughter. We had some people here who could write.....

Its changed a lot and become commercialised but I suppose everything has to pay its way.

I have in my mind how some of the people here became like a family to others and helped many people out along the way without knowing them from adam - just an online presence- definitely a sense of community here and some good things that have been done from it. Also sold a ton of goods here and shipped to others - never had a bad transaction and have literally gone on faith many times.

Well done guys - hopefully here for another 20.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 29 by Paul Ruinaard

[DieselnDust]

12 hours ago, SwissVan said:

Since when did South Africans become like Americans and their lawyer talk?

@matt and @nick one thing that irritates me with the bikehub now is every time I login it takes me to the classifieds home page, I never use the classifieds so it’s a nuisance. Is there a way for me to change it to go directly to the forums home page?

 

An unfortunate Side effect of the internet being a global tool , operating on American intellectual property and therefore American laws can be applicable.

[SwissVan]

11 hours ago, DieselnDust said:

An unfortunate Side effect of the internet being a global tool , operating on American intellectual property and therefore American laws can be applicable.

So “ek gee jou n p klap” has been replaced with “talk to my lawyer”

 

[DieselnDust]

27 minutes ago, SwissVan said:

So “ek gee jou n p klap” has been replaced with “talk to my lawyer”

 

Nailed it

[Underachiever]

On 9/24/2024 at 8:52 PM, mecheng89 said:

Same name since day 1. 

Me too, since 2005. 

I was hoping to transform to Overachiever since, but alas, I got old and fat and unfit...

[Shebeen]

On 9/27/2024 at 4:49 PM, Dicky DQ said:

Also been hanging around for 18 Years, in the beninging is was a fun place with lots of good scraps, now really just a sales platform with a forum as an aside and plenty of woke moderation for all the pansies. Another sad day was when the comments on the ads were banned. I suppose you need to pander to the masses. Sad but there it is.

So where does the overlord of pansies find a place with minimal moderation (no tjooning Steve Hofmeyer if you wouldn't say it to his face) for good scraps now? Send us a link or just mansplain it like in the good old days.

 

Seriously though, I am on a sailing forum called "sailing anarchy". It's US based and wild, as the name would suggest. The only two rules are no pedo talk and no outing people (doxxing i think it's called), there is basically zero moderation and you can tell someone to go F himself (or his mom).

There is some incredible content, some very experienced people with world class knowledge, skills and analysis. BUT you need to weed through the noise, there is just so much noise and so much wasted content that gets hijacked by two adults arguing on the internet.

Currently it's awesome because the AC is on, quite a few insiders and those with requisite knowledge that add so much to what you can get from the sport. 

Trust me this place is better.

 

 

[Shebeen]

On 9/29/2024 at 8:38 AM, SwissVan said:

Since when did South Africans become like Americans and their lawyer talk?

@matt and @nick one thing that irritates me with the bikehub now is every time I login it takes me to the classifieds home page, I never use the classifieds so it’s a nuisance. Is there a way for me to change it to go directly to the forums home page?

 

@SwissVan

just bookmark this page and go here directly

https://forum.bikehub.co.za

 

Edited Monday at 12:36 PM by Shebeen

[The Ouzo]

3 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

So where does the overlord of pansies find a place with minimal moderation (no tjooning Steve Hofmeyer if you wouldn't say it to his face) for good scraps now? Send us a link or just mansplain it like in the good old days.

 

Seriously though, I am on a sailing forum called "sailing anarchy". It's US based and wild, as the name would suggest. The only two rules are no pedo talk and no outing people (doxxing i think it's called), there is basically zero moderation and you can tell someone to go F himself (or his mom).

There is some incredible content, some very experienced people with world class knowledge, skills and analysis. BUT you need to weed through the noise, there is just so much noise and so much wasted content that gets hijacked by two adults arguing on the internet.

Currently it's awesome because the AC is on, quite a few insiders and those with requisite knowledge that add so much to what you can get from the sport. 

Trust me this place is better.

 

 

yeah, no moderation CAN work, and its great when it does, but it only takes 1 or 2 individuals to stuff things up so bad the entire forum becomes a ghost town. I've been part of such  forum and its sad to see the state it is in now after basically everyone left.

 

As much as sometimes I'd like a little more freedom here, I understand the other side of the coin. Where does one draw the line.

[Danger Dassie]

People can get quite delicate about ‘moderation’ … realistically it’s for nothing to do with America IP and laws. But more about a healthy and thriving online forum for grownups.

I still remember when there was a dispute over a bike sale that led to someone then Strava stalking a lady and sharing her personal details and Strava rides on the forums, along with a vague description of what should happen to her.  

So yes, some form of moderation is required. If you want arguments, then join your street WhatsApp group.

[SwissVan]

2 hours ago, The Ouzo said:

yeah, no moderation CAN work, and its great when it does, but it only takes 1 or 2 individuals to stuff things up so bad the entire forum becomes a ghost town. I've been part of such  forum and its sad to see the state it is in now after basically everyone left.

 

As much as sometimes I'd like a little more freedom here, I understand the other side of the coin. Where does one draw the line.

I still maintain there could be “open” thread under chit chat where just about anything goes, if the “discussions” boil over from their into the normal threads then the guilty parties are banned for 12 months.

#Nevergoingtohappen

 

[ChrisF]

30 minutes ago, SwissVan said:

I still maintain there could be “open” thread under chit chat where just about anything goes, if the “discussions” boil over from their into the normal threads then the guilty parties are banned for 12 months.

#Nevergoingtohappen

 

 

Seen this tried on various platforms .... always ends an LOTS of work for the moderators .....

 

Such a pity mankind cant play nicely ....

[Frosty]

On two other sports-related forums (one public, the other requiring a monthly contribution), there is no moderation (except for spam bot posts) and everything is hunky dory. Some people get upset, but others are quick to help translate the intended message and the perceived unhappiness is forgotten.