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Is this still the "Downhill" forum?

mtg

Green with Envy
Sep 21, 2009
1,862
1,604
Denver, CO
I think a lot of people need forum interaction in order to build their brand, then once it takes off, sales will continue the trend. I think that's what happened with Steve...you only have so much time in a day- his inventions were pretty successful and his business has therefore succeeded. I suspect that MTG would leave us too, if he weren't a monkey before he became part of the 1%. Put it this way- it's possible that DW left here because he didn't like talking to us. It's also possible that when 40000 companies started licensing his technology, he got a little busy.
Part of the 1%, ha.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
I monitor this forum in wait of the day I can start DHing again. As all my friends became dad's we stopped DHing. I'm trying to stoke the fire for gravity riding in my boys. One day, hopefully, I will re-acquire a DH bike, along with a couple 24"-wheeled bikes, and be able to legitimately post here again. In the mean time, I try and glean what I can from the superior and erudite discussion that takes place here.
 

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
I monitor this forum in wait of the day I can start DHing again. As all my friends became dad's we stopped DHing. I'm trying to stoke the fire for gravity riding in my boys. One day, hopefully, I will re-acquire a DH bike, along with a couple 24"-wheeled bikes, and be able to legitimately post here again. In the mean time, I try and glean what I can from the superior and erudite discussion that takes place here.
Same here, pretty much. 2018 should be our 1st father/son DH trip now that the 10 year old is getting supersized pretty quickly. Already have a bike built up with a lot of outdated tech (AKA, 2010) ready to roll.

While I spend most of my bike time at the BMX track nowadays or local dirt jumps/trails, I appreciate the knowledge and the potty humor that I could only get here.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
5,921
borcester rhymes
I monitor this forum in wait of the day I can start DHing again. As all my friends became dad's we stopped DHing. I'm trying to stoke the fire for gravity riding in my boys. One day, hopefully, I will re-acquire a DH bike, along with a couple 24"-wheeled bikes, and be able to legitimately post here again. In the mean time, I try and glean what I can from the superior and erudite discussion that takes place here.
yo tambien, but i still get out a couple of times a year. too much fun not to. my 4yo is already riding a pedal bike. i'm hoping I can get her up to a mountain soon.
 

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
Don't change a thing, this is the only reason I come here anymore...All the other areas of the site I used to visit are pretty much dead. Even though traffic is down in here, this subforum is still a pretty good community. Most folks know their shit in here...
 

Kevin

Turbo Monkey
I like ridemonkey.

Sub forums can be changed to General
Political
Gravity
XC

I bet not a thing would change and I would still like ridemonkey.

On the moderating part I think RM hits the spot. Though I agree Mods should probably never get personal and let other mods handle specific cases in which it does. Were all just human beings and nobody is perfect.

Other then that. Please let RM be RM.
 

Kanye West

220# bag of hacktastic
Aug 31, 2006
3,740
470
Let's be honest: we're all just here to talk shit. The Internet as a whole wouldn't have a reason to exist otherwise.

Keep it simple and in one place.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
I think a lot of people need forum interaction in order to build their brand, then once it takes off, sales will continue the trend. I think that's what happened with Steve...you only have so much time in a day- his inventions were pretty successful and his business has therefore succeeded. I suspect that MTG would leave us too, if he weren't a monkey before he became part of the 1%. Put it this way- it's possible that DW left here because he didn't like talking to us. It's also possible that when 40000 companies started licensing his technology, he got a little busy.
I don't think Steve stopped posting here only because it's not as useful for marketing. I'm pretty sure he stopped posting before Vorsprung really took off. Not to mention back in the day we also had people from established companies (hell isn't one of Santa Cruz people still active here from time to time?).

Some people would simply want to write if the forum was a better place for discussion. I have no idea how to achieve this since most forums I know are slowly dying anyway but as a film industry profesional I still enjoy talking to people about film and I don't use it only as a marketing platform for myself so I see no reason why people who love bikes would not want to talk about them.
 

Gary

"S" is for "neo-luddite"
Aug 27, 2002
7,536
5,470
UK
Is there really all that much left worth discussing?
The trail tyre thread seems the busiest actual discussion on here and basically everyone's still happy using a tyre designed back in 2001.
 

chris_f

Monkey
Jun 20, 2007
390
409
I made this account more than a decade ago, but haven't been writing anything even though I've been lurking for ages. Leeching, one might say.

Weird-ass forum, this. Hope it doesn't change all that much. I like it.
 

CheetaMike

Monkey
Jul 17, 2016
229
57
Whonnock BC Canada
personally I think all MTB related forum boards are slowly loosing their grasps on contributors . other forms of instant multimedia . not to mention companies posting their on media content daily takes away the need for message boards .
 

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
personally I think all MTB related forum boards are slowly loosing their grasps on contributors . other forms of instant multimedia . not to mention companies posting their on media content daily takes away the need for message boards .
I'd say it amplifies the need for open forums more than ever.

I don't give a shit what maxxis says about their tires or trek about their bikes.
 

CheetaMike

Monkey
Jul 17, 2016
229
57
Whonnock BC Canada
I'd say it amplifies the need for open forums more than ever.

I don't give a shit what maxxis says about their tires or trek about their bikes.
yeah but I bet you give a shit when one of them leaks a in house image of a new tire or bike .

in the past it was a rare image at a secluded testing spot that someone happened to get a snap shot of that helped keep forums active . now companies instantly leak their stuff so the need for a forum or magazine is much more limited , and with consumers moving too that format old school forums suffer .

this forum and the hald dead nsmb are the only two forums I am truely active on . and that being said it can be days before anything really peaks interest , yet with the hand held app based stuff , it,s a constant trickle
 

ChrisRobin

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2002
3,346
190
Vancouver
If there was a change to the name, something with "gravity" would make sense.

I joined when everyone here had DH bikes and all you did was drive out to the nearest ski hill every weekend. Compared to other sites, the level of technical knowledge was unreal here. It still is, which is why people continue to bring their DH, AM and enduro questions here.

Hmmm... I wonder what my buddy Matt (aka zedro) is up to these days.

And can I still get one of those Ridemonkey t-shirts??
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
I agree with Sandwich's "less = more" moderation, and this wasn't a crack at him at all.

My point was merely (in example form):
  • If you don't ride enduro, don't post in the EWS thread about how boring enduro is to watch, how it's lame, etc
  • If you don't ride downhill, be conscious that people (who buy a season lift pass every year - still many of us here) may be looking for a level of traction / performance / etc beyond what you consider adequate for your own personal riding
  • If you don't care about finer technical details of braking, leverage curves, etc, don't make fun of those who do and destroy useful and active threads in the process (many good threads have devolved into 10 pages of arguing for this reason - makes it pretty hard for people/lurkers who are looking for precise answers). This happened in the brake thread recently with some "DH vs. Enduro: which is moar extreme" BS. @kidwoo was 100% right, for the record.
I agree we don't need to segregate things further.
I also wouldn't have posted this thread if there wasn't a problem.

Perhaps if we could all take something away from this discussion, the forum can remain exactly how it is, and be a better place at the same time. I certainly have been guilty of this stuff myself, hardly an innocent party.

@Udi,
do you have useful feedback for how I should moderate differently?
Yes, stop blocking all Jm_'s sweet bomber girl posts, true freeride content shouldn't be restricted in the freeride forum! :D

and stop moaning
Could I get some tips from you on this? :)
 

profro

Turbo Monkey
Feb 25, 2002
5,617
314
Walden Ridge
A lot of riders aren't buying DH bikes anymore (hence we stopped making one), but those folks are still ripping down hills just as they always have been. It's just now mostly on bikes that can also be pedaled to the top efficiently.
This describes me. I have started to ride WR again now that I don't have to run it in my free time and I have thought about getting another DH bike, but as well as my Yeti SB6 descends I'm not sure I can justify it with everything else I have going on.

Call the forum what you want, I think it's the people in the forum that counts. If I need ask a question about brakes, I'm doing it here. The responses in this forum would come closest to answering considering how and what I ride.
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
Accepting views other than your own would be a start.
Pot / Kettle

With that said, I enjoy your posts tremendously, even if I sometimes disagree I still find them hilarious.
It's always nice to hear perspectives from those much (much) older and wiser.
 

Bike078

Monkey
Jan 11, 2018
561
405
It would be sad if you fucktards let this forum die. I'm a below-average rider who likes the downhills more than the ups and a big fan of world cup dh. And because Sam Hill. Being a third-world monkey means I'm still on an old 26" trail bike but I enjoy reading about gravity-related mtb stuff and I think this is the best place for it rather than say, Mike Levy and Mike Kazimer. You crusty bastards make this forum what it is. However, thread derailling is annoying so some self-policing would be appreciated.

Onwards and upwards.
 

slyfink

Turbo Monkey
Sep 16, 2008
9,289
5,028
Ottawa, Canada
It would be sad if you fucktards let this forum die. I'm a below-average rider who likes the downhills more than the ups and a big fan of world cup dh. And because Sam Hill. Being a third-world monkey means I'm still on an old 26" trail bike but I enjoy reading about gravity-related mtb stuff and I think this is the best place for it rather than say, Mike Levy and Mike Kazimer. You crusty bastards make this forum what it is. However, thread derailling is annoying so some self-policing would be appreciated.

Onwards and upwards.
you mean you're a bona-fide shithole monkey?! flinging poo must come naturally then!

:monkey: