Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
rmurphy195
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Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by rmurphy195 »

At this time of year its lights, but this applies to any question asked about lighting, clothing, and several other subjects.

Why can't someone ask, say, a question about "what light do people use on the front of their bike" or "I've been using these for a whileand find them usefulin my state of health" without the responses being drowned in raging debates about whether you should have such a thing in the first place? The OP is asking a perfectly reasonable question regarding something he/she wants to do, and the original question is simply drowned out by an avalanche of pontification, all of which has been said elsewhere.

Just leave the thread to those who are answering the specific question e.g. "I wear one of these and I find it comfortable"or "I use one of these and the batteries last for ages".

After all its the same old arguments put forward by the same people, and its a distraction for the rest of us.
Brompton, Condor Heritage, creaky joints and thinning white (formerly grey) hair
""You know you're getting old when it's easier to ride a bike than to get on and off it" - quote from observant jogger !
mattsccm
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by mattsccm »

He is correct you know. I guess that certain subject are held dear by individuals who feel that others should be aware of things that they feel important.
The obvious things that come to mind are light, disc brakes and modern technology. I suppose its the nature of people to want to air their views and on a forum its not as quick and easy as face to face.
My pet hate is that post are not in the correct place, especially those about bikes, indeed any kit, which are posted in the "does anyone know" section.
Or even worse, people who take threads off on a tangent like I am doing. :D
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Audax67
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by Audax67 »

It's amusing to watch "thread wander". A asks about X, B says me too and mentions Y, C talks about Y and mentions Z... SIx pages later folk are getting all het up about ½, ¾, ² and ³ and poor bloody A is still waiting for an answer about X that makes sense.
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PH
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by PH »

Well it is a forum which by it's definition is about an exchange of opinion and views. Sometimes the discussion will change the question, that's what happens if real life as much as the internet. If all someone wanted was facts and figures this (Or any other forum) probably isn't the best place for it.
For example lights, who knows the details of more than the few they've had direct experience of? So the discussion goes on to the criteria that has led them to make the decisions they have. And people will disagree or agree with those decisions, which may or may not be useful to the original poster, but that's how it is, a forum not a helpline. I've benefited several times when threads I've started make points I'd not considered in the original question and also of course been frustrated when it's gone off in a totally different direction.
whoof
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by whoof »

There are some on here who cannot see why anyone would want to do anything differently than they do.

Some also like nothing better than to endlessly argue.
fastpedaller
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by fastpedaller »

whoof wrote:There are some on here who cannot see why anyone would want to do anything differently than they do.

Some also like nothing better than to endlessly argue.


Surely you aren't correct in your last statement :wink:
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Mick F
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by Mick F »

How many forumites does it take to change a lightbulb?

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=42708
Mick F. Cornwall
Tangled Metal
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by Tangled Metal »

I don't one but they should have switched to LED by now. Light bulbs are just wrong!
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UAVDave
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by UAVDave »

I have a lot of sympathy for the OP here. I too have simply turned away from a number of threads on here once "the usual suspects" get onto their very tedious hobby horse - whatver it may be.

I moderate a forum in another area - much larger than this, 5,000 unique logins per day, over 40,000 members and in excess of 1 million posts. - on there we have two solutions to this problem:

1. We have "stickys" - threads that always stay near the top - so the "Hyde Park Corner Brigade" can have their say their as a "one off" then simply refer people to it - those people can then choose whether to read or not, but at least we don't get endless reiteration of the same views.

2. The moderation policy is far more pro-active than on here. Off topic posts are deleted or relocted to appropriate areas. A little of that tends to stop a lot of the side-track "favourite cause"rants - because they just become a waste of time posting them as they won't be there in 15 mins!

Dave
Knowledge is being aware that tomatoes are a fruit. Wisdom is not putting them into a fruit salad.
Psamathe
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by Psamathe »

I think the nature and relevance of answering any given question is a very "grey area".

For example "What is the best GPS because a smartphone has inadequate battery life ...". Except some GPS units has battery life similar or worse than that of a/some Smartphone. So somebody pointing out false assumptions (explicit or implied) in the question is answering the question and/or helping the OP. Some will take this as under the complaint the OP is raising here (i.e. "usual suspects on their irrelevant hobby horse again") whilst others would find such comments useful in raising considerations they have overlooked and assumptions they had made in error.

And on an open resource like a forum many spending the time answering a question are answering to a wider audience that the OP. A thread is not a private consultation but helps educate and inform many using the forum. I learn loads from reading threads where the OP might be declaring "I didn't ask that, only answer my question".

And threads then become an information resource through the search facility. I recently suffered peeing blood on return from a ride - worrying but using the search facility on this forum found threads discussing similar conditions from others where the original question was nothing to do with pee nor blood but about saddles. Had contributors stuck rigidly to the asked question then I would not have found info that helped me a lot. Often an answer will raise other aspects and that is one of the great benefits of an open forum like this - it gets to be a really useful information resource, something that would never happen were contributors to stick to the asked question without deviation.

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david7591
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by david7591 »

Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

No one knows the answer to that!
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TrevA
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by TrevA »

Flashing front lights have been described on here as a menace. Annoying perhaps, but hardly a menace. The definition of a menace, is a person or thing likely to cause harm, threat or danger.
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De Sisti
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by De Sisti »

What subjects are forbidden?
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[XAP]Bob
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by [XAP]Bob »

TrevA wrote:Flashing front lights have been described on here as a menace. Annoying perhaps, but hardly a menace. The definition of a menace, is a person or thing likely to cause harm, threat or danger.

Dazzling other road users is a menace to society, maybe not to you personally...

There are a number of traffic lights whose brightness at night has been adjusted after I've pointed out that I can't legally drive past them at more than an absolute crawl, because they kept their daytime brightness at night...
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meic
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Re: Why do certain subjects appear to be forbidden on this forum?

Post by meic »

De Sisti wrote:What subjects are forbidden?


[Deleted], [deleted], [deleted] and [deleted] for a start.
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