old familiar forum guys and return of spaz

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    • #199709

      Just wondering if any of the regulars from before are still around here. Names like goldengoose, cjm, Craig Creek rider, or some others you might think of. I use to be on this site years ago when I rode. Since then I’ve moved around, different jobs, got married, you know….life. It all kinda put biking in the background for me. So now I’m making a go at getting back into it and sticking with it. Getting a new bike this weekend (new to me, buying used), doing laps around my property trail to get in shape and eating right, rounding up a couple old buddies that I rode with before (we’re all a mess trying to ride the trails we use to). Feel free to post some suggestions or comments about all that. Just poking around for some old familiar forum guys mostly.

    • #199714

      It’s sad to say but the forum lost all of it’s momentum and userbase during a phase in which the old forum software began having some issues and eventually was retired for this system. I see 2 or 3 of the old regulars from time to time but it’s a rarity now.

    • #199723

      Gotcha, but that’s to bad. I was looking through the old posts and topics in my profile and it got me wondering.

    • #199733

      We had a few diehards that were rallying for fixing of the forum system but it actually got worse when the current forum system was implemented and they bailed for the most part. I think maybe the “One category fits all” type of thing and lack of features took away the feel of a community forum and made it more of a comments section, if that makes sense.

      I live in eternal hope that they will return, however 🙂

    • #199735

      I could see why that would be. It is very different from what it use to be.

      There use to be quite the discussions and even debates on topics. Made for some good stuff and a good show. I would kick back and wait for the replies from certain ones to start flowing and would get such a laugh sometimes. It got to be almost a given that if a topic was started on “what type of bike for beginner” there were two or three guys that were determined to make sure the beginner would agree with them, even if it meant reaching through the screen with typing fingers and lay the smackdown on the other guy.

      Yea….good forum wars back then.

    • #199746

      They were indeed often epic 🙂

      I’m pretty sure it was simply a case of finite resources on the development end and a diminished return on investment in getting a robust forum system integrated with the ST site. If you looked at our forum at it’s peak in comparison to MTBR, Pinkbike or some of the others, our numbers(active members, posts, views) were minuscule. This site, however beats all of them for it’s intended purpose, that being the maps and related. It would only make sense to dedicate the time to that instead of trying to appease 20 hard core forum members.

      So I understand the whys of the situation. I still miss the guys though 🙂

    • #199747

      True true. This site has come a very long way since then. Great resource for trail info and thier details. I was always partial to this forum because how it seemed like a group or community. The other sights seemed like an endless metro of people that go round and round on repeated topics or opinions. That’s just my take on that. I’m just coming back into it all and usually depended on this sight in the past for info, gear and parts recommended, and finding new trails.

    • #199748

      Case in point is I would have never found out about coldwater trails in anniston when it first opened if it hadn’t been for singletracks.

    • #199945

      I feel exactly the same way. 🙂 The new system did take the community feel out of it, but that it not where this story ends. Hopefully, just as the tides do, the Singletracks forum will regain what it lost in the system switch and return to its former glory. That may seem a little overly poetic, but the forum was something special, and benefited all who participated. Happy trails!

    • #199997

      Seems like as soon as spazjensen returned, there was a noticeable uptick in forum participation! 🙂

      I agree that software issues might have to do with the drop off in participation, but the broader trend appears to favor comments and discussions taking place on the big social networks like Facebook and, well, Facebook.

      But we’re not giving up! We’re close to unveiling a new look for the homepage that should give much better visibility to trending forum threads, making it easier for people to find and join interesting (and relevant) conversations. Right now the forums are pretty tough for new visitors to find, and when they do find them, like you guys said, it’s just a big list of random topics. The homepage update *should* address these issues…

    • #200014

      While it may have been the trend on this site, other biking sites’ forums are rocking pretty strongly(not that I visit them, but you hear things). They are so busy in fact, that it’s a little overwhelming, if you’re trying to be part of the community(again, so I’ve heard).

      I look forward to seeing the updates!

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