Worth having a tech section here?

8valve

Question for the mods and members of this happy little two wheeled family, of course...


Would it be worth considering a cycling tech section here, similar to the way we have a separate advertising section?


That way, people can post queries and those of us who might have a bit more experience can help/advise?


The 'no such thing as a stupid question' thread has some excellent info in it, butit would save people trawling through pages to find what they need?



Links to online manuals etc could be stickied (is that a word?!)....?


If I'm getting notions and sticking my head over the parapet, feel free to put me firmly back in my place and tell me to fe(k off!

secman

https://touch.boards.ie/thread/post/116226373

This one kind of is one with a looser heading ..

cletus

I think there's something to be said for it, 8valve. The motoring forum has a DIY Car Maintenance sub forum. That's where you find the "Today I did something..." thread, etc

hesker

I think it’s a good idea. People might be more inclined to post useful tips or detailed accounts if there was a dedicated sub forum

I did a modification recently to fix a problem that I’m sure is experienced by many. I could not find any detailed explanation of it anywhere online. I went as far as creating a pdf with photos and explanation but didn’t bother to post it because I thought it would just get lost amongst all the other threads.

cletus

You could also have dedicated bike build threads, and leave the Today i did something thread to repairs, upgrades etc

CramCycle

To get it done you have to put it in the forum requests forum, and then come here and advertise it, based on voting with a minimum required and people can put the for and against in that discussion.

magicbastarder

one thing which is worth asking is would functionality or usage benefit from a sub-forum? i.e. what would it offer that's not already on offer?
the cycling ads forum makes sense because it's very specific and requires its own charter; my main concern would be where topics sit halfway between general and tech specific and become uncertain where they might sit.

i do think the cycling forum is active enough to 'survive' it; it seems to have been death to other sections on boards which essentially ghettoised themselves into oblivion (e.g. the military forum has six subforums, and between them, they only have five threads which have seen activity in 2021)

i'm lazy and don't want to have to click into a subforum to see topics which have hitherto been available to me in the main forum...

cletus

It can go one of two ways. The first example of the motors/DIY forum is the positive direction. Forum and sub forum both thriving.

Second example is the Self defense/martial arts and MMA split. That one killed the SD/MA forum overnight, as the MMA forum took over completely.

I can't see that happening here, but I can see the argument for not having another forum to check

magicbastarder

i suspect with cars, if you're to pick your average motorist, they're less likely to do maintenance on their car, than a cyclist will be to do maintenance on their bike.
that said, how that translates from the 'average' to the 'enthusiast' which would be a better way of describing the average poster, i do not know.

Wishbone Ash

magicbastarder wrote: »

...i'm lazy and don't want to have to click into a subforum to see topics which have hitherto been available to me in the main forum...

This.

Notice how quiet the MTB sub forum is. I would have read threads when in the main forum but don't bother now.

eeeee

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

This.

Notice how quiet the MTB sub forum is. I would have read threads when in the main forum but don't bother now.

I'd be in this boat too.
I like cooking across tech threads in the general forum, I learn things. I think it adds to the main forum content too.
Tbh I don't think there's the quantity of stuff to justify it. Like the Training and Mtb subforums (mtb not helped by covid particularly) it'll be a few threads a day if not a week max. That's kind of how tech things are in the main forum.
It also segregates expertise, some people (myself included if I don't have to mod) don't bother going into subfodums unless they have to, and you're losing a lot of good advice with that.
That said tinkering with your bike is a constant thing, and I can see how you'd want a specific section for it. But I personally think it'd be super quiet. I could, of course be completely wrong.

mamax

I'd be for it.
A sub forum for all bike maintenance and tech issues in one place means that sub forum becomes a database of how-to's to browse.
The motorcycling forums that I'm on do this and it works very well.

magicbastarder

i wonder would a policy of tagging thread titles work? it's done in other forums, e.g.

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=109

you can see the way a thread can be placed in a category without affecting the forum it's in.