Time to move the Retro bar up a bit ... maybe to 2000+?

[marc two tone]

Re:

Yep, it's been raised before, raising the age range.

I suppose 1999 maximum would be ok as 26" wheel, ahead stems and mega 9 was still king.
But disc brakes, silly wide bars and over priced shimano altus is still around from that point, so let's not go mad.
Let's just let our subjects get old gracefully.

Hehe, I mean, I've seen ebay ads for a 2005 bike with discs, 27 gears 100mm travel forks, dubbed as retro! Kin ell man....

 

[cce]

the average 2000 bike is materially different to a pre 97 one, v brakes, decent 80-100mm suspension etc

v brakes were king until 2003-2004 or so when disks took over properly and suspension started getting longer

 

[FluffyChicken]

[quote longun..... broken quote on purpose

drag and drop picture uploads
----absolutely

bin the off topic section or have stricter rules??? too much trolling imho
----it is stricter, keep it that way. I've not seen too much crap in there since the last getting tough stance, there is always room for pub chat

condense the regional sections until it gets busy again or just see if it gets busier...
---- yes, yes and more yes. Just use the country sections, since regional areas are now not busy. Perhaps have an announcement section where planned rides are moved to, mod's time though. Link to FB/Strava club Events for easy announcement

change the mtb timeline into decades
----decades but terminating around '7 upto 1997, 1998-2007, 2008-2017, 2018+ (which in 2027 can become the retro e-bike era ;-)). Just because the forum is setup like that and means less faff moving posts around.

one area for sales for each discipline, but make sure there is a retro or modern tag
----not sure, it's nice to keep it separate, personally, just allow a bit of overlap

donation link for running the website, similar to house-mixes.com
----depends how the site is funded and where profit goes, it is a company iirc https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/comp ... ng-history

have a retrobike rides gathering
----you're doing well on that front , keep it up

organise purchasing retrobike clothing via a company that can produce, stock limited runs etc
----ah the good old days, Agree as I could do with a new hoodie and hat

prob more if i took my time, love this place, just needs tweeking[../quote]

 

[CassidyAce]

Re:

Despite being relatively new to the forum, there's something I really like about Retrobike. It might be the sheer wealth of information, how members' enthusiasm casts old clunkers in a new light, the passion for the bikes, or perhaps it's the vague eccentricity in obsessing over old bits of sculpted metal. I don't know, but it would be a shame to see it become the web equivalent of some of the neglected old bikes that contributors have discovered.

Ultimately, though, a decision would have to be made by the site's owner about whether it is the property/hobby of one individual or whether it has outgrown that and serves the public good in some way - a way that should outlive any given forum member. If it has outgrown any single individual, perhaps it ought to become a registered charity. The charitable purposes would be education and amateur sport (and coincidentally, perhaps, health). That brings rules and obligations and, therefore, on-going commitment.

On setting historical periods for 'retro-ness': there's the divide it up by decades approach, the divide it up by developments in bike technology approach, etc. All have their merits, but it's essentially the same debate: Does Retrobike grow and develop to secure its future or is it really a passing thing itself, soon to be obsolete?

I hope it's not the latter.

 

[brocklanders023]

Re: Re:

Fire has it. Us miserable old buggers like this format and have no interest in facebooking everything or instagramming. Problem is, everyone else is. :|

You know what, retrobike is what it is. If that is out of date I that suits us, we cling to the past.

That couldnt further from the truth but there you go.

For you personally maybe.

 

[al-onestare]

Re:

And me too. We've all got our own perspectives.

The success of this and any platform boils down to 2 things. The users and the technology.

At the moment neither are doing "enough" to keep things evolving and interesting.

For anything to change both sides need to come together, agree a vision and execute on it.

 

[13]

Retro retrobike

When you go on pinkbike the kids there think a 2009 iron horse Sunday is prehistoric and with the fact that it's 2017 and the rate of technology these days they're technically correct.

When you look at the evolution of mtb now as opposed to 2007 when this site was created, there have been more changes looking back than what's reasoned by the 97 cutoff.

I think having it set as decades would be better long term.
Dawn to 1989
1990-1999
2000-2009
2010-2019

 

[legrandefromage]

Rb arrived in 2005 btw

 

[jimi911]

Re:

Rb arrived in 2005 btw

That's probably the best starting point. I assume not much has changed to the definition of retro. Its now 2017 ...

Lets start with a new line in the sand. Shimano's XTR 960 group basically brought disc tech to MTB on mass in 2003. There's some leeway in there, but it will make retro a nice round 15 years old come January.

Retro Mountain Bike --> 2003
Allow all people to post in the forum, enter BoTM, and get them all contributing information. I assume we all agree we want this as site a resource.

No need to really reassess for another decade after this

Also ... damn photobucket. They have taken way too much of our information hostage.

 

[Lhatch4]

It's sad that this is one of the most active threads that I've been on after being a member of this community for about a year now. I hope some of these suggestions are implemented.