Has Cycle Chat been a bit flat recently

[Keith Oates]

Bonj, by the sound of the rain lashing against my window at the moment I would say mudguards are very neccessary at certain times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[bonj2]

On the other hand, Tea? may well have soaked up posts that wouldn't have gone anywhere on the forum, at all.

exactly! all the more reason to ban it - i.e. it's sapping people's energy for posting. I blame the tea thread! people are posting drivel in there about imaginary cups of tea when they should be spending their time posting meaningful stuff about relevant things elsewhere!

There's been a funny but edgy balance of late on the forum as a whole and this has reflected overall.
I also think the unpredictable weather hasn't helped and nor has the doom and horror laden atmosphere of the British media.
Add to this the ACF breakdown, which saw intense and negative feelings being posted on Cafe as well as in Soapbox and we can start to see why things are a tad apathetic.
Those who suffer from depression seem also to be having a tough time at the moment.

recognise all that, apart from one bit - what's the "horror laden atmosphere of the British media"? what do you mean by that?

 

[bonj2]

Bonj, by the sound of the rain lashing against my window at the moment I would say mudguards are very neccessary at certain times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mudguards go above you do they? No? So how are they going to protect you from rain that's falling from above?

 

[tdr1nka]

recognise all that, apart from one bit - what's the "horror laden atmosphere of the British media"? what do you mean by that?

Where to start? The Shannon Matthews story, the Jersey Childrens home, teenagers being sentenced to imprisonment for kicking/stabbing innocent people to death, for kicks. Tibet, Zimbabwe, Kenya and the neverending debacle in the Middle East etc.

Does that make any more sense?

 

[bonj2]

Where to start? The Shannon Matthews story, the Jersey Childrens home, teenagers being sentenced to imprisonment for kicking/stabbing innocent people to death, for kicks. Tibet, Zimbabwe, Kenya and the neverending debacle in the Middle East etc.

Does that make any more sense?

well none of that's made up, that's all real!

 

[bonj2]

but yes I agree with you, the news is a bit depressing.

 

[col]

I agree with those who say the Tea thread has soaked up a lot of posts that would have gone elsewhere. It has become a Cafe within the Cafe, and I can't see the sense in that.

I think the tea thread has become a small community of members chewing the breeze,i thought that was the point of a forum?If its not your cup of tea(sorry)dont click on it,simple really?

 

[beanzontoast]

I think the tea thread has become a small community of members chewing the breeze,i thought that was the point of a forum?If its not your cup of tea(sorry)dont click on it,simple really?

I've been in the Tea thread myself, so I'm not decrying people using it. I think it explains why some of the other threads in Cafe have drawn less posts than they might have otherwise though.

I agree with bonj's point that the titles of some areas of the forum overlap or leave gaps. Where does Utility cycling go (far more than just commuting to work) for example? I found this site interesting in this respect.

 

[Milo]

I do think it is important to not end up with too many forums as you end up with dead space IMO.

 

[beanzontoast]

Good point - I do find the Utility cycling thread on that site very entertaining, mind!

 

[Aperitif]

Want to haul groceries, beer, maybe even your kids? You don't have to live car free to put your bike to use as a workhorse.

Ha ha! Excellent!

 

[beanzontoast]

Ha ha! Excellent!

Some of the pics of adaptations are truly inspirational!

 

[mondobongo]

I think the tea thread has become a small community of members chewing the breeze,i thought that was the point of a forum?If its not your cup of tea(sorry)dont click on it,simple really?

I think Col has hit the nail on the head for that one.

The Acf thread overshadowed Cafe for a while I think, Cafe like any other Forum runs in circles and will probably pick up shortly quite often we get a couple of good threads going together. With the Racing Season now in full flow Racing has picked up from its winter hibernation.

I would like to see more going on in rides and might even get round to doing a write up myself. Know How and buying tick over well.
I dont think we are in such bad shape as always some new blood would be welcome.

 

[ChrisKH]

The tea thread is a bit like a forum within a forum so I don't see the point of it. From memory it's very much like the club thread in C+ which spawned acf. To each his own I suppose, but I like the forum to be as catholic as possible (using the literal meaning of the word).

 

[Chuffy]

The tea thread is a bit like a forum within a forum so I don't see the point of it. From memory it's very much like the club thread in C+ which spawned acf. To each his own I suppose, but I like the forum to be as catholic as possible (using the literal meaning of the word).

Not sure about your memory regarding the club thread on C+ Chris. ACF was already created, it just took a screw-up by the C+ management leading to a mass migration to get it running at full steam, in exactly the same way as this place suddenly filled up and took off after BikeRadar managed to alienate loads of people.
Tea seems to have a life of it's own and seems to divide people in a way that should surprise me, but doesn't.
It isn't a threat to the Cafe, the regulars in Tea post elsewhere too.
It's not a clique, anyone can pop in and expect a warm welcome (and a nice hot cuppa).
I can see why people get funny about it, nearly 7000 posts is quite intimidating, but really, there's no need to worry. It's a bit of a phenomena, quite impressive and something for CC to be proud of.