This forum needs to do a flip

biknut

biknut

Well-Known Member
I always loved this forum because the members are all just like me. People that love building their own bikes. When I joined, I think back in 08, the traffic here was huge. It seems to be dwindled down to crickets now. I know what I'm about to say isn't going to be very popular, but someone needs to say it. The popularity of gas powered motor bicycles is going the way of the Dodo bird. As far as this forum is concerned that's a shame because there's nowhere else on the inter webs with as much collective knowledge about building truly custom bicycles. I don't think there's any secret why this has happened, it's the unstoppable popularity of electrics. Back in 08 I was one of their harshest critics, but I turned in 2013 and never looked back.

This is my suggestion to rejuvenate the forum. It's actually very simple. Stop segregating electric bikes from the gas bikes. Yeah I know there's lots of other forums dedicated to electric bikes, but none of them specialize in custom builds the way this forum does. There's lots of overlap between gas, and electric builds. There's no reason to put them in 2 separate boxes. Make Motorbicycling great again.
 
biknut said:
I always loved this forum because the members are all just like me. People that love building their own bikes. When I joined, I think back in 08, the traffic here was huge. It seems to be dwindled down to crickets now. I know what I'm about to say isn't going to be very popular, but someone needs to say it. The popularity of gas powered motor bicycles is going the way of the Dodo bird. As far as this forum is concerned that's a shame because there's nowhere else on the inter webs with as much collective knowledge about building truly custom bicycles. I don't think there's any secret why this has happened, it's the unstoppable popularity of electrics. Back in 08 I was one of their harshest critics, but I turned in 2013 and never looked back.

This is my suggestion to rejuvenate the forum. It's actually very simple. Stop segregating electric bikes from the gas bikes. Yeah I know there's lots of other forums dedicated to electric bikes, but none of them specialize in custom builds the way this forum does. There's lots of overlap between gas, and electric builds. There's no reason to put them in 2 separate boxes. Make Motorbicycling great again.
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At one time self-built ebikes were very popular. However, with the price of ebikes constantly dropping; the disposable mentality of the government/media programming is getting rid of many potential future builders.
 
I think its still pretty common for people to motorize with ebike kits, i think its the fact that with so much stuff on the internet today people dont either 1) have the imagination to do something custom or 2) need to come to a forum for help or advice or to look for other peers.
I've found that there's a lot of people on places like facebook nd discord, which seem to be the future version of forums, however its all youth there, i tried it nd its just a bunch of kids acting tough online nd people dont know **** imo.
 
SLM said:
I think its still pretty common for people to motorize with ebike kits, i think its the fact that with so much stuff on the internet today people dont either 1) have the imagination to do something custom or 2) need to come to a forum for help or advice or to look for other peers.
I've found that there's a lot of people on places like facebook nd discord, which seem to be the future version of forums, however its all youth there, i tried it nd its just a bunch of kids acting tough online nd people dont know **** imo.
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With the price of ebikes constantly dropping and the changing laws concerning them; ebike kits are becoming less common. It's getting to the point a major repair often will cost more than simply buying a new one. As for kits, why buy one when for around the same price you can simply buy an already assembled new ebike. This is our disposable society.

As a teenager I was always working on something to fix it or make it more efficient. My childhood entertainment was working with some kind of tool. About the only thing you'll see in today's kids hands is an electronic device.
 
SLM said:
i dont think they're that cheap yet, a cheap ebike is round 700 dollars, a cheap ebike kit is like 100 dollars
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Those kits generally doesn't include a battery. There are pedal only bicycles sold in bicycle shops which cost far more than $700. Just like the price of a flat screen tv has drastically dropped so are ebike/escooter prices dropping.
 
SLM said:
even more reason to act fast, get those people in here before they disappear, besides people can still modify their ebikes if they want to
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Ask just about anybody between 12~25 to bring you a ⁹/¹⁶ socket ⅜ drive and check out the confused look they give you. Yet ask how to get to the next level on a video game then check out the look of excitement on their faces. That's what you're dealing with. It's people your age who can bring the change. We're simply seen by many of them as being old geezers.
 
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not rlly, in my experience a lot of other ppl my age kw how to work on stuff, I think the general appeal of gas engines is dying, its happening in the car and bike community too, but i have a lot of friends that are not into cars or anythyng like that nd still know how to work on stuff.
 
SLM said:
not rlly, in my experience a lot of other ppl my age kw how to work on stuff, I think the general appeal of gas engines is dying, its happening in the car and bike community too, but i have a lot of friends that are not into cars or anythyng like that nd still know how to work on stuff.
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Maybe those in your immediate social circle may have some mechanical knowledge but the majority of people between 12~25 have very little such skills.
 
true but think about the fact that with the internet and how good youth are at navigating it, they can find out and learn in hours what took you guys months to learn, maybe even more! How many people here know how to tune an intake for resonance? how to determine the exact right planum size? the right diameter and length of the exhaust to tune the resonances for a certain rpm? nd with 3d printing, CAD and simulators they can test 10 different cam profiles in minutes vs someone having to wait for another very expensive cam to be custom grinded, nd then you pic the best cam nd have it custom made.
these are just simple things that you learn to do with just an day doing research on the internet.
Also not to brag but I've traveled all over the world nd have friends all over, ill agree that in america some dont know how to use a wrench but in europe nd everywhere else the youth r still educated nd tough.
 
SLM said:
true but think about the fact that with the internet and how good youth are at navigating it, they can find out and learn in hours what took you guys months to learn, maybe even more! How many people here know how to tune an intake for resonance? how to determine the exact right planum size? the right diameter and length of the exhaust to tune the resonances for a certain rpm? nd with 3d printing, CAD and simulators they can test 10 different cam profiles in minutes vs someone having to wait for another very expensive cam to be custom grinded, nd then you pic the best cam nd have it custom made.
these are just simple things that you learn to do with just an day doing research on the internet.
Also not to brag but I've traveled all over the world nd have friends all over, ill agree that in america some dont know how to use a wrench but in europe nd everywhere else the youth r still educated nd tough.
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The majority of how to videos teach you a procedure. What they can't teach is how to control a tool. For example: you can watch all the videos you want to on how to ride a bicycle, swim, use a conduit bender, weld etc but until you actually start doing it to develop muscle memory you can't do it. Some skills require repeative actions in order to develop.

In order to learn various physical labor skills one must first have an interest and desire to learn such skills. This is what is no longer being instilled into the younger generation. Now we have individuals who can't tell you what time it is by looking at a dail clock, write in cursive, understand traffic hand signals, figure out a way to do something without needing the help of AI.

So now I'm back to you. Use the Mark Twain story of Tom Sawyer and white washing the picket fence with your friends. People tend to want to do what they think they're having fun doing. Lol
 
true but that kind of brins us to the present where knowing how to use a tool just isnt that usefull anymore, i can put a block of metal and have it cnc'd, i can cnc port, i can 3d print metal (to be fair most people dont have access to that, but you cna 3d print plastics that are just as strong as aluminium) i can use 3d printing to cast parts nd then smooth them with a lathe or sander.
but i agree people tend to do what they have fun doing, even more true when talking about hobbies, which goes back to my comment before, the love for all things Internal combustion is dying, could be the noise, could be the emissions, could be the social stigma round car culture, i dont kw
 
SLM said:
true but that kind of brins us to the present where knowing how to use a tool just isnt that usefull anymore, i can put a block of metal and have it cnc'd, i can cnc port, i can 3d print metal (to be fair most people dont have access to that, but you cna 3d print plastics that are just as strong as aluminium) i can use 3d printing to cast parts nd then smooth them with a lathe or sander.
but i agree people tend to do what they have fun doing, even more true when talking about hobbies, which goes back to my comment before, the love for all things Internal combustion is dying, could be the noise, could be the emissions, could be the social stigma round car culture, i dont kw
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To me a 3D printer is a tool. Just like a digital hydraulic pipe bender is. However, that isn't something I can carry around with me on a large construction site. This is why you have hand benders for the smaller conduit which makes up the majority of the conduit being installed.

Unfortunately, the art of using hand tools is being lost. Though they are still very much needed. This in of itself is why so many foreigners are getting the physical skilled labor jobs.
 
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