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Hey Mods...

Just a thought - because this is such an awesome forum, we regularly get posts asking about what sort of wheel someone should buy or upgrade to. And the users here are always awesome with their comments and suggestions. 

Would it be worth setting up a section just for these queries? This would not only keep things nicely organised, but it would help people with queries track down similar requests. And members could also then subscribe (or not) based on whether the can or want to assist...

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I think that question drives a lot of visits to the forum, and fills out the general discussion regularly so that the page keeps moving.

It wouldn't be inherently bad to have a special section, but if it cannibalizes too much of the general discussion forum, it might make the forums look less active and compelling to potential new riders.

I don't know which way would be better.  Just a thought.

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8 hours ago, John Eucist said:

I'm sort of in the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" camp and @Dingfelder made a good point. Unless there's overwhelming demand from users or that most of the moderators see this as something we should do I will leave it as is.

I can see @The Fat Unicyclist's point especially for visitors or new members that visit the forum. They must certainly be overwhelmed by all of the topics and reviews relating to the vast array of wheels available.

I believe there have been charts established breaking down each of the wheel manufacturer's characteristics. Wondering if a topic could be established that just contains bullet points for each wheel manufacturer that depicts the general pros and cons of their characteristics ( i.e.: Cost, Great beginner wheel , Distance, Power, Safety record, Customer Service ratings , etc) when they first visit the forum.

The topic could be locked for comments but  the compendium informational chart could be updated by the moderators as new data or news on the wheels and their manufacturers comes forth. 

The chart could contain direct links to each of the wheel manufactures listed in the 'Reviews' topic. Visitors or new members could then navigate through the hundreds of posts at their leasure with at least some educational background as to what wheel they are looking for.

I agree the wheel is certainly not broken but I remember my first encounter with the forum and it was intimidating!:o Just my 2 cents.:)

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A chart or long connected series of posts in a unified thread, pinned to the top of the general forum or somewhere else, could be very useful if kept updated.  

I'd caution against loading it with anything but raw facts in a very basic way, though.  Pictures might be nice, too.  However, phrases and notions like "great beginners wheel" are value-based, and opinions differ on particular wheels or aspects of wheels in general. .  

For instance, I weigh over 200 pounds and live around a lot of steep hills, so if I went small, light, inexpensive, and easily maneuverable, I might not make it up my own driveway, or at least not do it safely.  The value of a wheel, or of a particular feature on a wheel, often depends on the individual.

 

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This is about something different, but same vein:

It might be good to have a place for "Good Deals" or "Current Deals". Right now there's no clear forum for that.

There recently were 2 posts about cheap wheels at supermarkets (400€ Ninebot and 700€ V5F) and they were posted to the respective manufacturer forums. Which makes sense, they fit in there better than in "Advertisements and Promotions" (which apparently is meant for the dealers themselves to post; and which for some reason has bad visibility) nor "General Discussion" (which does not really seem the right place too). But will people see these posts in the manufacturers forums?

Maybe it would be good to make the "duality" between the "Private Sales" and "Advertisements and Promotions" forums more clear; and the afforementioned posts would then clearly fit in one of them.

For example, you could rename to "Current Deals, Advertisements and Promotions (New wheels)"  so the distinction would be between secondhand and new (what is a dealer to do when he has a deal for used wheels though?:P).

Or you say, people looking for cheap wheels will go to the secondhand forum first, so the posts should go there and you rename it to "Private Sales (Secondhand) and Third Party Deals" so the distinction is more between .... whether dealers post, or whether not?

As you see, I'm not sure myself, but maybe this resonates with the staff and gives you an idea. Just some thoughts:)

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27 minutes ago, meepmeepmayer said:

This is about something different, but same vein:

It might be good to have a place for "Good Deals" or "Current Deals". Right now there's no clear forum for that.

There recently were 2 posts about cheap wheels at supermarkets (400€ Ninebot and 700€ V5F) and they were posted to the respective manufacturer forums. Which makes sense, they fit in there better than in "Advertisements and Promotions" (which apparently is meant for the dealers themselves to post; and which for some reason has bad visibility) nor "General Discussion" (which does not really seem the right place too). But will people see these posts in the manufacturers forums?

Maybe it would be good to make the "duality" between the "Private Sales" and "Advertisements and Promotions" forums more clear; and the afforementioned posts would then clearly fit in one of them.

For example, you could rename to "Current Deals, Advertisements and Promotions (New wheels)"  so the distinction would be between secondhand and new (what is a dealer to do when he has a deal for used wheels though?:P).

Or you say, people looking for cheap wheels will go to the secondhand forum first, so the posts should go there and you rename it to "Private Sales (Secondhand) and Third Party Deals" so the distinction is more between .... whether dealers post, or whether not?

As you see, I'm not sure myself, but maybe this resonates with the staff and gives you an idea. Just some thoughts:)

Good ideas. What do the other mods think?

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1 hour ago, John Eucist said:

Good ideas. What do the other mods think?

I like the idea of somehow posting about sales/deals in more "centralized" way in general, and it's just semantics, but somehow we need to make it clear that "private sales" means second hand used wheels, consumer-to-consumer, no warranties, etc. If it also says "third party deals", and I'm not even sure what "third party" means in this case, people and retailers might get them mixed up... probably my worry is over nothing, but clarity in naming the sub-forums helps with less posts going in the wrong places. If we start to allow retailers/distributors/whatever the correct term is (manufacturers, companies that sell wheels, resellers) to post something in the Private sales-section, it's going to get mixed up, and soon we'll be moving posts out from there... :P

 

2 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

(what is a dealer to do when he has a deal for used wheels though?:P)

It's a bit of a pickle... as a private person, they can offer it for sale in the Private sales, but if it's sold through their company, I'd say it still goes to Advertisements & Promotions.

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Yes you're right. I was hoping somebody might have a better idea;)

The Private Sales forum is working really well (especially now that it's ramping up a bit with people upgrading and latest generation wheels being available to buy), and probably should not be messed with.

The Advertisements and Promotions forum has relatively little new posts and it's easy to miss stuff there (not sure if that's because of the low posting numbers or because it is just a niche if it's really just meant for dealer posts) so IF anything, might be good to start there and possibly expand its scope (if that is what is wanted).

Maybe just rename it to "Commercial Sales and Information" or "Commercial Sales and Information (including Advertisements)"? That's a bit generic though, and does not make too clear what is is supposed to be about. At least "Advertisement and Promotions" is limited in scope, but clear. And not sure if renaming it would increase visibility.

"Commercial Sales, Deals, Advertisements and Promotions" is a mouthful.

"Commercial Sales (Information, Deals, Advertisements, Promotions)" is even longer.

Anyways, maybe something comes out of this. We have time:) Happy to see staff being receptive to feedback:thumbup:

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