Riding Vintage Bicycles on the Road to Irrelevance

 

The end of riding season here has given me some time to reflect on the vintage bicycle repair hobby. I've written recently about difficult sellers who hurt the hobby, and I've written more generally about trends and people that drive away new people. I've also discussed a few basic things that can help to remedy some of those negative trends. 

This article provides a basic discussion of how certain online venues contribute to making the vintage bicycle repair hobby less relevant to cycling in general. 

 

Old-School Forum Users - Arguing the Tangential and Esoteric

Online discussion fora are one of the older forms of medium dealing with vintage bicycles. There is no shortage of them still operating, in a variety of languages and focusing on a variety of old bikes. I love old-school fora for discussion because they are technologically simple but also offer a direct line to expertise on a variety of subjects. 

But when discussions on these website go bad, the rabbit hole is potentially bottomless. Sometimes one or two "keyboard warriors" monopolize a discussion and endless debate generates all heat but no light on a subject. 

Some fora also have an "old boys club" of gatekeepers who belittle new members or gang up against differing opinions. A newcomer will notice this within about two weeks of joining because the same handful of people always seem to "go nuclear" in a pack when certain subjects pop up. 

Some fora ostensibly about old bikes devolve endlessly into tangential discussions by long-time members about whether vinyl records are actually "niche", whether supply and demand principles apply (or what "supply" and "demand" actually mean), or whether bike helmets make riders less safe somehow (including numerous sequels to that discussion). 

Some fora refuse to curb lunatic members who spout conspiracy theories and bad information. They may suspend these members, but they keep coming back. [For example: a user who jumps into a thread about repairing an old middleweight bike with claims the L.A. wildfires were set by the government using a laser; or a user who claims vaccines have altered his dreams in a thread about bike path usage. No links here - I'd rather keep this humane and preserve the posters' anonymity]. Then there are the users who think personal attacks are OK if you disagree or who make outrageous statements. [For example, a user likening his repaired/"saved" bicycles to Jewish people being saved from the Holocaust. Again, I won't post a link singling the person out, to keep this humane.]

I deeply believe in freedom of speech and open discussion. But it is possible for discussion in this hobby to degrade to the point that sane people and newcomers just walk away. Once that happens, you start down the road of irrelevance.

 

Reddit and Similar - the Peanut Gallery Strikes Back

Reddit is less "clubby" than online fora seem to be, but it has its own virtues and vices. Reddit tends to have more "drive by posts" where people modestly interested in a subject throw out advice (good or bad), then roll on to the next topic. Some of the hardcore Redditors may act like "gatekeepers", but it seems it is the peanut gallery who rule the roost.

Newcomers and casual posters absolutely can give some very good advice. But I've also seen people show up, post bad advice or incorrect information, then roll on to the next topic. The person asking for help hopefully is redirected to the right information, but if they take bad advice and something breaks down on their project, then it just leads to more frustration.

Reddit has a lot of potential but it seems very chaotic and disorganized to me. It has a different set of vices from the "rabbit hole" problem that the traditional online forum might have. 

 

Videos: Be Careful What You Wish For...

There's a famous, old story from the early 1900's called "The Monkey's Paw". In it, an enchanted monkey's paw will grant three wishes to each of its owners. However, it grants those wishes in twisted and horrifying ways, as the price for altering fate. [Worth reading, if you have not - it's a classic.]

In a sense, streaming and seemingly endless online video venues are "what we may have wished for" as hobbyists 20 years ago. But as with the monkey's paw, the wish was granted in a chaotic and distorted way. 

Some online vintage bicycle videos are very well-done: they give good details, move at a workable pace, and provide a certain artistic value. But others devolve into long and rambling rants, bad information, or insidious and misleading advertising. In a sense, we received an endless stream of classic bike videos that would have seemed impossible in the days of UseNet emails and dial-up internet, but many of the videos show our hobby to be at best inaccessible, or at worst, an online lunatic consortium. 

For example, I love hearing about how you fixed your kickstand or your brakes, but I don't want a long rant about President Trump, either for or against, while you try to fix stuff. Just fix stuff or show stuff on your bike video and be treat others as you would want to be treated... Again, I won't single-out anyone, to be humane about this. 

Other videos have click-bait titles,  and at first appear to be legitimate, but gradually it becomes apparent to the viewer that it's actually an advertisement for a particular shop or product. I have no issue with a certain amount of advertising, but be honest about it up-front, or at least make it optional. I shouldn't get 6 minutes into a video and realize the entire video is going to be about a particular vendor you use. Be honest with people and it's a lot more comfortable for everyone...

Then there is the concern about privacy, data use for marketing, shafting many decent content-creators, etc. The companies running these services do pretty well compared to many of the small-time content creators using the service. And then there's the ever-present, "If you don't know what's for sale here, then it's you." Who knows where your data is being sold by some of these companies. Other companies running these services have connections to shady companies or hostile foreign regimes and dictatorships.

The monkey's paw gave us our wish of immediate access to a wide range of information in video form, but the way it came was somewhat twisted and with some nasty strings attached. 

 

So, What's the Point?

The point here is that in each of these venues, we should always strive to engage in a productive way with newcomers. Sometimes that means encouraging a new project, other times it can be counsel about a project that will be a money pit. Sometimes it means verifying our information or providing scans of manuals or classic bicycle literature. [FYI - the Veteran Cycle Club in England has a wonderful library of literature and information available to members. It is well-worth joining.] Other times online venues can be used to facilitate group rides and shop/co-op repair days. 

We should work to make each of these online venues productive and helpful to hobbyists of all skill levels and not allow them to devolve into the hostile, nonsensical, overly esoteric, or exploitative. 

Ask yourself, "what did I do to help someone today?", which is good advice in the vintage bicycle hobby and perhaps for life in general.