Forum Updates and Feedback

[Admin]

[update] I've enacted many of the changes discussed in this thread, feel free to chime in if you've got further suggestions! Thanks again for all of the great input

Hey guys and gals, I appreciate your involvement with EBR in the community and want to share my thoughts on some updates and get your feedback

I'm a huge fan of the UK Pedelecs forums and Grin owned Endless Sphere. In recent months (and really years) I think the EBR space has become a bit overwhelming with so many brand sections. I designed it this way to align with EBR eventually with content from the forums being shown in a sidebar widget on the site in each respective brand area. We're on the brink of making that happen but I've realized I could put brands in a sub category here and that would keep the homepage MUCH cleaner.

Pasted below is an updated list of sections including some new names. Some of this imitates the other ebike forums and my plan includes renaming the community to "forums" since people seem to get that more... I get emails occasional from people asking if the site has forums and I'm like "yeah! The community XD" so hopefully this helps. Anyway, I value your input on what additional forums to add AND whether for sale used and for sale new makes sense? It could be a place for company's like Crazy Lennys, Propel, Performance Bikes etc. to post without distracting other threads. This has been a difficult balance to strike... I strive to limit my own ads here and pay over a thousand dollars of my own money each month on host and moderate this space. It feels bad to go to all of that effort then possibly alienate the paying advertisers while promoting show rooming indirectly and gouging prices. On the flip side, the world is a marketplace and last-season models, used stuff and promotions do have their place. How should this be handled? As always, THANK YOU ALL for making my dream of sharing ebikes, connecting people and promoting healthy living a reality by spending time here and supporting EBR.

>> Welcome to the Community
Introduce Yourself
Electric Bike Laws
Forum Rules & Etiquette

>> Electric Bike Forums
General Discussion
Help Choosing an Ebike
Ride Reports and Journals
Maintenance Tips
Events, Activities and Shows
Off Topic Discussion

>> Electric Ride Forums
General Discussion
Electric Kick Scooters
Electric Skateboards

>> Brand Specific Forums
- active
- active
- other brands
— less active
— less active

>> Sales, Promotions and Offers
- Used Items for Sale, By Owner
- Used Items / Parts Wanted
- New Items for Sale, Promotions

 

[David1]

Hey Court, your topic brings up something that I was wondering the other day. Some sites have ways to help out through donations like PayPal . Is this what we need ? If not just want you to know my appreciation of yours and moderators efforts . The resolution was great on the cargo bikes review . Maybe just a sunny day. Thanks

 

[pxpaulx]

I like @JayVee s idea. You could still retain a separate brand section and simply title the subsections as a-e, f-j, k-o, etc. I think people will gravitate towards the bike type sections naturally. That would leave room for specific owner questions but also provide a slightly more ride focused discussion based on bike types.

 

[flymeaway]

On the flip side, the world is a marketplace and last-season models, used stuff and promotions do have their place

Yes it is, and yes they do. I would be in favor of segregating sales and product promotion from specific forums. I believe you should promote the site for use by manufacturers and distributors and you should also be compensated for your efforts.

Court J.

 

[Admin]

I think that your proposal for a new structure is a great idea. The forum is a bit too "dispersed" at the moment.

Instead of the Brand Specific Forums you might consider a structure that's "brand independent". The advantage would be that it might take less "maintenance" (creation of sub-forums) in the long run.

Here's my idea:

>>E-Bike Forums
- Mountain bikes
- Fat bikes
- Commuter/City bikes
- Racing bikes
- Cargo bikes
- All wheel drives
- Trike, folding bikes, etc.
- DIY space
- Crowd funded bikes

In any event, let me take the opportunity to say "thank you" to you, Ann, and Tara for making this such a friendly place.

Keep up the great work!

I like this a lot, especially with the crowd funded section... there's a lot of cool stuff out there and it's great to celebrate and share it but sometimes difficult to determine where to go

 

[J.R.]

I like the idea of allowing a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences of owning and living with ebikes. Ebikes are still new to many, but there is enough experience on these pages to support more than just shopping for one. There's also room to expand advertising and still be less than most forum sites.

I would drop the "Tips" from Maintenance sub, it's limiting. Personally I wouldn't search the internet for tips, it makes me think of topics like oiling your chain and checking tire air pressure. There are people here building/rebuilding wheels, replacing bearings and rebuilding suspensions. I think having a parts and accessories sub, separate from maintenance would be helpful. Most of the parts on ebikes aren't proprietary to any one brand, it's information that everyone can benefit from. You might also want to consider having a DIY/Building section. You've reviewed plenty of kits and there are many here, that either have or would like to build their own ebike.

Thanks for asking, Court! Keep the flow of information coming.

 

[George S.]

Was discussing this forum with another member. It’s done great things. I’m basically on hiatus, feel the Forum has gotten away from me, not working too efficiently. Some thoughts:

1.There’s a lot of stuff that should really be organized as a ‘handbook’. I understand batteries reasonably well, as they relate to e bikes. People need to be willing to sit down and absorb hard information, if they really want to understand batteries, range, speed, etc. You could put that in some kind of handbook. For cash flow, sell it as an ebook. It’s hard to justify answering the same basic questions on battery capacity, charging, range, speed, whatever, on a forum.

(If someone asks a question about battery range on the Stromer forum, it’s still a battery question.)

2.There are issues that never get exposure on the forums. A forum makes a lousy newspaper. Can a group integrate a ‘news’ side into the thing? Examples:

1. Bafang is doing all kinds of stuff. New drives, torque sensors, web stuff
   
   
2. The Thin is out there. I don’t see anything about it
   
   
3. The Flux bikes (2000) will be floating around soon
   
   
4. The Bulls seems to be a very hot bike. Did Hai mess up?
   
   
5. Prices really do seem to be coming down
   
   
6. Can DIY bikes get really good torque sensor systems?
   
   
7. How quickly are China-direct e bikes improving?
   
   
8. If people want all this speed why not just make very light motorcycles?
   
   
9. Can they ever resolve off road issues, access?
   

What’s the share between:

a) eMTB

b) DIY

c) Speed Ped

d) basic 20 mph


Does anything tie these groups together?

Is the age demographic changing at all?

3. There’s no great source for news on e bikes. I just look at websites, like the Bafang website. There’s too much information to absorb. Most questions are very specialized, and somewhat limited in appeal. It seems like there will be a massive amount of change in the next year. Low battery prices don’t favor ebike development, but something heavier. You end up with people developing motorcycles, very light motorcycles, calling them e bikes. Maybe Yamaha will just make a 6,000 watt motorcycle, something like that. E bikes are all over the map, but nothing is all that successful in the US.

 

[Admin]

Hey George! Great feedback, thanks for taking the time to chime in... I've been creating a lot of "handbook" style articles in the new guides section of EBR here: https://electricbikereview.com/guides/ and I welcome contributions and edit suggestions for it or ways to tie it into the forums better? A couple years back I wrote a short book and have been giving it away free to Prime members on Amazon for a while now, you can see it here http://amzn.to/29ihU9J perhaps I should put a little banner for it on the forums? I like your "hot topic" news ideas and would love to pull in stories from other sites and allow this community to interact. I've added a section to my list called "news, hot topics" that could be moderated with popular stories getting stickied at the top? Right now this forum doesn't have upvoting so good stories tend to fall off and then get ignored... that's something I want to change in the future but it's a lot of money/time.

What does everyone think of this updated list, feel free to suggest name changes, additions or subtractions:

>> Welcome to the Community
- Introduce Yourself
- Forum Rules and Etiquette
- Electric Bike Laws, Resources

>> General Ebike Forums
- Trail Head, General Discussion
- Help Choosing an Ebike
- Parts and Accessories
- Events, Activities and Shows
- Trending News, Hot Topics
- Parking Lot, Off Topic Discussion

>> Electric Bike Forums
- Commuter, City
- Mountain, Trail
- Cruiser, Neighborhood, Tricycle
- Folding, Compact
- Road, 28 mph Speed Pedelecs
- DIY, Kits
- Cargo, Box
- Fat Tire
- Recumbent Trikes
- Crowd Funded
- Other

>> Electric Ride Forums
- General Discussion
- Electric Kick Scooters
- Electric Skateboards

>> Electric Bike / Ride Classifieds
- Items and Parts for Sale, By-Owner
- Items, Parts and Promotions, By-Dealer
- Items and Parts Wanted

 

[EddieJ]

I quite like the simplicity of the topic headings from http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/ It could be reduced even further as well.

 

[vincent]

i would like to see news somewhere

think the outline above looks good

i also would be willing to donate etc to the forum and/or deal with more ads if that helps make it self supporting

thanks for all the hard work you guys do!

 

[Ann M.]

@Court, I like the simpler, cleaner layout suggestions. George's new topics idea and vincent's suggestion about news rings for me too. We have a lot of members from around the world who could add international ebike news. If you check out Jason Kraft on LinkedIn, he posts international and US news about electric bikes in the Electric Bicycle Industry group (he's the moderator there too).

There will be potential overlap issues with the Forums as you lay them out now, since some fat tire bikes are also mountain bikes are also commuter bikes. Some folks like the styling or feel of a mountain bike but use it and write about it as a commuter. Not sure how to address that; will have to watch as things change.

Maintenance or Ebike Repairs (to choose a newer label) together with parts & accessories should be called out. I currently spend a lot of time writing about how to fix stuff on ebikes but it's scattered in a bunch of bike forums so fewer people see the resources linked to or see the general repair or regular maintenance material.

The Guides are helpful education and overviews; I link to them regularly. Would like to see some updates to a couple of older ones like the Big & Tall Guide and the companion Small/Light Ebike Guide to include references to some of the newer brands or bike styles. Same for the Kits.

Incorporating links to specific brand forums alongside the Reviews is intriguing. I do know that a lot of people write comments after viewing or reading your Reviews but don't make their way to the Forum, so those links could drive more traffic here.

What is 'Trail Head' a name for General Discussion?

I'd like to see a specific area that discusses where folks commute and the issues they deal with to do that commute or where they go to do a weekend ride. This would be a great opportunity to see more pics (and read more of EddieJ's great adventures )
Having a lot of visuals included in this area along within the Repairs/Parts/Accessories section helps visitors to the Forum digest or better understand material. I try to include images or links to images & videos to support repair knowledge; written word alone doesn't always get the job done.

Don't know how the moderators at UK Pedelecs manages their Off Topic section but it is a fun read (could get out of hand!)

 

[SpiderDice]

Hi-

Would it be possible to add some sort of "flair" below username and title where we can put what kind of eBike we have?

That way, it'd be easy to see what bikes users own!

 

[EddieJ]

Don't know how the moderators at UK Pedelecs manages their Off Topic section but it is a fun read (could get out of hand!)

I think that one of the key points to that one, is staying away from politics and religion.

Having said that, the EU referendum has and is being discussed at length. Don't get me started on that one! (btw I voted remain)

Our hot topic is actually S pedelecs and illegal bikes. Religion and politics pale into insignificance when it comes to the subject dongles and high powered bikes. Dummies are often spat out of the pram! Don't get me started on that one either!

 

[Ann M.]

Yeah, but Eddie here in the US folks don't understand that our Constitution called for the separation of church & state...politics and religion is all we do around here

 

[EddieJ]

I'd like to see a specific area that discusses where folks commute and the issues they deal with to do that commute or where they go to do a weekend ride. This would be a great opportunity to see more pics (and read more of EddieJ's great adventures )

Here you go Ann.

I've just started carrying out a bit of maintenance, before heading off with the bike for yet another Swiss trip. http://electricbikereview.com/community/threads/ktm-macina-lycan-27-gps.865/page-2#post-52091




.

 

[Douglas Wever]

The brands going to a sub-category is a great idea. I would suggest that if there is a top group of brands that accounts for a clear majority of the market, those will be listed first, then there's a space and everything else is listed alphabetically.

For example in an optics manufacturers' location, you first have listed, Leica, Nikon, Swarovski, and Zeiss because they are the heavy-weights in that market, then there's a long listing of other serious but much smaller players in the market, with the final category "others" to catch the minor guys. It is very convenient for the majority of users as by definition that majority fits in to the first four manufacturers.

 

[MLB]

Feeling some anxiety as I see all the "by brands" gone! Nowhere else were discussions about the specific brands to get specific help and information on the bike you're interested in, or just bought.
Very very large loss (most valuable part to me)

 

[William Hemmingsen]

Feeling some anxiety as I see all the "by brands" gone! Nowhere else were discussions about the specific brands to get specific help and information on the bike you're interested in, or just bought.
Very very large loss (most valuable part to me)

Its still there, just moved

https://electricbikereview.com/forums/categories/discussion-by-brand.168/

Lee

 

[vincent]

yes just open general discussion and brands are right there at the top, you just have to click it
then you get the same page we used to have

 

[EddieJ]

Looks good Court.

One observation. Do you need an off topic discussion heading within the e-bike section, when it already has general discussion.

The Off-topic discussion, should perhaps have it's own sub section below that of the e-bike section.