Great stuff out there, CycloFiend. Keep up the good work!
________________________________ From: CycloFiend <cyclofi...@earthlink.net> To: rbw group <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> Sent: Sat, December 12, 2009 10:34:31 PM Subject: [RBW] State of the List - 12/12/09 State of the Rivendell Bicycle Works Owner's Bunch Mailing List ============================ December 2009 - #9 ============================ There has not been an SOTL (State of the List) Report since February, and as we head into true winter, it seems that this is perhaps way overdue. In the past ten months, we've added around 327 new members to this group, most of whom probably have not seen one of these updates. Which is not in and of itself a bad thing. Honestly, I've been waiting it out a bit by design, to see what happened to the tone of the conversation without more regular reminders. I was a bit worried as we crested the 1,000 member mark, as that can be a time when everyone becomes a little bit more faceless, which is in turn when it becomes a bit easier to crack off a more sharply toned comment than might be necessary. This group has been considerably narrower and more specific in nature than others in the bicycle arena. We come here to talk about Rivendell bicycles and the equipment they design and sell. It's natural to put those things in the context of "what else is available" from other manufacturers, we do run the risk of just talking about bikes, in the general sense. As I've said before, and at the great risk of describing this group by what we are not, the more general we become, the less necessary we are. That being said, it's been extremely gratifying to watch the growth of the regional groups from within this list, where folks have coalesced into gangs of people riding bicycles and having fun together - spreading the word of what it is that's important. And what is important? I'm sure it's a bit different from me to you, but it's based on what we've practiced on this group discussion - respect, interest in adaptable and robust bicycles, solving technical issues, sharing knowledge and gaining riding skill. The fact this gets to be played out against a background of beckoning roads and trails just adds to the experience. Camaraderie. The ability to find something that brings us together in agreement. I'd like to thank everyone for keeping the discussions largely on track, and for continuing to demonstrate respect for others ideas, even if they are different. I said last time that it's gratifying to see everyone continuing to be polite and respectful on this list. We're heading into the period when most members are unable to ride, and cabin fever becomes a real issue. In that respect, it is important as we grow to honor the relatively narrow focus of this group, even though it's tempting to have more general topics discussed here. Clearly, it's a bit of an imperfect border, but one which we've largely maintained. As I've said before, letting discussions end as they creep toward more general topics, not having to have the last comment (or needing to "win" the argument) and, above all, maintaining the respect for one another within the group is what makes this list special. As always, thanks again for contributing to or simply enjoying the discussions. ============================ Projects and Features ============================ It's been quite a year for Rivendell output, between the Hillborne, Betty Foy and Yves Gomez, the Roadeo and a plethora of bags, racks and even rain gear. And a brand new catalog of frames as we close out the year. (and maybe even a pending Reader...) The Rivendell pages of the cyclofiend.com site haven't grown exponentially this year, but I've gotten things a bit back on track recently. I was hoping to get things going on the earlier models page, but the updates were a bit sparodic this year. I've been chipping away at things behind the scenes on that stuff, so hopefully I can indulge in a bit of an unveiling after the first of the year. If you don't know what I'm talking about, the Cyclofiend.com RBW pages are here: http://www.cyclofiend.com/rbw It gets updated with various happenings, scans, images and such that get found in the news and info flow. I did create a "Rivendell Bicycle Owners Bunch on Facebook" page back in the beginning of the year - http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=127003115064 I'm certainly not pushing Facebook* at all, and honestly haven't checked in on the page for a while (113 members), and in no way do I see it as a replacement for this group. As I mentioned, I finally signed up a year ago for unrelated-to-bicycle reasons, and had bumped into quite a few folks there. It seemed like it might be a useful platform for coordinating rides in specific areas or for more quick-pinging type of communications. *In fact, I've more or less stayed away. You can and should search about previous Facebook issues with private user information, internal viruses, etc. before deciding if you want to mess with it. Some of that's life in the online world, but it's worth being aware of. Cyclotourist has been using Flickr in a similar manner for the SoCal RBW Riders, which (IMO) has a good deal of the same functionality with the added benefit of much, much better photo sharing/interface. http://www.flickr.com/groups/socal_rivendell_bicycle_appreciation_society/ Not to be outdone, another has popped up in Minnesota - http://www.flickr.com/groups/rbwminnesota/ There have also been Flickr groups created for: RBW Staff Bikes - http://www.flickr.com/groups/rbwstaffbikes/ Rivendell Commuters - http://www.flickr.com/groups/rivendellcommuters/ Rivendell A. Homer Hilsen - http://www.flickr.com/groups/1256...@n22/ Rivendell Bombadil - http://www.flickr.com/groups/bombadil/ Rivendell Bleriot - http://www.flickr.com/groups/bleriot/ Rivendell Quickbeam - http://www.flickr.com/groups/quickbeam/ ============================ More General Topics (From Previous Issues) ============================ - Broader technical questions and non-Riv stuff are well covered by the iBob list, the 650B list and others hosted by alex wetmore on bikelist.org - http://www.bikelist.org - This is also where you can find the pre-March '07 archives to the RBW list. Peter White runs the "Bicycle Lifestyle" google group, which is here - http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle - Resources get put onto the RBW-Owners-Bunch pages here: http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch/web Most are either mirrored or enhanced here: http://www.cyclofiend.com/rbw - The Official RBW Gallery is on Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/groups/rivendell Of course, my feelings get hurt if you don't send photos to the Current Classics (or other) Galleries ;^) http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc - Our FAQ continues to exist! The FAQ has one Q which was A'd enough. http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch/web/rbw-group-requests - Posts from new members (or old members changing their email) are moderated. So, it means that if someone joins, their first messages will have to get my (or an acting list admin's) OK before being sent to everyone. If you want to bypass this or speed it up a bit, send me an email so I know you aren't a spammer. If your first posts are "For Sale" items, then you will not be switched over to unmoderated until you join in the discussion at large. - Posts to the list are by default distributed to everyone. That means if you wish to make a private comment, you need to change the "TO:" information. It's also easy to make that mistake, so please don't jump on folks who do so. - Bug reports for the Rivendell website should be sent to rbw-feedb...@610systems.com You should include the browser, system and specific issue in the email. - RSS feeds for the RBW Owners Bunch group in many formats can be found here: http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch/feeds - Earlier SOTL reports are archived here - http://www.cyclofiend.com/rbw/listupdate ============================ Statistics & Housekeeping ============================ List began: March 26, 2007 Members: 1184 (Up from 857 on 2/9/09) Activity: Medium activity (Unchanged) September 2009 was our highest traffic month so far, with 1557 posts. Our first month with more than 1000 posts was December, 2008. In addition to email delivery, the list can be viewed via the web at - http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch If you wish to turn off or restart email delivery, change to digest mode, update your profile or make other changes, simply log in at the page above and make the changes you desire. Unsubscribing is as easy as an email. But, don't send it to the group or to me - All posts (including this SOTL message) contain a footer with the appropriate address. The Rivendell Owners Bunch list is "dedicated to the discussion of Rivendell Bicycles and products, you don't need to own one - just an interest in RBW designs is enough to join in. Ride reports encouraged, as is a respectful, supportive and polite tone in all posts. This group is not endorsed by Rivendell Bicycle Works." As stated, this list is a discussion of things Rivendellian in nature and is not associated with Rivendell Bicycle Works or its employees and staff. If you have specific questions for Rivendell Bicycle Works regarding customer service or other issues, you should contact them directly. ============================ Ending Note ============================ I'd be more than happy to continue the discussion on any of the topics mentioned above, but in the interest of clarity, it might make sense to either email me directly or to create a new topic thread specific to your comment. Thanks again for your contributions and enjoyment of the list. Your list admin, -- Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
