barracuda
I live for the CABE
Agree completely. It's like reading a magazine, all interactivity gone. I tell ya, as more of a buyer than a seller, it's a crippling change. I've relied upon the discussions surrounding "for sale" items for the purposes of understanding not only the value of bicycles, but more importantly - correctness. I LOVED it when there was a dispute over the price of a ride, over what year an item was from, over whether the bike had or didn't have incorrect parts. It was my chance to watch people with genuine knowledge discuss a topic with actual skin in the game. This is what happens ever single day at a swap meet, or flea market, or an auction. The buyers and sellers pick the pieces apart, argue over it, pointing and talking, or elbowing each other out of the way to offer more money. Here, someone can pop up with a post showing actual literature about the piece, and it adds to the body of knowledge.
I realize there was a degree of shilling going on, after a while you can sense it. And though I find that distasteful, it does help to move product. People need to sell their bikes, and it can stir up a sale if somebody (or their sock account) comes forward and says, "deal of the day!", or "won't last long at this price" or some other obvious sale patter.
I guess I'm saying I think it should be a free-for-all. Anything goes. The quality will rise to the top, as it always does. The discussion makes it more like a real life sale. Barring that, there should be a dedicated sub-forum for sale discussions, though the lag time between posting the item and looking at the discussion threads would render this solution less than potent.
Right now it's like reading a newspaper classified ad section.
[video=youtube;BPlsqo2bk2M]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPlsqo2bk2M[/video]
