http://forums.bicycletutor.com/ Wed, 16 May 2012 10:59:33 -0500 MyBB http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-3185.html Thu, 02 Jun 2011 20:00:32 -0500 http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-3185.html
They just finished a front derailleur adjustment tutorial... details below the video on this page:

http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-front-derailer/

]]>
They just finished a front derailleur adjustment tutorial... details below the video on this page:

http://bicycletutor.com/adjust-front-derailer/

]]> http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-3037.html Sun, 08 May 2011 13:08:05 -0500 http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-3037.html membership sign-up form. I've started charging a small monthly fee for access to all of the video tutorials. Once you are logged in you'll be able to watch any of the videos. Members will also have access to all future tutorials as long as your membership remains active. You can cancel at any time and you will still be able to login and watch videos until the end of the term you've paid for.

NOTE: The help forums will remain free, but require a separate registration/login.

Bicycle Tutor currently runs at a loss and is badly in need of funding. I sincerely wish I could keep the videos free for everyone, but in reality that is just not feasible. I will be keeping the membership fees as low as possible to ensure the videos remain accessible to many people.

A few things membership fees will fund:

• Hundreds of new video tutorials.
• Rent for a small permanent studio/office space.
• Purchasing of bikes and components to cover all makes.
• Full-time wages for myself and a few technical staff.
• Development of smartphone video apps.
  

Initially it'll take me a few months to get set-up and rolling at full steam. I'm really excited about the possibilities and am keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks to everyone who's been patiently waiting for new tutorials!]]> membership sign-up form. I've started charging a small monthly fee for access to all of the video tutorials. Once you are logged in you'll be able to watch any of the videos. Members will also have access to all future tutorials as long as your membership remains active. You can cancel at any time and you will still be able to login and watch videos until the end of the term you've paid for.

NOTE: The help forums will remain free, but require a separate registration/login.

Bicycle Tutor currently runs at a loss and is badly in need of funding. I sincerely wish I could keep the videos free for everyone, but in reality that is just not feasible. I will be keeping the membership fees as low as possible to ensure the videos remain accessible to many people.

A few things membership fees will fund:

• Hundreds of new video tutorials.
• Rent for a small permanent studio/office space.
• Purchasing of bikes and components to cover all makes.
• Full-time wages for myself and a few technical staff.
• Development of smartphone video apps.
  

Initially it'll take me a few months to get set-up and rolling at full steam. I'm really excited about the possibilities and am keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks to everyone who's been patiently waiting for new tutorials!]]> http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-2104.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 17:12:35 -0500 http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-2104.html
First of all, I really appreciate everyone's support and patience. It's been so incredible to hear how many people like the tutorials and want to see more. Unfortunately due to time and money restraints (and the fact it's a one-man show) I haven't been able to post new tutorials as often as I would like. The list of requests continues to grow and I have had a hard time keeping up, especially considering each video takes me 2 full days to produce. I've been running the site out of pocket and doing what I can in my spare time. Just keeping the site running smoothly takes up most of my time and money. Donations and DVD orders have helped lighten the load and are appreciated but don't come close to covering costs. I had originally thought advertising methods would provide the needed funds, but they just don't seem to work on this site due to the nature of the content. I have now given up on that idea and have started consulting with some business professionals for ideas.

I am now working on a new plan to get the site out of debt and towards financial success. I have some fresh ideas that I'll be trying out over the next few months so you'll see some changes. The goal is for the site to make enough funds so that I can treat it as a full time job, and also have the resources to order the bikes, components and tools needed to continue what I started.

Priorities for the future:

1. Video tutorials. To date we have almost 50 videos but it still seems like only a fraction compared to how many topics people have requested, as well as all the other topics I would like to do. I'm expecting at some point we'll have at least 200+ videos just to cover all the basic maintenance and repair topics. At some point I'd also like to expand the content to include other topics like product reviews, riding techniques, etc.

2. Mobile apps. A lot of people want to be able to use the site on their smartphones (blackberry, iphone, etc). For a while I was offering video downloads for a small fee, but I found that system took way too much work to manage, and there were a lot of technical and compatibility issues. At some point I plan to hire some professionals to develop some trouble-free mobile apps to fill this demand.

3. DVDs. I will to continue make DVD volumes available every 25 videos. So far they are strictly chronological, but in the future I will revamp them in a more comprehensive way (all the basics on volume 1, etc.)

4. Studio space. I'm currently filming in the kitchen of my small apartment. This worked in the beginning but has now become a real annoyance. I basically have to rearrange my house every time I make a video. In the near future I hope to rent a larger house with a garage or a proper space for a permanent set where everything is always set up so I can just walk in and record.

5. Website improvements. I've basically pieced together different pieces of software to make the site work (wordpress, mybb, etc). For now this works fine, but as the site grows I will be looking to hire some developers to rework the site so it is even easier for visitors to browse and find what they are looking for. It might not seem obvious on the surface, but in the back end things could flow a lot better.

Those are my main priorities, and I've got plenty of other ideas and resources I'd like to build for you all in the future. Feel free to add your thoughts and suggestions on this thread. Thanks!]]>
First of all, I really appreciate everyone's support and patience. It's been so incredible to hear how many people like the tutorials and want to see more. Unfortunately due to time and money restraints (and the fact it's a one-man show) I haven't been able to post new tutorials as often as I would like. The list of requests continues to grow and I have had a hard time keeping up, especially considering each video takes me 2 full days to produce. I've been running the site out of pocket and doing what I can in my spare time. Just keeping the site running smoothly takes up most of my time and money. Donations and DVD orders have helped lighten the load and are appreciated but don't come close to covering costs. I had originally thought advertising methods would provide the needed funds, but they just don't seem to work on this site due to the nature of the content. I have now given up on that idea and have started consulting with some business professionals for ideas.

I am now working on a new plan to get the site out of debt and towards financial success. I have some fresh ideas that I'll be trying out over the next few months so you'll see some changes. The goal is for the site to make enough funds so that I can treat it as a full time job, and also have the resources to order the bikes, components and tools needed to continue what I started.

Priorities for the future:

1. Video tutorials. To date we have almost 50 videos but it still seems like only a fraction compared to how many topics people have requested, as well as all the other topics I would like to do. I'm expecting at some point we'll have at least 200+ videos just to cover all the basic maintenance and repair topics. At some point I'd also like to expand the content to include other topics like product reviews, riding techniques, etc.

2. Mobile apps. A lot of people want to be able to use the site on their smartphones (blackberry, iphone, etc). For a while I was offering video downloads for a small fee, but I found that system took way too much work to manage, and there were a lot of technical and compatibility issues. At some point I plan to hire some professionals to develop some trouble-free mobile apps to fill this demand.

3. DVDs. I will to continue make DVD volumes available every 25 videos. So far they are strictly chronological, but in the future I will revamp them in a more comprehensive way (all the basics on volume 1, etc.)

4. Studio space. I'm currently filming in the kitchen of my small apartment. This worked in the beginning but has now become a real annoyance. I basically have to rearrange my house every time I make a video. In the near future I hope to rent a larger house with a garage or a proper space for a permanent set where everything is always set up so I can just walk in and record.

5. Website improvements. I've basically pieced together different pieces of software to make the site work (wordpress, mybb, etc). For now this works fine, but as the site grows I will be looking to hire some developers to rework the site so it is even easier for visitors to browse and find what they are looking for. It might not seem obvious on the surface, but in the back end things could flow a lot better.

Those are my main priorities, and I've got plenty of other ideas and resources I'd like to build for you all in the future. Feel free to add your thoughts and suggestions on this thread. Thanks!]]> http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-2103.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:08:40 -0500 http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-2103.html Rapha was very kind to send me their workshop apron for free with no strings attached! I am really impressed with the simplicity and quality of the apron, so I'll be retiring my dirty old park apron for upcoming videos.

Thanks Rapha!

[attachment=1478]]]> Rapha was very kind to send me their workshop apron for free with no strings attached! I am really impressed with the simplicity and quality of the apron, so I'll be retiring my dirty old park apron for upcoming videos.

Thanks Rapha!

[attachment=1478]]]> http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-903.html Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:34:03 -0600 http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-903.html Lefora Labs to do an interview about our forums. He had some interesting questions and has posted the interview here if you want to check it out.

Lefora offers a service that lets you create your own forum for free. I haven't tried it, but after reading through their features it looks like a great place to start if you want to add a forum to your website.

Thanks for the exposure Dan :-)]]> Lefora Labs to do an interview about our forums. He had some interesting questions and has posted the interview here if you want to check it out.

Lefora offers a service that lets you create your own forum for free. I haven't tried it, but after reading through their features it looks like a great place to start if you want to add a forum to your website.

Thanks for the exposure Dan :-)]]> http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-836.html Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:08:52 -0600 http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-836.html firefox (recommended), I set up a search add-on for this site. While on the homepage http://bicycletutor.com (or other areas of the site) you can easily add it by clicking the dropdown menu to the left of your search box, and then click 'Add BicycleTutor.com' (see attached screenshot).

It's also been submitted to mozilla for the general public, but is in 'experimental' phase pending approval from editors. The mozilla page is here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/57993/

Hope you find it useful :-) let me know if you have any problems.]]> firefox (recommended), I set up a search add-on for this site. While on the homepage http://bicycletutor.com (or other areas of the site) you can easily add it by clicking the dropdown menu to the left of your search box, and then click 'Add BicycleTutor.com' (see attached screenshot).

It's also been submitted to mozilla for the general public, but is in 'experimental' phase pending approval from editors. The mozilla page is here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/57993/

Hope you find it useful :-) let me know if you have any problems.]]> http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-821.html Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:33:55 -0600 http://forums.bicycletutor.com/thread-821.html
We have outgrown the current hosting provider's capabilities, and as a result I've started having problems keeping the site online safely and reliably. I've also grown tired of having to do so much work to monitor the site and keep hackers and spammers at bay. Most of my time is spent doing background work to keep it running. Obviously I'd like to spend more time on the front-end producing more tutorials.

I've been researching hosts and services to find one right for us. I've finally found an excellent host located in Chicago. The cost is 4 times as much as I'm paying now, but it should provide lighting fast speeds and a team of professionals who will manage the server security and reliability for us.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a worthwhile investment!]]>
We have outgrown the current hosting provider's capabilities, and as a result I've started having problems keeping the site online safely and reliably. I've also grown tired of having to do so much work to monitor the site and keep hackers and spammers at bay. Most of my time is spent doing background work to keep it running. Obviously I'd like to spend more time on the front-end producing more tutorials.

I've been researching hosts and services to find one right for us. I've finally found an excellent host located in Chicago. The cost is 4 times as much as I'm paying now, but it should provide lighting fast speeds and a team of professionals who will manage the server security and reliability for us.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will be a worthwhile investment!]]>