Bentrider Online Forum
 

Has anyone here a member of the "Bentrider Online Forum". I haven't accessed it for > a month and it won't boot up/ Generally I get an error message about security (I use a MacBook). Just wondering what's going on. It could be the security on my compute. Thanks....

It is a site problem, supposedly being worked on......soon.

Their IT guy seems to really be slow fixing the problem.

Even before the current technical problems, the BROL site’s security certificate was expired, which can cause warnings about user security when accessing.

Site has been down or debilitatingly slow for quite a while. Weeks I guess.

Re: the certificate, indeed. The issue generates either a warning or blocks the site, depending on what computer I'm using. That's been the case for a very long time.

The fix for me has been to access through https instead of http. Makes a huge difference. Try it.

I've tried that and even after deleting my cookies, it still won't load.

Rather maddening it is taking so long. This forum and that one are my favorite forum I visit most every day.

Using the https I managed to log in for the first time since before Christmas.It's unfortunate (but understandable) that Bryan has other priorities.

I've only used https to try to access it. No go on my browsers, Safari, Chrome, and Edge.

I've been able to get it to load; however there is long lag between pages and occasionally I'll get a 404 and have to reload.

I think the BROL server is hosed. Seems to be a server resources issue. I imagine the website is on a virtual server that has reached it's limits. Bryan has been an absentee administrator for a couple of years, so not sure for how much longer BROL will be a viable resource for us bent riders.

It is back up today, at least on my laptop. I accessed it immediately prior to Bike Forums.

Here instead?
 

This may need to be our new forum...here instead?

Not working for me. Getting various errors.

Yes, it has been frustratingly flakey for a long time, prior to this recent catastrophe. It is a great resource, but it clearly needs to be transitioned over to some more professional forum support service, such as IO or something else. Any chance that Bryan, et al, could be persuaded to such a move?

In terms of a new forum, I have been enjoying reading the stuff at recumbents.com. For such a lightly used forum, it has a lot of really good stuff. Could be a viable alternative.

I agree with you on the Recumbents.com forum. It's a good forum. It's a shame it has such little use. Definitely could be an alternative.

Almost!! Slowly loaded first page. Able to get to message board. Then it failed moving to technical discussions. So close. In the past it seemed to help if I allowed each page to fully load. I haven't been able to get on for a few days now. Using https does nothing for me and my laptop. It's kind of cold turkey but perhaps this will cure my addiction.:lol:

I haven't tried logging in with https but, even if that worked ... if other users are experiencing such severe issues with logging in and there remain serious issues ongoing with administration ... at what point does the user experience degrade to the point where it is no longer viable as a platform for exchange of ideas or community? The only problem with 'here' as an alternative is the fact that BROL, for better or worse, had the bent focus nailed. This recumbent subforum is a catch all for all things ... bent. Will that 'chafe' going forward? What if some 'crank forward' mouth breathers want to ragchew on some aspect of that niche? Time will tell.

Bryan has been working on the BROL website and it seems to be fixed. For the last two days I have had no issues accessing the forum.

Service Temporarily Unavailable

I haven't been able to use the forum for close to a month....including today. Hoping Brian gets it straightened out soon.

When I try to use the https:// set up, I get a nasty error code message, when I use http:// I can get in but it's SUPER SLOW at best I can't figrue why the https:// works so well for other but doesn't work for me at all? Maybe it's my slow internet (no high speed internet, use a T-Mobile hotspot as we have unlimited data package on the phone, which I hook up to on my laptop. It's slow but it works well on BIKE FORMS which is the same format as bentrideronline.com for the msg board, RATS! :(

I just tried the https:// gateway and got the main page right away. The message board link took about 15 seconds to activate. I haven't been able to move in further. No sub-forums respond and certainly no threads. Even if someone manages to get inside to post in a thread, who is going to see it if so many are having access issues?

BROL generally not functional as a discussion forum in its current state. Hope it can be revived.