Originally Posted by
Happy Feet
I guess I just don't see, if you believe there is no place for such discussions on bike touring forums you are here having the discussion. That is the hypocrisy.
Huh? The debate is about whether or not motorized bicycles have a place in a "bicycle touring" forum. How am I being hypocritical by participating in the discussion? Having an opinion in a meta-discussion about what should be included cannot be hypocritical, otherwise by definition you'd never be able to have any such debates at all.
How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go on this one? I'm a programmer, and pretty good at recursive thinking, I'll warn you.
If I were in the same position I think I would maintain my decision and just not discuss E bikes in bike touring forums. I would be in luck because I would belong to a forum that reflects my POV (seeing that I control the content).
Ok, that's your prerogative... but for me personally, just because I run a different website doesn't mean that I can't participate in other forums - especially if a debate arises where people with a point of view that mirrors my own are being labeled as trolls and asked to leave the room. I don't participate in bikeforums much, but if I feel something needs saying, then I'll say it.
But yes, you are allowed here, and you are allowed to voice your POV, and I hope E bike riders are also allowed here to enjoy the same freedom you both deny others and adopt for yourself concurrently.
Ah, but that's the very matter under discussion, isn't it? That is the point of contention. Maybe you need to ponder the difference between regular discussions and meta-discussions (discussions about discussions), which is what we're having here. You're saying that "since Neil has the right to come here and say that x shouldn't be part of the discourse on the bicycle touring forum, therefore I should have the right to discuss x". See, doesn't make much sense in terms of logic, since you are in effect mixing apples and oranges.
All that being said, I'm not really interested in having discussions about whether discussions about discussions are the same as the discussions under discussion, so if it's ok I'm going to go do some carpentry to clear my head.
Neil