One short paragraph that describes this site

Question

I asked the BTA in Portland, Oregon if we can get a link from their site, and they asked for a paragraph for their FAQ. Can anyone come up with a single paragraph that would both describe this site and explain the Stack Exchange concept? It's important to keep it accesible.

I always have trouble explaining this quickly and briefly when talking to friends.

Concepts:

• Site is about bicycles of all kinds - mechanical stuff, riding technique, et cetera
• Question and Answer format - You can ask questions or answer them
• Content gets voted up (or down), so is more reliable than forums
• Site just came out of beta and we're psyched about that

The audience is bikers in the Portland area, but I figure we can use this for other publicity as well.

Answer 1

Editing Robert's start

Bicycles.stackexchange.com is the no-nonsense bicycle enthusiast Q&A. Instead of wading through a lot of random discussion to get to the good stuff, the best answers are always voted to the top!

Might be a little too brief, but what can I say, Twitter has made me a brevity enthusiast. :)

Answer 2

I've used the text in Jeff and Robert's answers to come up with something in-between the two, and something modular that can be easily broken apart.

• The first paragraph below will stand on its own, as a high-level summary.
• If there's more room, the first and second paragraphs work well together.
• When we have lot of room, all of the text below (including example questions) will give a good picture of the site.

I used a lot of commuting questions here since that's one of the BTA's focuses. Obviously, example questions could be changed based on where this is being published, or updated over time. What do people think? Can this be improved further? Have made this community wiki, please feel free to edit.

---

Bicycles.stackexchange.com is the no-nonsense bicycle enthusiast Q&A built by users. Instead of wading through a lot of random discussion to get to the good stuff, the best answers are always voted to the top!

Bicycles is one of many sites on the Stack Exchange network that synthesizes the best aspects of wikis, blogs, and forums, in a way that results in almost all questions getting great answers, often stunningly quickly. You don’t have to register, but if you do, you collect reputation points for your great answers and establish yourself as a top bicycle expert!

But don't take our word for it; here are examples of questions that have gotten great answers.

• Practical cleaning routine for a commuter bike

• What are the disadvantages of “puncture proof” (or puncture resistant) tires?

• How do I change a road bike into a commuter bike?

• Why do cyclists prefer messenger bags over backpacks?

Answer 3

I love the /about pages on Stack Exchange and on Bicycles SE for their quick, concise explanation about what make your site special. Take a look at those pages and pick out the bits and pieces you find most intriguing.

Here's my take on it (below). Feel free to fix the specific details, tighten it up a bit, and stop wherever it gets too long:

Bicycles.stackexchange.com is an expert knowledge exchange: a place where bicycle enthusiast from around the world help each other with detailed technical questions about bicycles and bicycle repair, professional training, or just commuting to work. You start with a question, and members of the community propose answers. Others vote on those answers and, very quickly, the best answers rise to the top. You don’t have to read through a lot of discussion to find right solution! Our focus on an expert bicycle community results in an astonishing 99.7% of questions getting great answers, often stunningly quickly. Our Q&A forum synthesizes the best aspects of wikis, blogs, forums, and voting in a way that we think is original. The site is free and open to everyone. You don’t have to register, but if you do, you collect reputation points for your great answers and establish yourself as a top bicycle expert!

It's a start.

Answer 4

I posted this as a note on my Facebook page:

The site for Q+A about Bicycles https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/ has recently "graduated from beta".

I've had a good experience there:

• my questions answered, by knowledgeable people.
• any precise question (about bicycles)
• professional (or at least experienced); but unbiased (people not trying to sell anything to you but their own point of view, and even that is free)
• moderated (people vote on question and answers, spam is deleted)
• almost always several answers for each question
• ability (using comments) for you to have supplementary Q+A with each person who answers your original question

Or ask me, but if it's about bicycles then that site may be more knowledgeable than me.

We're into August: one more month of summer, before labour day! Get to it!

If you reformatted to use a semi-colons instead of bulleted list items, it could look like a paragraph.