Is it just me, or is everyone getting an advert in the header of this site for Raleigh unicycles?
Looking at the models they’re selling, I can’t be sure, but they seem to have lollipop bearing holders?
If so, at the price they are, they could well be duff, with frame crack problems.
Maybe someone with more knowledge could have a look, cos I don’t think it’s appropriate to have an ad for poor quality unis on the header; I often advise people wanting to get into unis to visit this forum.
Coming from Nottingham as I do…
Raleigh used to make good quality bicycles in Nottingham many years ago.
Some time around the 1980s, they fell off the pace. Their products were at the traditional end of the market, and were outclassed by the products of many (or most) other manufacturers.
Now they no longer make bicycles in Nottingham. They still have the ‘Good old English name factor’, but their bikes are made in the far east somewhere.
As for unicycles. I bought my first unicycle in about 1987, in Nottingham, from Halford, a store which stocked many Raleigh products. Halfords only sold Pashley unicycles - made in Stratford - another Midlands city, but much further away.
I assume from this that Raleigh unicycles are a ‘bog standard’ product, made in the far east.
Either way, there are dozens of 'em for sale on ebay.co.uk every day.
Bargepoles spring to mind. And not touching.
Well, when you consider the alternatives:
A) Gilby shoulders the complete financial burden of the site
IV) Pop-ups and pornographic advertisements…
I’d say the status quo is just fine. Enough of us talk about the beauty of Unicycle.com and Daren Bedford within the discussion groups, I see nothing wrong with Gilby selling ad space to other Uni retailers. He should be given extra points for keeping the ad space topical,which very few sites bother to do.
I’m ok with advertising, I just feel that there are issues conerning unicycle adverts.
As this is a very high quality forum full of good advice from people who really know unicycles, and a place where total newbies will visit (like I said, I personally recomend this forum to anyone interested in getting into unicycles); I feel uneasy about the ad.
Any newbie who’s just nipping in for a quick look is in danger of thinking that unicyclist.com recomends the Raleigh unicycle.
Ads for messge boards, e-bay, spanish holidays etc are obviously unconnected with the forum, a uni ad is too close to home.
If there’s going to be uni ads it should at least be for a decent brand.
It’s hard enough to find a seller who wants to pay for advertising, of course.
Interestingly, I found an ad headed by “Unicycles, 3000+ products…” from Amazon. Wow, they have more stuff than I thought!
Upon clicking on the link, I noticed two things:
It opened in the same window. Don’t know if Gilby has a choice, but wouldn’t it be better to open those in a “_blank” window?
The Amazon link took me to a page of “Bestselling Unicycles,” of which it listed “1-0 of 0.” Amazon is a bit presumptious. Shouldn’t they say “0-0 of 0?” 
I notice it says “Ads by Google” at the bottom of the ad space. I suppose if Gilby wanted, he could put something to the effect of “not responsible for products advertised in this space, especially unicycles!”
I assume having an ad space is a necessary evil of providing us such a useful service.
nobody actualy decided that there would be an ad for unicycles there, when you sell adspace to google they search the content of your page and serve up apropriate adverts.
its funny to read your own blog page and see adverts for unicycles and contact juggling balls.
do those ads change fairly regularly?
i’m asking cause i still havent seen the ‘raleigh’ ad that started this thread
as to onewheeldave’s original concerns, i have only two words for u
caveat emptor
I’ve been getting it more than 50% of the time, here’s the page that it links to: -
http://www.bikewizard.co.uk/main/200/_/UNICYCLE
Any chance of a translation? 
I have a feeling you will only see the Raleigh ad if you’re in or near the UK. The ads seem to be location-relevant.
Pretty smart, those Google people. Among other toys, their corporate office has a unicycle in there, left by Jack Halpern on a visit last year.
At the moment one ad is for ‘portable wheelchair lifts’, the other for ‘cheap mobility scooters’; given the recent unicycle injury posts these guys may be even more astute than they seem.
Re: Advert for Raleigh unicycles on this site
On Mon, 6 Oct 2003 16:08:32 -0500, nbrazzi
<nbrazzi.uwbyy@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>Well, when you consider the alternatives:
>
>A) Gilby shoulders the complete financial burden of the site
>
>2) We pay a membership charge for use of the site.
>
>IV) Pop-ups and pornographic advertisements…
You skipped iii) which reads Ditch the forums and go back to the good
old newsgroup which is intrinsically free of charge.
If the crank is moving then it really sounds as if it’s loose. - onewheeldave trying to pinpoint the cause of a clicking crank
I saw them (20" & 24") in the Raleigh shop window in Bridlington and they look almost the same as the Dodger that Roger sells.
Gary
Rogers Dodgers are cheaper than the Raleigh unis, plus you get a free stand, free book and great customer support.
Couldn’t figure out why i hadn’t seen the ads…then i remembered…configured my hosts file to block out most ads a long time ago! Wonder what else i’m missing!
Chuck
Thanks for the nice comments.
We know about the Raleigh, and to be honist it is because of them that we still sell the dodger. We would be much happier not to sell the lollypop bearing houseing due to it’s frame breaking problems. The one thing you did not mention as a difference is that ours come with a quick release, not a manky bolt, it is the way I can tell at a glance the difference.
In our defence for selling the dodger after slagging it off, it is a good unicycles for small children and at a good price. We also can support it with spares…
Roger