07/13/00
Consumers Connect With Fellow Enthusiasts Through Sites Originally
Established for Product Research
SUNNYVALE, Calif., - July 13, 2000 - Jay Uehling, a River Falls,
Wis., trophy manufacturer, didn't want to spend thousands of dollars
for a mountain bike so he decided to assemble his own. He built
his bike using parts shipped to him by people he met on a Web site
devoted to mountain biking. Uehling's sources were other mountain
biking enthusiasts he's chatted with on MtbREVIEW.com, one of 18
Web sites that comprise ConsumerREVIEW.com ( http://www.consumerreview.com/
), a leading source for consumer product information on the Web.
"I bought parts like wheels, the bike frame, and crampons for
climbing on ice from other users," said Uehling. "I basically
put the bike together from the site, and it only cost about $500
to build. If I had bought a comparable bike from a store, I would
have spent close to $1,600."
The sites started out as places for consumers to research purchases
via product reviews written by other consumers. With more than 1.7
million users, the ConsumerREVIEW.com network of sites has increasingly
become a community of people with like interests who swap stories
about their hobbies or even arrange offline get-togethers to share
experiences.
Pharmaceutical tester Jason Rusk of Lafayette, Colo., finds that
these sites are great places to set up meetings with like-minded
enthusiasts. Through SnowboarderREVIEW.com he's formed a friendship
with an Atlanta, Ga., resident who snowboarded with Rusk in the
Rockies.
"There's a lot of camaraderie on the site," Rusk said.
"A lot of the people posting messages have extensive knowledge
of the snowboarding industry and the technology. I've gotten a lot
of advice on equipment maintenance and tips on how to get better
performance."
Alan Keller, a University of San Francisco student, will be fishing
Idaho's Snake River in August with other fly-fishing enthusiasts
that he met through FlyFishingREVIEW.com. He not only appreciates
the site for making such connections, but also for giving him good
advice.
"A lot of times people working in fly shops want to sell you
big ticket items, but they haven't used them extensively in the
field," he reflected. "It's good to get an opinion through
FlyFishingREVIEW.com from someone who has been on a lake or a river
with that piece of equipment and fished with it 50 times."
Charles Pickens, a San Leandro, Calif., software engineer, has met
a number of people through MtbREVIEW.com. Recently, he hosted a
weekend tour of San Francisco-area parks that attracted 72 mountain
bikers from places like New York, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kentucky, Oregon,
and Alberta--and all of them learned about the tour from MtbREVIEW.com.
Pickens also has traveled to British Columbia, Ontario, Pennsylvania,
Arizona and Colorado to bike with other MtbREVIEW.com users.
When he started visiting MtbREVIEW.com four years ago, Pickens was
an admitted novice about the sport. "I was in the market for
a bike, but I didn't know a lot about them," he explained.
"I originally came to the site looking for product information,
and then I found that you could get referrals from other people
and that they would respond to your questions. I've been hooked
on the site ever since."
These users have found that ConsumerREVIEW.com's tight-knit community
has not only made them smarter consumers, but also enhanced their
friendships by linking them with fellow enthusiasts from across
the country.
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