User:Janixpacle/Pinoy Roadies

Pinoy Roadies or PinoyRoadies.org started in November 13, 2006 as a spin-off from PMTB. It was created by Janix Pacle as a means of linking Filipino road cyclists all over the world to discuss and share their experiences and information.

It is also the first road cycling dedicated internet forum in the Philippines.

Its status as a team failed to be established since some members would like to keep its club status where other cycling teams can join and discuss.

History
Pinoy Roadies was an offshoot from an older internet forum PMTB, which is mainly about mountain biking.

In November 13 2006, Jan Xavier Pacle known as Janix, created a free web forum which still exists, but is inactive. Two months later, the forum has its own domain name and is currently one of the largest internet cycling forum in the country.

PR has also been featured in ABS-CBN Northern Luzon's MagTVna Atin To last July 24, 2008 as a medium for cyclists to get together and interact with other Filipino cyclists around the world.

Name


The name Pinoy Roadies is a combination of English and a Filipino slang. "Pinoy" was used in honor of the original mother website, and also because it is short and easy to remember. Roadies is the term given by cyclists to cyclists who rides road bikes. It should not be confused with motorcycle roadies.

The name may also be abbreviated to PR.

Logo
Red, blue and yellow are the main colors of the logo, which are taken from the Philippine Flag.

The PR logo has gone two minor changes since its creation.

The first logo was an FSA carbon compact crank that has been vectorized. Although the aim was to show that road cycling can also be dirty at times like the Paris-Roubaix, it was heavily criticized for looking  too "dirty" which is attributed to mountain biking.

The previous logo was redesigned by Dennis Datu, a member, to what is being used currently.

Another logo was proposed by Philip Pacle, a leading graphic artist and also a retired Philippine Team athlete, but wasn't used.

Team Jerseys


The PR team kit or sometimes referred to as PR jersey has also gone to two revisions. The main rule of the jersey is that it should always bear the Philippine Flag, the logo of PR and the URL of the forum.



First Generation Jersey
The first generation PR jersey was designed by Dennis Datu, also an avid cyclist, was released in 2006. It included the then active sponsor Janix Pacle Photography (www.janixpaclephotography.com, now inactive) in the jersey. The jersey cannot be considered as team kit since it did not have bib shorts.

Second Generation Kit
The second generation of the PR jersey was designed by Philip Pacle. The JanixPaclePhotography.com logo was removed and was replaced with BikeTradesPH.com logo. Bike Trades Philippines is the sister website of PR and is also the first website in the Philippines that deals with bicycle buy and sell.

The second generation kit now has bib shorts that was designed by Axzel, a member, and was slightly modified by the manufacturer to match the design of the jersey.



Other Jerseys
There are also several jerseys made where the PR logo is included. One of these is the Renewable Energy campaign by Noel Alanguilan. His jersey featured windmills and a small logo and URL of PR in the back.

Membership
Membership is open and free not just to Filipinos but also to other nationalities as well, Filipino-speaking or not. There are few non-Filipino speaking registered members as well.

Downtime Issues
PR has suffered some web downtime issues in the server side. The longest downtime recorded was in January 2009, after the host performed an emergency maintenance. Everything else was fine but the scripts of the site were severly damaged. PR became inaccessible for almost a month. But members where quick to create temporary portals in order to keep in touch with fellow members. The forum is also being supported financially by donations of fellow members and through fund raising projects.

The Future of PinoyRoadies
PR's future is uncertain as the site has been abandoned by its owner, Janix Pacle. It is now only sometimes moderated by a member codenamed "Oka", and is visited only by a handful of active members every month. The regular downtimes have also contributed to the gradual decline of the forum as less and less bother to visit the site which is likely to be always in some type of downtime.

Trolls & Lurkers
PR is also inhabited by trolls and lurkers who have been ostracized by the group in the past. Despite "leaving" the forum some 5-6 years ago, they continue to visit and sometimes criticize current members as a form of "redemption" for the outcasting they experienced in PR. How they will cope when PR goes down for good, is a question that will be answered soon.