The End Of An Era: FinalGear.com's Main Site Retired, Forums Will Live On

Bummer. Been coming here since 2006. Appreciate the access to TG, well before you could legally stream it!
 
Thanks for your work over the years.

BBC, Top Gear: Sod off. I'm done. And don't expect me to buy your crappy iTunes versions available in North America.
 
I've been a long time lurker since the early 2000s.
The news is disappointing to say the least. However, the forum is the heart of the website anyway.
Here's to many more years.
 
Didn't go through the whole 10 pages of comments here but if it hasn't been mentioned, Top Gear & BBC also owe a big thanks to the final gear team. This site has done great for popularizing the show all across the world without the BBC having to shell out a single penny in advertising. I Don't think these TG Live shows would have been so popular around the world if not for the fans around the world having access to the shows via internet. Plus the finalgear community has been a great instant feedback source for the TG producers through out the years. Don't want to wait 6-8 months of edited TG shows on my local BBC channel with ads in between.
 
Thanks Viper and the team :cheers:, you did a great job on running the site for the last decade. I think the global success of Top Gear can surely be attributed at least partially to this site.
 
I just noticed the main site is down. Took over a month for me to realize. Frankly I don't care much about it. I've been on the forum on a daily basis and occasionally join the chat, if I have some time and really only used the main page for research on Top Gear episodes and the occasional download. And I guess there are alternatives for that.

I joined the forum in March 2008, right when I learned about Top Gear through YouTube, went enthusiastic about it and found this community. In time my priorities have changed. Top Gear doesn't thrill me as much anymore as it did 6 years ago. I'm not feverishly awaiting the next season anymore. It has gotten a bit stale to be honest and I'm at a point now, where I probably wouldn't miss the show much, if it was cancelled. Rewatching the brilliant earlier seasons 3 to 10 is still fun, though, when they really made an effort in the studio, too, interacted with the audience and didn't only appear to lead over to the next film...

So I say good riddence to the website and I fully agree with what many have said here before: As long as the forum and the community stay on, everything's fine.
 
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I just stumbled across the site after thinking it went kaput along with the streams etc...
I have to agree with the others who say Finalgear popularized the show in a big way for people who never had it air where they live. (Myself included)
Im glad to see the forums are still up though. Lots of familiar ... faces?
 
Well shit, that sucks. I don't agree with your decision to remove the main site just because you couldn't host the torrents anymore.. there was a lot to like about the main site other than just the torrent links, which we could find anywhere.

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where do you legally stream it? Netflix won't have new episodes for a while. And since we don't have dish or cable I can't get BBC america.

You don't legally stream it, you find other sources to torrent it in HD, of which there are many ;)
 
Is it not legal to distribute something shown in free-tv?

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Thank's a lot guys!

And thank's a lot TG-team for the marvelous show! But from now on, I am going to boycott it. This was my last season, bye!

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I have to agree with the others who say Finalgear popularized the show in a big way for people who never had it air where they live. (Myself included)
100% agree. I'm almost sure, the end of this site will be the downfall of the show and the end of the worldwide popularity. However, the time is ripe for the TG-UK anyway, since Jeremy and James also might retire soon.
 
Is it not legal to distribute something shown in free-tv?

What is shown in "free TV?", top gear? No, I think the BBC is a paid service
 
I'm a bit confused here -- you never actually hosted the content? It's pretty hard for them to make a case against you when you're only linking to content, not actually hosting it or providing it. It's how torrent sites keep in the game.
 
I'm a bit confused here -- you never actually hosted the content? It's pretty hard for them to make a case against you when you're only linking to content, not actually hosting it or providing it. It's how torrent sites keep in the game.

It's certainly a grey area, one that we didn't want to fight to sort out.
 
Would we be able to access the episode ratings in an aggregated format like before? I'm trying to introduce my buddies to Top Gear and want to get them hooked on some of the more epic episodes but don't remember which ones were the most enjoyable. If there was a way to access all the ratings like previously, that would be awesome!

Thanks.
 
Would we be able to access the episode ratings in an aggregated format like before? I'm trying to introduce my buddies to Top Gear and want to get them hooked on some of the more epic episodes but don't remember which ones were the most enjoyable. If there was a way to access all the ratings like previously, that would be awesome!

Thanks.

The ratings were pulled from the polls from each discussion thread, for example: http://forums.finalgear.com/top-gear-episode-discussions/poll-1544-a/

Unfortunately there's no way to view an aggregate of the results. Maybe I'll throw together something one day (but probably not :/).
 
I've not posted for a while but I am very sorry to see the main site go.
Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish.
 
I can't thank the team enough. I spent many years always anxiously awaiting the torrents to get my fix. I looked forward to it all week. When I was traveling all of the US for work, I always had my laptop ready to settle and watch no matter what city I was in.

It's a shame that the obvious branding you, and this site created for Top Gear isn't clear to folks at the legal helm. I am not a marketing wiz, but have worked with high level folks, and I know that social media of all types falls into that old phrase that any publicity is good publicity. That is essentially what social media provides. Shutting ANY outlet down is ridiculous and short sited. I could see if there was a measurable loss of revenue, but since for most if not all the years there was no option for us in the U.S, except your site. Building the brand here, which was indirectly free for them was so much more valuable than they are realizing.

I wish you all the best, and wanted to make sure to give my sincere thanks from this gear head. By the way I went to the ring this year again for the destination nurburgring double track day. My second time. Hope you had a great time on yours in August.

Best.
 
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