I think they should review scabby old mondeos, Ragley Tis and cracked Cotic Hemlocks. Possibly also never-ridden Orange 224s. I’d buy that mag.

Shhh Hemlocks never cracked

Honestly, try some LJK Setright, Russell Bulgin, George Bishop or Phil Llewellyn.

I have quite a few old issues where they’re the four columnists – sadly it’s a bit like watching Dad’s Army: “He’s dead. He’s dead now. He’s dead too. Saw him in Islington shortly before he died…” Four fine reasons why I get so frustrated with the quality of writing in the bike world…

Much as I like Car magazine and have bought it for years and years, they’ve never tested nor indeed acknowledged the existence of the car I’ve been driving for the last decade!

When Singletrack try to write about riding bikes they talk about the view, the cake, the beer, the coffee… They occasionally mention pedalling. I’m not sure they’ve ever acknowledged the existence of corners… Still, if you’re into whimsical mincing as opposed to mincecore-lite then it’s perfect! 😉

I know. 😐

Steve Worland’s untimely death got me that way too.

Roland Brown is very, very good if you’re into motorbikes.
As are Dan Walsh, Alan Cathcart and many of the travel/op ed journos on Bike & Motorcycle Sport and Leisure mag.

Worth a read.

You’re probably not the core readership then.

to be honest I dont see why they cant do articles such as a top gear style £500 budget bike. I.E. get a cheap used bike and see how they fare against newer bikes at twice the price and other tests such as that. Yes they arent directly advertising new products but they would highlighting how well built bikes are if they are in good condition and perform well.

Questions regarding used bikes are also commonplace on here too so it would be good to get their perspective on it.

Playing devil’s advocate, how many of us actually buy the mag for the gear reviews? It’s the other articles that are the more interesting bit IMHO; if I want pages of test, there’s WMB.

As this is still going, and nobody else seems to have made this point, where I was aiming for was that:

is incorrect. I own more than one £4k bike, and am far from rich (I’ve never been in the top half of readership incomes according to the survey).

But the van feature has attracted an order of magnitude fewer complaints than our infamous pedal car feature of yore

now I missed that – which issue?

Can we submit articles to the mag?

I used to subscribe to the mag a long, long time ago when it was about grown men pissing about on bikes over the moors of Calderdale. When they weren’t doing this they were doing other silly stuff like the pedal car story which, again, appealed to me greatly. There was a distinct feeling that the kit they tested they had quite often bought or blagged directly from the manufacturers, and the bikes were stuff I could, usually afford.

However, over the years the success of the magazine has led to it having a bigger voice within the industry and they get more opportunities to obtain, and test, higher end stuff; the Fresh Goods is a lot bigger and contains much pricier stuff than of yore.

The demographics of the core readership developed as the hobby became more popular and it has attracted a significant number of people who are affluent. The magazine, as a business, has to recognise this and respond appropriately – they would be pretty stupid not to.

I am still just a bloke who generally rides bikes over the moors of Calderdale on an oldish, slightly rusty and wobbly selection of bikes and enjoy messing about with them and related stuff.

I haven’t changed but the pastime and it’s participants have, and so has the magazine.

I don’t think people like me and the OP are the core readership anymore so I don’t buy the mag. Reckon the OP should do the same.

I’m more interested in components than bikes, I would question whether the magazine needs a bike test every issue – often the bikes are too different to actually compare.

shirley the issue is with bike mfrs only sending out the top of the line spec for testing, im sure most bikes ride lovely with enve wheels, xx1 and titanium dustcaps

which is why they want their bikes reviewed at that level, everything gets a great write up

and when you buy the lower spec model you can convince yourself youre on a 5 star bike

Time for a poll – what percentage of readers ride an off-the-peg bike?

I only ever read a cheaper bike (or whatever) review when I’m actually planning on buying something – and like most people (I imagine) that doesn’t actually happen that often. For the rest of the time I’d rather look at lottery-win bikes, and dream…

I’ve never bought a complete bike 8)

I don’t really lust over bikes, just want them to work preferably for a long time. Maybe that’s why mags don’t appeal.

Complete bikes? 3 of the current fleet/stable/quiver, but 1 of those has been significantly changed.

Out of the bikes I currently own, the x-bike and the tandem were bought complete, though the tandem had a lot of mods on purchase (flat bars to drops…) I suppose the fixie also came complete (s/h), but with gears when I got it.

I have 6 other bikes built up from bits.

All 3 of my bikes are off the peg and between £700-1400 RRP. Yet according to Mark my income means I should be buying a Mazarati, like wtf? 75K annual income is tidy, but nowt special if you live in a nice area and have kids. Well unless you like running a lot debt, then I don’t doubt you can have alot of things.

I’ve no idea who the STW demographic is, but it doesn’t feel like me.

New tech is almost always introduced at the top end. A lot of people are interested in how the new stuff performs. Thus, when magazines test the latest stuff, its usually high end.

ST has done grouptests of lower level components numerous times. Generally, they can be summed up as “works about 99% as well as the top end stuff, but its heavier and not quite as shiny.” But those reviews tend to slip under the radar as there is nothing “new” in the review as all of the technology has tricled down from higher end groups.

Need a good example? In the 2x review in the current issue, the overall winner was Shimano SLX!!! 😯

How much do you spend on a car?

I live in a nice area (though not a SE nice area) and have kids and have never had a household income approaching that. See above for bike ownership content.

Having re-read Mark’s post above, I notice that the 300 to 1000 quid bike test is due to appear only online.

That’s a bit off.

Would potential Maserati owners be THAT offended by pictures of cheap bikes that they’ll stop buying the mag?

How come I don’t get the masarati advert, I’m stuck with ebay oxfam and halfords. is it suggeting I cant affored a 30k van or a masarati.

I own three Maseratis and a Porsche and earn far more than £750,000 a year.

My bike only cost 15 quid off Mad Dave down the Red Lion.

75K annual income is tidy, but nowt special if you live in a nice area and have kids.

😯

I recently subscribed to Dirt Rag mag, it’s a nice change.

75K annual income is tidy, but nowt special

Where I live 2 bed flats are over £300k and 2 up 2 downs are £500k. £75 doesn’t get you on the property ladder unless you’ve either got bank of mummy and daddy or the ability to save a £90k deposit.

75K annual income is tidy, but nowt special if you live in a nice area and have kids.

I am so far off the bottom end of the STW demographic 😉

(Live in a reasonably nice area, have a kid, earn a fraction of that – but get to tinker with bikes all day, so ner ner nee ner ner)

bank of mummy and daddy

Just out of curiosity, why is that bit in bold?

Where I live 2 bed flats are over £300k and 2 up 2 downs are £500k

I live in very nice area and 300k will buy you a big house and 500k a massive house. 75K is a bloody good household income, some people should have a ride out with social care workers or ambulance crews you’d soon change your mind.

I definitely like reading about the bikes and trips I’ll never be able to afford, which is why I buy the Dirt 100 too.

The results of the income poll did make a little bit of sick come up though, certainly didn’t think I was in the second smallest group, I did expect there to be a lot of high earners here based on all the usual willy waving and boasting threads but not that many!

I haven’t changed but the pastime and it’s participants have

Couldn’t agree more.

Should we have a £500max-build-a-bike-from-the-classifieds only grouptest?

Now *that* is an awesome idea. Or, y’know, something that combines the aspirational with the down-to-earth – so a high-end frame, built into a bike with a budget in mind. It’s how I’d buy a bike these days.

how many of us actually buy the mag for the gear reviews

Me. I was looking for Ti hardtail options a while back, and ST had the most down-to-earth comparisons I could find.

But what is a realistic price range for us for new bikes that we might actually stretch to? £2k-4k? Sure, you can lust after something that’s £6k, but at some point you have to settle for what you can afford. It may not look as good, it may not be as good a ride, but it’s yours, and you love it.

(Also works when talking to jealous OHs…)

I bought a £3k bike once when I was young and my income had just taken a leap, and a couple of £1,500 ones. That’s when £3k got you a top end bike.

Couldn’t do that now, I have a house and family…

PS the household income poll isn’t that remarkable. Bear in mind in most cases that’s between two people, so the top category only requires two people to be earning £25kpa, which is below UK average if I have my figures right.

PS the household income poll isn’t that remarkable. Bear in mind in most cases that’s between two people, so the top category only requires two people to be earning £25kpa, which is below UK average if I have my figures right.

This. U.K. Average household income is £53k (26.5k per person) I suspect a lot of the folk on here are thinking in terms of individual income.

I’ve always had expensive bikes relative to my salary, as it is my biggest passion, after girls. Maybe. I had a £2.5k bike when earning 11k a year. Now I earn a fair bit more than that, and I have more, more expensive, bikes as it is still a passion that burns just as, if not more, brightly. I pays my money, I takes my choices.

Should we have a £500max-build-a-bike-from-the-classifieds only grouptest?

This. It’s what a lot of us are doing, make it between 3 STW staff, bit of a challenge, mixed riding racing sort of thing. ( like top gear without the racism)

Then you have to sell the bikes you’ve bought see if you can make a profit.

This is top gear isn’t it? I’ve just described an episode of top gear.

Bums.

This. U.K. Average household income is £53k (26.5k per person) I suspect a lot of the folk on here are thinking in terms of individual income.

No its not, closer to £40k, but your right that combined needs to be considered.

But what is a realistic price range for us for new bikes that we might actually stretch to? £2k-4k? Sure, you can lust after something that’s £6k, but at some point you have to settle for what you can afford. .

until that £6k bike is sold by Pauls Cycles old stock half price, or it pops up in the classifieds. Ibis, Turner, Yeti and Intense frames all been available brand new half price or less in the last year or two. Aspirational can become affordable.