Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 142 total)
  • MBUK or MBR?
  • Onzadog
    Free Member

    My other half works in design for a publisher and she cringes if ever she sees me with a copy of STW!

    Wookster
    Full Member

    Short answer MBUK

    Long answer and slight defence of Single track below!!!

    I get both and read both TBH prefer MBUK MBR I seem to get to the end of the new mag through the door flick through and think “is that it?” MBUK is loads better than it was even two years ago, still some cr*p in there but all mags are like that. I also read dirt STW WBM etc.

    I do like Singletrack and I still like the shonky nature of the mag some months its brilliant. I like the travel articles that one about the yak attack race was amazing and I re-discovered an arty bit in issue 44 by mat about first descents which was just brill. But the Brooks article is of no interest at all to me even when desperate for some bike stuff to read I have never even looked at it but that’s me eh!?! SO I don’t really care if there is a typo once in a page to me life is too short to be that an*l about spelling in a bike mag!!!

    emac65
    Free Member

    Can’t stand MBR or WMTB,find them totally boring.
    Sub to MBUK,always something to read in it & my two lads like it.Also sub to STW(Which the lads don’t like),used to really like it,but I’m really starting to tire of the samey type articles..blame it on the dog,£100 bike, yadda yadda yadda……..& as for bike “persona” WTF is all that about ?

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    chakaping
    Free Member

    At the risk of offending ST staff, the problem as I see it is that they have a clear idea of what they want the mag to be, some good and original ideas – but they don’t have the quality of contributors needed to actually deliver their vision.

    They need to be prepared to spike articles that don’t come up to snuff.

    Just my opinion, and I’m sure someone from the mag will be along shortly to tell me I’m wrong and insinuate that the mag is for more serious riders than me anyway. Ones with beards probably.

    philjunior
    Free Member

    I think I’d quite like to read a “mag” that was maybe published yearly, with a few reviews of a good range of bikes (always useful to know about shiney new stuff, and cheaper stuff for when your mates ask you what sort of money they should be spending), and a really good cross section of other articles, with arty bits, competition coverage etc. – maybe like a compilation of all the good bits of MBUK and Singletrack.

    Maybe in Hardback as well.

    Oh and free from adverts.

    And water resistant as my bog reading always gets sprayed by the shower, which is annoying if it’s a mag I wanna keep.

    But I know there’s other people that want more regular stuff, I’d just rather have all the good stuff in one place. Could even have a DVD with it or something to go with all the dirt jumpy and competition bits.

    I should go and pitch this to someone with more money than sense…

    Olly
    Free Member

    ST is my tipple of choice.
    pretty pictures and acticles that make me want to be in tibet/yorkshire/some other equally far flung hell hole.

    MBUK keep it real though.
    not up thier own arses, and they dont seem to care what anyone thinks of them.
    happy to talk about cheap stuff as much as top end unaffordable stuff in equal amounts.
    nothing to prove, and dont pander to a specific audience.
    which can make them appear a kids magazine to 29er SS riding, hip flask swigging, ST tossers 😉

    ChristoGinger
    Free Member

    I like STW and Dirt, both together read quite well, review the type of kit I like and tend to have interesting stories. Thought STW missed a trick with the £100 bike article – it could have been so much better, should have tested over more than one ride and on varying disciplines, like taken it down a downhill track (inners for example) and round some trail centres as well as a “normal” xc ride.

    Might buy MBUk as I used to and got sick of little content and lots of adverts – still on the whole magazines need more kit reviews – I like them.

    Whathaveisaidnow
    Free Member

    I’ve got a short attention span . . .

    so it’s MBUK for me!

    Dirt on occasion, more for the design and pics than anythin else.

    I haven’t brought MBR or WMB for years.

    Although hats off to WMB their very first issue was laboured over intensively and I purchased my first MTB because of it.

    Driller
    Free Member

    I subscribe to Singletrack, MBR & Dirt. I buy MBUK pretty regularly.

    I’ve had an MBR subscription since, well, they used to have breasts in it (a long time ago) but I’m planning to ditch it in favour of MBUK. MBR has been dumbing down so much over the past couple of years, and the ‘Technical’ article a few months ago on ‘How to Change a Puncture’ (I’m not joking) where they only actually told readers how to change a tube, put the tin lid on it. When I read the letters page I simply can’t believe there are so many thick mountain bikers out there, AND there’s a magazine aimed at them!

    I’d say…

    Singletrack for those who enjoy the simple pleasure of riding a bike with just the right amount of humour and reviews thrown in.
    Dirt for awesome photography, race reports, real-world kit reviews and occasional thought-provoking writing.
    MBUK for fun, and articles about the way we either ride, or would like to be able to ride, these days.

    I love reading bike mags.

    Dave
    Free Member

    articles that make me want to be in tibet/yorkshire/some other equally far flung hell hole.

    Tibet – Yorkshire comparison. Something to be proud of right? 😉

    The £100 bike was part of the One Ton weekend challenge series rather than a “sh*tbike challenge” which Bike are currently doing.

    Bike magazines have to appeal to a wide range of readers. So there is bound to be something you don’t get/like/find interesting.

    Olly
    Free Member

    i think its all the photographs dave 😉
    they manage to make what are possibly the dullest rides look “radd to the maxx” with some nice camera angles and catching the light at the right moment.
    either way, they always have a “wish you were here” feel about them.

    HOW COME no ones yet mentioned Mint Sauce?!*

    (*they may have done, and ive just not read the thread that thoroughly)

    Dave
    Free Member

    You know there are no dull rides in Calderdale (excluding the Mary Towneley) ja?

    😉

    ChrisL
    Full Member

    I subscribe to ST and WMB. However the question was MBUK or MBR. Well personally I found MBR OK as long as you engage an “MBR filter”. They have very specific ideas about what they like but once you know what they are then you can adjust for them and there’ll generally be something interesting in it somewhere. I do with they’d publish top tube lengths in their bike reviews, though.

    I haven’t read MBUK in a while but when I last did I found that there were a lot of articles that I just wasn’t interested in. So it was effectively a smaller magazine for me than it could be. The bits I liked seemed pretty good, though, and it has Mint Sauce.

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    You’re right though, they all fall into the trap of cuddling up to the brands that give ’em nice shiny stuff to keep (sorry, review)

    I’m a journo, not a mountain bike one, but I know a few quite well, and I can tell you that after the first 20 or so free wotnots, the lure of the free wotnot is substantially reduced. How many wotnots do you think any one person needs, be they bikes, Gore-Tex underpants, free cameras or whatever.

    Once you have a spare room buried in wotnots, the offer of yet more of them isn’t quite the seductive lure it would be to a normal punter.

    Sorry to be brutal, but that’s how it is. Mountain bike journos aren’t short of bikes, they change them like they change their underpants, and getting a free one or some flash component makes no real odds to most of them.

    As for the advertising = good reviews thing. How would you feel if I basically accused you of being corrupt without any firm evidence? Amusingly, were I to do that, you could sue me for libel. Hmmm…

    Chase
    Free Member

    MBUK subscriber for 4 years now. I dabbled with MBR and WMB for a while but usually only bought them if there was an article that held particular interest for me. If i’m honest, MBR is just boring. At the time I found STW a bit too ‘niche’.
    Nowadays I swap my MBUKs for my mates STW and find the balance between the two just right. I do think that STW has had to move with times a little. There appears to be more ‘mainstream’ articles in there appealing to a wider range of readers.
    The articles in this months MBUK (ex. learn how to freeride) will probably be repeated in 12 months time, just different pics and bikes, but I can handle that. Otherwise it is very up to date with everything that is going on.

    Spankmonkey
    Free Member

    MBUK, they used to be shoddy and just in the dark ages with cr@p like riders other halves nude.. and other tosh, but now the forward look on new products the test rides and technical are all pretty good, they also test a wide range i.e £500 hardtails, £2k hardtails, xc racing sussers, DH bikes, All Mountain etc there have been a few surprise ones i would not have expected them to do i.e Duster Ti, Intense 5.5, few from Bionicon, etc All in all I quite like it now, and some reports i.e From the meaga were very god as they looked at it from 3 riders experiences. there is nothing missing and every month is a change. Im quite surprised, sadly a lot of people slate it but have not read it since the editor changed a while back!!

    DezB
    Free Member

    PP – I don’t think they are biased either (s’what I meant by “I can imagine Spesh bikes are bloody good” and having biased in quotes)

    I’ve seen a couple of lovely Scott Endorphins actually 🙂

    buzz-lightyear
    Free Member

    Somfin funny about MBR, not sure what, just don’t like it.

    MBUK is OK, esp. as it covers the breadth of MTBing styles. It colourful and fun and available.

    ST seems to have the best content for the contemporary, reflective cycling gentleman (I subscribe).

    watly_biker
    Free Member

    MBUK – has become broader recently and has loads to read have just subsribed
    Also subscribe to STW – like that STW is different and now has some more reviews of kit.
    MBR – not as much content or variety and seems to be aimed at trail centres and beginners haven;t read it for ages
    DIRT – used to subscribe – some good articles and excellent photos but I am not a downhiller – still occasional purchase for World cuo coverage.

    nickc
    Full Member

    MBR has an editorial policy which I find is at odds with why I ride. They are snobbish about certain bikes, hardtails to them, for instance are pretty much only good for Winter Hack Bikes, if you only read it I think you’d only be vaguely aware of things like 29ers or Singlespeeds. It’s too mainstream, too blinkered. I suspect it’s market are people that ride in pads at trail centres on 5″ full sussers. Which is fine, it’s just not me.

    WMB is OK(ish), the errors do annoy me, it seems to have lost it’s way. When it started it was determinedly a review mag, now it’s just another opinions mag.

    MBUK, is just what it is, a general mountain bike magazine, it’s the Cornflakes of the bike mag world, it’ll do the job for a train journey.

    STW I like, I like the humour, I like the real world tests, I like the style, I like the fact my missus will read it, I like that the contributors aren’t necessarily bike journos, just inspired to write.

    Dirt. Again I like, mostly because it doesn’t seem to want to sell me stuff every other page, I like the WC coverage, and it gives me a window into a world (jumpy DH 4X etc) that I’m only vaguely connected with otherwise. I like the style, I like the way it doesn’t take it’s self too seriously.

    kennyp
    Free Member

    MBR tells you what sort of bike to ride.
    MBUK tells you what sort of baseball cap to wear.
    Singletrack tells you what whisky to drink after a ride.

    Joking aside, Singletrack’s the only one I subscribe to, because the techy side of mountain biking doesn’t appeal to me. That said, MBR’s been a lot better since it was revamped last year.

    I don’t particularly like MBUK, but that’s probably an age thing. It is pretty good at hitting its target market, so each to their own.

    Chase
    Free Member

    What do you consider it’s ‘target market’ though? Judging by the amount of people in this thread that do read it I reckon it’s pretty much got everyone covered. BTW, i’m 37 but still think I am part of that target market.

    neverfastenuff
    Free Member

    Ive dropped both recently…. same time as I cut back on buying bling…

    Dimmadan
    Free Member

    MBR suits my type of riding, long, hard and high. Like the reviews but hate how they all give Specialized bikes so much praise.
    And agree with the snobs comments.

    MBUK have blown so much smoke up Steve Peats arse I am surprised we cant see him from where we sit. I would be surprised if he doesn’t own shares in them. Plus, they are the Max Power of the bike world.
    (How many pages have they dedicated to bikeradar live)?

    WMB is just another branded copy of MBUK with the same old rubbish with a different splash of colour and writters. I hate the way they swap reviews with MBUK so one month you get the same stuff as th previous month MBUK. They have gone from a review mag that was actually very good to rubbish.

    Dirt is not for me.

    STW, i ahve read a few copies but it has not grabbed me yet.

    And im 28.

    mandog
    Full Member

    It apppears Dirt and MBUK are from the publisher. This month both mags seem to review the same bikes. I’m therefore tempted to ditch buying one of them. Since I subscribe to Dirt but not MBUK, if I do ditch 1 it will be MBUK.

    However, aside from the bike reviews this month you couldn’t tell they are from the same publisher. I like the content of both. Dirt being the broadsheet and MBUK being the tabloid. So I’ll probably continue to buy both.

    CountZero
    Full Member

    I sub to STW and Bike, I’ve bought MBUK since issue one, I like Dirt a lot, their photography is top notch, and they have really interesting features. Their copy-proofing, or lack thereof drives me nuts! I’m seriously thinking of contacting them, as I know Ed from his time at my LBS, and asking them to send me PDF page proofs and I’ll copy check for them. It really lets the mag down. MBR is much too biased, their snobbish attitude to 29er’s and h/tails fails to reflect what goes on in the real world, eg my LBS selling five 29er’s in one week recently.

    zaskar
    Free Member

    MBR have some great service guides like servicing reba’s. 😀

    Rest of it bores me.

    WTB is a good read. 😀

    MBUK is ok 😐

    Cycling weekly has good nutrition guides. 😀

    Cycling plus-fave so far. 😀

    Single is ok too. 🙂

    Bike Radar-pretty good. 😀

    Better to go and ride?

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I read most of ’em… But MBR is undeniably rotten.

    DrDolittle
    Free Member

    The problem is, mountainbiking isn’t like skateboarding or surfing. A skateboard mag can represent a whole culture (music,literature, art,”counter culture fashion”,even politics to a degree) associated with a late teens age group. It’s a different demographic reading mountainbike mags. Yes there are mountain biking teens interested in a lifestyle publication, but let’s be honest, mountainbiking does not have the same readership (look at the forums), and while it is just as much fun, it does not have the same depth or strength of associated culture (IMO).

    A surf mag or a skate mag can almost sell itself on the quality of the photography, as anyone who grew up reading R.A.D. or Thrasher can attest to. A new trick or an old trick in a new location in a skate mag will be pored over endlessly by an obsessed teen, but mountainbiking isn’t really about tricks, or pictures. The experience doesn’t really translate well in photos in a magazine, well not in the same way that skateboarding does.

    I suppose I’m trying to suggest that it’s pretty difficult to go beyond product reviews and pictures of rural landscapes.

    juiced
    Free Member

    MBUK, Dirt,Stw in that order.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    i think dirt gets pretty close to that. they have certainly had some of the most iconic images over the last ten years or so.

    juiced
    Free Member

    I stopped buying mbr when they insisted everyone ride a fs, as everything else was gash. Not bought it for ages though.

    juiced
    Free Member

    Stwisprobably the best xc and enduros and stuff but for a bit of everything talks to me

    juiced
    Free Member

    MBUK talks to me..Sorry had few drinks

    bravohotel9er
    Free Member

    One year on, how do people feel now?

    MBUK is better than it was, but MBR is the better magazine IMHO.

    JCL
    Free Member

    MBR is full of routes for people who like to ride new areas and the bike tests are in another league to any other publication. BTW the Specialized bias (100% deserved IMO) hasn't been the case for a good few years and Orange have swept the boards in the trail bike and AM bike tests.

    tron
    Free Member

    I recently bought al load of mags to look at how the mountain bike brands are marketed.

    MBR was fairly dull, but the route guides seemed pretty good. Never ridden them, but they almost make the mag worth buying on their own.

    Singletrack was in danger of disappearing up its own hoop. The editorial column seemed to be heading almost into advertorial territory. I do like the Evo style "long termer" reviews though.

    Dirt was pretty good, but focussed on types of riding I don't really do.

    MBUK seemed to be by far the best general riding about mag. I'd previously thought of it as kiddified, and it surprised me. Good bits and pieces on technique

    MBA is very light, but the articles on training seemed pretty good.

    If I were stuck in the newsagents looking for something bike related to read, it would be MBUK every time. Though I'd be far more likely to pick up Evo or PPC to be honest… There's a real technical side missing from the bike mags in my view – PPC will run articles on things like suspension geometry and tuning, how to tune X engine. The thing is, they're written in such a way that even if you don't own X engine, it's still a pretty interesting read. And for all the bike mags blather on about frame geometry and adjustability on forks, I best most of us have very vague ideas about what it all means.

    vinnyeh
    Full Member

    I bought the latest mbr, the first time since god knows when, and quiet enjoyed it. A nice section focussed on Scotland, good route guides, like tron says, which to me are quiet valuable- I don't really have much time to find quality routes, and largely rely on guidebooks etc.
    I did find the Saracen review quite amusing- mbr marking it down quite hard for crap brakes, and short tt (they felt the frames were undersized. On the other hand, Singletrack also called it out on the brakes, but failed to mention the size they tested. They also gave it an 'award' (whatever those rosette things are) – which considering the cost of a replacement set of brakes is a bit of a strange decision.

    I think Singletrack has forced all the other mags to up their game a bit, and decide what they are going to focus on, which is a good thing.

    PeterPoddy
    Free Member

    One year on, how do people feel now?

    MBUK is better than it was, but MBR is the better magazine IMHO.

    Singletrack is getting worse. Still the same old articles droning on about riding somewhere I've never heard of or care about, which seem to be people writing about their lates expensive/paid for holiday. (And the Premier thing is a bit of a joke too) No technical articles. Too many interviews. The last 2 or three I've hardly bothered to read past the bike and gear tests. I'll be cancelling my sub when it runs out. I might sub to MBUK, or just buy the odd one here and there if it looks interesting. I've looked at one issue of MBR in the last year. They're still wearing the same old blinkers it seems.

    If anyone wants to see how a mag can be produced, go and buy a motorbike mag called, err, "Bike". Probably the best mag I've ever read, with a VERY wide range of subjects. There's a guy that writes travel/touring articles for them sporadically called Dan Walsh and he can make it interesting with style. He simply wipes the floor with anyone writing for any MTB mag. 🙂

    akira
    Full Member

    MBUK seems to have the most content and balance of the current magazines.
    MBR is a bit like driving through a short tunnel, nothing to look at and then it's over.

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 142 total)

The topic ‘MBUK or MBR?’ is closed to new replies.