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Cost of living crisis and Singletrack – An appeal

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We are under some pressure and we thought you should know about it now before it gets worse and things get harder.

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The cost of living crisis is affecting everyone and the cost of doing business here at Singletrack is not immune. Postage costs and print and paper costs have risen as have all other aspects of the business. Don’t worry! We have no plans to stop printing Singletrack, despite the fact the costs of printing have jumped up almost 20% in 18 months and are forecast to go even higher over the next 12.

What this does do, of course, is apply a great deal of pressure to the eventual price we sell everything from memberships to merch. That pressure is becoming pretty unbearable. We haven’t put up any of our prices so far and we are trying every trick in our arsenal of cunning to avoid doing it going forward. Putting up the cost of a membership across the board will be hardest felt by those of you who can afford it the least and so we want to do something else instead and we need your help.

First of all, if you can afford to then we appeal to you to become a full member. Digital or print & digital, it really makes little difference. The more members we have the more of the price increases we can absorb. In short we can afford a smaller margin on each thing we sell if we sell more of them.

Secondly, and again, if it’s affordable, have a look through our merch and know that every t-shirt sold helps us keep the rest of the business running. 

And thirdly, and only for those that can really afford it, there’s the simple act of making a donation. 

You can make a simple one off donation by clicking the button above or, if you like, you can add a regular donation of your choosing to your existing annual payment by dropping Zoe an email at..

Singletrack is a community that has grown over 21 years to become more than just a business. It’s a place where many of you come when things are tough and the compassion that we have all witnessed over the years when one of us is in trouble is truly humbling. It feels like it’s not just ours and hasn’t done for a long time – and that’s the mark of a real community. No one can own a community. By definition it belongs to everyone who supports it.

We have never been driven by making a profit. We’ve been driven to be sustainable and just to continue to exist – Of course, profit is necessary in order to exist but to me that just means profit is a tool to be used in order to reach the main goal of sustainability – profit is not the ultimate goal here. Over the years Singletrack has employed several dozen people, providing a steady income. For me personally as a co-owner of the business that gives me a great sense of satisfaction. My greatest wish right now is that we continue to be an employer. That we don’t have to downsize and cut costs in order to continue to exist. That we continue to be a different business to all the others in our market and that we continue to be a community of people who love what we do day in, day out.

If you are in the position of having to cut back on your outgoings then we do not want to be a contributing factor to the position you find you are in through no fault of your own. Cancel your membership if you have to. You will always be welcomed back if you choose to return when things are more comfortable and the community will be there for you whether you pay in to it or not. If it will help then speak to Zoe who can help with downgrading from print to digital to save you some cash.

But if you can, then we urge you to join us – we need you. We need more people like you and so if you could spread the word and encourage others to come and pop by that would be brilliant too. And if you spot a newbie to the community, help them out. Welcome them and make them feel at home.

We have plans.

The best way to ensure sustainability is to adapt and there are changes on the way. First of all, there’s a new look to the website coming. The decorators are in and in the next few weeks we will be launching the new site theme. We hope you are going to like it – it will organise our content better and make it easier to find stuff.

Then come some technical developments including fixing the site search, some nice new features for everyone and a bunch of full members only benefits and very useful products. 

We are already migrating our downloads area to a new, much more streamlined system that will not only make it easier to find archived features and issues but also improve the speed and stability of the website.

The magazine itself is going to change. For our loyal print fans we think we have found a way to make it not only better but also more sustainable. We have some paper changes coming that we think you are going to like and Amanda is already working on a new layout and design that we are all quite excited about.

We have more plans in the pipeline too for you all, but rather than leave things until they are a major financial problem I thought I’d avoid that awful moment down the line where I have to make some really tough decisions only to have you guys say things like, ‘Why didn’t you say something earlier?’. That’s common in business. Things get left until it’s too late because of things like shame, or fear of looking weak. Well, I think over the last 21 years we’ve come to know each other well enough that I can avoid that. And so I’m speaking up now, while it’s not too late to do anything about the tough times ahead.

We appreciate every one of you, from casual visitors to our squad of life members. Everyone who visits Singletrack is a contributor to our future. 

Cheers

Mark

Publisher/Co-founder on behalf of the whole Singletrack team

Author Profile Picture
Mark Alker

Singletrack Owner/Publisher

What Mark doesn’t know about social media isn’t worth knowing and his ability to balance “The Stack” is bested only by his agility on a snowboard. Graphs are what gets his engine revving, at least they would if his car wasn’t electric, and data is what you’ll find him poring over in the office. Mark enjoys good whisky, sci-fi and the latest Apple gadget, he is also the best boss in the world (Yes, he is paying me to write this).

More posts from Mark

Viewing 40 posts - 121 through 160 (of 260 total)
  • Cost of living crisis and Singletrack – An appeal
  • DrJ
    Full Member

    Can’t talk for everyone but I’d quite like a personalised (subtle) Singletrack sticker with my forum name that I could then affix to my bars.

    It’d get old, having to pump up my tyres every time my bike was unattended for a minute.

    Blake
    Full Member

    Just tried taking out a digital subscription and I get “Sorry, this product cannot be purchased” on the purchase page? Tried mobile and also on my laptop.

    Is there an email to contact subs on? cheers.

    Mark
    Full Member

    subs@singletrackworld.com but I’m getting tech to look at this now.

    Aargh!

    soundninjauk
    Full Member

    I had a couple of thoughts on potential articles, although no clue if they’d actually be any good in real life. When people move house/area they need to learn their new local area, discover their new favourite local loop, all that sort of thing. Don’t know if there’s any mileage in that? Chipps has (relatively) recently moved, right?

    Kind of related, it’s always nice to see forum members appear in the mag as it helps reinforce the element of community that this place has. Any mileage in a ‘forum member normal ride’ series, where people show what they’d normally get up to on a bike of a weekend? I imagine this would run the gamut from trips to enduro races to 2 hour bimbles round the local bridleways and everything in between. Might also help inspire people who don’t live in ‘epic’ locations, not sure.

    bigrich
    Full Member

    To be fair we also published a feature about pedal car racing once. We had to put a fireproof box over the letterbox after that one.

    That was Mike hall who used to do that

    IHN
    Full Member

    ny mileage in a ‘forum member normal ride’ series, where people show what they’d normally get up to on a bike of a weekend? I imagine this would run the gamut from trips to enduro races to 2 hour bimbles round the local bridleways and everything in between. Might also help inspire people who don’t live in ‘epic’ locations, not sure.

    I like that idea

    singletracktech
    Full Member

    Just tried taking out a digital subscription and I get “Sorry, this product cannot be purchased” on the purchase page? Tried mobile and also on my laptop.


    @Blake
    – Your previous subscription is on hold – we’ve cancelled it for you. So it will work
    We will be making the Error message more helpful and less confusing in an upcoming release.

    Thanks for trying many times – should work now for you.

    jeff
    Full Member

    go on then, I’d only just “not-renewed”, now I’m back

    Mark
    Full Member

    A ‘thumbs up’ reaction is coming in an upcoming release (After the theme update). If that had already happened I’d be clicking the ‘thumbs up’ icon on lots of posts on this thread 🙂

    teamslug
    Free Member

    Like many here I don’t think a price increase is unreasonable and I’d be happy to pay more. I don’t read the mag very often but the support/knowledge/humour on the forums keeps me coming back and that alone is worth the subs.

    hardtailonly
    Full Member

    I really like the magazine generally and look forward to it dropping through the door.

    The magazine is my main reason for subscribing, and I’d miss the print version if it went.

    I do spend quite a bit of time on here, and have had some great advice and picked up tips on bike/gear related maintenance and purchases. I dont contribute much to the chat forum, but do dip in and out, and find the threads interesting.

    Couple of suggestions/requests for future articles …

    Choose a route, mix of gravel, XC, trails, Enduro. Take 3 bikes, a gravel, XC, Enduro bike and ride the same route … which bike is the best overall? Think that could be a bit of a laugh in a dicking about, riding bikes on unsuitable terrain kinda way?

    Get a pro DH/trials/Enduro rider and give him/her a gravel bike/rigid bike-packing bike, and ride the trails at Antur/BPW etc, against a ‘normal’ rider on an Enduro bike?

    Do a classic, big mountain day out ride, on entry level bikes, ie under £800?

    spawnofyorkshire
    Full Member

    Kind of related, it’s always nice to see forum members appear in the mag as it helps reinforce the element of community that this place has. Any mileage in a ‘forum member normal ride’ series, where people show what they’d normally get up to on a bike of a weekend? I imagine this would run the gamut from trips to enduro races to 2 hour bimbles round the local bridleways and everything in between. Might also help inspire people who don’t live in ‘epic’ locations, not sure.

    Really like this idea

    Tracey
    Full Member

    Looking at the figures the footfall is very good but the progression to full member must not be as good as it could or should be.

    I don’t read magazines so went with the digital subscription and cant remember when I last looked at a digital copy.

    The advantages to me are that I don’t get the adds constantly popping up and I assume I can see some stuff that free members cant. I logged out yesterday just to see and the adds were a nightmare.

    Have you thought about a free digital trial, a bit like the Amazon Prime one that always pops up when your buying, where a free member can sign up for a period of time to sample what they aren’t getting. Some will use it and cancel at the end but some may well see the advantages of full membership and stay.

    For what its worth if the digital subscription was increased I would still pay it as I think most would.

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    Have you thought about a free digital trial, a bit like the Amazon Prime one that always pops up when your buying, where a free member can sign up for a period of time to sample what they aren’t getting. Some will use it and cancel at the end but some may well see the advantages of full membership and stay.

    I was thinking along the same line but rather than having them sign up you take a random selection of regular visitors who aren’t members and bump them up for a month along with sending a welcome email.  At the end bump them down again with another email with a special offer of a reduced dig subscription for a year.  You can also test it on a relatively small number to see what happens before rolling it out wider

    salad_dodger
    Full Member

    The forum members ride report is a good idea. The report that Molgrips wrote about his South Downs Way ride is still the best thing I’ve read about a ride.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Any mileage in a ‘forum member normal ride’ series

    “Readers’ Rides”

    The magazine is my main reason for subscribing

    Holy shit guys, we found one!

    veedubdave
    Full Member

    Love Singletrack. The print mag is a highlight for me, by far my favourite MTB magazine. So much so that I have cancelled the others, but wont ever cancel Singletrack. Ill keep buying merch whenI can too!

    soundninjauk
    Full Member

    “Readers’ Rides”

    That rings bells with me so I guess it’s happened before, but I’m not thinking where the reader shows off the best they’ve got for a special day out unless it just so happens that’s what they would be doing anyway. I was imagining much more low key, whatever floats the person’s boat and they manage to fit into their every day lives on whatever type of bike type rides. I reckon there’s enough variation round here to keep it interesting for at least 2 seconds.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    That rings bells with me so I guess it’s happened before,

    Dunno, it’s possible, but I just made it up. It might ring bells to purveyors of a slightly more infamous magazine though.

    johnjn2000
    Full Member

    @Mark Alker,

    I may have missed this so apologies if there is any repetition. Have you considered a crowdfunding exercise along the lines of what Atherton did with their bike brand? Gives investors a sense of being part of something and builds on the community feel that we see in the forums?

    Also, how about stealing the readers bike review theme from GMBN for the magazine. Dare people to send in the build no matter how bling or bland and put it up for light hearted scrutiny each mag?

    There is something in bringing members together for rides as well but I can’t build on the seed of the idea. Something about local experts(only experts on the area not at riding) based around the country or something who are willing to advise on where/what/how for people on hols or just looking to try somewhere new. We don’t all have a group of riding buddies despite what the perception is.

    Another interesting thing I have got involved in, which is new and yet to actually fire up, is https://kit-up.sharetribe.com/en/infos/about anything that could be worked around collaboration with this team to bring together riders and bikes as they travel?

    soundninjauk
    Full Member

    Dunno, it’s possible, but I just made it up. It might ring bells to purveyors of a slightly more infamous magazine though.

    I’m way too innocent to get that reference.

    Mark
    Full Member

    The legendary adult feature of ‘Readers Wives’ was invented by Tim Manley – Editor at Large of MBUK. It was in a former publishing life of his when he was involved in ‘those’ magazines.

    And now a confession

    In 1998 he approached me (Freelancer at the time for Total MTB) to help him launch a new feature for the mag called ‘Readers Wives’. This was to be a regular feature where the gf or wife of a regular reader would write in with their experience of being in a relationship with a mountain biker. The idea was to be a vehicle for other halves to either rant about the ‘competition’ or more hopefully to be an opportunity for ‘partners’ to join in and ride with their MTB (male) partners on the trails. A sort of ‘can’t beat them, join them’ concept.

    Yes… it’s a terrible idea now (to be fair it was awful then) and it really didn’t get anywhere, thankfully. However, my input was to be the first contributor under the nom-de-plume ‘Amanda’ in order to stimulate submissions from genuine partners.

    I’m cringing writing this.

    grahamt1980
    Full Member

    The idea of a local readers rides is a really good one. Am sure there are a load of toys that people ride regularly that wouldn’t be known about, at least not in their entirety. Might be a little cheeky included in most though

    Cougar
    Full Member

    I’m cringing writing this.

    If it helps with your penance Mandy, no-one now will ever let you forget it.

    jeff
    Full Member

    Crowdfunding exercises?

    How about you crowdfund poaching Mint Sauce from MBUK, then print the Mint page in quality paper, ready for framing…

    Mark
    Full Member

    Might be a little cheeky included in most though

    And there lies the rub.

    We absolutely cannot publish anything that is illegal or even contentious. That alone rules out a huge amount of trail guide type articles. Plus we’d have to come up with an angle that stops it being just another ‘classic ride’ guide.

    I’m much more attracted to features about the people behind the usernames and especially their bikes and why they chose them. Legally totally safe and is more interesting than someone’s local trails.

    Mark
    Full Member

    And as for crowdfunding. That’s an interesting  suggestion that we’ve talked about a lot. Then someone usually asks the question, ‘What’s the difference between crowdfunding and buying a membership?” or what perks would you include in a crowdfunding tier? maybe a years worth of magazines? or special access to online features?

    The dawning realisation is that we’ve been crowdfunded by users like you from the very beginning. 400 readers crowdfunded our first ever issue for £12 each 🙂

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    Also, how about stealing the readers bike review theme from GMBN for the magazine. Dare people to send in the build no matter how bling or bland and put it up for light hearted scrutiny each mag?

    Readers’ Rides: Tom’s Rå .410

    Readers’ Rides: Tom’s Steampunk Deviate Highlander

    There are others, but none as nice as those. 😉

    Mackem
    Full Member

    You could expand “Readers Rides” to be about their bike too, I’m quite interested in some people’s choice of gear ( and it isnt always about cost )

    soundninjauk
    Full Member

    Plus we’d have to come up with an angle that stops it being just another ‘classic ride’ guide.

    My angle was that it’s almost the opposite of a classic ride. It’s an every day ride. It’s what you do if you have an hour after work and it’s not raining, or you’re up before everyone else on a Sunday. Anyway I’ll not keep banging on about it, and certainly I can see that steering clear of anything cheeky might be a challenge!

    Follow up idea, how about ‘how to plan a good route if you want to go somewhere that’s not a trail centre’? Although dunno how interested in that kind of thing people are these days given how many apparently can’t read a map.

    brakestoomuch
    Full Member

    So now, when we see an article was written by “Amanda”, how will we know which one? Perhaps you could change your t-shirt in your profile picture to one that says, “Fly me.”

    hardtailonly
    Full Member

    I like the readers bikes articles that crop up occasionally … as something to drool over, but bear little resemblance to anything I could afford to buy/build.

    I’d happily contribute my own as a ‘readers-bikes-on-a-budget’ feature… but perhaps there is not the interest there?

    johnjn2000
    Full Member

    @tomhoward, how have I not seen this? Is it in the print version or just digital?

    johnjn2000
    Full Member

    @hardtailonly, I think if it was written well then a bike on a budget would be as interesting as all the bling

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    The readers rides isn’t just about daft bling. If you have a sentimental attachment, cool story or something related to the bike, submit it and it might get shown on the strength of that.

    TJs bike is in there, it’s a nice bike but there’s a lovely story behind it too.

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    It’s a members feature of the website @johnjn2000

    comet
    Full Member

    This thread alone demonstrates the strength of the Singletrack community.

    As far as subscriptions go, I prefer digital as I often don’t read the mag for ages then binge read if I’m on holiday. It’s easier to carry one ipad than six magazines.
    And with that, if improving the search function of the website is on the cards, may I also suggest an index for the mags. It would be really helpful to find “which edition was it that tested three Dave Weagle suspension designs?” or some such.

    johnjn2000
    Full Member

    It’s a members feature of the website

    This needs to be in lovely print as well

    justinbieber
    Full Member

    Incidentally,

    The artwork / photography in the mag is rarely less than top notch, but I love this month’s cover. I genuinely had a little bit of a gasp when I saw it. Kudos.

    Just seen this comment – thanks @cougar, that means a lot!

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    This needs to be in lovely print as well

    Problem is, it takes up a lot of space having a lot of pics (that’s why reviews are better done online imo), and if you are using users pics, they need to be a dab hand on the ol’ picture maker, else it looks shit on the page.

Viewing 40 posts - 121 through 160 (of 260 total)

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