this is forum gold
rootes1 - Memberits turning into mbuk, full of yoofs innit!
I used to work in a shop (Dave Mellor Cycles - great shop my the way) as a saturday boy with ian collins of mbuk years ago
he must be over 40yrs old or more now and still ends his sentences in mbuk with the word 'sweet' or 'gnarly'
lol
you know as he has a big nose, he had turn the ring pull on his soft drinks can through 90degs to drink from the can without a nose/ring pull interference issue
lol
LOL! It's funny because IIRC it was true! I used to wish I was gay so I could stroke his silky smooth legs 😀
ScotJohn- As is known on STW I have conflicting views and opinions. I feel I would be perfect for reviewing Bikes and kit in MBR.
MrClubbedSeal - you don't need conflicting reviews, you just need to have an unsatiable desire for Specialized bikes. Simple really. 🙂
I was bored and ended up buying a copy of MBA the other day, I was pleasantly surprised considering it's a yank mag. For the first time ever I actually read the features stuff and the reviews were refreshingly to-the-point and I like the tips stuff in them with recommendation on set up and what to change etc.
I currently subscribe to MBUK and WMB (I don't eat enough fibre so need something to do when on the toilet :p ) but might cancel those and get MBA instead.
Scotjohn,
Sorry if my tongue-in-cheek post was a little OTT. I recently (and reluctantly) stopped buying MBR, having bought every issue since issue 2. No, I don't know why I didn't buy issue 1!.
I just got frustrated with the mag, after years of buying it with great anticipation. As far as cover and other shots are concerned, I think Singletrack has got it right: high quality shots of regular guys "just riding", often in an impressive (but usually UK) location. Not obviously posing for the camera.
Apart from that, MBR seems to me to have lost its "fun" element, and it all seems rather serious now. Perhaps that's a reflection on how we see ourselves as mtb'ers these days,and we all need to lighten up.
Above all, I get the feeling that MBR is just there to try and get us to buy stuff now. I know we live in a commercial world, but more tales of normal (normal?) riders, and UK pics which we can all relate to would be good for me.
Maybe I'm just getting old (and grumpy). 🙁
Is it that time of the month again?.... 🙄
Gnarly 😉
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Squirrel - cool, no worries
I bought mbr from issue 2 too for years but stopped reading any mags several years ago when I stopped working in the trade. I got sick of nonsense reviews influencing bike shop customers. Just because it was in mbr it was deemed gospel and therefore whatever I said was wrong. Didn't matter that I had more riding, outdoors, design and materials knowledge and experience than whoever typically had written the review, because if it was in the mag it must be right...
The only insightful reviews I'd go by these days are Messers Kesteven and Worland most of which appear on Bikeradar anyway.
As far as bike tests go it's the best mag by a long way. Other mags don't even measure the bikes FFS.
rad
I think MBR has upped it's game in recent months. But generally, when reading a magazine they trot out the marketing spin like "it's a hydroformed ovalised super pressed top tube" therefore it's stiff. The reviews are short and they don't say what they are basing them against. I would prefer less reviews but with more thought / indepth. As said, MBR seem to be trying to get that way but all mags have some way to go.
Then again, just seen one picture in a magazine (can't remember which one) of someone hanging off the back of a bike on a not very steep downhill making it look rad - maybe I'm riding incorrectly or maybe not .....
Dave - Page 124 November MBUK "put a new rider on this bike and they'll be delighted" FFS
Wheres the old Editor gone? Maxpower or VWWorld mag? You could do an exchange deal (man).
JCL - Member
As far as bike tests go it's the best mag by a long way. Other mags don't even measure the bikes FFS
But they miss out the top-tube length because it's not important?
Obviously when I buy a bike I want to know the down-tube length because I want to know how far my feet are from hands?
Nonsensical.
WhatMBUK/MBR etc probably started of as good magazines but seem too commercial now. Aren't they also connected to bike radar they seem to have the same dodgy reviews.
Isnt that how it goes though, if singletrack gets too popular I'm sure they will get a offer from future publishing.
Wheres the old Editor gone? Maxpower or VWWorld mag? You could do an exchange deal (man).
to london cyclist (magazine of the LCC)
there is a funny story as to how he ended up there which i will tell you if i have the pleasure of meeting seeing you on one of your trips south.
Obviously when I buy a bike I want to know the down-tube length because I want to know how far my feet are from hands?
Almost worth a thread in its own right as I'm sure there are pros and cons of measuring a bike in this way. I've always been a bit of a toptube length anorak and wouldn't look at anything over 21.75 (actual TT measurement), feeling from past experience that the bike would be too long for me, although on reflection I realize that angles and fork length play a much bigger part in how a bike feels. Never paid any attention to downtube measurements but thinking about it, certainly when riding out of the saddle (which I tend to do a lot) it's the one measurement that isn't going to change regardless of bike set up . . . sure weight distribution may change along with angles when swapping to longer or shorter forks but the distance between feet and hands will stay constant . . . stay with me here, I know I'm rambling. I reckon as a smaller rider, then a shorter distance between feet and hands (or downtube length) is gonna give me more leverage when riding out of the saddle. No, I'm not looking for an excuse for another bike 😉 just wondering out loud which would be the best option for an 'extra help on the climbs' upgrade . . . either 20mm shorter travel forks (currently running 140mm and slack angles - perfect for d/h) or a slightly shorter stem and low rise bars.
now THAT shut em all up 😀
rofl at mamadirt.
So what'd you reckon then . . .
Purple
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or orange? 😉
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MBR ran quite a long article a while ago about why they measured the bikes downtube rather than top tube. Can't remember what it said but there were fairly sound reasons for doing it. Turner size their bikes by downtube lengths.
On the other hand everyone is used to TT length so it just confuses the issue.
there is a funny story as to how he ended up there which i will tell you if i have the pleasure of meeting seeing you on one of your trips south.
Yes please 🙂
Which mag has the articles that just end mid-sentence not so long ago? You'd flip over the page twice, frown then realise it had been rushed off the printers too quickly without being proof-read properly..
