Forum menu
For a good bike review you need the combination of good rider, technical competence and good writer.
STW Journos have none of those qualities.
You're just the bestest customer anyone could have. I'd ban you from my website, I really would.
Geex needs to write a mag for himself. A fanzine I think you call it 🙂
Geex needs to write a mag for himself. GRUMBLE I think you call it
FTFY
A fanzine I think you call it
Like a monologue version of Fan Fiction?
Based on whats written here, Karl Pilkington would make a killing as a bike reviewer
I like his reviews.
I've just watched a Guy Kestevan video.
He's ok - like a bouncing puppy of keenness about riding bikes, clearly bl**dy fast, and lots better than the 'merican tests where they all sit at a table and discuss a bike.
Geex needs to write a mag for himself.
He's already reviewing for another website....
He’s already reviewing for another website….
Post a link. I fancy a critique session.
Singletrackworld reviews are hit and miss.
They can be great, I'd just rather see a bit more critical appraisal of new gear and less praise heaped on new relatively untested products such as linkage forks - and a bit more objectivity. For example, I really liked the fact that Enduro mag stuck a bunch of brakes on dynos for their brake grouptest. Hardly a rigorous scientific test and there was no raw data, but it still made the review feel more grounded in reality.
Geex get's the technical side of bikes well, so I can't imagine his reviews would be total guff. I'd be rather interested in what he has to say actually, I just get the feeling he's rubbed a few of you up the wrong way! 😀
I miss Steve Worland. 🙁
Fanx Rayban PM me if you want a link
Matt alrady PMd you one.
I just get the feeling he’s rubbed a few of you up the wrong way!
Not for want of trying.
My fav review was of the Boardman bike, slagging it for being too relaxed and that it needed to be snappier for road racing – insinuating that Boardman had never written it.
First comment was Boardman saying that a snappy bike was exactly what you didn’t want at the end of a grand tour and that the geo was the same as the bike he had ridden X years ago.
I remember that, but I'll be buggered if I can find it. I believe whet the review said was something like "the geometry's not quite sharp enough for racing in your local town-centre criterium" and Boardman responded "it was sharp enough for Nicole Cooke to win the Olympics on, we don't just pluck these figures from the air" 🙂
I think this thread is really unfair to Guy Kesteven. I've never met the bloke, but I've ridden with people who have and they've only got nice things to say about him.
His 2019 5010 review is brilliant and as an owner of said bike I can vouch for everything he says about it.
I find his videos really entertaining, he's a handy rider and his passion for bikes really shines through.
It's also great to read a review from someone who can actually ride fast. All too often bikes are reviewed by riders, who can't really push a bike to its limits. This is fine for 90 per cent of people, but for those of us who like to race, jump and hit corners hard its not good enough - Long live the Kesteven I hope his YouTube channel continues to grow!!
In my defence I have nothing against the guy except his drivel-tastic reviewing style (for which he is hardly unique), utter twaddle, which if he works for STW, I do provide him income for.
OK, I'll bite - Geex, any chance of a link to some of your reviews?
I just get the feeling he’s rubbed a few of you up the wrong way!
Geex? Yeah, but he's usually got a fair point. That's the most annoying part.
In my defence I have nothing against the guy except his drivel-tastic reviewing style (for which he is hardly unique), utter twaddle, which if he works for STW, I do provide him income for.
Pretty sure Guy is MBUK only. Hasn't done anything for STW for a long time (if ever).
It’s also great to read a review from someone who can actually ride fast. All too often bikes are reviewed by riders, who can’t really push a bike to its limits. This is fine for 90 per cent of people, but for those of us who like to race, jump and hit corners hard its not good enough – Long live the Kesteven I hope his YouTube channel continues to grow!!
There's a good point - one of the issues I think with reviews is that certain people (like my brother who put in a time down the Steel City DH that was faster than Eddie Masters time), end up buying bikes because the reviews and marketing say the bike is suitable for Enduro or whatever. But that isn't a clearly defined discipline, the discipline changes and peoples perceptions of what a discipline involves changes - and the people who market the bikes for said discipline are either pros who can break them and replace them or bimbling reviewers who have no issues with the bike - and then fast privateers or ex-racers etc end up breaking the the things with quite a lot of ease.
I think this thread is really unfair to Guy Kesteven. I’ve never met the bloke, but I’ve ridden with people who have and they’ve only got nice things to say about him.
I've met him he is nice bloke but that doesn't mean people can't laugh at some of his articles. I've also met Steve Makin he's a right miserable git.
That's 100 per cent my point raybanwomble - a good example of this issue is the DH bike comparison on Vital MTB. One of the reviewers isn't strong/good enough to hold a good line through a rock garden - he falls off on one bike and looks very sketchy on the others. Obviously if you're the same then it's a good review, but if you're strong enough to hold a fast line through a load of rocks then it's a pretty useless review...people like Guy who are decent riders are way more trustworthy IMO.
To be fair on those riders thought, they look like typical park rats - average speed through technical sections but I dare say faster than me on smooth berms and probably go way bigger than me. They also seem faster than 90 percent of bike journos! 😀
They look stylish on the jumps and berms raybanwomble, but those rock gardens expose some massive weaknesses technically and physically. I reckon reviewers should stipulate their standard at the start of a review or at least be open about their weaknesses/technical deficiencies that way readers can judge whether a bike will suit them or not.
Surely if you're going to slag reviewers it'd be polite to open yourself up for criticism publicly. Don't hide, let us all bask in your glory.
Agreed. Some of it's just growing up with UK riding Dan, CyB is where I learnt to ride a bike. Brits grow up with tight, nadgery trails. So despite having some inner ear dysfunction from a past ear infection, I'm still relatively competent at it.
Flowy berms and hitting huge jumps is my weakness because unlike my brother (who raced) I didn't get exposed to much of that stuff as a youngster and now live in London.
Different magazines in different countries have different riding cultures because of the local trails.
His reviews aren't limited to MTB. He also reviewed a TT bike, which I used to own.
STW Journos have none of those qualities.
They'll be no doubt devestated to hear that from you
I think almost all bikes I've seen him review are......
https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/Vital-MTB-Test-Sessions-Five-of-the-Best-27-5-Downhill-Bikes-Raced-and-Reviewed,2599/blockquote >"I'm bike flossing"
"There's more flavours than an ice cream shop"
'Rad Music'
Yeah I didn't get any further.
I take the view that all reviews are unbiased and should only help inform you. You can't offend advertisers or those likely who made the effort to lend you things in the first place. I also know that from the industry I'm in that most maagazine awards and suchlike are paid for. utter BS.
I did find guy's youtube channel recently and noticed he's been raving about the caliber bossnut, and has reviewed it only. i'd seen reviews comparing it to another bike (one I was curious about) and its obvious from other coverage that money is at play.... sad really but times are changing.
I think this thread is really unfair to Guy Kesteven. I’ve never met the bloke, but I’ve ridden with people who have and they’ve only got nice things to say about him.
I've ridden with him. He's a complete bastard and I couldn't keep up. It was awful. The sooner he slows down, the better. His dog's bloody fast too.
Also like Guy's reviews. He's a big bike fan, don't care if he writes it in a superlatives.
That said, the comment above about reviewers detailing their riding capabilities first before a review so we can assess them did give me a good laugh whilst stressed at work. That would be hilarious. How you judge that would lead to a million more threads to keep STW alive until the next century.
Thanks for the bike snob link Ned that’s a great article!
On Kesteven I think he’s generally ok, a lot of the criticisms of him could also be made of all bike journos past and present.... take it or leave it. his videos are entertaining and he comes across well. Good luck to him.
I quite like his work, I get the impression he might play up to the Fast Show guy thing a bit.
He is blurring the editorial lines a bit now, but there's nothing wrong with advertorial if everyone knows what's going on.
The one issue is once someone's done paid content for a brand you tend to view their other reviews for that brand with a dose of scepticism.
The best thing about Guy is him sending drops on a full-sus tandem with his daughter on the back. Full commitment from both of them!
I’ve met him he is nice bloke but that doesn’t mean people can’t laugh at some of his articles
Yes. The mtb world would be a bit more boring without Guy Kesteven.
And yes - his dog is fast.
(But the dog doesn't write reviews ... yet)
I still have my original On One C456. I was under the impression (first hand from Joe R possibly) that one or both of the Rafferty Brothers tested the frame and gave feedback to Guy. So any ridicule in that particular case should maybe be directed at them, they are both fantastic bike riders BTW. I remember on the day (Stainburn Car Park), many tears ago, handing my beloved c456 over to Joe and saying TYG WTF (I'd just fallen off it in front of him)
But the dog doesn’t write reviews … yet
Geex is his dog is he not?
I bought a bike, then I saw his review and he was correct, coherent and succinct.
He's not very consistent but maybe that's because I'm biased.
He reviewed my bike, a Merida one forty 1b and slated it. I agree with the fork comments. Loads better with a yari on it, definitely too expense at rrp and the "all mountain" graphics are cringy.
He then reviews a lesser spec version a few months later and raves about how much of a good bike it is. Maybe because the price point, but then he raves about how the 5b does it all, on all terrain and does it well, how it's a brilliant bike. While in the 1b review he calls it "sketchy" "dull" and more xc than a do it all bike. Maybe it's me being butt hurt but after that I ignore his opinions.
a Merida one forty 1b and slated it.
He then reviews a lesser spec version a few months later and raves about how much of a good bike it
They were published pretty close together as well. ha. I think there are different expectations at different pricepoints as they're probably also picking up different sorts of riders. the Fox 32 at 150mm was never a great fork once you start pushing it more.
However, the review "too heavy for XC and not hardcore enough for all-mountain" sounds like the very definition of a "trail bike" (which is how they describe the positively reviewed cheaper model).
Geex is his dog is he not?
haha. (Bit mean so)
But for sure - both, Guy and geex add fun to the mtb circus.
And I really hop Guy Kesteven continues with his crazy reviews. With or without dog.
Sorry Olly, that's pretty hard to defend. The bike with the Sektor on rode a lot better and was cheaper though and there was precious little difference between XT and Deore back then in terms of on trail performance so that's why the scores were so different. Things like describing one 730mm bar as basically OK and slamming the other plus the other discrepancies in there are just dumb though whatever the price.
As for the whole review honesty thing all I can say is how or where I'm paid really doesn't make a difference and ask you to believe that. I'm pretty confident that you could ring up most people in the industry and they'd tell you I've pissed them off at some point. By definition only one bike or bit of gear can win a group test so I've written far more critical reviews than rave ones over the years too. Things are certainly getting a lot closer now than when I started but nothing is perfect. I've always tried to ride and test every relevant competitor in any category or like you say there's no context and no basis for a broader ranking call. For example that Bossnut video review someone mentioned is based on riding all three versions of Bossnut as well as the Boardman, the Norco, the Sonder, the Decathlon and the Vitus in that price bracket.
There's no point apologising for being a word **** gobshite though as that's just the way I am. I like playing with words and I've always tried to bring bikes alive with the enthusiasm and excitement that I've felt while riding them. Perhaps inevitably that means I often get carried away but there's always a trigger of truth at the heart of what I'm ranting on about. I'm glad some of you have enjoyed that along the way and appreciate you saying so on this thread. If you don't/didn't the good news is that you won't have to endure any more shite from me if you don't want to as I finally hit peak 'bikejourno' for my penultimate issue on MBUK. Continual budget and word count cuts means I just can't make a living from magazines anymore but at least I went out on a high/low.
I'll still be reviewing bikes on my 'GUYKESTV' YouTube channel though (what kind of ****t names a channel after themselves eh!), so if any of you want some bicycle flavoured stream of consciousness live from the trail while I'm trying to dodge trees and decipher suspension kinematics without being dropped by Tilly the spaniel then that's where you'll find me.
Unless they do another series of Crystal Maze or The Fast Show obviously.....
Cheers
Guy
****t
5 letter word ending in t. Donut?
*Barks*
translated = "BRILLIANT!"