ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Off-roading is not just a hobby – it’s a way to connect with nature, explore unseen trails, and experience the thrill that only rugged terrains can offer.
...
By Singletrack
Get the full story here:
Easy now, I'm sure STW need the advertorial money too much for them to tell Isuzu that real MTBers drive vans.
The Fast Show comes to mind
I thought STW Towers only did Maserati's!? 🙂
I think you'll find the "The Perfect Pick-Up Truck For Off-Roading" is an early 90's Subaru Sambar...
Old defender !!
Oof, how to damage the environment with your 4x4 ! Environmentally conscious riders cycle to where they are going, so if driving there, we should be using the least damaging method !
Lets see
- Rips up of road trails.
- Damages the environment.
- Close passes in the hands of driving gods with a truck complex.
- It has a bike rack.
- Why would anybody sane actually want this piece of crap.
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/climate-anxiety-no-terror-hopelessness/
Read the room Mark.
Has STW been taking advice from British Cycling on sponsorship/advertising partners?
Just what I need for nipping to Tesco in suburban Sheffield.
Moonlighting for farmers weekly now ?
Nah, STW users are definitely the target demographic...
Mostly White, Male, Middle-aged, Middle-income with outdoorsy Ruffty-Tuffty type aspirations. The rest is just details... 😉
Thank you ChatGPT:
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@eddiebaby ChatGPT forgot the mandatory balaclava to ride a Sur Ron
Read the room Mark.
This
Has STW been taking advice from British Cycling on sponsorship/advertising partners?
Any very much this.
I don't think much of the toilet facilities and aren't there supposed to be two doors between the kitchen and the bathroom?
Look If Isuzu can't be arsed to do their due diligence and figure out that the STW Forum gets into more of a Froth about knackered panel vans with mattresses thrown in the back, Volvo Estates and Dacia Doggers, and they haven't spotted the 'Climate anxiety' and similar threads then I think they deserve to waste their advertorial money and ST deserve to have it...
I'm sure there was an email exchange/phone call:
Isuzu marketing: Does your user base reflect our target demographic?
ST: Absolutely lots of tubby, white males happy to spend thousands on superfluous off-road vehicles, Many have expensive coffee machines, some still own log burners...
Isuzu Marketing: Sold!
Mostly White, Male, Middle-aged, Middle-income with outdoorsy Ruffty-Tuffty type aspirations. The rest is just details… 😉
Seen a few pickups advertising in Oz that aim at Mtbers. Mitsubishi sponsor Jack Moir and provide him with a Ute.
prefer the hilux as it has better load lugging and towing capacity or the new VW which doesn't have a dashboard based on a 1980's alba hifi from argos.
some of us do actually need pick ups so I'm not massively offended by the advert
I think you already know if you need one of these, which is probably 1% of this site's readers.
For the rest of us, it's just another part of the motor industry's push to get us all driving bigger and heavier vehicles which are worse for the environment, deadlier to pedestrians, and impractical for daily use, but also - higher profit margins!
Canyonero!!!
some of us do actually need pick ups so I’m not massively offended by the advert
Does anyone genuinely 'Need' a pickup?
what does the Venn diagram/decision tree that leads to pick-up purchase actually look like?
I want to carry bulky item, but I don't really want to protect them from weather and/or theft? I want an off-road capable vehicle, but it will mostly be sat up the arse of a 55 plate ford focus doing 73 in the middle lane of the M5, oh and I really want the rear of the vehicle to be rusted to **** by the time the warranty expires. "Off-roading" means looks nice on the gravel drive it's parked on every evening...
Anyway 'Peak Pickup' was achieved with the Skoda 'Felicia Fun:
It had it all; Lurid yellow/green colour scheme, inexplicable frog wearing a crown motif on everything, special fold-out death seats and it was Car derived, a VW Caddy for people with a sense of humour.
It's all been downhill for pickups over the 20 years since, They're just so dull only available in Black or Grey, marketed on the notion of being "Working vehicles" for people who turn up to a job site point at a couple of things, shout at a scaffolder then piss off to a porta-cabin to annotate a Gant chart for 6 hours...
TBF My next door neighbour has an L200 and he's actually a nice fella, but its primarily used for towing his little digger, and He's fitted a Truck top. Surely fitting a truck top to your pickup is a tacit admission that you should have just bought a van?
Currently thinking about getting a Dmax so this is interesting timing. I think Alexa has been feeding back my recent browsing and conversations to STW Towers!
I can't see a pink option?...
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Your Isuzu D-Max looks dirty Sir. Can I sportwash it for you?
Not impressed with this AT ALL.
Anyway ‘Peak Pickup’ was achieved with the Skoda ‘Felicia Fun
Obviously no use at all to me… but that looks ace.
EDIT: remarkably similar marketing strategy…
Isuzu marketing: Does your user base reflect our target demographic?
ST: Absolutely lots of tubby, white males happy to spend thousands on superfluous off-road vehicles, Many have expensive coffee machines, some still own log burners…
Isuzu Marketing: Sold!
Round here I've never seen a D-Max that wasn't being driven by those loveable itinerant rogues who excel at doing driveways so getting some IT middle managers into them would be a massive win for Isuzu.
Peak pick-up? That Skoda doesn’t come close.
Peak pick-up? That Skoda doesn’t come close.
He said peak not puke!
Part of me really wants a ute, but I think my ultimate mountain biking/cow transport vehicle is probably a Citroen C15. https://twitter.com/jmaris_/status/1570889945551863808
Barbie really needs to balance that kayak better across the 2 roof bars.
I know we're not actually an environmentally friendly sport for the most part, but I'm firmly in the misses the mark Mark camp here.
I'm in the "don't care" camp for this particular deal and happy for Isuzu cash to help keep the lights on. The comments suggest that the Ad will have no impact on the environemnt as those that hate pick-ups won't be persuaded otherwise.
Also, as a van owner I'm keeping schtum.
Does anyone genuinely ‘Need’ a pickup
Can't fit a rescue team, winches, SCBA plus all our kit in a car, Vans cant do some of the terrain we work in and cant carry the same loads, so yep Pickups can be useful.
I'd rather have a van as its easier for chucking bikes in, but having driven lots of both, Vans are no better really with regards to mpg when loaded.
I find it strange why people tend to get upset about this type of vehicle, yet seem to refrain from expressing their distaste for the multitude of vans using the exact same engines, same emissions figures running up and down the country 24/7
I don’t think much of the toilet facilities and aren’t there supposed to be two doors between the kitchen and the bathroom?
Yeah, why is there a potty next to the hob?
I have a works issue izuzu as I work on mobile telecoms, awful to drive and awful to work out of but my employer is too tight to buy us 4x4 vans.
I utterly despise it.
What is that quote about the log in your own eye first?
F1 Cars or bikes - which is more sustainable?
Sorry but this has to be the peak STW pickup:
I find it strange why people tend to get upset about this type of vehicle, yet seem to refrain from expressing their distaste for the multitude of vans using the exact same engines, same emissions figures running up and down the country 24/7
I do. It's lunacy that people have vans just to put a bike in.
Given that Singletrack just published this-
and there's a video in every thread about Mark wanting to lower his carbon footprint ("In issue 127 of Singletrack magazine Mark and wife Vic decide that the environmental impact of flying with a bike is just too much. ") I don't think they should have taken the money from Isuzu. I don't remember them ever doing anything like this before to keep the lights on.
Subaru Brat or Ford P100 for me. Or an XC70 conversion... Rear upper cut off and a flat bed/bulkhead welded in
Thought this article was odd too - is STW trying to push towards a global market rather than a UK centred one?...
What is that quote about the log in your own eye first?
F1 Cars or bikes – which is more sustainable?
And that's exactly why I'm selling my F1 car at the moment - and am in the market for an Isuzu D-Max to replace it. Who says that Isuzu's media-buying research is rubbish now?
To be fair, the F1 car had real problems carrying a bike, was awful off anything other than mirror-smooth tarmac and went through fuel and tyres ridiculous quickly, worse even than a Volvo T5. Also no factory stereo supplied, just some glorified walkie talkie, no SatNav, no heating/air-con and horribly uncomfortable seat. You have to take the bloody steering wheel off to get in and out. Really impractical. The D-Max looks way better imho.
lots of tubby, white males
Why would you be so cruel? And so accurate?
Peak pick-up? That Skoda doesn’t come close.
I raise you:
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-spottedykywt/bentley-flying-spur-decadence-pickup-for-sale/47542
Yeah I know it's a ute, but still.
Strange comparison F1 cars and bicycles, one is used as a way to generate companies millions and to provide entertainment. The other to generate companies money, provide entertainment, transport for many and produce no emissions.
misses the mark Mark camp here
I’m in the “don’t care” camp
I'm in the "lets just take the piss out of Pickup owners" camp.
For all but a handful of niche use cases, pickups are always just slightly the 'wrong' vehicle, sold and then justified by owners on the illusion of being "working vehicles" rather than simply admitting they are drawn to the aesthetics and the idea of a pickup, a Van you can't actually leave anything in the back of...
Don't get me wrong, like lots of people I can appreciate Pickup's appeal, but the truth I have to accept is they are in reality mostly impractical if you need to move more than two full-sized humans, they're a bit inefficient, yes just like a van, but worse. I'd have one if I didn't have to answer to anyone else for my choices...
My Neighbour with the L200, their second car is a Jazz.
At some point practicality needs to kick in.
@mick_r I love that Skoda 'Elmo' I feel like Skoda used to be a more interesting company in the 90s after they first laid their hands on that sweet, sweet VW money... Novelty folding seat pickups, Electric pickups, what else did they dream up before becoming just another VAG sub-brand?
I'm off out to buy an old Favorit and a pallet full of Lead-acid batteries, that's how I'm saving the planet!
Can't believe STW didn't wait for the Tesla Truck to be released before making this declaration.
What is that quote about the log in your own eye first?
F1 Cars or bikes – which is more sustainable?
The bit that's not covered is what happens after a few million people watch the race on TV.
Cycling - goes out and rides a bike, maybe even replacing a car journey and lowering the carbon footprint a bit compared to what it otherwise might be.
F1 - car go vroom vroom
Saw this today:Peak pick-up? That Skoda beats these.
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(I'm a Berlingo fan!)
(I’m a Berlingo fan!)
Some of the early beringo concept cars were really cool. I had the soft top version for a few years, which TBH probably nullifies any criticisms about pickup security! It didn't so much have "scuttle shake" like most open topped cars, as "whole body jelly wobble" you could feel everything moving in different directions!
Does anyone genuinely ‘Need’ a pickup?
mountain bikers do!
is STW trying to push towards a global market rather than a UK centred one?…
at a guess, STW has a reputation in the uk as being for tubby old men. if the site is to survive when the subscribers have passed away, they’ll need new customers. it may be easier to attract foreigners who don’t realize what they are looking at.
didn’t someone at stw just marry an american? coincidence?
I don’t normally moan but balls to this. Last thing we need is more vehicles off road, there’s enough on road.
Illegal to drive off-road in Scotland, not that you’d know it with the increase in ignorant, selfish pigs this year.
And breathe.
51.76% of our monthly users are from the UK.
25% from US & Canada.
The rest from everywhere else.
And every north American lusts after a Japanese pickup that doesn't appear to be available in their home market 🤷♂️
this could be isuzu’s attempt to break into north america!
Assumed this was a pisstake when I saw the thread title. Appears not!
I don’t normally moan but balls to this
What he said.
Completely tone deaf.
You might as well have put those "cyclist hit count" bumper stickers in the web shop.
As a way to "connect with nature" driving an oversized diesel vehicle through it seems a bit like "connecting with friends" by punching them in the face.
Indefensible. And it shows in the response.
As I view this thread, it's literally serving a video with a still image saying "Mark considers his carbon footprint".
Do you think Private Eye would put it in their Malgorithms piece, or is STW too niche?
MarkFull Member
51.76% of our monthly users are from the UK.25% from US & Canada.
The rest from everywhere else.
So you're appealing to the 25% of the readership who live in the countries with the worst per-capita carbon footprint? That's alright then.
51.76% of our monthly users are from the UK.
25% from US & Canada.
The rest from everywhere else.
Irrespective, just because pickup/truck use is endemic in a lot of the us and Canada, there's no need to encourage it on here.
That 25% don't contribute much, do they. Is this an attempt to engage with them?
D Max is not a American style truck. Compact truck at best
Erm, the blanket advertising on here for this truck is via a UK operation called Pink Car Leasing.
This campaign is not targeting Transatlantic users.
Honestly, the numbers of threads started about cars, buying cars, repairing cars, what car to choose, what car would be best for MTB, what camper van, here's my old car and on and on and on. No one is forcing anyone to buy an Izuzu, you don't even have to open the adevrt and read it, just ignore it. In the meantime, I've lost count at the numbers of times Mark and the rest of Singletrack have suggested the best way they'd like both the magazine and forum to continue to be funded and paid for.
At the end of the day it's a commercial business and will make decisions that best support what it wants to continue to do. Only a few weeks ago, Cranked closed it's doors, and although Seb has said that the decision wasn't money based, it's clear reading between the lines, that he closed it before that became the reason. If we want this forum to be here and the mag to be continued to be produced, then we shouldn't be surprised if it sells advertising space
At the end of the day it’s a commercial business and will make decisions that best support what it wants to continue to do.
I don't think anyone has a problem with car adverts being displayed on STW. Those would be displayed based on the browsers profile and STW would have no control over that.
It's that only a few weeks ago STW were publishing articles on climate change affecting cycling then choose to run a paid promotion of a 4x4 pick-up parading as a lifestyle article.
They can run what ads they want for me (I'm a 4x4 and making-progress car owner), but don't then preach about the climate in another feature.
Not in the market for a pickup at the moment, but fair play to STW for landing this deal. Open marketplace digital ad revenues are stupidly low at the moment, it's no secret lots of bike brands are struggling so have cut budgets, so keeping STW running by sourcing alternative, demographically relevant (and historically better paying) advertorial incomes from the motor industry is a good move.
Easy to get all upset based on personal opinions, but if the choice is either diversify advertising or go under/lay people off, or at best barely struggle along, then fair play.
From some of the responses here, I’m surprised Mark has found the time to go round all your houses and shit in your beds.
munrobiker Free Member
Read the room Mark.
LOL!
It's not just an ad, it's a featured ad, suggesting editorial endorsement. Which doesn't sit easily with mark considering his carbon footprint.
To me at least.
They can run what ads they want for me (I’m a 4×4 and making-progress car owner), but don’t then preach about the climate in another feature
We all contradict. You get to take what information you want, leave what you don't want. It's not my type of vehicle so I leave it.
Yes, most of us have vehicles of some kind, and drive to ride, but that doesn't mean we can't take exception at one that's conspicuously wasteful.
No problem with trying to make money from adverts to keep the mag/site going, but surely you can see the cognitive dissonance here? This rather cheapens the editorial line about getting the train to ride to reduce your environmental impact doesn't it?
To say nothing of promoting off-roading (which 99% of these will never be used for, but still) and the effect that has on the trails a lot of us like to ride... the sort of trails on the brown hills of the north that feature so regularly in the mag!
F1 v UCI World tour
23 x 2 hr races with c 20 competitors versus 26 weeks of 4-5 hr races with 100-180 competitors...far better VFM for the polution.
To say nothing of promoting off-roading (which 99% of these will never be used for, but still) and the effect that has on the trails a lot of us like to ride…
I'm going to take exception at that, the country is for all of us or none of us within reason. I'm not a fan of 4x4 and mx bikes but, if we want better access to the country that's what we want, not better access for some of us based on how we choose to access it. See no cycling on a public footpath.
As for the ad, 🤷🏻♀️, buy one or don't buy one but let's face it, no one buying one was ever going to buy a 20 year old banger because a new car is wasteful* and anyone likely to be swayed by that already has been and probably isn't driving anyway because it turns out an Isuzu D Max idling on the m6 at 17.30 on a weekday is "better" than a "clean" 20 year old banger or a heavily laden stealth camper lugging fridges and batteries in the school run.
Pretending we're better isn't better.
*see also new clothes, especially cheap ones which tend to have the environmental credentials of piper alpha. Coffee, wood burners, new bikes etc. Short of asking STW to only advertise well used preowned stuff it's all conspicuously wasteful.
They can run what ads they want for me (I’m a 4×4 and making-progress car owner), but don’t then preach about the climate in another feature.
No one is preaching at you.
but that doesn’t mean we can’t take exception at one that’s conspicuously wasteful.
The industry that supports Singletrack (and that we all of us presumably are content to continue to partake in) is an entirely derived form of conspicuous consumption. In the western world that entirely functions this way, it is an act of singularly wilful blindness to be angry at this particular small business behaving in the same way that we all do on a day to day basis. Mark and the rest of Singletrack have not asked to be put on a pedestal, to then try to knock them off it, seems a wee bit supercilious
FWIW I'm not outraged so much as I'm gobsmacked and amused by the incongruity of this campaign.
On a more serious note, let's look at a couple of other cycling-related sponsorship deals...
1. Shell sponsoring British Cycling
Absolute outrage and disgust from members and volunteers.
2. Mercedes Benz as title sponsor for UCI World Cup series (now finished?)
Widely welcomed that a mainstream external sponsor is backing the sport.
I'm not playing devil's avocado, so much as pointing out that the differences in "optics" is subtle but important and STW's deal (which I personally don't begrudge them), does err on the "tone deaf" side of the line TBH.
How would we feel if MB were to renew their deal with the UCI? Would that generate as much angst in the current climate (pun intended)?