after 20+ years of reading bike mags (i've been cocking around on bikes long enough to remember when Zak Tempest was cool), i'm not *that* excited about reading more of the same old stuff.
so here's an idea the mags can have for free:
include articles about other sports.
i want to read about skiing/boarding/climbing/sailing/paragliding with eagles/caving/canoeing/etc. etc.
all of these awesome sports have history, and legends, and characters, and events for you to tell us about. And kit, lots of lovely kit for you to review/explain - even if it's only once.
editors: stuck for ideas for an article? - don't do (yet) another 'what 5" trail bike for £5000?' article - send a couple of your journos out for their paragliding pilots license. or the 'moving water' canoe course at Plas Y Brenin. or etc.
we're dealing with outdoor sports here, a constantly changing world of challenge and achievements, how have we got to this point where you've got nothing new to tell us?
Publishers: a lot of these articles have already been written - just recycle them from your other magazines, i'd be very surprised if many people noticed.
interesting content for free? - everyone's a winner!
I seem to remember the ill-fated Maximum Mountain Bike magazine ran articles about other adventure sports.
Bike mags all follow the same format,New bikes just released, manufactuers want some fee advertising of their product, mags write nice things usually so propogating a relationshipm with supplier to get more free stuff to test,and sometimes keep.
Same with all bike products, and strange how most tested products also have a large advert nearby,
Then therre are the winter cycling wear tests,
the bike lights tests, the summer wear tests, get set for summer fitness, get set for cold/warm/wet weather riding, how to climb/how to decend, how to do tricks, a letters page, and they all follow the same format year in tear out, and wonder why sales slump.
Lets have more actual riders tests, not paid journalists, articles about the manufacturing processes involved in making a bike,wheels,components,less whole page pictures just filling space and looking like youve bought a huge mag, take out the pics and adds and youve bought a thin comic,
Oh and a pet hate, when youve tested something why take a picture of the product covered in mud, its not clever or even has any meaning, just you walked /rode throyugh some mud.
Magazines, please never do that. Magazine buyers, if you want an article on canoes, buy canoetrack. It was irritating enough when Singletrack started filling its pages with cyclocross bollocks never mind some other random unconnected nonsense. What else, restaurant reviews? Celebrity watch?
Magazines, please never do that. Magazine buyers, if you want an article on canoes, buy canoetrack. It was irritating enough when Singletrack started filling its pages with cyclocross bollocks never mind some other random unconnected nonsense. What else, restaurant reviews? Celebrity watch?
This.
I run a perfect binder, occasionally the one binding MBR.
Please keep buying magazines!
I lost patience with mbr when they decided to try and force a new geometry standard on everyone and stopped quoting toptube or reach but insisted on giving us downtube lengths. Bunch of cock wombles.
I lost all interest in mtb mags as they never seemed to review anything that was relevant to me, a shorts review where the cheapest still cost £80-100, high end lights that cost a months salary etc. I know there is other kit out there at more reasonable prices because i use it and find out about it on places like this forum.
If i do ever by a cycling mag then it tends to be a roadie one that focuses on the sport side of things rather than kit that i could never afford.
I certainly " get" all the negative stuff, with regard repetition, manufacturer bias and so on. But truthfully, in pre Singletrack and web days, MBR et al, provided a whole load of inspiration.
Even today, despite iPad and PC , I still like to read MTB mags and surfing ones. Granted for ages the MTB fraternity at large needed something a bit like Surfers Path for those who surf and Singletrack fills that void admirably, the offbeat, the quirky, yet strangely real worldliness of these rags is something I like.
That said along with them, I will , no doubt pick up Mbr again at some point , when in the supermarket this month too.
Slipping n sliding round some iof our local trails this afternoon, knowing they will soon be slipperyer and slideier and the evenings cold and longer, just means a little more time , feet up, reading. A mag won't break if it falls your chest , when you doze off, like an iPad can ! 😉
Like Dirt its slimmed/lost actual content overtime. Dirt'll survive as it seems to be positioning (intentional?) More and more as high price lifestyle end of mtb/dh.
Both mags price is insulting. Wierdly mbuk is getting slimmer too.
I think most enthusiasts magazines are great when you're a beginner/ getting into a new sport. Once you know what you're doing they're a waste of money.
(That said, I subscribe to Singletrack. The photos are stunning and the in-depth articles very absorbing. As noted above, Singletrack is 'different')
I lost patience with mbr when they decided to try and force a new geometry standard on everyone and stopped quoting toptube or reach but insisted on giving us downtube lengths. Bunch of cock wombles.
Here's why. Reach/stack are the most important fit measurement, agreed? Go get your tape and tell me what the reach and stack measurements of your bike are. It's a nightmare without two people, a straightedge and level etc.
The downtube measurement makes a lot of sense. Distance between the contact patches that anyone can measure. My only gripe is they should measure to the top of the headtube but it's still a good quick measurement.
Would a magazine ever be bold enough to test Lidl/Aldi bike stuff? Or a review of what is available used for (x) amount?
Downtube length makes a lot more sense than toptube length!
If it's universally used, maybe, but to quote a number that no one else uses is pretty pointless.
I'm surprised with the rise of cameras like the Go-pro the publishers/journalists are not using these to record interesting bits of the ride guides, then posting a link to the footage in the guide itself so people can get a better idea of whats in store.
If the publication doesn't have a website(why not?) then could easily be posted on You Tube.
The last mag I bought was MBUK which although much improved on old still didn't compel me to buy it again.
Would a magazine ever be bold enough to test Lidl/Aldi bike stuff?
Probably, but then by the time they went to press it'd all be sold out and people would complain: "Why do you review things we can't even buy?"
Mtb mags have always been stuck for ideas - witness MBUK circa 1991 - Brant, Paul Hudson and Jamie tatlow "raving" with/on bikes (complete with Bula trousers and cowboy hat)
Well due to this thread just signed up to single track for a year.
Canceled my MBR sub as fed up with the same old winges "fox dives through the travel" "bars too narrow" for example.
No one mentioned there are more mtb magazines these days? I dont subscribe to any these days. But i do subscribe to cyclist and cycling plus occasionally cycling weekly. Generally i find them much more interesting articles on training, diet and racing as well as kit
Used to have a sub to MBR as I read it a bit when I got back into bikes a few years back. Rapidly got sick of the same tests at the same time of year. It's like they had a calendar printed with what they were meant to be covering the next month but it never got changed, they just used the same calendar for years.
I still use the forum on there though as I've ridden with quite a few of them.
Aye, it's a wonder. The magazines call up the lbs's and try and get them on board to stock the mags,(I'll guess this is declining too, 2 stockists of Dirt in Scotland?) but they do themselves no favours by PSA'ing sportspursuit offers of deals on FB that nobody that runs an lbs in the country will ever be able to compete with.
Totally agree with PeterPoddy, there's so little depth to a lot of mtb journalism. After twenty-odd years of coverage its a shame the industry doesnt have more things of intserest to write about. It so often lacks character or humour or a rounded knowledge of all mtb disciplines...where are all the James Huangs and Mike Davis??
Also it's so frustrating that so many mags seemingly struggle to fill their pages all the while ignoring the domestic race scene (even Cycling Weekly is bad for this). Sure, racing isn't for everyone but if xc for example was covered in an engaging, informed manner then who knows, entries may increase, the scene becomes more vibrant, and maybe BC better funds XC!
After years of receiving an MBR sub as a Christmas present from my Auntie I still go through the same ritual...tear off cellophane, curse the stupid flyers/scratch cards that fall from inside, have a flick through, have a poop and never return to the mag again 🙁
where are all the James Huangs and Mike Davis??
Aren't they still writing for mountain biking publications / websites? You can buy Mike's collected Privateer ramblings for the Kindle btw - very readable. And the Angry Asian produces stuff for Bikeradar, no?
The bigger picture is that print publications across the board are losing readers. It's the internet. And the death of local newsagents. And the extortionate costs of magazine distribution. Also, several publishers have tried to launch multi-sport type magazines and they've all pretty much tanked, at least in the UK.
Bauer launched something called Outdoor Fitness, which was supposed to be a huge-selling gorilla of a thing, but they sold it a few months back because it never made the numbers they wanted it to. Go figure, as they say over on the other side of the big pond where Outside is still an astonishingly good publication in parts.
I like magazines, but if they continue to offer stuff that's available for free on the web, I can't see that things are going to improve for them. I'd love to know how many people under the age of 30 or so buy print magazines these days, there's a whole generation that's grown up with digital as its go to medium. I wonder if print readers are simply a dying breed, literally...
I find What Mountain Bike? Pretty enthusiastic and engaging, so I buy that occasionally, and Single Track too.
MBR seems a bit grumbling to me, but occasionally excellent in their 'this bike is awesome, buy this one' style reviews.
That you can't please everybody all the time might be what's at root of things?
where are all the James Huangs and Mike Davis??
Hello 🙂 James is all over BikeRadar. I'm not doing any editorial work any more, because I found myself increasingly unable to do a job of which I was happy in the time that the fee would permit. It's pretty much a job for staffers or people with either very low overheads or other sources of income. It was a fun 20 years, though 😉
Was in Sainsbury's this evening, had a look at the mountain biking mags with the intention of buying one. The only ones available were MBR and MBUK, both were wrapped up in film. Could not gauge from the front covers what was actually in there worth, left with neither. I tend to float between mags, might seek out Singletrack this month, is it any good? Nowt on Cx I hope?
The last magazine I bought was mbuk for a friend who broke his knee. He passed it on to me and I read it when on holiday. I got fed up of the adverts and guessed that about 1/3 of the magazine was taken up by them. Being very bored waiting for the wife I counted the full page and half page adverts and in total they accounted for 96 of the magazines 183 pages. I have never bought one since and probably won't again. I know they need advertising revenue but a line needs to be drawn when the magazine no longer has any content.
Also the content was all recycled rubbish accompanied by stupid posed photos.
Also the content was all recycled rubbish accompanied by stupid posed photos.
Doesn't that account for most magazine content? I wish there were more articles about UK riding. I'm not interested in seeing magazine journo's being paid to ride in places like Morocco and Bolivia etc...
might seek out Singletrack this month
I've never bought it, but based on the posters on here I should imagine its similar to socialist worker magazine with a few articles on roadbikes.
It's more like this:
[img] 
[/img]
But with unaffordable bikes instead of unaffordable houses.
I find What Mountain Bike? Pretty enthusiastic and engaging, so I buy that occasionally
The last issue I read was pretty dire, the usual stem too long, bars too narrow rubbish taking up most of a review. Slated all the bikes for diving Fox forks, apart from the one that won the group test (which also had the same Fox forks)...
One of the reviews also contained the text 'blip the throttle'. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Used to be a regular, but as a die hard 26er, I open any of the mags now and its all about the bigger wheel sizes so any tests or reports bear no relation to my world and its turns me off
Its a personal thing you know !!
If anyone has ever been into BMX, Ride BMX mag (UK version) pretty much got it spot on for many years, and can only assume it still does.
Albion BMX is also another one that got it spot on (and is free!)
New gear/products only ever was one or two pages with a paragraph (if that) on anything new.
No gear reviews.
Largely grade A photography based, some great inspiring words and articles on travelling with bikes and doing tricks with rad people. Great magazine.
Occasionally there was a "how to" trick section. But mostly interviews and articles all around the BMX life.
Pick up a copy if you get a chance, have a flick through.
EDIT:
So I just went on the RideBMX UK site, and it seems to have taken a slight downhill turn.
In more shocking news, Albion BMX is no more - announced with this quite morbid message on their site - http://thealbion.cc/
But, they've uploaded every issue here:
http://issuu.com/thealbionbmx
Some great words and photography.
Not enough photos of riders with both wheels on the ground. Too many pictures of riders with over-exposed sex faces.
Factual errors in product reviews - ie Montane's Hyena jacket isnt waterproof
Sheer volume of cliches is getting embarrassing - "buttery smooth" is still in use, "game changing geometry"
General @rse being written - "an steerer that's cut too long will weigh you down" , "bars under 760mm are not suitable for the Alps" blah blah
Still printing route cards with the route the wrong way on the map to the description
The "We Hate" section in the bike reviews
...not to mention the obvious Enduro obsession
.......and how can they be based in Surrey?!
I wont be renewing my subscription ( a gift last year).
Singletrack mag have also reduced their DD for next year, so maybe the decline is industry wide.
Our price reduction has more to do with Print cost savings and efficiencies than the industry decline.
Quite like MBR. Wmb is the worst out of all of them, even mountain bike action!
I can tolerate MBUK, but dirt is my favorite.
Sheer volume of cliches is getting embarrassing - "buttery smooth" is still in use, "game changing geometry"
Do bikes still corner like they're on rails?
😉
Changing tyres on the test bikes to a "control set" instead of testing the bike as you buy it.
I reckon a monthly round up of the high (and low) lights from these boards would be a pretty good read - perhaps expanded with some additional research / 'informed' comment.
clubby - MemberChanging tyres on the test bikes to a "control set" instead of testing the bike as you buy it.
That's pretty reasonable tbh- if you get an expensive bike with bad tyres, you change the tyres, you don't go "this bike's a 2/5" and throw it in a skip.
They did once change the tyres on a test bike then criticise the tyres they'd fitted though, that was good.
Maybe they should fit control forks and shocks then.
I do accept tyres are relatively cheap to change but on an expensive bike should you have to? That's not really testing what's being sold.
OK, suppose you end up with 2 similiar bikes with quality but very different tyres- one has supertacky highroller 2.5s, one has a pair of ardents. What do you end up writing in the review. "Bike 1 was more capable on the descents, bike 2 was faster"? Tyres dominate a bike's performance, for the short time they last. And they're a matter of taste too so changing them is commonplace anyway.
If you tested all Orange bikes with the plastic OEM conti and schwalbe shite they come shod with, they'd all get 1 out of 10. Except in MBR obviously 😉
I have read all the mags in my time. This year I cancelled my dirt subscription as it felt like Steve Jones was bullying anyone who disagreed with his opinions, and his reviews were borderline illegible. MBR is the only one I read now. They seem to have a good focus on some fairly wild trails in the features and the reviews, while they do go on about the bars a hit, are probably the best of any of the magazines. They show a lot of kit but I am a nerd and I like kit.
What MTB I found very dull, mbuk is a bit beyond me and while I am sure Singletrack is delightful if you are an ageing bloke pottering about perfectly dry trails on a fat bike or "bikepacking" or whatever the trendy word for touring is now then its great, but while I know the content isn't like that its all a bit old man trendy for me. But I am not its target market, and I suspect that the average stw user and reader is not mbr's target market hence the general grumblings of dislike here b
<shameless plug> I had a few words in MBR this summer (the riding wasn't very summery, mind). You're welcome to grab a PDF here: http://bit.ly/1rMadkk. I'd be interested in hearing feedback, good or bad.
