[Closed] Ridiculous Bike Magazine Reviews.......

MBr review reads as the commy V4 seem to have too many faults yet the score is "8/10"

Rival Bikeradar sings its praises.

That's class. The glory days of insane MBR reviews seem to be past though. "We fitted a 140mm fork to the Inbred, which is too long. It rode like the fork was too long, so we're marking it down so the Orange can win".

There was a Bikeradar one recently that said something like "The handling is great out of the box" then later in the review "We tipped all the internals out of the shock and fork into the bin, and got TF to totally replace everything, and now we have something we can live with". Really?

Guy Kesteven seems to be on a mission to outlaw bars less than 780mm even for trail riding. Interesting that Jared Graves chooses 740mm bars and Jerome Clementz 750mm, but what do they know.

Stems too long at 80mm, bars too narrow at 700mm, flexy cranks, all that kind of crap that stopped me reading the reviews.

Loved (huh) the line in Singletrack where the idiot (yes, you are!) said people used to follow him on his Yeti so they could laugh at the back end noodling around. Idiot, it was your arse they were laughing at.

I read a review on a site today that said a pretty sorted looking disc road bike with 32s can match a lightweight 29er in the woods, or something like that. I took it as miscommunication of enthusiastic riding but I get the impression some want to believe its possible. Reading stuff literally.

I think all Bike magazine reviews need to be taking with a very large pinch of salt. They make a lot of their money through advertising. The only way to keep that cash flow is to ensure a favourable review for their clients products.

When it comes to bike reviews and especially anything relating to how the suspension works I like to think the reviewer is giving an accurate description of how the bike felt to them....it's just that they have no understanding of why it felt that way.

I mostly gave up reading reviews a good decade ago for this reason.

I still occasionally read them and within a few paragraphs my urine is boiling.

How people get paid to do a job so badly is beyond me.

[quote=cynic-al ]How people get paid to do a job so badly is beyond me.[i]You[/i] manage.

Compare that to the car mags. I get Top Gear every month and having tried many hatchbacks recently due to changing cars found that what they described was pretty much correct for all the cars we tried.

All the bike reviews you'll ever need here -
[url] http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/bike_review.htm [/url]

You all actually read the text? I just look at the pictures.

The trouble is, it's incredibly subjective. That's one reason we're obsessed with weight and other measurables, you can't say categorically "this bike is better than this bike", only "I like this bike more" so we look for objective measurements even when they're not much use.

(flameproof suit on) I reckon Steve Jones actually got this better than most reviewers. Sure, it's hard to actually follow what he's saying but he tries to capture feel and character as much as 11% moar stiffz. He'll talk about chainstay length, head angles, all that but if a bike doesn't inspire him it doesn't get a good review. Trouble with that is, it might inspire him but not you. But at least it's getting to the real point of things.

Surely most magazines buy most of their reviews from third parties, don't they?

I stopped reading mags a while ago.

Do they still devote a little paragraph to counting the bottle cage mounts?

That was the best bit!

Northwind - Member

The trouble is, it's incredibly subjective.

Some is for sure - but they often get basic stuff wrong, and they should be making it as objective as possible.

Always good when from the outside of the magazine it looks like it was a test, but on reading the article you realise it's just the press release and bumpf that you could read on the Wiggle/CRC/Merlin item description.

Does Specialized still always get 10 out of 10 every single time in MBR?

Does Specialized still always get 10 out of 10 every single time in MBR?

Depends if they buy a full page ad or not.

I stopped reading mags a while ago

I stopped buying dirt going on a year ago after I pulled out a few old copies from under a bed and was gobsmacked at the difference in everything - weight/thickness/content etc etc. It was insulting.

MBR - I flick through in WHSmiths but then they seal their mag now to and ad a small bribe in there to trick you into buying a duff advertising pamphlet.

I've read some howlers, MBR always seemed to be on a mission to either prove the lightest, shortest travel bike was always the best - unless an Orange 5 was involved, then that won every time.

I read a mixed review once, all sorts of different genres/marketing brackets (take your pick) anyway, to level the playing field they chose to ditch the supplied tyres and fit a control tyre - something narrow and fast rolling from memory, certainly nothing more than 2.1 wide... unsurprisingly they bikes that were designed and built for that sort of tyre did best, they actually wrote words along the lines of "the big 6" trail bike continues to disappoint - it really hasn't got the grip to make use of it's travel so renders itself an expensive, overly heavy, point and squirt machine".

@P-Jay, that one was genius.

Another highlight was that "£3000 trailbike review" where they took a £3000 Orange Five, put something like £400's worth of upgrades on it, then gave it bonus points specifically for the stuff it wouldn't have had if it were in budget.

Meanwhile, an under-budget bike (Lapierre?) got points off because they thought it needed £10 worth of new brake pads

I found an old mag in my desk drawer...

[img] http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r90/dezb99/Junk/E1EC3105-E2C7-4CD7-8178-18AE1DB7B96E_zpsealk0set.jp g" target="_blank">http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r90/dezb99/Junk/E1EC3105-E2C7-4CD7-8178-18AE1DB7B96E_zpsealk0set.jp g"/> [/img]

Bet no-one can guess the bikes!

These will be completely wrong but to get the ball rolling.

Top: Giant Anthem
Bottom: Commencal Meta

Oh, good game!

Top: Spec Epic ?
Bottom: SC Bronson ?

Bottom: SC Bronson

Spot on! 🙂

What do I win?! The price gave it away. Plus they would be pushing the Nomad for Enduro I would think.

I'll send you the mag 😆

First one could be any number of short travel fs bikes couldn't it!

Think it was mbr that did some really random tests and comparisons.
We test 6 bikes for mud clearance
Head to head, two bikes that share the same front tyre (and nothing else)

Bronson was the obvious guess with enduro and price, but yeah other one could be anything, reckon most bike reviews conclusion could be tricky to guess.

I tend to think the online mags do a better job of reviewing than the paper ones, but even then you have to take them with a pinch of salt.

I was after a new bike recently and the Mondraker Foxy was the top contender. I wasn't going to buy it without a test ride, as I don't trust the reviews at all, but read them anyway.

Bike radar has drunk the forward geometry koolaid and was frothing at the mouth about how great it is:

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/bikes/mountain-bikes/full-suspension/product/review-mondraker-foxy-r-14-48298/

Pinkbike were less complementary and slagged off the narrow bar and they couldn't get used to the handling.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/mondraker-foxy-carbon-xr-review-2015.html

Vital couldn't get on with it and felt the bike was too long. Queue a whole bunch of fanboys defending the bike in the comments.

http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Mondraker/Foxy-Carbon-RR,14525

Enduro MTB actually did a long term test and found the headset fell apart in 5 minutes and the bearings didn't last.

http://enduro-mtb.com/en/long-term-test-bikes-2014/

What did I learn from the reviews? Not much except the foxy is probably the only bike around that you are actually better sizing down on. Oh and the bearings are not great.

In the end the bearing issue put me off and I ended up with a bird aeris, which I test rode and loved.

Moral of the story? Get a test ride when buying a new bike and ignore the magazines.

Also I think most of the English mags take it in turns to throw darts on a board to decide how they are going to review a bike, apart from their favourites.

THere seems to be a trend at the moment in 1 magazine that says Santa Cruz has to win. It doesnt how much more expensive it is or to match the price the spec is not that far off a halfords special

I've taken magazine reviews with a pinch of salt since my motorbiking years. Back then it was all, for example, "the meaty midrange of the ZX6R stomps all over the GSXR600 between 6 and 8000rpm" blah blah blah. They were both 600cc supersports bikes weighing pretty much the same - go and ride one, find out which fits you best and looks best in the flesh. Same for MTB. Marginal differences over-exaggerated in magazines. All perfectly capable of performing the task they were designed to do. IMO!

Singletrack seems to be describing character and feel more than obsessing over angles stem lengths and tyres.

MBR hasve swallowed their own bull and the marketing zeitgeist bs too and now can't cope with anything not on trend. God forbid a bike that isn't an Xc whippet come with a 70mm stem or a 67.5 degree head angle! They seem obsessed with top trumps type scoring and petty elements of the spec that are a matter of personal taste and not in anyway fundamental.

I've taken magazine reviews with a pinch of salt

The problem is alot of readers and bikeshop customers take what they are told because they think someone who works in the bike industry is going to have more knowledge than they are.

I was pointing out 5k bikes to Mrshora and the fact that within a couple of years the kit on them might be obsolete or worth less than 50% and she said 'why do people buy them over 2k bikes then'?! Hard to explain.

hora - Member

I was pointing out 5k bikes to Mrshora and the fact that within a couple of years the kit on them might be obsolete or worth less than 50% and she said 'why do people buy them over 2k bikes then'?! Hard to explain.

You're not supposed to tell wives how much bikes cost, dammit. You'll blow everyone's cover.

It was at the Steel City DH- I was pointing out all the SC's!!

The background is that I'd just bought a new commy frame that she clocked and when I saw all the fancy SC's I thought.....heres a chance to buy some browny-points back

Abit like you've been caught sleeping with another woman and you respond 'look its not exactly an expensive hooker is it'?

Loved (huh) the line in Singletrack where the idiot (yes, you are!) said people used to follow him on his Yeti so they could laugh at the back end noodling around. Idiot, it was your arse they were laughing at.

Well that was me and in a classic case of misquoting, what I actually said was both Danny Milner (MBR) and Robin Weaver (MBUK) kept dropping back to watch the flex in the back end of that Yeti (with the carbon flexy link in the chain stays that lead to an unsurprisingly flexy rear end). It happened. It really did, while riding the Passporte du Soleil together a few years ago. I got the the end and was really quite proud of the fact I not only kept up with the pair of them but on some of the DH sections I passed them. Turned out they were just dropping back to have a laugh 🙂 I'm testing the updated version of the same bike now, without the daft carbon flexy links. It's much nicer 🙂

'laterally stiff yet vertically compliant'

Mark your review on the Intense Tracer 275 - you slagged off my lovely Ardent tyres 😀

Don't remember reviewing that bike. When was that? 🙂

We could play 'spot the reviewer based on a quote or two'?

"Cut and paste"

"crux move"

Orange one- two(?) issues back- pics in mag on pecket well. To be fair though pecket well probably isn't the ideal place to run an ardent as a front..

hora - Member

Abit like you've been caught sleeping with another woman and you respond 'look its not exactly an expensive hooker is it'?

I'm not 100% convinced that line would work.....

Wasn't me hora I'm afraid and you seem to have answered your own question about the tyre 🙂

I'm not 100% convinced that line would work.....

Maybee...... look husband I only slept with one bloke not a threesome so its only half as bad?

[i]Well that was me[/i]

Ha! Should've known! 😆

Reviews are subjective. This is the case for basically anything.

Unless they say it's genuinely dangerous or otherwise vastly flawed, I'll ignore it completely.

Read a few reviews of Rockshox’s new RS1. It’s a good illustration of varied journalistic practice, I think - either it’s hard to reach a consensus or some are bigging up a bit more than they should.

Even if the review process was unbiased, I still find it a bit strange. From what I’ve read, there are relatively few bike designers working for the big bike companies and they are generally very experienced and extremely accomplished at what they do. For sure they have many constraints in what they can actually get to market but I still find it rather odd that someone will hop on a bike and claim they know better.

I just received an email from MBR to follow a link to 'Hardtail of the Year'.
I haven't opened it as I assume it will be the Rockhopper Pro that won it again.

hora - Member
....and when I saw all the fancy SC's I thought.....heres a chance to buy some browny-points back

I tried something like that recently and it backfired, am just gong to keep my gob shut. I never win any arguments that involve financial matters.

Actually correction I never win any arguments,period.

Cycling weekly one did a review of two road bikes. Both had the same finishing kit and105 groups, one was the 105 black finish and the other was the 105 silver finish.
Gues what? They marked one of the 'components' columns five stars and the other four stars! That was the final straw, and I havn't read it since.
And don't get me started on 'cockpit' FFS when did a push bike ever have anything even remotely resembling a cockpit!!! Ridiculous!!

The classic one was a number of years ago when MBR were testing a Trek which snapped and it still got 7/10 or something.

Cycling Plus and reviews are totally laughable. I do get the mag, just for something to do while on my throne. Wouldn't believe a Kesteven review if it involved pixies and dwarfs....

I still remrmber a noodly/flexy hardtail (that went on to snap in a certain place) getting 10/10. I bought it on the strength of that glowing review/score. You could stand on one pedal and noticeably flex the whole BB area aft.

Jef Wachowchow - Member

I just received an email from MBR to follow a link to 'Hardtail of the Year'.
I haven't opened it as I assume it will be the Rockhopper Pro that won it again.

You're bad at assuming, I should do less of it if I were you 😉 Here's this year and last year's results (not in the vid, in the text underneath)

http://www.mbr.co.uk/reviews/hardtail/mbr-hardtail-of-the-year-sneak-preview-video

I think the Bizango won in 2013 as well.

Probably 20 years ago MBUK reviewed a few bikes and took them to the Popeye Village which is in Malta . They spent a few paragraphs explaining how they had to travel from Malta to the neighbouring island of Gozo to The Popeye Village . Whether they were even there seems doubtful given that they didn't know where it was .

I just found it best to buy a bike that the mags don't seem to want to go near (Codeine) and laugh to myself at what they are missing out on, always best to just go out and try one for yourself. Same goes for clothing they always rave about endura but in my opinion the waistbands are getting smaller every year 😆

Surely mag reviews are best used in the way you'd use a Tripadvisor review? Only look for negatives that have a real effect, and ignore the ones that score an ice-cream parlour 1 star for not selling bacon sarnies!

OT: Tripadvisor- theres a hideous indie coffeeshop near me. After a bad review suddenly theres a few 5 star reviews from 1 review/new posters.

Slighty off topic, but has anyone noticed the ludicrous pouts and 'blue steel' gurns that some of the journos pull in riding shots? There's one in particular - he must be taking the piss or have a staggering lack of self-awareness.

I still remrmber a noodly/flexy hardtail (that went on to snap in a certain place) getting 10/10. I bought it on the strength of that glowing review/score. You could stand on one pedal and noticeably flex the whole BB area aft.

You can do that to most bikes.

What these mags need is a decent knowledgable engineer that can critically comment on bikes and equipment they are given and provide readers objective information...or is that too sensible? Too many reviews follow what the comments here already say, results are all too often not based on the merits of the bikes

Jambo not like an old steel raleigh bike

This (below), taken from a well know bike website today, is what I dislike about bike reviews. What does it actually mean?

Coffee comparison
Santa Cruz 5010
Face rearranging double espresso from downtown Finale Ligure.
Yeti SB5C
Smooth, hand ground soya latte with artisan barista artwork

It was the late 90s, mbuk were reviewing suspension forks. The pace won out over the marzocchi bomber. Not read it since.

all bike reviews ever:

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.co.uk/2007/08/bsnyc-2008-dream-bike-shootout.html

"Corners like a decagon" is genius.

When I started read this thread I thought when Bike Snob New York's legendary review pitch would show up.

[i]"Descends like a monkey in crampons dropped from a helicopter"[/i]

[i]"Laterally stiff, yet vertically compliant"[/i]

Some of the reviews are laughable. Wherever possible, I'll search online for real world user experiences before I commit to a purchase, I learned the hard way after buying a full suss bike on the strength of a couple of WMB pieces. The bike I bought was too short in the top tube, had a too-long headtube, lofty 2" rise bars to prevent the shifter pods and brake levers from smacking the frame and required a 36T chainring to cancel out the annoying pedal feedback that you'd get with a 32T ring.

I'd bought a pup.

[img] :large[/img]

That sounds like a George Osborne MBR review there.

Credit to MBR though, they did eat their words later and admitted they were talking total bollocks.

Wherever possible, I'll search online for real world user experiences before I commit to a purchase

The confirmation bias of "real world" user reviews makes them even more unreliable and ridiculous than magazine reviews.

BikeRadar review up - which is better for a given price point (hardtail or full-sus)? Hardtail 'wins' 5 to 2, but the full-sus wins overall. Unsurprisingly.

schmiken - Member
BikeRadar review up - which is better for a given price point (hardtail or full-sus)? Hardtail 'wins' 5 to 2, but the full-sus wins overall. Unsurprisingly.

Just saw that. The frame one was hilarious: basically the FS frame is heavy, rubbish and 'old-fashioned' (straight 1 1/8" headtube, etc) but it wins because it has so much more 'technology'. It's like they saw a recent video on GMBN (which are also rubbish, but sincerely so imo) and thought "****! We need to get on this right away, where's that 14yr old work experience boy?"