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eg. S-Works Stumpjumper race bike (or something more obscure) or somesuch, followed by showing all the lower budget Stumpjumpers, and even Rockhoppers for the cost conscious. Explain how the kit differs, benefits of hydraulic discs etc.
Seriously?! No one cares! Certainly not someone getting into cycling as a result of seeing the Olympics or hearing about the TdF.
The majority of the general public are just about aware of "a bike", even most tech geeks don't care about the differences between XT and SLX surely?
It's a really difficult remit they've given themselves. "Cycling" covers everything from Obree on his insane face down recumbent to a commuter on a Brompton, to someone doing backflips, to Sportives, track racing and (as mentioned above) MTB could be an entire series in itself - XC, DH, 4X, "freeride", trials. It's a HUGE spectrum.
I can see what they're trying to do - a few wide articles saying "hey look, this is bikes" Leave it at that. It's much better at 1hr and it continues to improve as they've tweaked the format. Bit more banter and natural interviews, don't try and go in depth with asking about kit; you're going to bore everyone who doesn't know about it and embarrass everyone who does know about it.
Crazy-legs - you've sussed it!
(very few other STWers have)
C
I disagree, people who are just getting into bikes aren't going to watch it though are they, as it's even less interesting to them.
It's a HUGE spectrum.
doesn't mean it doesn't have details. Imagine if Top Gear never mentioned anything specific. I personally couldn't give a flying hoot for cars, but I find James May getting excited about car technology really interesting.
bit random on there, had the guy on the mega segment I think saying "you really need rockshox suspension forks", the aston martin superbike then a bottle of stans solution with the label fuzzed out.stop being afraid of brand names
have some of those guys paid to be there? either show all brands or show none.
Decide who it's aimed at. I went for a bath as there was nowt on the telly! It reminds me of all those American documentaries where after every set of ads they repeat the bits before the ads.
Get rid of all the over excited fake bits.
And get rid of anyone who isn't a serious rider. A newbie to cycling is more likely to pay interest to a name rather than a TV star and experienced cyclist won't slag it off. I vote for Sean Kelly as the main presenter. Paired with Duffield of course.
Fort Boyard or that other thing with Anneka Rice, thats what it reminds me of!
Get rid of the presenter the chap who cant smile and seeems bored, bring in Mark Cavendish, Chris Boardman and Rob Hayles, for a Top Gear look, get rid of the people in the background, watching someone eat badly is off putting, otherwise each week it gets better.
Are they actually going to have a mountain bike feature and some off road or cyclepath action.
And do they they realy need such long advert breaks,
doesn't mean it doesn't have details. Imagine if Top Gear never mentioned anything specific. I personally couldn't give a flying hoot for cars, but I find James May getting excited about car technology really interesting.
Top Gear follows a well worn format. It's an entertainment show using cars as a backdrop and everyone watching knows that it's basically a vehicle (pun intended) for 3 middle aged blokes to cock about with cars/machinery in exotic locations. It's funny. I'm not particularly "into" cars but I find the childish humour mostly appeals to me.
Think about it - when does TG get boring? When they bang on about cars and the difference between a Ford Fiesta and a Ford Focus like the old TG used to and 5th Gear tried to do. DULL!!
We tune in every week to try and support the viewing figures but I must admit I do find it very frustrating. Having said that I also struggle to think how they could change it so everyone was happy because their potential audience is so diverse and into so many different things.
I know last night we were thinking the Splinter bikes thing was a bit different and a bit interesting but they spent all of about a minute showing that, and yet they seemed to talk at length to people doing the Brompton racing specifically about their outfits (I really don't care how much that woman loved the colour purple...! Or how you tie a bow tie!?)
I agree there should be less interviews too - certainly less in that formal on a sofa in the cafe environment, everybody looks quite awkward and the whole thing feels a bit forced. And no one in the audience behind seems very interested. They should get more people chatting out and about while they demonstrate stuff - I'd far rather have seen more of that Atherton brother in action on a bike and showing us firsthand what he does, than sat on the couch and mumbling on in his somewhat monotone voice about nothing much.
Maybe they could have dragged themselves away from London and gone to visit him in Wales?
I've personally not really once identified with any of the different styles of riding featured on it either. Often me and him have sat there thinking: yes, but what about those of us who just simply take to the countryside at the weekend for a bit of fun and sociability? I think many people just think of mountain biking as serious full-face GNAR, when in fact there's those of us who also like their rides to feature cake/ice cream stops too....
We tune in every week to try and support the viewing figures
Are you a member of the BARB viewers panel?
As I had to look up what BARB is, that'll be a no then!
So, even less point in us watching at all now 🙄
For those of us that are enthusiastic about biking, read biking publications and/or frequent the forums. What are we expecting to see that we haven't already? We're on here criticising, myself included and now I've thought about it there's not much they could show that would interest me. Highlights of certain races is always good, but you can get all that online.
It really was sending me to sleep last night, so at least it was good for that.
They could do a 5 min 'classic routes' segment, whether that's on/off road. Presenter/guest go and ride it, show us some nice film of the good/famous/infamous bits,tea stops, best crashes etc. Loads of scope and it might inspire all these people with new post-Olympic bikes to go & ride somewhere new, while the mighty STW massive can chortle at their inappropriate choice of tyres.
I think the top gear format would be great, since most cars are designed with a mundane purpose and TG makes them fun. Whereas all bikes are designed for fun, therefore having some guys and girls mess about on bikes would be good to watch, trying out each of the different aspects of bicycles. This week it's 4X next week it's CX and so on.
The thing about TG is that it fuses boring techy stuff with entertaining fun stuff. Like the episode where they build a caterham, that could have been a boring "blokes in a shed with spanners" episode, but it wasn't because they were in a race.
They think what is bikeporn is the samething that the Sunday Times would choose.
The 180 was terrible.
It lacks warmth or soul. Abit like 90s Top Gear.
The cycle show is improving. It feels a bit too early to slate it.
They have some good ideas for features, but then don't really execute them well.
For instance they did a comparison of folding bikes. They barely talked about the design, components, cost, weight. Things you would need to know if you were in the market for one. So it wasn't informative, and the race bit was pretty lame.
Same as the feature on the wooden bike. Could have been interesting but they didn't talk much about the design, geometry, drivetrain. How does it work? How fast does it go?
I think maybe they're too scared to get to techy so as not to alienate newbies, but I think they need to aim a bit higher or more the serious cyclists will turn off.
I like the presenters, they've had good guests too. I hope it improves anyway as I think it could be really good.
crazy-legsThink about it - when does TG get boring? When they bang on about cars and the difference between a Ford Fiesta and a Ford Focus like the old TG used to and 5th Gear tried to do. DULL!!
Totally disagree. What you've described is part of the reason that me, my dad, most people I know have totally switched off top gear and car barely sit through an episode. You've mentioned "the difference between a fiesta and a focus" to heighten your dullness arguement, but really, the show is now totally bereft of any actual information about cars other than bhp, 0-60 and maximum speed.
It's funny. I'm not particularly "into" cars but I find the childish humour mostly appeals to me.
Well, that explains it. I am. I am "into bikes" too. I would venture to say that if the cycle show attempted to ape TG's style, ie entertainment over content everyone here would be similarly irate at the lack of factual content or the inacurracies or the wrongness of their "expert opinions" etc etc.
Imagine the STW backlash if a TV programme were to state whether 29ers were better than 26ers or how full sus compares to hardtails, or whether you needed a big ring or any of the other anally retentive geek fodder people fight about on here. People here are not representative of ordinairy cyclists, never mind ordinairy people.
Were they to attempt this it would stand or fall on the strength of the main characters, their interaction and the inventiveness of their features. I doubt they could achieve this on a limited budget.
I think it's getting better and my mum enjoys it on the whole and she's more their target audience.
I think they should look to do a bit more of a race report, doesn't need to be much a minute or two covering some larger events. An in your area type section where they look at an area and look at the riding available & biker friendly facilities.
The problem is budget, go film a 5 minute section offsite and you need to pay 2-3 people for a day, get people in to plug their thing then you maybe pay travel for them and have 1 hr filming costs. Maybe if it gets decent viewing then next time they get more budget and can make it a bit better.
The bike polo segment was brilliant.
Can't believe how many people are moaning about this show. I quite like the ramshackle nature of it, the interviews are interesting and quite natural. The programme has a bit of a unpredictable quality to it which is rare these days and should be applauded.
All a lot of people on here seem to do is pick holes in things like this and whinge about them, is it because really, you don't like seeing cycling being promoted and becoming popular God forbid?
This inspired me to google Top Gear episode 1 season 1. It doesn't have James May in it! It's also every bit as dull as the cycle show is now so it shows these things take time
[url= http://www.streetfire.net/video/top-gear-season-11_683234.htm ]http://www.streetfire.net/video/top-gear-season-11_683234.htm[/url]
It's great to see any cycling on TV, would love to see the Rob Warner commentated DH coverage.
For the Cycle Show though;
- do less, better
- look at cycling coverage in online videos, not all big budget stuff, but makes it look so much better
- get out of London
Countryfile cover cycling better on the rare occasions they do.
They ought to try something new, for example they could take a DH bike and race it downhill to see if it could go faster than a Renault Clio or something like that. Or maybe they could take a road bike, a mountain bike and a folding bike and see which is quicker on a no holds barred race across London...
...nah, that kind of show would never catch on.
Do less better - agree with that - make features proper features not badly done snippets. Get out of London +1
Good to see cycling on the TV though
the interviews are interesting and quite natural.
I thought the opposite.
Hopefully it'll get better, providing they get the audience figures to justify more episodes, so keep watching even though it's crap.
Markrh its stilted and lacks flow and energy.
They all seem obliged to present. Anna has the most oomph. I think its the Director/Editors fault.