[Closed] THUD!!! Issue 73 has landed ...

Got mine today as well...Love the pic on the front cover

Downloaded it last night, looks decent. Damn I love the digital subscription 🙂

Reading it on the iPad this afternoon, didnt think I would get along with the digital sub thing, but I'm liking it, oh and agree on the new layout and loving the pics

The cover picture is fantastic. Nice work!

mine arrived this morning, just in time for my hols 🙂 not even opened the plastic wrap! Put in hand luggage for safety!!! 😀

I came home from a hard day to find mine on the door mat. I unwrapped it ready for when the kids are in bed and when the wife is ignoring me. Otherwise known as "bliss time". 🙂

Same here, it passed the quick flick through test.

Looking forward to it.

Is it just me, or has that pic on pages 10 and 11 been in before?

Mine arrived today, best birthday present of the day so far......

Isn't the front cover picture from an issue last year? About august/september time, it was about the cape epic? or tour de divide? something like that, I'm sure it was a half page spread.

still trying to be Privateer!

So, kids in bed.
Mrs_OAB out for evening.
Whisky on table in front of me.
STW (weighty) tome to side of me.

*is happy*

I'd say it was trying to be singletrack but better which is a good thing, surely.

I think they're succeeding, too.

Flicking through it now with a beer. Outstanding photography! And just reading chipps article on riding my local trails. If at a somewhat different time of day. Quality!

Some great photography and a the writing is as good as ever.
Good piece from Steve Worland.

But:

£2300 for the cheapest bike tested.
Another £200 plus waterproof gets a recommendation.

The mag obviously isn't aimed at me anymore.
Fine, I get the message.

My last subscription , unless they start testing reasonably priced kit.
Think I'll leave it to the Audi drivers from here on in.

Shame.

You do realise that magazines generally get to test the kit that the companies want them to test? They don't go to the shop and buy stuff to test you know? They might say to a company that they are looking to test £300 bikes/£20 waterproofs but if no company has those products in their test fleet for this year then nowt will turn up.

Or at least that's how I believe it happens.

Promoting riding your bike in mixenden and round the back of b&q. Madness! Good sprint training though i suspect! Great mag all. Off for an early night with a cuppa and the mag. How sad 😉

No sign here yet 🙁

Still, as long as it shows up before I start nights at the weekend...

Andy

Looks great, lovely cover and so what if it has been in the periodical before (if it has I don't remember it) it's a wrap round cover now.

Dead chuffed mine landed today especially as I looked like a drowned rat from my ride home.

Read the oldies article on the download last night and really enjoyed it. My sort of cycling really, but then I could pass for a youngster in the Tuesdaylot (50 last December).

Looking forward to giving it a good read, but must finish "Quicksilver" first. SO close to the end and it's taken months. Singletrack 73 and "Adventures on the High Teas" can be some light relief before I kick in on "The Confusion"

speaker2animals - Member

You do realise that magazines generally get to test the kit that the companies want them to test?

Rubbish.
Other mags manage to test cheaper kit, I really don't think that there is some kind of embargo.

They appear to have made a conscious decision to test high end stuff and ignore the kit that the majority can aspire to.
Fair enough, they seem to be aiming at a certain demographic, I hope those people stick with them when the next big thing comes along.

@ speaker2animals - you are in for a (lengthy) treat, and The System Of The World is a great finish.

Well they'll probably have me as I have had every issue and have cycled as an adult for for 26 years so I'm not likely to be swayed by the next big thing.

Perhaps you're right though to a degree. Perhaps STW only test kit that they feel is appropriate to fairly full on off road cycling, not commuting/family Sustrans trails rides.

I know folk have taken issue with things like light tests where there don't seem to be any inclusions of Deal Extreme types.

As for the recommendation of a £200 water proof, why not. It's not in a group test so nothing to compare against. TBF I'd like to think that any £200 would get a recommendation if tested on it's own. At that sort of price you'd think the maker would know what they were doing. Not always the case. I once earned the money that allowed me to fall in to the Rapha trap. Some of their kit is in my opinion very good and I would recommend even at the sky high prices. Other stuff though was high priced tat.

Perhaps you're right though to a degree. Perhaps STW only test kit that they feel is appropriate to fairly full on off road cycling, not commuting/family Sustrans trails rides.

So you need to spend £2300 on a bike to ride seriously off road?
Anything under that price is only fit for a Sustrans trail?

What utter, utter rubbish.
On One, Merlin, Canyon, Boardman and all the mainstream brands sell bikes that are just as capable for less than half that price.

I, and I bet an awful lot of people on this forum ride thousands of miles a year on such bikes.
Perhaps we're not real cyclists?

TBF I'd like to think that any £200 would get a recommendation if tested on it's own.

I know folk have taken issue with things like light tests where there don't seem to be any inclusions of Deal Extreme types.

A pic of 'oldgit' on page 86 I noticed.

I like it.the content is more in depth, which means i cant just flick through while watching the apprentice, but makes for a better mag all round. I dont think its trying to be privateer- still better IMO. I am struggling to get on with it on the iPad though. Dirt rag for example has the dedicated app for subscribers, which allows me to look at double page spreads as intended. Have tried iBooks and adobe reader for it - any suggestions for something that allows me to view it as designed?

liking the Leith Hill Tower piece - tis a magical place.
They need to stock more sandwiches though - always seem to run out.
what other tea shop would sell orange cordial? awesome.

thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you

for the review on bikes for the vertically challenged....couldn't have come at a better time as I am in the market to get one 😀

The group fork test had everything from the cheapest to the most expensive 140mm forks available to buy these days, and the cheapest got a recommendation - I don't think they deliberately only test expensive things.

been with STW since day 1 but now wavering - I too feel left behind...nothing in either this one or the last one for me.

Well judging from the adverts, if they only tested what the manufacturers wanted, we'd only be reading about 29ers! And we're not. There's plenty in there other than bike tests.

I have to admit to taking a sharp intake of breath looking at the price of the forks on test. 800 dabs for something to hold your front wheel on! Sweet jeysus!!! 😯

The App Goodreader displays the PDFs in DPS mode. It's £2.99 tho and doesn't allow you to switch between ePub and PDF mode like iBooks does.

I looked at the jacket and thought "nice, would like one of those, oh, it's quite a lot of money, I probably don't want it that much!" and carried on.

Well Chipps article on morning riding with Terrahawk has got me thinking. The trails they're riding is my extended commute in the evening, having taken the shorter road route in. Having read that, and looked at the piccies, I'm going to try it the other way round, and try an early morning session

So this months mag has already inspired me to try something new, I've not done before. I've just flicked my liights on charge. Can't ask for much more than that really

prices in the mag are RRP aren't they? stuff is often cheaper than RRP.

I did not feel it was possible for stw to 'inform it's readers on lit night riding opportunities whilst not printing the obvious dx facts of the matter. There are many choices but dodgy dx has opened night riding to many non lexus/audi riding dudes. It seems odd that these facts cannot be shared due to conflict with ad revs. I realise this is a hobby for me and don't wish to take anyone dinner from the table but..

What on earth is this conflict with ' ad rev' nonsense?

That's rhetorical btw

During the winter I asked several times at Leith Hill Tower for tomato and lentil soup but was told they don't do it any more. But if I'm wrong I'm also delighted, it was just the thing on a cold wet winter's ride.

(Surrey Hills are magic, don't tell anyone!)

Another £200 plus waterproof gets a recommendation.

How about a budget waterproof shootout soon guys?

I wouldn't change my winter British Army DP goretex for the world.

I see what you did there Hora. Very good!

Are you suggesting a format for the 'shootout'? Can I suggest one? We send you out onto Holcombe Moor during a live firing exercise, in a selection of natty camo waterproofs. Then this:

[img] [/img]

I wouldn't change my winter British Army DP goretex for the world.

So why would you be interested in a budget jacket review? 😆

My Arc'teryx LEAF Alpha waterproof jacket cost me £430. I wouldn't sully my shoulders with such a thing as a cheapy £200 jacket. 😉
Love the mag and this issue looks good based on my quick flick through, but I'm on holiday in a few weeks so I must resist having a proper read.

Leftfield budget.

There's precious few cowboy boot reviews in issue 73, I notice.

There's precious few cowboy boot reviews in issue 73, I notice.

Why are British men soo repressed when it comes to their fashion?

[i]Why are British men soo repressed when it comes to their fashion? [/i]

I blame lack of role models and suitable product reviews in niche cycling magazines.

Well Chipps glasses try to do their 'bit.

and his sock collection, I guess.

Codpieces are underrepresented in clothing reviews, I find. If you're going to ride in a codpiece, then its critical its the right one

[img] [/img]

Word up!

I am particularly drawn to the "old rider" article which I will read tonight - hopefully, there's some inspiration in there.

All I had time for last night was the Majorca article, which I thought was superb. I nearly booked a plane ticket for November.

I was horrified though that Chipps thinks 6am unnaturally early - I leave for work every day at that time! I want a job as a journalist!

Well Chipps glasses try to do their 'bit.

"Statement Specs"

They identify you as a worker in the nu meedya line of work.

I was horrified though that Chipps thinks 6am unnaturally early

we were riding on't moors by 5am.

we were riding on't moors by 5am.

Chipps +socks/glasses. Will he look like an older Hans Rey one day?

Isn't that the natural time for men to get their 'morning glory'?

I haven't opened the last one yet. No idea why, but atm magazines do little for me. I will maintain my sub tho',so I can have hours of fun when I get the bug once more.

It is fun reading about properly high end bikes but surely they are things 99% of us can only dream about.

I've had a look at the pictures Terrahawk, and to be honest they're inconclusive. I thought maybe you'd be able to tell on the silhouette shots.

It is fun reading about properly high end bikes but surely they are things 99% of us can only dream about.

But if we do then meet some bastard who can afford them, we can go into informed detail as to why they should have bought something else 😀

It is fun reading about properly high end bikes but surely they are things 99% of us can only dream about.

Cars beyond a certain price range are the same. Seeing Clarkson bumming a Lambo around an airfield leaves me visually-flaccid too.

Good looking mag again. The change in format is a real step forward in my humble opinion. I’ve only read the bit with my mates in it so far. I’ll make a start on the rest at lunch time.

Re the debate about testing kit - I generally only read reviews on things that I can afford. A £3k bike may be in some people’s price range but I’d be more interested in one that cost a third of that. Maybe I’m just a bit of a tight-wad.

You're just in the same boat as most of us, I'd imagine Harry

I'm more likely to walk on the surface of the moon than have 3 grand to spank on a bike anytime soon. Someone must be buying 'em though. Same with the £800 - £1000 forks on test

Let's put it to the test them...

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/a-question-of-demographics

In terms of cost of bikes and bits then the mag seems to put itself fairly well in the middle of the spectrum. It's worth remembering that they don't actually review an awful lot of bikes (compared to some mags), but there's no getting away from the fact that bikes are more expensive than they used to be.

A quick look at the MTBs on CRC shows that about a third of their bikes are under a grand, there's a lot in the £1-2.5k range, and then they get more spread out up to the real exotica at £4k plus. In forks there are 3 pages of sus forks on CRC and ordered by price you're over 500 quid before the end of the first page. So, to a degree, that's just what these things cost, I don't think ST sets out to be the definitive buying guide (other mags do that), and I don't think the reviews are the most important bit of the mag.

But I've inadvertently revealed the other issue at work - I've decided that more than £4k is exotica. For other people obviously more than £2k is exotica, but it's not necessarily to do with income, more to do with priorities.

I don't earn a lot of money, I certainly couldn't think of buying a car new, even a little one. But if I was buying a new MTB it'd probably be in the £2-3k range if I was feeling lucky, maybe £1.5-2.5k if I as feeling more realistic. But then those prorities haven't changed much in the last 20+ years - I happily spent £1500 on a bike back in 1990. So they exist fairly independently of actual ability to spend.

What I'm trying to say is that what you consider a reasonable amount to spend on bikes and bits can have very little correlation to income, demographic, etc. I ride with a a few varied bunches of people and there's the full range of expediture on display, but you'd be hard pressed to assess people's incomes based on the value of their bikes - it's odd but the correlation just isn't there.

Glad most of you are enjoying the magazine ;]

Just a quickie regarding bike costs and jackets and real world priced products, In Issue 70 (just three issues ago) we had three full suspension bikes for about a grand each and one of Singletrack Mag's all time favourite jackets (repeatedly favourite as well!) Is the Pace 3x3 Jacket for under £100.00 as well - I remember the Specialized Pitch being reviewed very favourably against an Intense Trace and Ellsworth in the past, and we've also done bike to work reviews where a Boardman full bouncer was the hands down winner (no ad revenue from them to bias us either ;p)

Later on this year we also have "budget" (I understand it's relative thing ) hard tail 29er's as well.

I think purely by chance some issues become a bit more bling than others, and we are aware of not just having the most expensive kit for testing - if the balance in some issues is off it's not intentional.

Matt

Where are the cobbles on page 91 i think its page 91 ?
Not really interested in tests be it jacket/bike or coffee presses tests until i want one then im interested 😀

kingofsweden - Thats Rooley Moor Rd that climbs from Nordon side of Rochdale, up to Cragg Quarry and Scout Moor. Or Gruilly Moor road as its known. Its a hell of a slog, and fairly brutal on ones nether-regions if you're on a hardtail

Well said Matt.

As I have said before the new periodical is ace IMHO.

I've decided to cal Singletrack along with The Ride Journal/Rouleur/Privateer et al periodicals due to their cost, style and quality. They just don't seem to be magazines to me anymore.

Which is a good thing. I'm hoping it'll catch on so there's less of the "I'm not paying that for a magazine" mindset.

I like reading about the bling stuff so that when I buy it 2nd hand I am (relatively) informed.

I like reading about kit, all kinds.

People just need to chill out and enjoy the read I think, there's to much thinking too hard. It's just bike riding, I don't believe there's any hidden agenda and I really doubt anyone's making gazillions here.

s2a how do you differentiate a 'periodical' from a 'magazine'?

You wouldn't read a periodical in the shitter... unless you had a glass of merlot to hand and soft music playing in the background.

You get 'jazz' mags. whereas the higher caliber equivalent would be a 'rhythm' periodical

My copy still isn't here and the posties been twice today 🙁

Off at a slight tangent... Twinklydave (one of the other riders in Team JMC/On-One with Jason and Phil - Pages 88-96 in issue 73) has just done a 126 mile training ride in this weather. Nutter. 😀

Right then. Back to the OP. I do have to say that the new format works for me.

Matt, thanks for the response.

I'd genuinely forgotten about the 1K full suss test and the MTB Batteries light
which received a positive review in the same issue, so apologies for that.

It's good to hear that you're aware of the need not to exclude those of us who like to read about stuff we can actually afford.

The bike to work test was a great idea - perhaps it could be a more regular feature?

As to jackets, I think we're all aware that a £200 top from a respected manufacturer is going to perform well. But we all like to save a bit of cash and it would be great to see a big, long term test of cheaper materials, which seem to be more widely available now.

A test of some Aldi, Lusso or Decathlon type kit would be more than welcome too. No one can afford to pay over the odds these days and I'm sure a proper evaluation of budget alternatives would go down well.

Thanks for listening.

Fair Point Mr Spanner ;] I can't promise Aldi or Lidl but we have got a fine selection of Wiggles DHB Stuff coming for test which I think includes a £50.00 waterproof - I hope that will suffice !

hora - Member
[i]There's precious few cowboy boot reviews in issue 73, I notice.
Why are British men soo repressed when it comes to their fashion?

hora - Member
Well Chipps glasses try to do their 'bit.

wwaswas - Member
and his sock collection, I guess.
[/i]

Interestingly Chipps is the only Man I've ever know who wear cowboy boots -So you have something to share there Hora ;]

Testing kit from Aldi/Decathlon wouldn't fit with the 'classy' style of mag they've now chosen. It's gone up a level from MBUK/MBR/Dirt...

Can you see 'Evo' reviewing a Nissan Micra?

by the way, Matt, was that article near the start the one connected to the urban mountain biking post on here?

if so, it wasn't quite as "urban" as i was expecting - you need to hit a proper city next time i'd say. both article and photos were decent but could have been more city-central IMO.

Aldi jackets are some of the best I've used, seriously!

Decathlon base layers/tops are quality too. Very flattering for the fuller figure. 🙂

Don't read Evo, but I stopped buying Car when they stopped featuring reasonably priced stuff.
Same with watching TG too, but we won't go into that......

Aldi jackets are some of the best I've used, seriously!

+1. I bounced along the tarmac last saturday, resulting in two written off wheels and plenty of cuts and bruises. My Aldi jacket and tights have a couple of small scuffs...

Anyway, I really liked the new mag. Whilst I've no intention of dropping £3k on a new bike, I still like to read about them sometimes - if nothing else, it tells us what we're going to see at a lower price level in a couple of years time.

[i]My Aldi jacket and tights have a couple of small scuffs[/i]

they're clearly overbuilt then 😉

I have really enjoyed the singletrack issues latley

welcome back to the reprobate column..as it was in the early/mid 90s..Steve Worland

great article by Cass Gilbert

and proper revews and pics