[Closed] WMB is no more

I do more miles than most mountain bikers but haven't read a magazine in over a decade.

#humblebrag lol

However product reviews don't feed the soul (someone used these words up there as well) (well they do Cotic's I suppose!), and that for me was why I bought Singletrack: it was good writing, it made one dream of adventures,

but this is exactly the reason I stopped buying STW, as I have no interest in the cycling lifestyle, but do like seeing (not buying much) shiny stuff. Will see how MB-UK turns out and probably stop subscribing.. as it's an easy xmas present from the g/f.

Shame.

It was excellent at what it did.
Funny too.
The writing and photography were always excellent and I felt I could trust the writers.
I liked the route guides and pre internet the maintenance stuff was a godsend.
Not bought it for ages, you can only read so many reviews, but always enjoyed it.

Hadn't bought it in years, mbuk had become too gnar rad matching helmet and shorts combo too.

As I get older I prefer much more realistic stuff, some of the blogs linked to recently on here have been ace for example.

Also, take a load of the DR200 write ups, you're going to have more affinity with the story of someone that took twelve hours on their old CX than someone who took eight on their product placement titanium bike with free lauf fork. As long as they can write an interesting story of course.

Northwind

I have to agree that Chipps is as shite at riding as I am

That's a tragedy. I aways feel that real, printed words have more value than digital ones.

Someone who took eight on their product placement titanium bike with free lauf fork

To be fair to bruce that's the muck common cheap alu tripster :p

Northwind - Member
I wasn't sure about posting that, it's potentially the most offensive compliment I'll ever make

You've damned me with fainter praise than that before, I'm sure.

When I was first getting into mountain biking I bought an MBUK and was nearly put off MTB magazines for good. They just didn't seem to be talking about anything I recognised. MBR (fall all its failings at the time) and WMB appeared to relate to a more typical MTBing experience than MBUK did. However since then (about 15 years ago now) MBUK has at times appealed to a broader audience so I'll give it a shot when my subscription shifts over.

I stopped buying WMB when they said steel frames go baggy with age.

Mark - Resident Grumpy
£1.49 for a month!

It was kind of inevitable I guess! I'll be back online tomorrow to sign-up.

Down to lack of advertising revenue since all print mags survive on this rather than actual sales.

You do end up wondering how come they cost nearly as much as a good book then. Take out the ads and these often not a lot of actual copy.

Shame;(

Think it was wmb 58 that featured the kilpatricks and mugdock. Got me out exploring the hills round Glasgow.

Loved their bike reviews.

They possibly hampered sales by never featuring any wimmin on the cover. That's where the disposable income is nowadays.

ninfan

All sorts of factors to why a mag costs more than a book...

Production and layout is much more complicated
There's a high colour content in the print
Mag paper is generally much higher quality than print (novels at least)
Much larger print runs of books so economies of scale on plates/setup etc.
Wider distribution channels

It has been a while since I bought a copy but I kind of feel WMB's time had passed. The world had moved on and it still seemed to be largely the same mag it was a decade or more ago. I loved it back in the day when you had to scan through a whole page of components for a mail order advert (who remembers the Merlin Cycles adverts with all the components and variations on the MALT specs listed out and the little grid of wheel prices?).

It is a shame for all involved and I hope those affected find a path through it all.

As someone who makes books:

Production and layout is much more complicated
There's a high colour content in the print
Mag paper is generally much higher quality than print (novels at least)
Much larger print runs of books so economies of scale on plates/setup etc.
Wider distribution channels

nope, nope, nope, nope and nope.

As for WMB, sadly I struggle to see the point of a magazine of reviews in the era of free, unbiased, aggregated reviews. If I want to read real-world reviews of a fork, a bike or other component, I can easily google it. The future of print magazines has to be in the likes of The Ride Journal - good stories, great art.

People on the internet commenting on the loss of a printed magazine !

Is Maximum Mountainbike still going? Haven't seen that in WHSmith lately.

heebyjeeby - Member

Whilst I still maintained my sub they had a facelift maybe a year or two ago which seemed to take it further away from what you would expect a magazine called What MTB to include....

One quarter of the mag was devoted to recommended kit that did not change from month to month (year to year if that).

I emailed them about that a few years back. They had those categories of best trail bike best race bike etc but they were never updated so to me were just a waste of time. They replied saying they thought nobody read those bits! But still kept it in for 15 pages or so!?

I like variety, so every mag that goes makes me sad.

Trimix - Member

People on the internet commenting on the loss of a printed magazine !

Yes?

I'm gutted , to me WMB was the most relavant. MBUK has matured a lot in the last 5 years and is readable. The trouble with it is that it tends to repeat its topics too often. I've been reading it for as long as I can remember ( 25 years) and think I've seen each article many many times! For me it's stale now.

I find I want to shout at STW. Every article seems to be about riding in some far flung exotic destination that I will never be able to afford to go to. With the occasional token article about riding in Yorkshire

I'm gutted , to me WMB was the most relavant. MBUK has matured a lot in the last 5 years and is readable. The trouble with it is that it tends to repeat its topics too often. I've been reading it for as long as I can remember ( 25 years?) and think I've seen each article many many times! For me it's stale now.

I find I want to shout at STW. Every article seems to be about riding in some far flung exotic destination that I will never be able to afford to go to. With the occasional token article about riding in Yorkshire. The vibe is great and the photography is amazing , I just can't relate to it 🙁

I wish there was a magazine about local people riding local spots reviewing affordable gear. Somewhere other than West Yorkshire or the Cairngorms . Maybe mixing mtb with road or cx. I maybe the odd one out here but I mix road and mtb as does everyone I ride with . A credible mag covering all would be fantastic .

Now that we're discussing mbuk, does anyone miss their proper adventure bike touring features of yore? Cycling along the Silk Road, panama to Puerto Rica, etc.

geologist - Member

I find I want to shout at STW. Every article seems to be about riding in some far flung exotic destination that I will never be able to afford to go to.

Todmorden?
Edit - Burnley too, that's in Lancashire.
🙂

I like Singletrack because it is still relevant to me.
Even after reading it for years, the soul is still there.

I don't need expensive bike reviews.
I tend to keep stuff and whilst I love bikes, my tastes are pretty simple and low rent, so little reviewed is of interest.

But adventure and fun doesn't need to be expensive and I don't get the impression that many of the people who contribute to the travel articles are loaded.
🙂

You can have just as much fun in the Peak as you can unicycling through Borneo and I'd rather read about either than another £5000 bike/£20 brake pad review.

[quote=geologist ]I wish there was a magazine about local people riding local spots reviewing affordable gear. Somewhere other than West Yorkshire or the Cairngorms . But the Cairngorms[i] are[/i] local!! *

* to me

Is Maximum Mountainbike still going?

And where did my MMB socks go? That's what I want to know.

You do end up wondering how come they cost nearly as much as a good book then

Authors often don't really make a living out of books, but magazines generally have to pay people's wages or there's no point to them.

greatbeardedone - Member
Now that we're discussing mbuk, does anyone miss their proper adventure bike touring features of yore? Cycling along the Silk Road, panama to Puerto Rica, etc.

My theee favourite MBUK articles:
1). MTB'ing the Pennine Way
2). Munro Bagging
3). 3 Lads on the trandem crossing the desert

Now that we're discussing mbuk, does anyone miss their proper adventure bike touring features of yore? Cycling along the Silk Road, panama to Puerto Rica, etc.

Regular reader here, and have been for 25+ years, some really good travel/adventure stuff in there these days - Dan Milner is a regular contributor, so multi page epics in unexpected places with stunning pics. New issue has a big piece from him as it happens. Cast aside the prejudices or what some grumpy poster on here may have told you and pick up a copy. You'll probably find yourself very surprised - the mag has matured with the sport and readership.

.Turns off the ads and supports the forum, and you get a magazine which is sometimes good. That's not much of a hard sell but it's good enough for me

Correct answer. I can't wait to see how many things, moan and complain when STW goes belly up, but never paid a couple of quid a month.

The lack of P posters on here astounds me

😀

£1.49 in fact 🙂

Seriously, support the mags you like by buying them or subscribing. Or they will close.

I can't wait to see how many things, moan and complain when STW goes belly up, but never paid a couple of quid a month.

The lack of P posters on here astounds me

Presumptuous and sanctimonious in one, well played. I'm quite happy to continue buying the magazine from my LBS, supporting both the magazine and the shop at the same time.

But you just carry on being astounded if I have the temerity to post, I really don't mind..

Northwind - Member
athy62 - Member
Go on then folks, persuade me to take out a premier subscription to STW instead rather than rely on the free stuff of their excellent website.

[u]Turns off the ads[/u].....

live and learn had no idea - just been and gone and done that

I'm quite happy to continue buying the magazine from my LBS

Just bought the MBUK mentioned above, will read it over the weekend. I'm nothing if not open minded.

humblebrag: an ostensibly modest or self-deprecating statement whose actual purpose is to draw attention to something of which one is proud.

So not that then. Point I apparently failed to make - been riding a long time, committed, do enough miles to require constant spending as stuff wears out. The industry, via the media, should be engaged with people like that, but in many cases is achieving the opposite effect.

Paying for a forum? Yep, they're useful, I could go for that - if tech-savvy enthusiasts didn't come up with a free alternative. Which they probably would.

(Quickly scans post to make sure there's nothing that can offend or outrage STW's sensitive readership). No, good to go!

Is Maximum Mountainbike still going?

And where did my MMB socks go? That's what I want to know.

You mean these? I wear mine for retro rides.

[img] [/img]

Just bought the MBUK mentioned above

Nope, still haven't made it past the first 10 pages of full face helmet ads and pictures of people (I believe the term is) Schralping Berms™.

I'll try again now it's started raining.

I have never read a mountainbike a magazine either electronically or hardcopy and have no interest in ever doing so.

From previous discussions it appears that the forum is the only part of singletrack that actually makes any money and thus supports the magazine. This is why so many and so obtrusive adds - they have to monetarise this forum somehow.

Somewhere someone has to develop a format for making internet stuff not free but not to painful to buy. a lot of stuff on the internet really isn't viable without cross subsidy

I'd like a system of micropayments myself. So reading something you get a warning that if you continue to read you will be charged a small amount ( pennies) I think this would work better than paywalls / subscription but no one has developed a system yet.

I'd like a system of micropayments myself.

Like [url= https://flattr.com/ ]Flattr[/url]? Except that's elective rather than being a micro-paywall.

I'd like a system of micropayments myself. So reading something you get a warning that if you continue to read you will be charged a small amount ( pennies) I think this would work better than paywalls / subscription but no one has developed a system yet.

This is something that's been touted as a possible solution to the problem of making money from content - and I agree it has potential.

Would you also be prepared to pay 1p per post on the forum?

Somewhere someone has to develop a format for making internet stuff not free but not to painful to buy. a lot of stuff on the internet really isn't viable without cross subsidy

I'd like a system of micropayments myself. So reading something you get a warning that if you continue to read you will be charged a small amount ( pennies) I think this would work better than paywalls / subscription but no one has developed a system yet.

I feel like £1.49 a month is pretty micro, and hardly painful.

what soundninjauk sed - it's not more difficult than setting yourself up for pay-per-read, surely?

And if you're not someone who reads magazines *ever* what would tempt you to pay to read even a single article from a bike magazine/website?

cha****ng - possibly I would but I was thinking more in terms of 0.1p 🙂

£1.49 a month payment to be a content provider is not IMO good value. We the posters provide the content on the forum that creates the advertising revenue.

I was thinking more in terms of newspapers which I do read. For example the Herald allows you 3 free articles a month then wants you logged in to read any more ( easily worked around) YOu get to read the first paragraph free of all articles - what I would envisage is a pop up warning " to read any more of this article click "continue" to pay 1P now to read the article"

Putting the entire content behind a paywall reduces readership and in STWs case would lead to a drop in readers thus a drop in advertising revenue.

Asking for subscriptions that don't add any content ie the guardian does not seem to work

The internet is far from a mature tech yet and somewhere somehow someone has got to come up with an answer that allows microcharging IMO

Its a bit like spotify in a way.

I used to pirate music downloads. I refused to pay iTunes full retail for the hire ( not ownership) of the music. spotify allows me to pay £5 a month for unlimited access to music so I no longer do illegal downloads

[i]is not IMO good value.[/i]

ah well, I won't argue - we all have different views on what value £1.49 spent somewhere will provide 🙂

wwas - I don't read the magazine so the £1.49 a month would be purely to post on here - and follow my point that as regards the forum we are the content providers that create the advertising revenue so paying to use the forum does not sit well with me

I think that was why I asked what would make you pay to read an article about cycling, really?

Or maybe to turn it around why do you refuse to read articles about bicycles or cycling?

Who wants to subscribe to my new magazine? I think there's a gaping hole in the market.. for WhatEbike... 😀