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32 pages of ads in 130 pages, doesn't seem too bad, more than I was expecting when I started counting them.
I think issue 70 is a good un.
Cancel your forum account whilst your at it pal...
It has lots of history! Repack etc but also do people think bikes were never ridden on paths, trails previous to this?!
Yeah. Repack. And that's pretty much it. One article and you're done.
I'm not trying to be negative, that's just the way it is.
It's a magazine. Something to dip idly in and out of while you're having a fag/coffee/dump. It only costs three quid, or whatever subscribers are paying. What do people expect?
Most months there are a couple of articles/pics I enjoy, and I still like the "getting a wee present in the post" aspect of having a subscription. The quality, in-depth articles are possibly spread more thinly over an increased number of issues but it's still far more readable, nicer to look at and less flagrantly commercial than the likes of MBR and WMB.
*Puts shiny red apple on teacher's desk and returns to seat*
Magazines are like everything else,sometimes good,sometimes bad..for the individual reading it.....for me the good outweighs the bad...but the Scram feature nearly got launched across the room,I work in a German owned factory and have to suffer this propaganda b*ll*h*t every day,vetted interviews with selected staff,what about the assembly associates(mostly temps who were building fridges last week if its anything like our place)..why not quiz them on their love for bikes and how much free time/money they have?....10 pages for christ sake!!!!
the good news
they know the quality of the journalism affects the subs numbers
they are apparently going to target subs
however the proof will be in the writing
I've subscribed in the past, would do again if I felt there was something to read in it which wasn't advertorial or skimpy product tests
TBH I've often found more interest in Shred articles, which is produced on a shoestring and you know their heavily supported by advertising but you can see the love for the sport side of MTB
Must admit im tempted to drop mine too but i have every single issue which makes it a bit harder due to the collection geek thing.. 😳
agree with robbo167 The SRAM Brochure that was put in this month was a bit much though.. 👿
i Mean are there workshops really like that, it was like a celebrity new born photo shoot from hello or some nonsense..
Really enjoyed the Dark Peak article in the new mag. I like Jenn's stuff, she's good, liked other articles she's written too.
i Mean are there workshops really like that
Ours are at least as clean and tidy as that so I don't see why not 😉
Mag is great, there is always SOMETHING worthy of a subscription in every edition..
I have to admit though, this years calendar pics are mostly total bobbins! Shame.
P
I have to admit though, [s]this[/s] [b]every[/b] years calendar pics are mostly total bobbins! Shame
FIFY 😉
Houns - MemberMy bells and whistles subscription came to an end a few months ago, I didn't renew. These are some of the reasons -
1. Premier content was frankly cr@p. It was rarely updated
2. The magazine. There became less and less that I wanted to read in the mag. I think the last thing I read was Chipps moaning about the Conservatives. I don't want to read a bike magazine that is biased toward any subject/product.
I think I read the first Ferrentino article, thought he was a tool and never read another one3. Big increase in adverts
There are other reasons but can't think for now
The only articles that I read in depth were those that went behind the scenes at bike companies
My reasons for cancelling last week are much the same as above.
The things I would have liked to have seen more off
1, Interviews with racers (xc, dh, cx) types, to get tips on training and their day to day life as a pro
2, More behind the scenes at bike companies, shops, race events, manufacturers
3, Section on recent events and results (XC, DH, Mayhem type events), and interviews of Joe Public riders
4, More reviews of niche/quality brands
5, Mainly products reviews "manufacturer against manufacturer" not just the odd random helmet/jacket/bars/stem..... review that was lent out to "My Mate Dave"
6, No more random articles about biking in countries I'm never going to go biking, more articles about countries/regions like Italy/France/Germany/Switzerland...
7, "Follow my progress" articles showing someone's progress for a particular event or challenge, these I find particularly motivating, like the one in MBUK showing the young girl/model preparing for her 1st MTB race event.
I will miss getting the STW mag dropping through the door as I was always excited to open it when it came, for the past months though it has been a quick flick through and then never looked at again.
2, More behind the scenes at bike companies
Me too but new up and coming bike companies. I've had enough of mags bi-annual advermercials on Orange Bikes.
Dirt sometimes runs articles on the micro brands. I like that.
(Proper ones though with full sussers etc, not companies that just sell hardtail frames in steel).
Most of the items on your lists of ideal content already seem to be in the mag, to state the obvious a magazine can't just comprise a tailored accumulation of an individuals personal interests and latest niche mtb obsessions.
I wonder if what is needed sometimes is change to keep long term subscribers interested. By the way there seems to be lot's of recent Premier content, and let's face it if you subscribe it's 'free.' or at least no more that you paid before it all existed.
I picked up the Nov mag when i was at bedgebury the other week cos there was a Transition picture in it, thought it was going to be my bike reviewed but it wasn't, it came out this month, read what they said, won't be bothering again as they've covered the two things i was interested in, other than computer mags I don't really read mags about the sports I do unless it happens to be about a bit of kit I use or might want to use or am interested in what someone else had to say.
They called my bike a labrador ffs clearly got no idea about dogs..
Just received the latest mag today and have to say what great content, think they have most items from my list above......
This mag will definitely be read cover to cover, won't renew my subscription though and just have a flick through in WHS before buying
STW- Tough crowd
Probably like many i read Dirt and Singletack. The others are awful. Always look forward to Singletrack arriving. Not all of it is for me but we are not all the same. Usually I read a book but if my concentration is lacking or time is short then a magazine is fine. just don't take it too seriously. However, I ride every day and perhaps that alters my judgement.
MTB mags are like textbooks; they help educate you in/about the scene, but a time comes when you have read all you can and you simply don't need them anymore.
It's a tough game.
Could the general feeling of boredom with STW be a reflection of the fact that the readers are growing up and moving away from their obsession with mountain biking and even moving towards road riding?
Could this boredom (whispers) even apply to the writers? They have been producing top quality material for years now and must be feeling tired.
Could the boredom also stem from the fact that mountain biking, despite its chummy post-ride scene, is essentially a solitary sport like mountaineering? Road riding on the other hand is much more of a team or club sport with a long history, as others have mentioned, as well as a much wider range of ages and social backgrounds.
No one here is bored! Quite the opposite. The changes coming for Spring 2012 has everyone really quite excited. Nervous too 🙂
The changes coming for Spring 2012 has everyone really quite excited.
What are the changes then?
mountain biking, despite its chummy post-ride scene, is essentially a solitary sport like mountaineering? Road riding on the other hand is much more of a team or club sport with a long history
Interesting that. I get my kicks from mouton biking by being out with friends and challenging each other. I prefer road riding on my own.
As for the mag, I quite like the content. Who really wants to read "news" in a magazine? By the time it's printed it's old news that you've already read on the internet. That said I quite like MBUK in that I read about scenes I wouldn't normally read about.
No, my (slight) beef with the mag is that the [i]quality[/i] of the writing doesn't seem to be as good as it used to be. It seems to be making a bit of a comeback, but there was a time when the writing had become very lame. I can get "bite size" writing on the internet. I want meaty stuff from Singletrack. Earlier this year I bought Top Gear mag for the first time and that really hit home how good a mag can be with quality writers. I actually look forward to anything Tom Ford has to write about. The fact it is about cars is almost incidental.
More app development, better integration across all the various platforms, better paper for the mag, less reliance on the newstrade and more focus on subscriber benefits. And by 'subscriber' we don't just mean people who get the mag posted to them. If you have a 'P' next to your username then you can expect lots more from us.
In scale tests of blanks the mag will go from being around 385g to 550g in weight (lead imbibed paper you see 🙂
Seriously though for a moment, subscriber numbers have grown at such a rate that they have now overtaken the high street as our primary source of distribution. So instead of a mag designed for a newsagents shelf we are changing focus to design a mag for subscribers. Sim and Chipps are very excited as it's like removing shackles and giving them the freedom to do what they want with the mag with much less of a commercial figure peering over their shoulder (me)saying things like,'can we make do with thinner paper?', 'Use the word 'FREE' on the cover really big so that news agent shoppers will spot it'.
Budget for editorial is increasing, budget for paper stock is increasing by £25k/year.
The way magazines are produced, sold and consumed is changing (has changed)and we are making the most of the changes. Hence we are about to advertise for a junior designer* to join Sim and develop Singletrack in the Spring.
Being an industry that had essentially a single monopoly draining huge amounts of cash from publishers through a single distribution system has resulted in large design and editorial compromises. Now that system is essentially in it's last death throws publishers can finally stretch their legs a bit and start to develop new ideas and technology.
From our point of view, print is still a very important channel - but there are now many other 'channels' we can develop alongside print.. Mobile, website, tablet etc.
We've already cut ALL exports of the printed mag. Export sales of magazines have a typical efficiency of 20% - which means for every 2 copies sold abroad 8 get pulped. The waste is crazy! In the UK high street typical mag efficiencies are 50% - again this means printing 15k mags for newsagents shelves results in 7.5k of them being binned. Now the high street is no longer the primary market place for mag sales (at least for us) we can start cutting the waste and using the savings we make to spend on better things, like a better mag, new technology and subscriber benefits.
Despite this thread title and anything it may imply our subs numbers have increased by 20% in the last year.
Is that open and detailed enough? 🙂
*we are currently putting the job spec together and it will be up on the site early next week.
Look forward to it 🙂
Cheers Mark... sounds like happy times at ST towers - good to hear the ins and outs - Sweet! 😀
Oddly, whilst I really like ST and the people who produce it, I don't buy any magazines of any nature. I just like riding bikes and lose all interest when I'm not actually sitting on the things. I recognise the hypocrisy in spending time here without supporting them commercially. Maybe I should get myself a premier membership for chrimbo even though I doubt I'd use any premier features.
I was going to rant about not having the Editors Choice article (one Ive enjoyed over the years)actually in the mag to read at leisure instead of hunched in front of a screen..but having read Marks Bit I feel like one of those dinosaurs who didnt pay much attention to the light going a bit dim...
Please dont forget us...
By the way,have I told you how much I hated the Scram sales pitch?..hang your heads in shame..
Now, if there are any subscribers reading this who have yet to activate their Premier Account then please make sure you are not missing out by visiting http://singletrackworld.com/upgrade
It's totally free and there's a lot of content behind the doors in the mag archive. The story on the front page currently about the mag lists all the extras we've crammed into issue 70's digital version. We are honing our development skills and this level of extras is just the beginning. There will be an app specifically designed to view the site and access the forum with extra enhancements for Subscribers that will also work as a mag reader for the content in the mag archive. There will be more eBooks. Issue 70's eBook version is the best one yet in terms of layout and formatting and even includes the product reviews and images that can be enlarged. It contains ALL the editorial content from issue 70 plus selected images and NO ads at all and it all squishes down to just 1.5mb and is a great way to read the mag on a mobile device without having to keep zooming and scrolling.
It's important to realise that as we develop these new ways of delivering the mag content we are not going to charge extra for them. If you are a subscriber then these extra ways of reading our content will be included in your sub automatically.
The all new, redesigned Premier Members' Card has just been sent out to the first batch of subscribers. As subscriptions expire your new sub will be accompanied by this new card. Just a small benefit but it signals the major refocus on subscribers.
Now, in the spirit of openness here's our thoughts on pricing for the new year...
The printed mag will become more expensive. We are increasing our print costs by £25k/year so there's no way we can keep it at the current price level. The price increase will be significant but it will only affect the copies sold in shops.
The subscription price will rise by a small amount to essentially cover the extra cost of posting it. The weight of the mag will increase from 385g to 550g and we already spend £23k/year on posting it to subscribers. However, the price rises won't come in until the second issue of the new format so everyone will be able to try the new format out and even subscribe at the old price for a year before the new price kicks in.
I like STW, but I also like all the other (well most) bike mags.
I do however think that there are alot more things that could be covered that arent really touched on anywhere else.
How about articles on normal people. As much as I get inspired by Peaty and Danny Hart, I also like to read about other 'normal' people. Articles about how normal people fit biking into their lifes could be interesting. A week in the life of your average british biker who hacks around in his own patch 99 rides out of 100.
And mountain biking does have a wealth of history. There are numerous articles that could be writtain about the past, even just in Britain alone. How about the epic clashes between David Baker and Tim Gould, Tomac, Overend, theres more history than the repack.
The copy of the free BMC subcribers magazine from a few months ago was great, possible the best magazine I have read in years, and it was because it was about real people, and real things, about normal venues. It made a change to articles about pro climbers climbing in ****stan and making winter Eiger ascents.
More of this in STW please. More than happy to write an article 🙂 I dont charge too much either 🙂
I haven't bought a ST mag for about three years. Partly it was the layout and style of the mag, the gratuitious exposure of the naked flesh and egos of the ST staff, the increasingly small print, and that ST seemed to have lost the spark that made the early issues so different to the mainstream bike mags. Sadly ST seems to have gone after the MBR market, and in doing so it has left many of those who supported it alienated.
Hey ho..prices go up..thats the way of life and as a business you have to keep moving..but with price rises comes a degree of elevated expectation from your customer...maybe Im alone on this but if I felt the mag content was being watered down in favour of the other viewing meduims then ST would be dropped like a very hot thing..however much I may miss it......Already starting to have suspicions.....
A bit of a balancing act?.....good luck..
There won't be any watering down in the mag. The mag ie the printed version - is one of many channels we will be publishing on. The content will be the same but it will be published to multiple channels. The point is that what we produce is Mountain Biking Content (The Content). This content will now be published on multiple devices (channels). Print is one channel... Mobile is another... Tablet another... desktop another... But the difference will be that the content will be reformatted to suit each platform. That's why we produce an ePub version currently as that works best on mobiles. But the content is the same (bar the odd digital supplement).
But you don't need to worry. Print is not being downgraded in preference of cheaper digital channels. Quite the opposite, hence we are spending an extra £25k/year on print quality alone.
the gratuitious exposure of the naked flesh and egos of the ST staff,
What a load of bilge.
the increasingly small print,
Get your eyes tested..... Ohh, sorry I mean
[b]GET YOUR EYES TESTED[/b]
thankyou Mark,
You're the first person to actually respond to my request, and not just give their opinions of the mag in its current state.
So, I'll give it a few more issues to see how it goes. 🙂
(but I do wish you'd kept quiet about Caldbeck...)
[i]The SRAM Brochure that was put in this month was a bit much though..
i Mean are there workshops really like that,[/i]
Yes the workshops are like that. Clinical.
[i]By the way,have I told you how much I hated the Scram sales pitch?..hang your heads in shame.. [/i]
Interesting feedback on the Sram piece, I tried to approach the factory trip in a way that didn't focus on product but rather the people involved.
I think PP may be a little bit aspergic. Possibly.
Definitely some constructive comments in there though 🙄
The printed mag will become more expensive. We are increasing our print costs by £25k/year so there's no way we can keep it at the current price level. The price increase will be significant but it will only affect the copies sold in shops.
I fear you'll have to be careful with that. By all means increase the price, but the quality of content will have to go up considerably if you are to justify it. By increasing the cost of the magazine you make a statement indicating that it will be in a higher league than the tripe (WMB, MBUK, etc) and competing with the likes of Rouleur and The Ride Journal. I'm afraid I've seen no evidence to suggest ST is anywhere near that quality.
For the record I'm a premier subscriber. I support the website through this subscription. But don't believe your own hype guys; do the right thing and bin off the ads, increase the content and you'll win back those that are leaving.
I think Mark suggested that there's more people 'joining' than 'leaving'. Which is great.
The transition from the once fulfilling experience offered by the magazine when I discovered it several years back, to the frustration I experienced when it eventually slumped to hum-drum tedium, tells me that I suppose the magazine's probably not of much interest to me anymore, but I'm guessing I don't fit the right target / channel / whateveritis that they are aiming for now.
(For instance, I don't own a tablet-thingy. And tend to read bike mags somewhat vaguely for a few minutes while taking a dump.)
Thats cool by me. 8)
Shall I answer your question with a question?
do the right thing and bin off the ads, increase the content and you'll win back those that are leaving.
As much as I'm loath to get into a 'debate' with you, especially after I made your worthy xmas gift thread sticky, I'll engage..
Bin the ads? Are you seriously suggesting that a viable way forward as a business is to kill of a income stream responsible for a third of our annual turnover? In issue 70 there are 40 pages of ads in a mag that contains a total of 165 pages (I'm including the digital supplement as it also includes ads but if you like there are 132 pages in the printed mag and 35 pages of ads)That level of ads, restricted to no more than a third of the mag is a deliberate policy and always has been.
Also, there is no evidence that people are leaving us in the way you imply. In fact we've increased subscriber numbers by 20% in the last year! In the current economic situation that's bloody incredible! We are already gaining more and more subscribers with every issue. We are not responding in the way we are planning because we are trying to mitigate losses. We are doing this because Singletrack is now predominantly a magazine supported by subcribers and so we are making a move away from a traditional, restrictive and wasteful news agent model of magazine production to one that is aimed at the largest contingent of our readership. To wit... subscribers.
I've just become a digital subscriber for the first time.
At £15 for a year (£1.25 a month) it seems ridiculous value, and from what I've seen so far the mag looks pretty good.
i'm premier and i also subscribe the the printed mag.
keep that in mind next time i'm due for a banning mods... i pay your wages! 😈
[Moderated due to the word 'BOOBIES' - Mod ;-)].
Mark, can I ask something?
By depreciating the news stand and focussing on the subscriber model, you stand to give a lot of "value-added" to subscribers. So far so froody. But without the news stand, how are you going to attract [i]new[/i] subscribers? Word of mouth?
😆 
that moderation has cheered me up no end, time to put on some dubstep and wrap teh chrimbo presents.
Serious offer time: i buy the mag as a way of supporting the forum... its very rare i actually read the magazine, if there's anyone around the Reading/swinley area who wants some recent issues of the magazine for their reading pleasure let me know! 😀
New subscriber here. £2 PAYG a month is ridiculously cheap and easy, plus my £2 payment this month has enabled me complete access to the back catalogue.
I read what I like and ignore the rest.
All magazines go through cycles. I think people expect too much sometimes.