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can i ask the photographers amongst you, is seb rogers any good?
its just that i feel you can spot his stuff a mile off and it always seems abit uninspirational.
sorry seb.
mind you i know nowt about it.
Got mine yesterday too.
Pros - Hardly any adverts wooooooo
Cons - £9???? Hmmmmm not sure.
Got mine yesterday. Have read a few bits which were OKish but from what I have seen so far I don't think it's any where near as good as Rouleur. However, I will reserve final judgement until I see the next one. One thing I did find odd is that there is an article on mechanics; didn't Rouleur do that in one of their recent issues? Perhaps Privateer don't think the readership might read both?
Pros - Hardly any adverts woooooooCons - £9????
An there in lies the balancing act of magazine publishing 🙂
[b]An there in [/b]lies the balancing act of magazine publishing
and the nuisance of proofreading 🙂
can i ask the photographers amongst you, is seb rogers any good?
its just that i feel you can spot his stuff a mile off and it always seems abit uninspirational.
You can spot many photographer by their style pretty often. The rest is down to personal opinion, there's others I prefer but Seb's photos posted on here many moon ago and the odd tip he gave encouraged me to persevere.
If anyone would like Issue one I will sell mine for £200 plus postage costs. If you like I'll throw in Issue 1 of Rouleur too for an extra £200 and waive the postage costs.
;0)
Received mine yesterday and only had chance to skim it.
First impressions:
Look and feel - Different, distinctive, a coffee-table book ??
Content - not sure, reserving judgement. Thinks its a bit too arty perhaps.
Will I keep up the subscription? Waivering - Probably not.
£9 for a magazine. Fukkn mental.
not bad, but prefer 'the ride' for the money as it covers a wider field. all the retro stuff is nostalgic fun for us oldies(nice bikes of yesteryear lust, pics of the bombhole characters from the industry). rouleur ive enjoyed esp tour special etc, but road has a deeper/longer history to draw on. will be interesting to see how they keep the target readership interested.
I will sell mine for £199. 😛
I've pre ordered mine, dispatched 1st October 😀
can i ask the photographers amongst you, is seb rogers any good?
all that matters is your response to his work. If you have to ask someone else the conclusion is negative...
can i ask the photographers amongst you, is seb rogers any good?
its just that i feel you can spot his stuff a mile off and it always seems abit uninspirational.
sorry seb.
You can't really qualify photography/art as good or bad IMO. It's very personal. Personally I love Seb's work.
righto so i am just not a fan of his style then.
dont think he will lose sleep. 😆
I don't know who took what but there are only 4 biking shots in the whole magazine I liked
Anyone considered that, in trying to create a Rouleur for MTBing, the fact that MTBing is still such a young activity compared with road riding means the volume of decent content to draw from is significantly more limited?
the fact that MTBing is still such a young activity compared with road riding means the volume of decent content to draw from is significantly more limited?
quite the reverse, what can one say about road riding other than "duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulll" ?
I don't know who took what but there are only 4 biking shots in the whole magazine I liked
I'm sure they'll review their selection next time based or you quality of photos.
There'll be more people splashing through water and lots of shot from behind.
unfortunately, it turns out MTB has far more history than I can stomach and the mag should have been entitled "The way we were". If anyone mentions Gary Fisher again I will scream 🙁 The man has a [b]moustache[/b] FFS ... aaaargh!
I'm sure they'll review their selection next time based or you quality of photos
I expect to be ignored, but some of the shots were hopelessly blurred, really not good enough 🙁
Yes, true, and there isn't as much of a mythology or culture to draw on (JMC, Tomac, the California pioneers etc excepted).
I'd like to see a copy as I can't see how it's going to fill 100 pages (or whatever it is) - if it's just a retro back-in-the-day snoozefest then I can't see that reaching out beyond an in-crowd.
quite the reverse, what can one say about road riding other than "duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuulll" ?
Plenty, as evidenced by the number of books on the subject. Please direct me to some good writing on MTBing that isn't the sort of sixth form introspection beloved of ST.
Plenty, as evidenced by the number of books on the subject.
I don't think it's measured in inches :o) In fact one might posit an inverse relationship between number of books about a topic and its inherent interest 🙂
Unless this is the exception then that relationship would suggest reams and reams available on SfB.
Good to see that your narrowmindedness never changes 🙄
Please direct me to some good writing on MTBing
there's the nub, I'm beginning to think it's just something to do, not write about...
Good to see that your narrowmindedness never changes
I see it rather as simple preference, as in I'd rather saw my leg off than have to ride on the road
I see it rather as simple preference, as in I'd rather saw my leg off than have to ride on the road
I had that attitude then I gave it a go, I enjoy it now and had a lot of apologising to do and listening to "we told you so". MTB is much more fun though.
Unless this is the exception then that relationship would suggest reams and reams available on SfB.
however, you are straying from the original topic. My attitude to road riding bears not on the content of Privateer
I had that attitude then I gave it a go, I enjoy it now and had a lot of apologising to do and listening to "we told you so"
I shall be spared that embarrassment as I'm too scaredy to ride where there are cars and lorries 🙂
Bloody hell - being told off for straying OT by sfb 😯
I shall be spared that embarrassment as I'm too scaredy to ride where there are cars and lorries
Yeah that's what put me off too but it was a bit daft given where I live and how well I know the unclassified roads. So that got ride of that excuse, actually Mrs if off today so might have to do a spin before work tonight.
being told off for straying OT by sfb
yeah! I have a lot of critical things to say about Privateer, which I shall write later, in a spirit of constructive criticism
Got mine yesterday. Was looking forward to it, was expecting something like NatGeo for Mountain Bikes, but it seems a bit vacant and contentless to me, the writing has left me cold so far, and certainly the photography is not really up to par. The cover is nice, but if the best photo they can pick out for a two page spread is some old fart in a stupid suit in front of a windmill, count me out!
Rule 1 - If you are banking on style over substance, make sure you have style.
I'm not sure the super-smooth eggshell nicely typeset stuff fits well with MTBs either.
I want to know if the bloke upside down 6ft off the ground at the Malvern Hills Classic is a) ok and b) missed the spectators?
i remember when MBUK was ful of those malverns bombhole errors. There was a good reason for the crowds stood round them:)
All it needed was a bit of a pre jump to keep you on the ground 😉
Although there were some nice stylin' jumps out of them too...
"The way we were"
I'll preface my remarks by saying that I am not easily pleased, and I have scant interest in the machines we use while riding, but I was favourably disposed to a new magazine, hoping to be surprised!
"Privateer" is subscription only at present, and I think the first issue was free if you signed up for a direct debit - the next is due "late Feb 2011" and costing £25.50 for 3 issues. My copy arrived a few days ago, and initial impressions were favourable, it's a chunky perfect bound 210x260x10mm of heavy, glossy-eggshell finish paper. It feels more like a brochure than a magazine, and smells quite bad at first, though I'm happy to report the smell goes after a couple of days - or you stop noticing it 🙂
The cover shot is very good - a rider on some tempting singletrack silhouetted against a blue sky, and it was some time before I realised it wraps round onto the back cover too 🙂 The editorial gets off to a good start saying that it's for riders who don't need to be told what to buy, and have mountain biking deeply ingrained into them, but then blows it for me with the tawdry alliteration of "blood, bruises and beer" - why was there any need to drag recreational drugs into this ? This is followed by 2 mock (or possibly real) 120 film frames of rather bad shots of some Alpine downhill complete with vignetting and a nasty blue cast. Then things look up with a piece by Jenn Hopkins about her stint at the Megavalanche - though in retrospect I'm left wondering if she was the token woman in the otherwise unrelenting blokism. From here unfortunately we start to descend into a grim tale of nostalgia and celebrity awe, kicked off by a Charlie Kelly (who he ?) who loses no time in namechecking Gary Fisher <<shiver>>. I have no doubt that these figures played an important part in the genesis of mountain biking - someone should definitely write a book about it for someone to buy for me so I can leave it unread on the coffee table - and I wouldn't have minded a page or 2, but this is followed by an article featuring various greying figures I've never heard of talking about the early mountain biking event scene - though it was relieved by a popup quote "Mountain biking is a pastime not a sport. The only reason for riding your bike in the mud is because it's fun!" which is the high point of the issue for me 🙂 Then we have "Types of air", which describes how we would all be getting big air if only we had the nerve, and I find no fault with this at all. Unfortunately, next comes a dire piece about early mountain biking in Haight and Marin County, featuring endless quotes by the inevitable Gary Fisher - I swear I had nothing against this man till I opened this magazine! It also has several photos of Gary complete with white moustache which made me want to kick him 🙁 I should mention that this goes on for AGES, 16 pages in all! Next is a prose panegyric to the mechanic, featuring lots of photos of mechanics being butch and/or holding bits of metal, together with the lame quote "Mechanics are the hardest working party animals on the tour..." etc, with another fatuous reference to drinking, and oh, I forgot to mention that Gary made several references to other recreational drugs, without which doubtless MTB would have fallen flat on its face at inception...
Next comes "FORK WARS" about more MTB celebrities' involvement with the coming of suspension to mountain bikes. I think I would have enjoyed this had it not been yet another slab of the weighty layer cake of regurgitated history. This is followed by some piccies. These are agreeably timeless, and feature a beautiful shot of some sunlit woodland singletrack which I love to bits (p122). Unfortunately the paper finish does the other photos no favours and a lot of the shadows (and there are a lot) end up merely murky. Then a piece by Brant. I have no idea what it was about, or perhaps the point was, it was just stream of consciousness and not really about anything. Also it was nice and short. But oh dear, bringing up the rear is an article about retrobiking (or is it?). Thankfully one of the protagonists realised he was sinking into a pointless obsession and stopped licking his collection of MTB tat, sold most of it off and started riding again. Otherwise we have bikes degenerating into collectables, useless commodities gathering dust or being shown off, pristine and unridden. It's like biking apart from actually being fetishism 🙁
I wanted to love it, but I ended up almost angry at the lost opportunities. As far as I can see the editorial promise has been abandoned for a collection of articles which pander to the worst aspects of mountain bikers. I'm starting to feel its remit was impossible, perhaps the nature of riding in its immediacy cannot be written about usefully in this format. Maybe poetry is required instead. I don't know. I didn't intend a hatchet job, and I know it's far easier to criticise than it is to create. The best I can hope is that people will be so incensed by what I've written they will rise up in defence of Privateer. I honestly wish it well, but I'm not holding my breath. I've concluded that I should stop trying to read about biking and just get on with it!
barns why the **** would someone not interested in moutainbikes subscribe to a mtb magazine?????????????????????????
you do talk some utter ****ing shyte sometimes.
seriously.
why the **** would someone not interested in moutainbikes subscribe to a mtb magazine?
simple, I'm interested in [b]riding[/b] and I'd hoped this would tell me something interesting about it. One can like riding bikes without being interested in bikes in the same way one can enjoy walking without obsessing about shoes. Obviously the distinction is lost on [b]you[/b] ton 🙂
you do talk some utter ****ing shyte sometimes.
I'm entitled to my opinion and opportunity to rant once in a while, just like everyone else. You in turn are welcome to ignore me, or pick holes in my criticism as you see fit.
I've concluded that I should stop trying to read about biking and just get on with it!
......or do us all a favour and stop writing.....period!
My only regret is that I wasted a few seconds reading that pile of 'critical' crap written by someone who is only really interested in one thing....his own opinion.
"Privateer" is subscription only at present,
No its not. I ordered issue 1 from always riding for 9 quid
barnes you spend every breathing moment either on here, or riding your bike/photoing bikes, yet you have no interest in bikes.
BOLLOXS............. 😆
yet you have no interest in bikes
truthfully. The only time my (singular) bike gets any attention is when I have to fix it. Otherwise I ignore it and all others.
No its not. I ordered issue 1 from always riding for 9 quid
thanks for the update, I must have misread their email.
i suppose you dont like ladies arses either............. 🙄
[i]barnes you spend every breathing moment either on here, or riding your bike/photoing bikes, yet you have no interest in bikes.
BOLLOXS.............
[/i]
You know how on a group ride people will start talking about their bikes, about other bikes, about kit, clothing, lights etc etc.
Or when describing someone whose name you can't remember you'll say "yeah, it was the guy on the [insert bike name here]".
Try that with SFB and he won't even have noticed the colour of the bike never mind the make!
I'm willing to bet that he won't know the make/model of half the components on his own bike (never mind anyone else's bike!) without actually looking at it. 🙂