Anyone seen the report about flat MTB sales compared to booming bike sales in general?
Followed a few pages later by a report on the new Whyte, a “snip at £4999”
2 + 2 = anyone?

Subs copy, I presume?

If it wasn’t free with Tesco points then I wouldn’t bother.
They are still resisiting 29ers as well.
Bless them!

Subs copy it is

Anyone seen the report about flat MTB sales compared to booming bike sales in general?

Not really a surprise though, is it? Most of the growth in cycling seems to be ‘utility’ cycling, ie. people taking to a hybrid for the commute instead of driving.

Andy

Anyone seen the report about flat MTB sales compared to booming bike sales in general?
Followed a few pages later by a report on the new Whyte, a “snip at £4999”
2 + 2 = anyone?

Completely irrelevant, you can still buy cheap mtbs, If price was the problem there would be no road bike sales. If you read the mags you would be under the impression that you have to spend in excess of £2k to get a road bike.

The issue is that for a large number of people MTBs need a car to get somewhere to ride, a road bike you leave the house and away you go. Fuel is expensive, time is a luxury for many.

Indeed, I hired a £450 pound Scott a few months back, and barring the fork, it was a great wee bike.

Road bikes have become more fashionable again with all the coverage on the telly etc. People used to see them purely as something for the elite, now we have Mamils (including me although I do still tend to wear baggies over the top in all bu the hotest weather).

Be interresting to know how many think they’ve bought a mountain bike when in fact they’ve bought a hybrid. Also be interresting to know whether the supermarket full bounce specials contact as mountain bikes or weather they are in their own category of BSOs.

If it wasn’t free with Tesco points then I wouldn’t bother.

Really why do people feel the need to be so rude about people who are just doing their job? Are you not bright enough to make the connection that they are a business and write for an audience and do a very good job of that or are you just so insecure about your riding you feel the need to be supercillious about others?

I have to agree that the prices of new bikes seemed to have rocketed
Mtb and road
Hence why I have only ever bought one new and that was on the cycle to work scheme and a road bike

What with fuel etc for those of us that have to travel for the better riding the sport is becoming a luxury sadly
Perhaps it is why my cheapest bike gets ridden the most

Be interresting to know how many think they’ve bought a mountain bike when in fact they’ve bought a hybrid.

or, to turn it around, perhaps people who would have bought a mountain bike are realising a hybrid is actually better suited to their riding.

And is a big wheeled rigid forked mountain bike that much different to a fat tyred hybrid ?

For commuting, gentle off road and leisure use I’d go hybrid every time – the next ‘big thing’ could well be high spec hybrids such as Cannondale badboy, Specialized Crosstrail, Whyte Stirling and my pick of the bunch (if you take price into consideration) Whyte Caledonian

Mountain bike, 29-er or hybrid – I honestly wouldn’t know where to class it…..

the less **** on mountian bikes the better, maybe the freds have found some thing else to play with.

If it wasn’t free with Tesco points then I wouldn’t bother.

Really why do people feel the need to be so rude about people who are just doing their job? Are you not bright enough to make the connection that they are a business and write for an audience and do a very good job of that or are you just so insecure about your riding you feel the need to be supercillious about others?

Although that reply wasn’t aimed at me… I’d have to take issue with it. The writers at MBR are not a benevolent charitable institution which is above criticism. Their main job is to generate a profitable mag. Hopefully along the way they may produce an interesting, informative and accurate mag. Which they don’t always succeed in doing… They produce a product, we are allowed to criticise it, like anything else. All timbur was communicating was how he valued the magazine. FWIW I’d agree entirely with him.

The sheer volume of hybrids/road bikes when i did a recent charity ride suggests cycling is being taken more seriously as a means of moving from a to b.

Really why do people feel the need to be so rude about people who are just doing their job? Are you not bright enough to make the connection that they are a business and write for an audience and do a very good job of that or are you just so insecure about your riding you feel the need to be supercillious about others?

he wasn’t being rude at all and I agree with timbur and stoat.
If anyone is being supercilious I’d say it was you from your outburst.

what they said about you

Their main job is to generate a profitable mag.

to be fair isnt that every mag?

Are you not bright enough to make the connection that they are a business and write for an audience and do a very good job of that

Are you not bright enough to realise a paucity of editorial rigour or accurate and coherent content means they are not very good at their job?

thought it was an interesting article particularly the bit about what drives MTB – racing or fun and that people are maybe put off by not being sure where to ride – as to the OP’s point on page 117 the Giant Trance X4 which sells at around £1200 gets MBR Full Sus’ Bike of the Year and a £600’ish Bike hard Tail of the year

I’ve not seen the article but would the stats being quoted pick up the mountain bikes being sold directly into the UK from EU manufacturers like Canyon, Rose?

LOL – thanks geetee1972. You’ve made me laugh.

Someone got muddled up at Christmas and bought me a year of MBR not STW…

Awful read, full of self conflicting drivel is (one month Rocky Mountain’s ‘straight up seat angle is wrong, this month it is fine on another brand), spouted opinion (‘you should not sell a trail bike with bars less than 720mm wide’) and image driven suggestions….

Really rubbish read.

i used to like mbr used to be really good about 5 years ago

to be fair matt – stw is complete up its own arse shite, whereas mbr can be taken with a pinch of salt.

what really put me off was when they kept giving bikes 5 out of 5 whilst in the same articles listing things that were wrong or they didn’t like . I once met some of them doing a photo session up at haldon forest and when I asked them about this apparent contradiction they tried to brush me off with technical bull####. right trendy posers too!
Must say though it’s not just them ….I’ve been a whatmtb subscriber ever since it came out and should have cancelled ages ago ( but get it very cheap and am lazy) . Those magazines are just stuffed with inaccuracies , woffle , mistakes contradictions and repeat articles .I accept however it must be a hard trying to write the same stuff over and over again ,year in year out, in order to fulfill a printing deadline. I often think either the proof readers have no knowledge of many of the subjects covered or that they don’t care that stuff is cobblers!