Singletrack latest issue WTF

* signs up for life subscription *

😆

2 wheels + pedals
Can be ridden in the dirt
Makes you grin from speed, fun, simple inappropriateness etc
Maybe not your first bike choice but a good 2nd or 3rd

Yes to all 4 I’d say
thf a CX bike could be as valid as long-travel FS bikes to many mountain bikers. ‘MTB’ is a broad thing these days and imo anything from a CX bike to a DH bike is fair game for having fun off-road.

Maybe it isn’t interesting enough every month, but what I liked about Privateer was that when it’s well-written there’s not much about bikes that isn’t worth reading, maybe sometime later if it’s not grabbing you the first time you open it. ie The life of an Israeli XC Pro? Read it on the train one day and thought it was a really good article. Good mags are worth keeping and going back to sometime. I’d like to see longer, more in-depth articles, about CX riders, XC races, frame builders, product engineers, DH courses, anything that’s beyond consumer magpie stuff really. There’s always the site for when you’re short on attention span or want product info.

I like variety. I’m never going to read every article and love it some just don’t interest me. If every mag was solely full of the same crap every week no-one would buy that either. The magazine is distributed to so many people it just can’t stick to the same stuff, it needs to appeal to more and more readers each month.

Some months are good some aren’t so. That’s what you guess with years of buying the same blokes writings.

This issue was probably one of the most “reflective of this forum” issues ever .. and it gets dissed?

Maybe it isn’t interesting enough every month, but what I liked about Privateer was that when it’s well-written there’s not much about bikes that isn’t worth reading, maybe sometime later if it’s not grabbing you the first time you open it. ie The life of an Israeli XC Pro? Read it on the train one day and thought it was a really good article. Good mags are worth keeping and going back to sometime. I’d like to see longer, more in-depth articles, about CX riders, XC races, frame builders, product engineers, DH courses, anything that’s beyond consumer magpie stuff really. There’s always the site for when you’re short on attention span or want product info.

This sums it up for me

I loved the last issue. Spot on for me.

There’s a nice article describing why we make things “harder” for ourselves (e.g. singlespeeding, yep – that’s me), a £1.somethingishK bike test for real budgets in real life and loads of good articles with great photography.

That reminds me, I really should subscribe.

I will always subscribe as a thank you for this forum.
The advice I got regarding my flooring saved me a monumental **** up.

This and…. I enjoyed this edition as there were many more tested women’s bits and bobs than usual.

WHAT!!! There is a mag associated with this forum, fancy that. Is there a big hitters section?

I used to enjoy the ‘Fish out of Water’ articles that used to appear in the mag a few years back, after all, I actually have interests in activities beyond mountain biking.
Oh, and the “Mountain Bike Magazine” tag was dropped about two years ago now! 😯

I have subscribed again but only for digital version so I can have MBUK and Singletrack on my iPad for the same price of one magazine before and now I am living on a pension I have to live on a budget 😀
It’s a bind but someone’s got to do it. As for CX being in Singletrack it’s just another passing fad like SS, 69ers, 29ers, and 650b etc etc etc. doesn’t mean you have to follow the trend, read about it take from it what you will, forget about it if it doesn’t make you wasn’t to become suckered in to the trend.
Me, I am looking forward to the rebirth of 26″ wheels so I am trendy again 😆

(good being a relative term to the normal level of Dirt journalism)

Yep purple text on a black background [/quote]

Not wanting to miss the chance to have a pop at Dirt, purple text on a black background is a failure of design; the mangled attempts at English are a failure of journalism, or at least of sub-editing.

TBH since Enduro mag launched online, I’ve not bought any bike mags other than if there was something specific I was looking at or had a long train journey to read it on.

I’d say Enduro or Wideopenmag are the two most relevant and interesting ones out there right now – good content, no wierd “into the wild” style escaping society with a bike and bivi bag stuff and no mincey whimsical stuff about what riding represents or some such oddness.

Better pics too.

I like the cx stuff. My most ridden bike is my cx bike. As long as they don’t start covering cx racing it’s fine by me

(Though maybe stw need some fresh blood/younger/not a mate/not a contact from the industry/different demographic/someone from outside the NorthWest writer, someone with a different view point)

MBR gets my vote, though STW can still entertain.

(Though maybe stw need some fresh blood/younger/not a mate/not a contact from the industry/different demographic/someone from outside the NorthWest writer, someone with a different view point)

Good idea.

MBR gets my vote, though STW can still entertain.

MBR stopped getting my vote many years ago. Their ability to publish even the most basic of routes the wrong way round. Their constant assertions that the only bike capable of being ridden off road was a 6″ travel full sus (preferably a Specialized though Orange was also permissible).

What did it for me was when they casually dismissed a £2000 hardtail as only good enough for being a road based winter hack bike.

**** idiots.

I leave my copy in the bathroom all month – find I’ve managed to read it cover to cover by the time the next one lands on the doormat. Makes a better pile of mags than MBR too…

You can please some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time.
But you cant please all the people all of the time.

It’s about biking, I like bikes, but not all the articles rock my boat. The wider the coverage the better imo.

Start a niche publication if you want just one topic covered 🙂

Why not volunteer to write a piece for the mag on this issue then?

Please can we stop trotting this one out?

*snigger*

Edit: 100!

Well I still enjoy it. I like pictures. Lots of pictures. I like proper beer. I like bikes. I like new places and different people. I like shiny new bikes. I like being a bike geek. I like the silly back page of “stw brought yo you this month by…”

If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Simples

GrahamS – Member

Where can I buy “Riding CX Bikes Up Hills For Fun Instead Of Round Muddy Fields In Pain magazine?”

There are a great many non-mtb subjects out there that don’t have their own mags, perhaps ST should cover all of those as well 😉

ampthill – Member

If I had a rant it would be carbon wheel reviews. For example issue 86

The ENVE jobs. £800 per rim. Not a pair or even a wheel. That’s just a carbon hoop, with some holes. The first line of the review is something like “testing really posh kit is completely pointless but we like ridding with free nice stuff”

At least it’s mountain bike kit. The SRAM hydro brakes review in the current issue is exactly the same, except offtopic to boot. And the cx shoes for that matter, £275. Stuff that’ll only be of interest to the nichest of the niche.

There are a great many non-mtb subjects out there that don’t have their own mags, perhaps ST should cover all of those as well

Well if the other “non-mtb subjects” involve riding bicycles, off road, through forests and up and down hills, for fun, then yeah I’d be happy to see them covered. 😉

You’re not supposed to ride a CX bike! It’s a sport based on the carrying of bicycles. Sometimes you get tired running, and have to ride for a little bit.

FTFY

I’d say Enduro or Wideopenmag are the two most relevant and interesting ones out there right now

Glad that someone else likes them. Really enjoy Enduro and Wideopen, IMB as well

scotroutes – Member

FTFY

Le me, doing it wrong:

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cross[/url] by Northwindlowlander[/url], on Flickr

Turned out to be a lot more fun than doing it right.

If it floated in the bath it would be better.

It never ceases to amaze me what people will turn to in search of suitable grot.

Le me, doing it wrong:

Granny to big ring?

Brave post.

Is that what you call mountain biking then?

It’s what I call fannying about.

Well, I still like it. 🙂

I enjoy the Cross stuff too.
And the Fat bike stuff.

I usually only get ST so it’s fine by me if they diversify a bit.

Not so much the reviews these days, but still enjoy the travel stuff, perspectives from other places and people.

Quite like Cycle Active too, they have some good road routes, but it’s very samey.

How do you lot turn corners with those blinkers on? “i only ride mtb, I only want to read about mtb, nothing else exists”

I’m a cyclist, I like any bicycle, Singletrack, please stay diverse & open to New ideas & experiences

How about an Offshoot mag.

“STW Forum” Covering Bikes, Sheds, Beer, Stoves and Travel.

I subscribe as a sub to the Forum really, but I do like the mag hanging around the house, It reminds me to get out and ride. Although as said before I find it difficult to actually read the text in it.

“STW Forum” Covering Bikes, Sheds, Beer, Stoves, Travel and Relationship Advice

FTFY

Stw lives in the bathroom and performs well for throne and bathing entertainment.

ratherbeintobago – Member
“STW Forum” Covering Bikes, Sheds, Beer, Stoves, Travel and Relationship Advice
FTFY

Yes I thought about that, hopefully it will be a supplement that can be thrown away before reading.

Or Perhaps just an, Agony uncle Chipps column

I think the OP is being a tad harsh on STW.

Lets not forget MBUK of oldish days featured mtb, jump/DJ etc all in the mag. It makes it slightly refreshing. Plus in a mtb I like to see articles/sections that are interesting- health, diet etc. It all helps riding. I do think STW might become too Calderdale-centric though. It’ll shrink the UKwide reading (i.e. buying public) if it does. I think it has a great USP though still.

Not so long ago in Dirt there was an article on Yoga (4 pages) from a top rider. I liked that.

Talking of Dirt – I found a few old copies from 2011 under the bed. Compare them to todays Dirt and its shocking. Todays Dirt is a thin, insulting mag. I imagine people still buy it for nostalga or to look ‘lifestyle’. It used to be full now its thin- full of ads still but the content has shrunk right down.

Forget the font/colour – Dirt really have lost it.

Plus lets not forget the great Earthed series of DVD’s had DJ, 4X, BMX racing, DH, mini moto-bikes, etc added in.

The dull mountain bike vids are the likes of Vanderman in Canada riding northshore then dusty crap whilst drowling on like its bloody surfing on wheels.