I wanted to let you know about some changes we are making to grit.cx going forward into 2017 that will affect the way grit.cx subscription works.
Unfortunately, a combination of price increases in the print and paper industries brought on by the much weakened pound and the changing way that the cycling industry is choosing to spend its marketing budgets means we have had to rethink our publishing strategy for grit at a fundamental level. We have always run grit.cx on a very tight budget and that makes us very sensitive to changes in the way the industry operates.
In order to survive we have had to make some considerable cuts to our expenditure, the largest of which is the cost of print and its distribution. We’ve thought long and hard about the best way to reshape grit.cx and we have decided that we are going to reduce the frequency of the printed output from four issues to a single, large, annual volume.
However, we have devised a way to ensure that the article and review output does not reduce. In fact we have devised a way to increase the amount of top quality, CX reading matter that you have come to enjoy and expect from us.
In the next few weeks we will be unveiling our new, redesigned website that offers our subscribers exclusive access to a continuous feed of not just news and reviews but also high quality magazine style features, opinions, reports and articles. We’ve rethought the website from the ground up and it will be fully integrated with our apps in both the android and iOS stores.
From mid March we will be bringing you new and exclusive long form features via website, mobile and apps every week. Fundamentally then we are returning to our original digital delivery format, but rather than it be delivered in four issues through the year we will be publishing every week.
The Annual
We still love print and we are not ready to let it go just yet, which is why we will be printing and distributing to all our subscribers the grit.cx annual towards the end of the year. This will be a high quality, full A4 sized journal made up of a combination of the best digital features of the year laid out in print and a collection of print exclusive features too.
Although we will be cutting back on the print we want to reassure you that we have no intention of cutting back on the content. In fact we are confident that with the savings we can make on print costs we can increase and improve the journalism that we make available exclusively for all our subscribers.
We hope you understand why we are making these changes and we really hope that you will stick with us on this new adventure beyond the barriers, above the gravel and through the mud.
If you have any questions then please don’t hesitate to get in touch directly or via the forum and comments section below. Oh, and watch out for the new website launch coming very soon.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Alker – grit.cx publisher.
Comments (14)
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Thanks for the heads up Mark. I can’t say that I’m surprised by the changes and really hope that it works out. Hopefully I will – 1. Be able to buy a tablet so that 2. I’ll be able to subscribe and properly appreciate the digital format. Phone screen ok for news etc but not great for proper reading of articles, reviews etc.
All the best guys.
Andy S
Thanks for the heads up Mark. I can’t say that I’m surprised by the changes and really hope that it works out. Hopefully I will – 1. Be able to buy a tablet so that 2. I’ll be able to subscribe and properly appreciate the digital format. Phone screen ok for news etc but not great for proper reading of articles, reviews etc.
All the best guys.
Andy S
Thanks Andy,
The new site design will look a lot better on all devices from mobile to desktop.
Thanks Andy,
The new site design will look a lot better on all devices from mobile to desktop.
Thats all cool – I hope the changes work out. Bit miffed that its happened halfway through my sub so I will be missing 2 issues of papery loveliness 🙁
Thats all cool – I hope the changes work out. Bit miffed that its happened halfway through my sub so I will be missing 2 issues of papery loveliness 🙁
I suspect this has not been an easy decision and I hope it works out. While I love paper publications I have got a whole lot more used to using websites (thanks to Singletrack and UKClimbing). I shall wait patiently for the new website and hope that it will have new stuff to read more frequently than at present.
David Bisset (fatoldman)
I suspect this has not been an easy decision and I hope it works out. While I love paper publications I have got a whole lot more used to using websites (thanks to Singletrack and UKClimbing). I shall wait patiently for the new website and hope that it will have new stuff to read more frequently than at present.
David Bisset (fatoldman)
Is there still access to the archive magazines?
Is there still access to the archive magazines?
That’s down temporarily while we continue to migrate content from a to b. We’ve just migrated all of issue 9 into the site now but the archive of issues will be back up and running in the next week. Our goal is to have the whole site including all magazine content in the right places and in new updated apps by the end of the month.
That’s down temporarily while we continue to migrate content from a to b. We’ve just migrated all of issue 9 into the site now but the archive of issues will be back up and running in the next week. Our goal is to have the whole site including all magazine content in the right places and in new updated apps by the end of the month.
Thanks 🙂
Thanks 🙂