Why don't you buy bike magazines?

[Richard G]

Funnily enough, I stopped buying National Geographic because IMHO it had headed way too far in the (preachy / pretentious) article direction, rather than the beautiful photography direction that made me fall in love with it. Sure, I could flick through for the shots that were there, but it always felt like a bit of a waste. Swapped over to New Scientist, because at least I found their articles a bit more informative.

[ctznsmith]

The formulaic nature is whatnput me off.

The issues of the ride journal I've seen have been good but never strong enough for me to buy it.

I actually still read (and write) fanzines but I've never seen any UK independent cycling ones really.

[whitestone]

Funnily enough, I stopped buying National Geographic because IMHO it had headed way too far in the (preachy / pretentious) article direction,.

Don't worry, now that it's owned by Newscorp/Fox it will be dumbed down

[Richard G]

Well, I imagine their articles on climate change will certainly become somewhat different.

[Mariner]

I've got BB why do I need a magazine?
Still read ancient MBR at the dentists though.

[VeganGraham]

Magazine product reviews are little more than copy & paste press releases.
Everything I might want from a magazine is available for free on the internet.

[mountainbaker]

I'm waiting for the National Geographic* exclusive scoop on the Murdoch/Hall wedding. Will be great photos!

*never buying it again since it sold to Newscorp.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

All of the above! Used to subscribe to What Mountain Bike as I was a bit obsessed with kit reviews. Whne they published a review of exactly the same bit of kit, 6 months after the first review, but with an entirely different conclusion, the credibility evaporated. Bike Radar is not much better - Lazy regurgitation of the brand brochure, and loyalty to advertisers.

Still get TGO e-subscription; give me something to read when travelling.

[GregMay]

I'm waiting for the National Geographic* exclusive scoop on the Murdoch/Hall wedding. Will be great photos!

*never buying it again since it sold to Newscorp.

I cancelled my sub - refuse to give that shower any of my money.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I cancelled my sub - refuse to give that shower any of my money.

I did the same with 'Shaven Asian Boys' ... change of ownership completely ruined it.

[Ray Young]

Too expensive, too repetitive, too many high end bikes, too much high end gear, too many ads, too often told that the best new thing you bought two years ago (on their advice) is now rubbish and you need the latest best new thing or else both you and your riding will become sh*te overnight.

[ctznsmith]

Mountain bike magazines are also often tend too be a bit 'gnarr' for me. Yes I could try to learn those skills and push my comfort zone but I've found that I'm quite happy being a bit crap and I still get to the places I want to go!

(Plus even my skilled friends tend to be a little less confident when you really are up a mountain and the margin for error is low)

[rando nomad]

I'd rather go off the suggestions from forum's like this one for my gear reviews. For bike packers, the variety of reviews of gear would be like putting singletrack with TGO I think.

I like the stories and photos from Bunyan Velo and Sidetracked. Living in the US makes Sidetracked's paper edition really expensive, but I keeping thinking I'll pull the trigger one day on ordering a couple editions from them.

I've seen one person do colour prints from Bunyan and it looked great, but I think Lucas is too tied up in post grad work to really make Bunyan Velo a print/media "empire" like Sidetracked. I think someone could do it really well with it if you could distribute it across Europe and the US. I know an new edition of Bunyan is in the works, but I don't know when it is due. Was due last fall. I should ping him to see... Print seems (?) to be making a comeback in some circles/interests from what I have seen.

[jameso]

Tough market now I suspect. Subscribed to Sidetracked as its a great use of print. Plus it's got a wider scope than just bikes, more interesting for it. Bike mags have some good stuff but its generally not what I'm after, Cranked is promising though. I liked Privateer also but don't see why bike mags should limit themselves to one type of bike. The Ride Journal had the right idea but the format didn't grab me for some reason. Probably because I like travel photography as much as the writing.

[GregMay]

'Shaven Asian Boys'

That's so last year. We're all over with hairless midget men now.

*gets coat*

[slarge]

I still get MBR, but when it arrives it gets a quick read, a look at the map routes and put on the pile. I kind of get tired of being told that 650b, 29er or whatever and 160mm travel is what I need to pootle to the shops, but can't bring myself to cancel. I posted on STW a while ago about the circulation of MBR and whether it was representative of the market. When I first bought it 13 years ago or so it had a circulation of 33k. Now it's down to 18k. I wonder when it gets non viable.

I get more value from forums and the odd online article.......

[Bearbonesnorm]

That's so last year. We're all over with hairless midget men now.

Yeah but you've got to remember that we're a little behind the times here .... Steampunk's not a fashion, it's a way of life

[jay91]

I enjoyed privateer mag with the posh paper but it didn't last long

[voodoo_simon]

Funnily enough, I stopped buying National Geographic because IMHO it had headed way too far in the (preachy / pretentious) article direction,.

Don't worry, now that it's owned by Newscorp/Fox it will be dumbed down

My little brain will cope with the dumbing down

Actually, the worst magazines are running ones, always about training, racing and nutrition, they're so boring. They rarely publish any decent pictures or lifestyle columns, in fact if go as far as saying all running magazines are the same

[ctznsmith]

Actually, the worst magazines are running ones, always about training, racing and nutrition, they're so boring. They rarely publish any decent pictures or lifestyle columns, in fact if go as far as saying all running magazines are the same

There is one that isn't. It's like the running equivalent of the ride journal.

This one.
http://www.likethewindmagazine.com/

[tommid]

I still subscribe to Singletrack. I never really read it a quick flick when it arrives. I keep subscribing out of a sense of duty.

I really miss the irreverent bullshit of the Outcast.

Maybe its time that we did something about it and produced our own mag...

[paramart]

in the early yrs I used to buy mbuk, and couldn,t wait for the next issue to come out then for some unknown reason they started to put jan issue out in dec, not because it gave you a month to enter events, just so you didn,t have to wait
back then it was interesting because it was all getting going new places to go and technology was pushing bounderies, but as stu said it,s just reviews and adverts with some dodgy angled pic and riding tips nowadays, there is nothing remarkable about the trail centres or a new tyre I think they clutch at straws to fill the pages and one mag has a sister mag that is a month behind the other but just gives a different score to a pair of boots so if you bought them of there first review you'd be pee'd off next month,
I do flick through them to see if any of the routes are worth doing, and buy one when on holiday to kill 10 mins

[AlasdairMc]

When I first bought it 13 years ago or so it had a circulation of 33k. Now it's down to 18k. I wonder when it gets non viable.

That reminds me. I got a job lot of 50 MBR buffs for a bargain price on eBay. The seller has sold in total over 2500 of them, so clearly MBR have overestimated their circulation considerably.

[jameso]

I really miss the irreverent bullshit of the Outcast.

A kind of genius that chap.. he's partial to a bit of BP also but can't see him doing a version of it to suit a new market trend : )

Did you see 'The Earnest' magazine spoof in Outcast? Inspired. I can't read Sidetracked or Bunyan without that in mind. Praying that Sidetracked have also seen it and have a good sense of where the borderline is.

in the early yrs I used to buy mbuk, and couldn,t wait for the next issue to come out

Same here, late 80s Bicycle Action and the US mag our local newsagent got in for us. The internet has killed all that off so that print needs to be something a little more involving, the sort of thing that doesn't work so well on screen. Bunyan is great for content but I rarely CBA reading longer articles on screen and the images lack something when backlit, overall it's a poor medium for the sort of experience that a good travel article can be, imo. Print makes it a more involved and valued thing somehow now. I know that sounds a bit bookish-w&nky. For getting the concept out there at a low cost e-readers are great, beats not having it available at all.

[whitestone]

I don't think that it's just bike related, I started climbing in the 1980s and the magazines were genuinely interesting (possible exception of Climber/Climber & Rambler or whatever they happened to call it at the time), Mountain magazine had a world-wide distribution. Move forward to the present day and the main climbing magazines are comparable to MBR/MBUK: gear reviews that are little more than a rehash of press releases and poor editorial (and poorly edited) content, even the covers are basically an excuse for product placement. There is the exception of Alpinist (a French publication but published in several languages) that could be regarded as the heir of Mountain magazine, but it serves a niche part of the climbing fraternity.

The raison d'etre for magazines has changed. It used to be to disseminate information with some of the production cost supported by advertising, now it's a vehicle for product placement and advertising padded out with some user generated content.