General Cycling Discussion - "Bicycling Mag. "Critics. What do you think of Current Sex Issue."

Agree with it.? .Sex treat us better than the couch potatoed, general public...Jan. Issue , but on our door step for Christmas.. Did "Bicycling Magazine" come up with a winning issue for your Christmas related bike activities or is it just sensational...? Is the topic a top motivator in your cycling addiction..
Could be a poll... Does your riding schedule preclude a night in the sack or the other way around.?

Just when Bicycling Mag comes up with such a wonderful article on Pantani and makes you think there's hope, they sink to even bigger and "stupider" lows, for lack of a better word.

:rolleyes: So obvious some editor needs some serious tail...

Koffee

i agree, this months issue was terrible

I am lost. Anyone want to give a synopsis. I tend not to ever read mags besides Decline and MBUK anymore.

Although, I hadn't realized there was a sex issue.

Wondering if the different genders will react differently? I can think of different cycling friends..One guy thinks of organized tours as primarily a chance to meet cycling partners of the opposite sex...I am told one ride resulted him with a g/f-riding partner that lasted for several years..
The Sex issue..The whole Magazine is pretty much related to cycling and sex...Difficult to summarize the whole issue..
Articles are 1-Rules of Attraction..What kind of rider of the opposite sex might desire. 2- How cycling can enhance body attractiveness 3- How a healthy life style effects performance..3- A study of cycling/sexual workouts..- eg. calories burned,etc.4- Case studies in how cycling built 'beautiful bodies.'5- Cycling and Impotence 6- How loving and cycling complement each other.7- Aggressive cyclists of opposite sex hanging on each others wheels.
That is the issue.

I haven't gotten mine yet but I know that one section on it will be great: What kind of bike should I get? *teehee*. :D

It seems as though they filled up 50 pages with some basic ideas that any 13 year old could have offered up.
1. People like sex.
2. Fit people are more attractive than fat people.
3. The odds are better for a single woman to meet a guy cycling than vice versa.

That's pretty much all I got out of it. Anybody else have a diffrent take?

Poll was interesting..Forum members have ocassionally remarked..Sorry , not tonight honey- gotta ride tomorrow.

It seems as though they filled up 50 pages with some basic ideas that any 13 year old could have offered up.
1. People like sex.
2. Fit people are more attractive than fat people.
3. The odds are better for a single woman to meet a guy cycling than vice versa.

That's pretty much all I got out of it. Anybody else have a diffrent take?

Yeah, that's about all I got out of it too.

Wondering if the different genders will react differently? I can think of different cycling friends..One guy thinks of organized tours as primarily a chance to meet cycling partners of the opposite sex...I am told one ride resulted him with a g/f-riding partner that lasted for several years..
The Sex issue..The whole Magazine is pretty much related to cycling and sex...Difficult to summarize the whole issue..
Articles are 1-Rules of Attraction..What kind of rider of the opposite sex might desire. 2- How cycling can enhance body attractiveness 3- How a healthy life style effects performance..3- A study of cycling/sexual workouts..- eg. calories burned,etc.4- Case studies in how cycling built 'beautiful bodies.'5- Cycling and Impotence 6- How loving and cycling complement each other.7- Aggressive cyclists of opposite sex hanging on each others wheels.
That is the issue.

Your summary sounds like there is something of value in this issue. There is nothing worth reading.

It amazes me that there is plenty of useful cycling stuff to write about and the best they can come up with is this crap.

Yeah, it was stupid. First, I don't want the sex allure coming in the family mailbox. Second, the content was idiotic anyway.

So disappointing when then last issue ... Pantini and everything ... was so good.

I was actually elated to get it... I have to write a 5 page paper on the benefits of cycling vs. other forms of training and they give a lot of good specific data.... they try to tie it in with sex to sell more issues obviously, but if you read the articles its pretty general data that can be applied to just about any kind of physical activity. There is a lot of crap in there too but I'm just happy to have another source for my paper.

Probably my last year of subscribing. I think the Maz. has turned into a rag

The latest issue is absurd, a waste.

Hello everyone. This is my first significant post, and I expect to be much more positive in future contributions. But I found this thread and, as you'll see below, I take an especially strong interest.

Below is my letter to the editor of Bicycling magazine, published by Rodale (who also publishes Backpacker, etc). When calling to cancel my subscription, the Rodale rep. told me that they were getting quite a backlash. It seems that many have had their fill of our increasingly pornographic culture. As a middle-aged man who has considered the issue from several perspectives, I can say with the greatest confidence that we don't need yet another enticement to indulge in extramarital sexuality.

John

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" -- the apostle Paul

------------------------------------
Bicycling:

"Absolutely ridiculous and outrageous.

"That is the only description worthy to ascribe to the most recent issue of Bicycling. I ask you, are you trying to play the prostitute in the world of cycling journalism? SEX, not BIKE, shouts to us from the front cover. And yet, there is nothing but cobwebs and dead men's bones on the inside. It's not just the provocative pictures; in fact, that is not the primary concern here. Rather, virtually every bit of propoganda and text in this latest issue is nothing but slime. However, consider the picture for a moment: most employers would not permit such images on display in the workplace, out of concern for sexual harassment!

"It would seem, also, that there is very little evidence, if any, to support the silly claims in your articles. You are merely regurgitating the vomit that is to be found in the likes of Cosmopolitan, The Enquirer, or Playboy. Knowing that you were distributing such material, it amazes me that you didn't you wrap the magazine in dark plastic to prevent the eyes of children from falling upon the smut on its pages! Consider well that you've failed miserably in your responsibility. You should be discussing pure cycling. Instead, you gossip like an adolescent in a school locker room. Moreover, you perpetuate the myth that better sex--in and of itself--leads to better life. Sex isn't the problem: your presentation of it is a full contribution to a very serious crisis. Unknowingly or not, you are spreading vile lies. Enough!

"Subscribers to your magazine seek information on bicycles, components, cycling lifestyle, nutrition, and exercise. In an obscene gesture of betrayal, you waste the content of an entire issue on rubbish. With such a full load of highly controversial content, it's clear that you can't resist the urge to sell out to the "sex craze" that is overtaking popular culture--and eroding the social fabric--in North America. It is utterly despicable that you are seen now to grovel before the gods of greed and sensuality in the middle of a cycling forum.

"I will be calling to cancel my subscription immediately. In particular, I will ask for a refund of my subscription dues, making claim against your 100% satisfaction guarantee. Furthermore, I'm sending a copy of this letter to a number of bicycle and component manufacturers."

I haven't read the issue but my first reaction is, "can't we leave sex out of cycling, please." I mean seriously, everywhere you look in this culture sex is being used to promote or prostitute something. I am just as big a Perv as the next guy but holy crap, the last thing i think about when riding a bike is sex, espescially when wearing spandex.

It could be 7th grade gym class all over again!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Wondering if the different genders will react differently? I can think of different cycling friends..One guy thinks of organized tours as primarily a chance to meet cycling partners of the opposite sex...I am told one ride resulted him with a g/f-riding partner that lasted for several years..
The Sex issue..The whole Magazine is pretty much related to cycling and sex...Difficult to summarize the whole issue..
Articles are 1-Rules of Attraction..What kind of rider of the opposite sex might desire. 2- How cycling can enhance body attractiveness 3- How a healthy life style effects performance..3- A study of cycling/sexual workouts..- eg. calories burned,etc.4- Case studies in how cycling built 'beautiful bodies.'5- Cycling and Impotence 6- How loving and cycling complement each other.7- Aggressive cyclists of opposite sex hanging on each others wheels.
That is the issue.

What, no Viagra and Cycling article?

The latest issue is absurd, a waste.

Hello everyone. This is my first significant post, and I expect to be much more positive in future contributions. But I found this thread and, as you'll see below, I take an especially strong interest.

Below is my letter to the editor of Bicycling magazine, published by Rodale (who also publishes Backpacker, etc). When calling to cancel my subscription, the Rodale rep. told me that they were getting quite a backlash. It seems that many have had their fill of our increasingly pornographic culture. As a middle-aged man who has considered the issue from several perspectives, I can say with the greatest confidence that we don't need yet another enticement to indulge in extramarital sexuality.

John

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" -- the apostle Paul

------------------------------------
Bicycling:

"Absolutely ridiculous and outrageous.

"That is the only description worthy to ascribe to the most recent issue of Bicycling. I ask you, are you trying to play the prostitute in the world of cycling journalism? SEX, not BIKE, shouts to us from the front cover. And yet, there is nothing but cobwebs and dead men's bones on the inside. It's not just the provocative pictures; in fact, that is not the primary concern here. Rather, virtually every bit of propoganda and text in this latest issue is nothing but slime. However, consider the picture for a moment: most employers would not permit such images on display in the workplace, out of concern for sexual harassment!

"It would seem, also, that there is very little evidence, if any, to support the silly claims in your articles. You are merely regurgitating the vomit that is to be found in the likes of Cosmopolitan, The Enquirer, or Playboy. Knowing that you were distributing such material, it amazes me that you didn't you wrap the magazine in dark plastic to prevent the eyes of children from falling upon the smut on its pages! Consider well that you've failed miserably in your responsibility. You should be discussing pure cycling. Instead, you gossip like an adolescent in a school locker room. Moreover, you perpetuate the myth that better sex--in and of itself--leads to better life. Sex isn't the problem: your presentation of it is a full contribution to a very serious crisis. Unknowingly or not, you are spreading vile lies. Enough!

"Subscribers to your magazine seek information on bicycles, components, cycling lifestyle, nutrition, and exercise. In an obscene gesture of betrayal, you waste the content of an entire issue on rubbish. With such a full load of highly controversial content, it's clear that you can't resist the urge to sell out to the "sex craze" that is overtaking popular culture--and eroding the social fabric--in North America. It is utterly despicable that you are seen now to grovel before the gods of greed and sensuality in the middle of a cycling forum.

"I will be calling to cancel my subscription immediately. In particular, I will ask for a refund of my subscription dues, making claim against your 100% satisfaction guarantee. Furthermore, I'm sending a copy of this letter to a number of bicycle and component manufacturers."


Good for you. I got tired of that magazine a long time ago for many reasons.

Lame as lame gets. I want my money back. I wasn't offended by any of it; it was just not anything that I am interested in as it relates to what I am looking for from this type of magazine. A cycling and investing issue would strike me the same way.

The "Lovestrong" sex cushion ad in the back was the most ridiculous part of the issue. The fact that Bicycling even sought out and accepted such an ad for this targeted issue is sadly telling.

That chick in the bathtub was pretty hot.

Does it show any skin?

I'm dissapointed. I'd be a lot happier with more coverage of cool gizmoes and reviewes this close to the holidays. Or just true bike porn.

Did anyone else notice the poll was like 90+% male?

Thought, the heart rate bit was kind of funny.

if you read the articles ...

Are you still talking about Bicycling magazine?

Seems that all bicycle mags are writtin by kids for rich kids. Dudes.

I called and made a complaint to the company. It's the only way they will know people are unhappy about the "direction" they are going.

As I said, ONe rider comes to mind who lets it be known, he goes on organized tours because he does not meet enough female cyclitst in other cycling events..I am told he struck it big with a five year old fling as a result of a ride in Colorado..
Recall a foreign film being made of sex and heart rate monitors...Dude, kept records of his best ever by recording their stats...It was funny as hell. Probably out 15 years ago..Laughed like crazy....Was not porn, either....Italian I think.
Mixed feelings about this issue...But, I do not get all morally outraged and gonna cancel "Bicycling Magazine" over this issue.
TV is far worse...Blame culture, not Bicycling if offeneded...
Popular TV shows is what promted the magazine to take this course...What.."
Sex and the City, Desperate Women...Married with Children..Sex and violence sells and we are the buyers who keep such programing popular..
My friend who goes to Bike tours to Meet women cyclists..Betcha he liked it...

*sigh*

I'm tired

Koffee..Not saying I think it sensational or a little sleezy.Some of the polls were interesting..My wife wondered why such a magazine was in the house and checked under the bed! Anything else ? How was that related to cycling?
I just think if we watch Desperate Housewives or whatever that is called, we should not condem Bicycling Magazine for appealing to a specific market..
If we use our remotes to shut off TV we don't like- do we cancel Fox or ABC.. Just close this issue...It a big population with lots of diverse interests...
I find Fox TV broadcast an offense to good taste, but can't find a way to cancel that..

I don't watch Desperate Housewives. It's worthless dribble. So I guess I can talk against Bicycling now, huh? ;)

I just started up a subscription with Bicycling. I hadn't received the first issue, but if it is that issue, I'm sending it back, still wrapped, and asking for a refund.

Koffee

I haven't read Bicycling Mag in over a year. It just isn't worth the $10 or whatever they charge for it.

I haven't gotten mine yet but I know that one section on it will be great: What kind of bike should I get? *teehee*. :D

You're the highlight of this issue MsMittens! :D I actually thought their recommendations for you were pretty good.

As for the skin, I don't get uptight about seeing a few skin pictures (although the couple on the tandem was a bit much) or a story or two, but the whole issue! Its just not what I read a bicycling magazine for. After having some fairly good feature stories the last few months this issues was a let down.

While I don't necessarily agree with them devoting as much space as they did to the subject matter, there are bigger fish to fry, people. I think some people need to look at some of the statistics in the article and stop passing up sex to go riding. Then everybody's happy. :D

What, no Viagra and Cycling article?


Viagra makes you ride harder, ride longer, and ride better than ever before!


...


...


...I shouldnt have said that...

Mixed feelings about this issue...But, I do not get all morally outraged and gonna cancel "Bicycling Magazine" over this issue.

There is no doubt that TV is worse. My problem with this issue of Bicycling is twofold.

First, I pay for Bicycling for information on bicycling, not for information on sex. There is no worthwhile information regarding cycling in this issue. I do not pay for any particular show on TV. If I don't like what is on, I'll change the channel.

Second, it was poor judgment on their part to send this issue unwrapped so any child could view it.

Yeah but if you ride for more than 4 hours your have to call your doctor.

I like the Rivendell reader if i saved up could afford their single speed ,but i am into folders. The articles are good though and they have some neat bike parts for sale plus you get discounts on merchandise with membership.

But Bicycling Magazine is like everything else...Maybe this should be a poll...Do you or do you not find this issue interesting..?
Diversity...The magazine has to appeal to all elements reading the issue..Don't like it wait until next month...What the average male thinks of sex every six minutes...? Probably fit male cyclist every 3 minutes..Another means to keep your heart rate elevated when you did not get enough fitness activity in during a previous day...( One of the more interesting articles was comparing sex aerobics statistics to exercise, I thought..)\
To think most males out there riding don't notice when a fit female cyclist passes them by, does not get his dander up, is naive...Should 25% of the magazines public find it interesting, then I can see why the magazine has such an issue.
Maybe they thought it was a special holiday issue for the 25% who can't keep sex off their minds while riding? 25%.Probably conservative...Males have such a reputation you know...
Going riding with my THursday group, see how the average single male cyclist feels about the issue...We have a couple of them in our group..
I just try to be a tolerant person and know a media outlet has to appeal to all elements...
Question to ask...How does this issue affect sales of the magazine on the rack as compared to the average month..
Then you might understand their motivation..It remains to be the US's primary bicycling mag...We have very little choice, unless you want to pay for an overseas magazine at about 4 times the cost of a domestic bike magazine..

Another clue as to it's interest..Whether we find it gosh or not..Track number of hits on Forum threads during the past 24 hours...Think Mine is number two for hits by our members for the past 24 hours...Sex sells? As long as once in awhile your media outlets hit on something you approve...

geez, you call that smut and sleez? people have sex for christs sake. all the time actually. some cyclists I'm sure like to read about it too, and better to read it in a cycling magazine than some porn mag. offending children? have you seen how children dress now a days? your kids probably see more skin at school. Few magazines will be able to make 100% of their readers happy 100% of the time.
You guys are as bad as the people that moaned and groaned over the whole wardrobe malfunction at the superbowl. Oh geez a nipple, it's okay if we have overly underdressed cheerleaders every week and men trying to kill each other, but accidental tit oh lord.

Does sex sell - you bet. Sometime back, as an experiment, I posted two threads with different titles.

"Nude Bikers in Waterton Canyon - PICTURES" DnvrFox 9,718 hits" (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=30278&highlight=waterton)

"A Ride up Waterton Canyon" DnvrFox 1,198 hits" (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=30098&highlight=waterton)

These were similar posts. One had the word "nude" and "pictures" in the title - 9,718 hits
The one without the word "nude" - 1,198 hits

Bicycling Magazine is a joke anyway, it is written for everyone yet hits home with almost no one. They have about as much to do with bicycling in the US as Weekly Reader did\does with current events. They lightly cover the ProTour, you won't know a thing about the Peleton if you rely on them for info. They do stories on commuters in NYC but show people riding on sidewalks, (which is illegal here AND the number one complaint against cyclists) I am not a Tri- techie guy but such sections seem week to me too. It seems fitness and products are all they can cover. Which is stuff found in manuals. The rag is fluff, once a month a bunch of bike pictures come in the mail, that is about it. I find their Biketown Project to be about the only worthwhile reason to send them my (now) 21 dollars. I was looking and pondering the bill this morning, therefor I haven't seen this month's edition. I will go find it though. But such moral indignation? Over a crap magazine? The USAToday of our beloved hobby and mode of transport? Did the original poster join the forum just to harpoon the magazine? Why not use this energy found from such indignation to protest um... pre-emptive violence or lying on a global scale?

I reffered to the orginal poster, I meant Vander, who printed his letter of disgust.

If I wanted Cosmo "smutt" in my home, I would subscribe to that.

I suppose it's quite a challenge to come up with new and interesting material for a magazine with such narrow subject matter. That's the main reason I don't read bicycling magazines. Too repetitive. At least the sex and bicycling topic is something different. I have no problem with it.

And hence, the main problem with Bicycling. Non-original thinkers who can't figure out how to string together enough articles to keep their rag going.

It's totally true that the subject matter is narrow. So get creative! The problem with Bicycling is that they just won't, or just don't know how to, so at the end of the day, it's just the same crap over and over again. "Crap" being the operational key word here. :(

Koffee

Bicycling has been crap for a decade. Where have you all been? WAKE UP :rolleyes:

I think it was pretty lame.I don't think I will renew this time around.
The last issue with the Marco Pantani was good ,thats what I want to read about.
If I want to read about sex I 'll buy a penthouse. The only mag I read anymore
is Dirt Rag though I mostly commute and road ride.
Dam what a STUPID ISSUE!!!!!

Pat

Well, I'm glad no one's getting on a "high bike" here.

I'll give Bicycling credit for one thing-- they're trying to get non-riders on bikes. I liked the "fifty free bikes in Portland, ME" story they did about six months ago, that detailed what no or low riders did with new bikes for six months. I'm interested in seeing how their expanded plans for this year works out.

If you think about it, their main audience is mostly people thinking about getting into cycling, since true gearheads waste their time here and true racing fans read Velonews. So every month they sell the idea that you can pig out on rotten foods if you just ride an hour, or your sex life will take off if you get in better shape, or since you now have 97 worthless cycling tips it may not be so bad.

Maybe it's all just half-truths and sno-jobs and fake dreams, but my opinion is that cycling is for real, and if you get started because your eye stopped on a "controversial" sex issue, then maybe the ends justifies the means in this case.

Or not-- maybe only we, the pure and true, should ride.

I dunno if they made an article on it yet, but I would love to see an article on low traction riding techniques. Such as roadbiking on a slick road, or mtn biking on a pre-pave, or a mudpit. I pretty much mastered pre-pave, but it took much blood loss and picking of small stones out of my shoulders to get there.

My favorite bike magazine is the UK "Cycling Plus". It covers every aspect of cycling, including urban commuting, rural touring, training, racing, and reviews of new bikes and new components. AND, CP does talk about sex, directly and indirectly. More useful content in one issue than in ten issues of "Bicycling".

"Bicycling" seems to target people who are new to riding, and often the content seems to just be a mirror for the advertising. I have not seen the "Sex" issue yet, but it might be an improvement over the typical article of "Why You Need to Buy What Our Advertiser Is Selling".

Certainly, in my town, many cyclists may need to read about sex - it may be the closest they get to any sex. The guys that I see riding with the "official biking" clothes are always riding with other guys. Never see those guys with women, on or off their bikes. When I see women riding, they are riding with another women, or with a guy in normal clothing who seems to be riding WITH her - the ride is about being together, not "putting in miles - lowering my best time".

Looking in the history of bicycling books, the photos shows groups of men and women riding together. The history books give the idea that a lot of week-end riding was for the purpose of male and female socializing. Yet, in reading this forum, and today's bike mags, I get the idea that younger men today think riding is all about "suffering, miles, going faster, more suffering, hill climbing, going faster".

So, if the topic of "sex" can be translated into a more general question of "Wouldn't it be nice if more women were riding, and even nicer if women and men were riding together?" - that is a discussion worth having. I ride primarily for relaxation and enjoyment, and riding along with a woman is always enjoyable - not always true on "male only" rides.

If everyone sent a letter to the editor of Bicycling, I think they would probably take the hint. You might even invite them to join the forum. It would be a great way for them to see what their customers are really interested in. They've obviously lost touch with their customer base.