Bicycling Magazine
 

Does anyone subscribe to this magazine.? If so, what do you think of it for the commuter-bicyclist?

They talk about commuters occasionally. Might wander by all the bike shops in town, or the library. I think 1/4 of the shops have issues lying around. Library probably has a year.

I stopped reading when they reviewed a bike as "It's not a race bike, but it's nice to know you could take it to one". They were stalking about a cervelo R5, I believe. Which has won stages in tours.

I did for several years through the 1980s and 1990s, and then for one year in 2013. It seems more oriented towards road and mountain biking to me, with very little content directed towards commuters or urban cyclists.

I kept most my 1980s 1990s magazines, and can say that most of the articles in 2013, with the exception of product reviews, were redundant to articles from 20 - 30 years ago.

It's a good magazine, don't get me wrong. A lot of the fitness/diet/bike maintenance articles can be applied to commuters and urban; but the overall focus is towards road and mountian.

Occasionally I will look through cycling magazines when I visit bookstores, but I would never buy one. Bicycling magazines or any other magazines have as much truth in them as national enquirer, they're for entertainment purposes only.

Almost nothing for commuters, though I do still enjoy reading it. Usually I see deeply discounted subscriptions on slickdeals.net and renew that way. So to me, it is worth the $4-$6 a year I get it for. I wouldn't pay full price. Bicycle Times has more commuter content and less advertising, though it is more expensive with fewer issues.

Edit: I should also add that no magazine has as much information as this forum does.

My longest subscription from any magazine was for Bicycling magazine. 12 years from 1983-1995 before internet and forums. I personally liked it and found it informative, however, it got simple for me, I wanted more in depth articles and left me wanting for many years. Welcome to the Internet and forum! Haven't found a need for almost any magazines now.

Double O

Correct!

Read it for free, then you'll be glad you didn't subscribe.

It's like $11 year. You'd spend more than that in tire wear going back and forth to the library.

>>>>Edit: I should also add that no magazine has as much information as this forum does.<<<<

You said it. I am both a commuter and a lite-touring cyclist and I can't find anything in Bicycling magazine worth reading. To me, it seems to be 75% advertisements and 25% racing oriented. In all my years of perusing this and other magazines, I never learned as much as I have from these forums.

You get more out of just riding your bike and reading forums or reading VeloSnooze. Both of which are free, and none of which have a "Style Man".

Bicycling is more advertising than anything else. I like reading the gadgets section to see what new stuff is available. The articles aren't all that great, IMHO. I, too read it at the library (I have library card at TWO libraries!)

Bicycle Times Magazine is probably more up most of our alleys. I like it!

This, times however many magazines the library has, none of which are worth subscribing to.

It's great if you like magazines that are ad-revenue driven... in fact, what they are really selling is ads, you dear reader are the product.
What reviews they do have, generally tend to be geared towards $5k bikes that doctors and lawyers buy.

In other words, pass.

If you want commuter magazines look at Bicycle Times or maybe even Urban Velo. If you pick up an Adventure Cycling membership, their magazine is good as well.

Bicycling used to be a good magazine many, many years ago. Today it is all about the ads and the articles are fluff or garbage. Save a few trees and a few bucks and don't subscribe to it.

I've just been to the websites for both Bicycle Times and Urban Velo and I love 'em both! To the OP, these are the "mags" to read.

I was excited about Bicycle Times when it first started, but I've been kind of disappointed since then. It's like a smug urban version of Bicycling. They still spend a lot of pages reviewing expensive bikes, they just choose bikes that weigh 30 pounds or more.

Magazines in 2014? Can't you get your press releases rewritten as "news" and with less advertising by reading the Internet on your phone?

The only bike magazine I've ever subscribed to is "Peloton": Peloton

Hmmmm..... looks a little too race-oriented for my tastes. YMMV.

Read it on the rack in the store, I more like flip thru it and scan the articles chosen , then put it back.

More for the Younger People , (than a 68 year old) bicycle times and urban velo have web sites
Bicycle Times Magazine | Your Everyday Cycling Adventure .. Urban Velo | Bicycle culture on the skids.

A to B in UK is a commuting magazine [ that likes folders.] http://www.atob.org.uk/

I remember getting so much information from them back in the 1990s. But then the internet came along and I can get my information much quicker. And cheaper.

Yay!! Thanks for the links! Another Sunday afternoon planned!

I've liked Dirt Rag Mag for many years (it's a MTB magazine), and currently have a subscription to their newer publication, Bicycle Times.

With the recent change in editors, it will be interesting to see where they go with this magazine. I'm a little leery of their direction with some of the recent articles - I'm not too likely to be pedaling through Chile or Europe.