Bicycle Magazines
 

Are there any magazines that cater more to general riders, those of us who are out for fun, as opposed to racing fans. I have thumbed through Bicyling Magazine but it appeared to be geared for the high end enthusiast. Any suggestions - maybe I'll just stick to the forum for my info.

Magazines like Bicycling all do essentially the same thing.
Their core purpose is to provide basic information. Just as you know Cosmo will have articles about sex, Bicycling will always have basic information on training and technique. Enthusiast magazines also need to have a few articles for the long time subscribers. I feel Bicycling doesn't do enough of this, but have had some great articles. I live in the first Bike Town, that was a great article, and a very positive experience. I have truly enjoyed reading Mike Magnuson's articles. I like it better when he's riding in wine country than getting hit by a truck or breaking his bones.
But that's part of the deal. He hangs his ass over the edge, you get to see what happens from the comfort of your sofa. I learned about a great rib place called Redbones in Bicycling. Went there last weekend. It was as good as they said.

Bicycling is about as low key as you can get. And at $7/year it's a get what you pay for proposition. Cycling Plus out of the U.K. is proving to be stellar, but the rates are a bit steep here.

Cycling Plus is a great magazine. But... like Foxden, race coverage is not something I'm interested in. The rides don't do me a bit of good.
But I do love the equipment reviews. I used to read them in the bookstore but not buy the zine. Now they wrap them up. You ought to try Asphalt. You can buy individual copies from..
http://www.wallbike.com/bookstore.html

I subscribed to Asphalt a few years ago. I hope it's still being published. Nice magazine.

No thanks. The last bicycling magazine I thumbed through was Road Bike Action in 1994. :)

If you are into touring, Adventure Cycling is a good magazine. Dirt Rag is kind of different and slanted more toward mountain biking.

Most magazines are paid for by the advertising, not the subscription fees. You can guess what that means. Magazines need to showcase the advertisers products so the reader will buy them. You're not likely to see an article in Bicycling on how to fix up a thrift store bike with minimum cash outlay. Nor are you likely to see an editorial on how 8-speed cassettes are good enough.

Here's a good test. Flip through any cycling magazine that you are interested in reading. Look at the product reviews. Are there ANY negative reviews?

Mountain Bike Action does negative reviews...they just do them 6 months later ;)

No kidding. I've read absolutely stellar reviews of a bike or a product and then 6 months later they will talk about how they told everyone what a POS the bike was. It's kind of amusing. The advertizers check must have bounced :D