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-   -   cycling magazines (https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/499103-cycling-magazines.html)

Mr Danw 01-03-09 12:47 PM

cycling magazines
 
Are there any cycling mags out that are geared toward regular real world cyclists? Bicycling Mag is a big ad and not a very good one at that.

DataJunkie 01-03-09 12:53 PM

Define regular real world.
Mountain, road, cyclocross, etc are all real.
Are you referring to recreational cyclists, utility cyclists, or?

Mr Danw 01-03-09 01:08 PM

commuting/utility/rec kind of general cycling.

PlatyPius 01-03-09 01:11 PM


Originally Posted by Mr Danw (Post 8117663)
commuting/utility/rec kind of general cycling.

If you find any cycling mag that isn't focused on racing, please let me know. I don't give a @#$% about bike racing.

There's the Adventure Cycling magazine, of course.... Other than that, Dirt Rag is the only other one I really enjoy reading. Emphasis on "reading". If I want to look at cool new stuff, then yeah...Bicycling or RBA.

Neil_B 01-03-09 01:19 PM


Originally Posted by PlatyPius (Post 8117679)
If you find any cycling mag that isn't focused on racing, please let me know. I don't give a @#$% about bike racing.

There's the Adventure Cycling magazine, of course.... Other than that, Dirt Rag is the only other one I really enjoy reading. Emphasis on "reading". If I want to look at cool new stuff, then yeah...Bicycling or RBA.

Urban Velo, perhaps?

PlatyPius 01-03-09 01:22 PM


Originally Posted by The Historian (Post 8117715)
Urban Velo, perhaps?

Not into the "Urban" thing either, since I live out in the boonies.

Remember how Bicycling USED to be, back in the 80s? It focused on touring and recreational riding. It would be nice to have that again.

Mr Danw 01-03-09 02:40 PM

^^what Platy said^^

Racing is not my thing. General bicycle use would be a good genre for a mag.

late 01-03-09 02:52 PM

http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/samples.html

atbman 01-03-09 03:26 PM

Best general purpose mag is UK based but can be available in US - Cycling Plus

Dheorl 01-03-09 04:03 PM

I do like cycling plus, they have a nice variety of reviews from week to week and also a nice variety of well written articles. Do still have some racey stuff but by no means as much as some I've read.

bkaapcke 01-03-09 04:17 PM

I got tired of the obsession with ultimate this and ultimate that. Ads and more ads disguised as articles finished me off. Now I read the monthy 30 second review of bicycling magazine posted in another thread. bk

Neil_B 01-03-09 07:58 PM


Originally Posted by PlatyPius (Post 8117734)
Not into the "Urban" thing either, since I live out in the boonies.

Remember how Bicycling USED to be, back in the 80s? It focused on touring and recreational riding. It would be nice to have that again.

Can't say I do. I only learned to ride in 2007. :)

thehammerdog 01-03-09 08:07 PM

I've been reading road bike action I like it very much ......the rest are simply crap

smoore 01-03-09 08:33 PM


Originally Posted by Mr Danw (Post 8117571)
Are there any cycling mags out that are geared toward regular real world cyclists? Bicycling Mag is a big ad and not a very good one at that.

Great question. Bicycle Guide used to be like that in the 80s and Bicycling magazine was still decent. There was a quarterly magazine a couple of years ago that was exactly what you are looking for called Ashphalt and it was published by Patrick Brady, who used to be at Bicycle Guide. Alas, after barely two years it went away....with my subsciption money. Still, it was a very high quality publication in content and writing.
Seems to me there is a hole in the marketplace right now for something similar.

In the meantime, even though I'm not a racer I still like Road Bike Action and the Brit publication Cycling Plus.

Tapeworm21 01-03-09 09:17 PM

I read BF.net. Only a couple ads, and once you weave through the copious amounts of b.s.... it aint half bad.

Chris L 01-04-09 01:53 AM


Originally Posted by Mr Danw (Post 8117571)
Are there any cycling mags out that are geared toward regular real world cyclists? Bicycling Mag is a big ad and not a very good one at that.

Short answer: no. Long answer: Advertising pays the bills when it comes to the production of magazines. I'm convinced the only reason they charge you $9.95 or whatever Bicycling Magazine costs these days is because people tend to assume something they pay for has more credibility than something they can receive for free. Otherwise, why do they then give you the option to get it for half the price and call it a "subscription"? Or more to the point, why do people keep buying magazines like Bicycling when they can find the same information for free on the Internet?

"Regular real world cyclists" usually aren't the type of people to respond to the ads. The people who respond to the ads are the newbies who don't know any better, or the people who just buy things for the "bling" factor. This is probably why they keep running the same articles from 1983 over and over again (I recall reading a quote from a magazine editor once that actually admitted as much, and pointed out that the average subscriber usually cancels after two years anyway). The bottom line is that advertising space pays more than subscriptions, so the publishers will always direct the content of the magazine to the people who buy from the advertisers.

Admittedly, Cycling Plus seems to be the exception from the one or two issues that I've seen, but out here it arrives three months out of date and costs so much that it's just quicker and cheaper to find the information I need on the Internet.

RonH 01-04-09 10:05 AM


Originally Posted by Tapeworm21 (Post 8119914)
I read BF.net. Only a couple ads, and once you weave through the copious amounts of b.s.... it aint half bad.

Get a red star and the ads disappear.

PlatyPius 01-04-09 10:16 AM


Originally Posted by RonH (Post 8121914)
Get a red star and the ads disappear.

The thought of having different levels of membership based on paying/ability to pay makes me sick. I've donated to sites before (and have begged for donations on mine a couple of times), but there are no "perks" offered to those who do; everyone is equal.

JanMM 01-04-09 10:24 AM

I have a red star and actually feel less equal because I don't get to see the ads. [End of whining]:)

DataJunkie 01-04-09 10:36 AM

I'm sure they will take it back. :p

Mr Danw 01-04-09 03:39 PM

I don't mind the ads here as they are usually related to the thread at hand.

Tapeworm21 01-04-09 08:43 PM


Originally Posted by RonH (Post 8121914)
Get a red star and the ads disappear.

Nice. I've tried to figure out how to give some money back to the site but they make it difficult to find. Odd.

Edit: The ads magically disappeared!

Silent Otto 01-05-09 04:03 PM

Momentum Planet. Commuter/style/VC oriented publication.

www.momentumplanet.com

Nightshade 01-05-09 04:22 PM


Originally Posted by Chris L (Post 8121074)
Short answer: no. Long answer: Advertising pays the bills when it comes to the production of magazines. I'm convinced the only reason they charge you $9.95 or whatever Bicycling Magazine costs these days is because people tend to assume something they pay for has more credibility than something they can receive for free. Otherwise, why do they then give you the option to get it for half the price and call it a "subscription"? Or more to the point, why do people keep buying magazines like Bicycling when they can find the same information for free on the Internet?

"Regular real world cyclists" usually aren't the type of people to respond to the ads. The people who respond to the ads are the newbies who don't know any better, or the people who just buy things for the "bling" factor. This is probably why they keep running the same articles from 1983 over and over again (I recall reading a quote from a magazine editor once that actually admitted as much, and pointed out that the average subscriber usually cancels after two years anyway). The bottom line is that advertising space pays more than subscriptions, so the publishers will always direct the content of the magazine to the people who buy from the advertisers.

Admittedly, Cycling Plus seems to be the exception from the one or two issues that I've seen, but out here it arrives three months out of date and costs so much that it's just quicker and cheaper to find the information I need on the Internet.

Arrrrgh! What's with red text!!!:eek: Ya trying to put my eyes out? :notamused:

rotharpunc 01-06-09 04:45 AM

the pratical pedaler


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