Cycling mags; when will I learn?

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Brandane

Legendary Member
Location
Costa Clyde
Cycling has recently become a little more appealing to the masses, so I thought that maybe cycling magazines might have followed suit. It's been quite a while since I bought one, so decided to give it another go. Cycling Plus used to have some useful content in it, so I bought a copy at a penny less than £6. How wrong could I be!

So far I've seen nothing but a load of adverts; reviews of "Women's bike of the year" with prices STARTING at £2449; a review of a saddle at £250; shoes at £320; review of summer socks (is it only me who wears the same socks - washed occasionally of course - all year round?); a Gore rain jacket at £320; Sram groupset at £1650; a folding e-bike at £3699; a maintenance article on how to clean your drivetrain which advises to clean and lube chain THEN scrub the crud out of your jockey wheels (what? to get the crud onto your nice clean chain??).

Remotely useful stuff? Well there was 8 pages devoted to sub £100 bike gear (but nothing I am looking for). A review of an £865 gravel bike; and for route advice there was one single page of riding routes - around Scarborough, if I ever happen to find myself in the area.

They must be selling copies of the mag, or they wouldn't be in business, but does anyone actually read this stuff on a regular basis? For me, it was another lesson learnt - save my £6 from now on.
 

vickster

Legendary Member
A friend bought me that as a little birthday gift. The Sonder Ti bike looked rather tasty :smile:
https://alpkit.com/collections/sonder-colibri
 
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Sharky

Guru
Location
Kent
Similarly, I stopped subscribing to Cycling Weekly a while back after subscribing for many a year. Just full of adverts as you say and race reports which are already old news when you get the copy. You can get news now in almost real time on the big tours or Eurosport/ITV4 etc.

Pre WWW, the adverts were something to drool over, but now you can see everything via Google.

The only mag I read now is the one from Cycling UK. Has a few interesting articles that you wouldn't find in the internet.
 

Teamfixed

Tim Lewis
Same predictable cover story titles as well:
Go faster this year
Increase your power in two weeks
Eat smarter Ride smarter
Climb better... we show you how
All the best gear from (insert date)
Blah.

I have made these up but I'm sure they have been used. I'm sure there are plenty more similar.
I don't even look at them now.
I used to get 'cycling' (weekly?) now and again way back which was mostly results.
 

MntnMan62

Über Member
Location
Northern NJ
Here in the US I have been getting Bicycling Magazine. Sometimes there is some good content but most of the articles devoted to gear and bicycles are targeted at those with much more disposable income than I have. Although one recent article did talk about quality road bikes that covered a wide pricing range from just below $1,000 US on up. And "on up" means prices of $10,000 and more. But the bikes at the lower end were in fact some strong recommendations, which I appreciated. This magazine always has some good stories about riding as well. While I still think there are too many advertisements, I also realize that the publisher and editors and staff have to eat too. So I accept them as a necessary evil, if not more enabling eye candy.
 
Comparison is the thief of joy, which is why I don't read mags, or visit the likes of road.cc anymore, unless I am actively searching out the conventional wisdom of best of guides to avoid buying total crap, even then the guides are to be taken with a pinch of salt. As entertainment, they are dreadful, as they solely exist to make you feel like what you have already is not enough in order to line their own pockets. If I want some cycling themed entertainment, I prefer youtube bike builds, bike repair channels and how-tos :becool:
 
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Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
Next week.

How to cycle in hot weather
 

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Yup.. target market is unashamedly the new rider with no gear, no idea and money to spend. Enthusiast mags are sadly usually nowt more than an advertising vehicle you pay for the privilege of "reading". Depending on the mag and interest group you're doing well if the "reviews" are anything better than a re-written advert..

While it's unfortunate for those in the industry the internet has firmly hammered home the final nail in the coffin of printed media of this type, and the enthusiast is arguably much better off for it.
 

MntnMan62

Über Member
Location
Northern NJ
Next week.

How to cycle in hot weather

Drink tons of water. And if you are feeling flushed or shakey or just not right, stop, find some shade and drink water. And if you know you struggle in hot weather, ride early in the morning and later in the day in evening while it's still light out. I have historically been able to ride in hot weather and because of that feel it helps me increase my level of fitness faster since it is definitely harder on the body to ride in the heat. I'm careful. I bring one bottle of water for every 10 miles. If I do more than 20 miles I will leave an extra water bottle outside my house so I can stop and pick it up quickly and continue on my ride.
 

MntnMan62

Über Member
Location
Northern NJ
I occasionally flip through these ridiculously expensive magazines on the store bookshelves, then invariably decide not to because I can buy the latest paperbacks for just about the same price.

Interestingly the subscription price for a full year of Bicycling Magazine is $15 yet the price for a single issue on the newstand is $5. I never buy individual issues of a magazine for that reason. There have been times when I've found myself getting on an airplane with no reading material and I'll pick up a magazine to read. But I usually buy one that I've never read before to see if I'll like it. The newsstand prices are bonkers.
 

Drago

Legendary Member
I used to get several for free through worker MIAS. The only one Inrated was MBR, but that also went downhill too. They had been very, very, vocal against 29ers as a fad and of no benefit and in the space of one issue totally reversed tack on that, presumably so as not to offend their advertisers which were selling rather a lot of them.

I don't know which magazine it was, but before the virus went, erm viral, I was reading a review in a mag at the Doctors waiting room. Carbon framed bike and the tester was trotting out every single cliche, and then some, about compliance, soaking up road buzz, etc. It was so treacly and sickening that I googled the reviewers name and lo and behold discovered that a year beforehand he had been writing for a model railway magazine from the same publisher.

Other than the IPMBA trade rag, which is actually quite interesting, I don't read any cycling mags. They're all a load of J. Arthur Rank.
 
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