Magazines

[Rhythm Thief]

I don't bother with any magazines for any of my hobbies these days. Have you seen the price of them?

 

[Melvil]

Used to by C+ but as someone before said, the stuff they were talking about and reviewing rapidly escalated in price and I thought to myself "If I want to see bling all the time I can order a seven cycles catalogue for free" and stopped buying it. Also I think I reached 'the end of the circle' and started seeing the same features again. Hey ho.

I sometimes buy Amateur Photographer but they are really quite snobby and old skool and on the other hand the magazine I bought before that was all LEARN NEW SKILLS WITH YOUR NEW CAMERA and I'd kind of already done that, I want something inbetween.

Anyway, that's magazines, they're not great as a breed.*








*Private Eye excepted, of course, I love the Eye.

 

[bikepete]

Anyone reading this curious about a cycle magazine that does NOT repeat is welcome to a free copy of Velo Vision which I edit/publish.

If you'd like a sample copy please just either PM me or Arch, or email me at peter@velovision.com with your name and postal address. Please put "CycleChat Sample" in the subject line.

I won't retain the addresses, nor will I mailshot you either electronically or on paper. I'll pay the postage, even overseas. Sample copy will be either current mag with Spandex on the cover or a recent back issue, possibly very slight seconds. I'll send them out ASAP after Easter.

I'd better limit this to the first 100 responses and you'll need to reply within a month - just in case it gets all over the internet that you can get copies here for free :-).

Pete
(Peter Eland - Velo Vision)

PS magazines may contain photos of Arch, Spandex, Gromit and others :-)

 

[ufkacbln]

There is a problem with Velovision!

It is full of far too many goodies that are dealt with in far too honest a way, I have bought a trike, a trailer, a bicycle and sundry other bits after being tempted or swayed by this publication!

All in all far too good to read unless you have locked up your credit cards in a safe place.

 

[rich p]

I used to susbscribe to C+ but it seemed they kept sending me the same mag every month so I didn't re-subscribe.

.

+1

After a couple of years the same stuff is repeated ad nauseam and there are only so many bike reviews I can read. It's a bit like hearing 2 blokes saying the Porsche corners better than a Ferrari.
I'd recommend C+ to learn the ropes for a while though.

My mate gives me the previous weeks Cycling Weakly which is ok for results etc but I wouldn't pay for it. The nutrition and training articles are tiresome too.

 

[Cathryn]

I have a subscription to C+ but it's got really dull in the past 6 months and is totally a girl-free zone. I used to love it.

I also get the CTC mag and I've just started buying Cycle Sport just so I can giggle over Broomwagon at the back.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I don't subscribe to any. When I can I buy Singletrack, which just looks nice and has a good attitude. For long train journeys, I just pick up whichever mag of all the sport, road and MTB mags, looks like it might actually have something interesting in it - which is sometimes quite a tricky choice as so few do they are all so repetitive. I once introduced a guy to C+ who had done a trip from London to Tokyo through some of the most interesting (and dangerous) places in the world, and had superb photos and great stories... did they publish it? Did they f*ck? They probably had yet another pointless piece on what bike to buy for £1000 instead...

AtoB (I think that's what it was called) used to be interesting. So I'd quite like a copy of Velovision... I would like a cycling magazine that kept the kit reviews to a minimum (more like notices), had more history and politics but not in the boring way that the CTC mag does; reader's machines; and bigger and better feature articles - serious international pieces - a big monthly 'cycling culture in country X' for example; articles on particular makers etc. etc.. Of course that would mean spending some money on doing some actual reporting and probably lower advertising revenue... and publishers just don't really take any risks at all.

 

[Dayvo]

When I can:

C+
Pro Cycling
Cycling weekly
Kadens (Swedish mag)
Sykkel (Norwegian mag)

 

[oxbob]

Mayfair,40+jugs....oh hang on errr CW and Cycle sport mainly

 

[Mortiroloboy]

The comic, especially as they gave me a nice pair of Altura Airstream bibs for free and, reduced the subs too.

 

[xpc316e]

Am I the only one who reads Cycling World? I like it because it seems to centre around cycling, and not the purchase of expensive kit. I also read C+, but that comment about it being the same magazine month in, month out is just so true. I am hoping that Velovision might just be the answer to my somewhat left-field cycling universe.

 

[FBOAB]

There doesn't seem to be anything out there that caters for the 'average' cyclist who isn't interested/can't afford all the expensive new toys.

From my viewpoint, there is a market for a down to earth 'Practical Cyclist' type mag that deals with a little bit of everything but keeping it a bit more real world and less sport orientated than C+ I'm sure if Mr or Mrs (Okay Miss Ms or any other I can't think of) new to cycling walks into Tesco and looks at the cycling mags in there, all they will come away with is the thought that you must be super fit/sporty to be a 'real' cyclist or have lots of spare money to spend. Wouldn't that put alot of people off?

We all agree that cycling is becomong more popular than ever but aren't we (collectively) missing a trick by not appealing to the mass market cyclist on the media stands?

VeloVision seems, from scanning the website, to be going along the lines I was thinking of though, it's a shame that large publishers couldn't help my marketing it to a wider audience?

 

[derall]

Used to read C+ but as above, after about a year it started to repeat itself and the review kit went into the shy-high price bracket. Gave up on that one.

Used to have a sub for velovision which is a great mag. Moved house, forgot to advise change of address, sub lapsed, didn't get the renewal notice, keep meaning to renew, never quite get around to it, really should renew one day...

 

[ComedyPilot]

C+ bought as a subscription for me.

 

[Paulus]

C+ and cycling weekly. Plus as a member I get the CTC mag every two months.