Cycling Weekly's "Mr Average"

Matchstick Man

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Cyc ... 69650.html

says that the average rider who reads Cycling Weekly:

Name: David Jones
Age: 39 years
Weight: 12 st 10 lbs
Height: 5' 9"
Years riding: 11 yrs 9 months
Hours riding per week: 7 hrs 20 mins
10-mile TT PB: 25:17
25-mile TT PB: 1:07:28
Events entered in 2007: 8
Other physical activity: Doesn't go to the gym, does about an hour of another sport per week
Training: Uses a heart rate monitor but not a power meter, doesn't have a coach, uses energy drinks and might use recovery drinks
Racing: Doesn't hold a British Cycling race licence, has never ridden a cyclo-cross or mountain bike race but has ridden a cyclo-sportive
Weight: Not happy with current weight, thinks he's too heavy and would like to lose 8 lbs

Is this close to the mark? Sounds like a typical club cyclist to me tbh

term1te

I'm certainly regressing to the mean. A little bit shorter, lighter and older

gkerr4

there must be a lot of CW readers without kids - they spend on average 7hrs 20 on the bike AND 2.5hours in the gym every week.

perhaps they don't work...

LangerDan

gkerr4 wrote:

there must be a lot of CW readers without kids - they spend on average 7hrs 20 on the bike AND 2.5hours in the gym every week.

perhaps they don't work...

..or work writing articles for Cycling Weekly

redddraggon

HOW MANY HOURS DO YOU SPEND IN THE GYM PER WEEK?

None: 66%
1-2 hours: 22%
3-4 hours: 8%
5-6 hours: 4%
7-8 hours: 0%
Over 10 hours: 0%

Average: 2.5 hours

I don't know how they got to that average without taking out the "none" section of people!

iainf72

LangerDan wrote:

gkerr4 wrote:

there must be a lot of CW readers without kids - they spend on average 7hrs 20 on the bike AND 2.5hours in the gym every week.

perhaps they don't work...

..or work writing articles for Cycling Weekly

The quality of "journalism" on display most of the time really irks me. I used to buy it and CS religiously (to show some support for the sport more than anything) but it's got to the point where they anger me.

I guess I'm not the target audience anymore.

Nine Stone Cowboy

Typical Comic reader? Thin and miserable in my experience...

geoff_ss

gkerr4 wrote:

there must be a lot of CW readers without kids - they spend on average 7hrs 20 on the bike AND 2.5hours in the gym every week.

perhaps they don't work...

Well I used to spend at least 1.5 hours a day commuting 26 miles so that adds up to over 7 hours without counting weekend rides. I guess lots of commuters will clock up those sort of miles. I averaged about 150/200 miles/week for years - about 1/5 of that now

The TT times are about what I used to get when I was that age but I spent 0 hours in the gymn. My height but I was a good stone lighter. No kids then and none now

Geoff

SteveR_100Milers

I would have thought that anyone who has ridden for 11 years, and does over 7 hrs a week would have muhc faster PB's than a 25 and 1-07. (and they must have entered TT events and therefore be a club rider to have obtained said times in addition to riding sportives).

gavintc

redddraggon wrote:

HOW MANY HOURS DO YOU SPEND IN THE GYM PER WEEK?

None: 66%
1-2 hours: 22%
3-4 hours: 8%
5-6 hours: 4%
7-8 hours: 0%
Over 10 hours: 0%

Average: 2.5 hours

I don't know how they got to that average without taking out the "none" section of people!

I think journalism and statistical analysis are mutually exclusive activities. I found myself a little bit sceptical at some or the assertions made in the CW Mr Average.

peanut

thats the point isn't it .Its typical journalism which is why I haven't bought newspapers for years.

I want accurate and honest reporting. Interesting articles ,news, facts and observations and you don't get that in the tabloids or presumably mags either it would appear.

The truth is 2x thirds of CW respondees don't use a gym at all.! the remaining are such a small sample as to produce completly meaningless statistics but that doesn't stop a journalist. Just lose 2/3rds of the results and voila we have something half way meaningful :evil:

I would imagine the truth about how many hours are cycled by CW readers a week would be nearer to 1 or 2 at most taken on average throughout the year

ricadus

Matchstick Man wrote:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/Cyclings_Mr_Average_article_169650.html

says that the average rider who reads Cycling Weekly:

Weight: 12 st 10 lbs
Height: 5' 9"

Is this close to the mark? Sounds like a typical club cyclist to me tbh

Sounds overweight to me. Sell the car.

SteveR_100Milers

peanut wrote:

I would imagine the truth about how many hours are cycled by CW readers a week would be nearer to 1 or 2 at most taken on average throughout the year

That's probably more like it, given the way the mag is written it's not aimed at (just) serious roadies or Testers. CW is ok, so long as you just stick to the back (results) pages.

Brains

Don't know about you lot, but I've never met amyone even remotley close the specification, 0% of everyone I know spends over 3 hrs in a gym per week, and I'm up in the top single figure percentage of cyclists not only within my social/work circle but also in the country in that I cover an amazing 57 miles per week on average.

(Given that the average cyclist covers 37 miles per year in the UK)

oldwelshman

Well I read it, and am not too far from the profile, a bit older, slightl;y lighter, more hours on bike and faster.
A lot of you guys are way toooooooooo serious.
I am sure some will come up with mathematical evidence to contradict the finding
Its just a bit of fun folks, not gospel, lighten up.

Shavedlegs

That is just the sort of piece that stops me buying the comic. 5 pages on what their average reader is like followed by the bleedin' obvious on nutrition squeezed into half a page.

pedylan

And, as he is Mr Average, I presume his max HR is 220 minus his age.

campagchris

Nine Stone Cowboy wrote:

Typical Comic reader? Thin and miserable in my experience...

Ive never met any miserable ones.Do you score points on here for slagging the comic :roll:
The thing with a survey is they go by the response to it.If you lot had responded then it wouldnt be the average would it.
I cant understand the bleating on ,about the comic on here if your not happy complain to them as thats the only way they will change it.
You would think the readers of the comic had leprosy the way some of you go on.Were all cyclists FFS.Yes its changed over the years but it still has over 28,000 readers so they are catering for them.

Tom Butcher

I'm not too far off - Age spot on, I'm about that weight but quite a bit taller, I'd still like to lose about 8 lbs though I'm a bit faster than their Mr Average, don't do any gym work and probably average about those hours on the bike over the year. Haven't been riding a bike that long unless you count riding as a kid, I do have a BC licence but haven't ridden a cycloX or MTB race - so more right than wrong here. Haven't read the comic for a few years though - is it not aimed at competitive riders any more?

SteveR_100Milers

Tom Butcher wrote:

I'm not too far off - Age spot on, I'm about that weight but quite a bit taller, I'd still like to lose about 8 lbs though I'm a bit faster than their Mr Average, don't do any gym work and probably average about those hours on the bike over the year. Haven't been riding a bike that long unless you count riding as a kid, I do have a BC licence but haven't ridden a cycloX or MTB race - so more right than wrong here. Haven't read the comic for a few years though - is it not aimed at competitive riders any more?[/quote]

You don't see race results including club amateur events such as TT's etc in any other cycling mag. I buy it because of the results and also because I enjoy reading Hutch's bit.

pedylan

Does anyone ever do any of the local rides that feature each week?

A recent one passed within about a mile of my house and took in a fair chunk of loops I do regularly.

Great I thought, I can assess myself against their "good, better and best" times.

So I tootled round at the best speed I could maintain and got under the 2 hours they'd flagged as "better"

Trouble is they had the distance at 38 miles and I couldn't clock it at better than 36 so their calculations were out.

It won't come to better than 36 miles on Autoroute either and my cycle computer comes up to a whisker of the same 10 mile distance as in my car so i think its accurate.

Ah well back to the drawing board............

SteveR_100Milers

The good, better and best times for the Dragon 2007 were somewhat laughable (optimistic). Approximately 2/3 of the participants qualified as crap....

andy_wrx

Male: 98%
Female: 2%
As expected, cycling is still a male-dominated sport, with a whopping 98 per cent of you being blokes. Where are all the women?

The women
The average '10' time for the five women who filled in the questionnaire was 26:05

So 5 women made-up 2%, means their total sample size was 250 - surely nothing like enough to read any decent statistics from...

Mark Alexander

peanut wrote:

thats the point isn't it .Its typical journalism which is why I haven't bought newspapers for years.

The truth is 2x thirds of CW respondees don't use a gym at all.! the remaining are such a small sample as to produce completly meaningless statistics but that doesn't stop a journalist. Just lose 2/3rds of the results and voila we have something half way meaningful :evil:

Not a critisism but I think this underlines a changing attitude in this country to immediate Cynicism towards any 'facts' that are ever published. just look at govornment facts.

If we're used to tabloid journalism and not 'reputable' broadsheets. It's a shame, this forum started from the C+ forum and was made up of readers.

my stats would be

Age 30
height 5' 5"
weight 11 stone 3 (73kg) 1/2 stone over weight
hrs on bike summer 7-10 winter... :oops: 1-2
use the gym/swim in winter, HRM drinks and

10 time 25.05
25 time 1h 03 I don't consider myself good though

ivancarlos

campagchris wrote:

Nine Stone Cowboy wrote:

Typical Comic reader? Thin and miserable in my experience...

Ive never met any miserable ones.Do you score points on here for slagging the comic :roll:
The thing with a survey is they go by the response to it.If you lot had responded then it wouldnt be the average would it.
I cant understand the bleating on ,about the comic on here if your not happy complain to them as thats the only way they will change it.
You would think the readers of the comic had leprosy the way some of you go on.Were all cyclists FFS.Yes its changed over the years but it still has over 28,000 readers so they are catering for them.

Chris, I think you already know my views but at the risk of repeating myself the comic is the publication of choice for most self respecting roadies.