This month's MBR?

Riche1

Literally just landed on my doormat half an hour ago and now I feel like i have to vent some kind of fustration and disappointment. I thought there was supposed to be some kind of "new look"? The entire magazine can be summarised thus.....

About 67 pages of adverts from a 172.
Riding with your kids? (WTF? I dont have kids)
A pretty picture of a 6 grand Yeti.
The "latest" gear from Interbike, poor close-ups of hideous equipment.
More pictures from Whistler.
An extremely tedious interview with the director of sport who obviously give a toss about mountain biking, which is suprising considering exactly how white, male and middle-class he is.
A test of 3 £4k downhill race bikes! Come on! Seriously?
Winter is coming, lets do a lights test. Yawn.
A test of star-fangled washers!!



I'm sorry if people disagree with me but if it continues like this i can't see me renewing my subscription. Am i missing something?

El Capitano

Any freebies with it?

(this is the only reason I buy magazines)

Riche1

Yep, same set of LED keyring lights either them or What Mountainbike dished out a while ago.

Tolk

My sub of MBR ends soon, not that good anymore, plus it's all on bikeradar eventually. Free is better i reckon!

Having said that, those flash harry lights they gave away last year have saved me a few times when my lights have run out of batteries on the way home,

Northwind

The way I see it, I got a pair of kyle strait kneepads as my subs gift which cost about the same as a year's sub. So the mag could be utter mince and it'd still be good value. But it's not usually utter mince.

The lakes article was quite good I thought, and you didn't mention the lights test. The "ride with your kids" bit would be good if you had kids, dur. And all the usual stuff. Not a great issue but not terrible.

stubs

Mine came this morning as well havent read it yet but I have to say WTF do you expect from a mountain bike magazine a test of 3 door hatchbacks or Magimix blenders. As for 67 pages of ads in 172 pages thats probably what all magazines have if you want a magazine with no ads its going to cost about £10 a copy. A magazine has to cater for eveyone who buys it, if it only had things in that appeal to you they would only sell one copy.

Riche1

stubs wrote:

Mine came this morning as well havent read it yet but I have to say WTF do you expect from a mountain bike magazine a test of 3 door hatchbacks or Magimix blenders. As for 67 pages of ads in 172 pages thats probably what all magazines have if you want a magazine with no ads its going to cost about £10 a copy. A magazine has to cater for eveyone who buys it, if it only had things in that appeal to you they would only sell one copy.

So you have it, but you haven't read it, but you still make a comment like that? Truely ridiculous comment. My question is who does it appeal to? Who is their target audience anymore?

Northwind

Hard to say really, I mean, they've got all these features on mountain bikes, and mountain bike rides, and mountain bike kit so that all points towards their target market being mountain bikers.

El Capitano

Northwind wrote:

Hard to say really, I mean, they've got all these features on mountain bikes, and mountain bike rides, and mountain bike kit so that all points towards their target market being mountain bikers.

Do you work in marketing by any chance?

paul.skibum

I dont buy WMB or MBR (I will glance through them in the shops if I have time) mainly because they are genrally reviewing kit that is of no interest to me or I cant afford - I quite like the bike and gear of the year and I like reading about all manner of bikes but ultimately I am not going to change my bike anytime soon so I dont buy them.

I quite like the route stuff but I wont buy a mag for 3 pages.

You pay for a mtb magazine you get a mtb magazine sometimes you wont be interested in it sometimes you will. Them's the breaks.

Riche1

Northwind wrote:

Hard to say really, I mean, they've got all these features on mountain bikes, and mountain bike rides, and mountain bike kit so that all points towards their target market being mountain bikers.

Sarcasm? Not even good sarcasm? Please.

Has anyone read it yet? Looking for an honest opinion.

Northwind

Not sarcasm, merely stating the bloody obvious. I've read the issue and commented up the page fwiw. Not their best, not their worst. Your sole issue seems to be that the features weren't of specific interest to you. That'll happen.

alexj2233

It appeals to people that:

Have children
Have 6 thousand pounds to spend on a bike
Would like to see any new technology in the sport
Are considering visiting whistler
Like interviews with director's of sport
Want to buy a 4 thousand pound downhill bike
Fancy doing a night ride so need some lights
Need a new star fangled nut

There you go serious answer

Riche1

That's quite a narrow minded view and a limited arguement. I've already covered the fact that i don't find endless pictures of pretty scenery and group tests that have minute target audiences very entertaining, just to quote Paul above "because they are genrally reviewing kit that is of no interest to me or I cant afford" says it all. Try starting by stating which particular articles were of interest to you and for what reasons.

alexj2233

I have devised a very simple but rather effective solution to your predicament.

Here it is: If you don't want to read the magazine, don't buy it!

There, was that so hard?

El Capitano

alexj2233 wrote:

It appeals to people that:

Have children Check
Have 6 thousand pounds to spend on a bike Check
Would like to see any new technology in the sport Check
Are considering visiting whistler Maybe, maybe not
Like interviews with director's of sport Possibly
Want to buy a 4 thousand pound downhill bike Definitely not
Fancy doing a night ride so need some lights Check
Need a new star fangled nut Check

There you go serious answer

Might just buy a copy on the way home...

Riche1

alexj2233 wrote:

I have devised a very simple but rather effective solution to your predicament.

Here it is: If you don't want to read the magazine, don't buy it!

There, was that so hard?

Yawn. I have a TV licence but everything on BBC 1 is shit. I have a subscription. Have you read this months magazine? Looking for opinions not suggestions.

Riche1

Ok, lets break it down into smaller less complicated chunks. What age group is this particular edition aimed at?

reevie25

The article about 'Just get out and ride with your kids' really annoys me. When I was 11, I didn't have a Scott scale with hydraulic disc's and Sid's. It seems all of the kids where I live own Specialized's and Scott's. All I got was a crappy little Appollo with plastic brake levers and some tacky gripsh!ts! :evil:

</rant>

cooldad

Riche1 wrote:

Ok, lets break it down into smaller less complicated chunks. What age group is this particular edition aimed at?

6 to 60. Or is that Monopoly?

submityournentries

thats not how demographics work. its much more complex than just age, so thats not that helpful. and as EL CAP said, he meets enough of those criteria to merit buying that magazine, so their target market will be atleast partially sized.

it just seems that it hasnt satisfied certain customers, tis all

Gazlar

Well as magazines go, I find them all pretty much of a muchness, in a 3 month period they tend to review pretty much the type of kitin rotation what one of the others has reviewed the previous month or the month before, but to me this is fine. I subscribe to all 3 mags, its something to read when I'm away from the computer, the tech stuff has helped me in the past and its always amusing to see someone of Doddy's undoubted age, dressed like a 12 year old (it makes me feel better that I'm not the only one )

ok some months theres not as much in it as other months but hey thats mags for ya.

Riche1

The actual answer is that it appeals to people who are in full time employment all the way up to those who have the luxury of retiring early, who else would be able to afford the extortionately priced gear and fantastic holiday destinations? So on average.... MIDDLE AGED. (don't be offended, it includes me).

The next questions are....

1.How many women are there in this months mag?
2.How many Asian, Chinese, black etc etc are there in this months mag?

The answers are...

1.I count 6 women. These include Tracy Moseley, 4 models and a women running on a hill.
2.0

I think it's the sports director interview bugged me most of all. The question about out-of-town trail centres reinforcing the idea that MTB is an elitist,expensive, white middle-class men's sport got me, they should have a look through their own pages for reinforement of this shouldn't they?

supersonic

All magazines have a broad target audience - but it is inevitable that content in some magazines will not be toy your interest. The key is that they don't repeat the content the next month, and vary it.

paul.skibum

Riche1 wrote:

The actual answer is that it appeals to people who are in full time employment all the way up to those who have the luxury of retiring early, who else would be able to afford the extortionately priced gear and fantastic holiday destinations? So on average.... MIDDLE AGED. (don't be offended, it includes me).

The next questions are....

1.How many women are there in this months mag?
2.How many Asian, Chinese, black etc etc are there in this months mag?

The answers are...

1.I count 6 women. These include Tracy Moseley, 4 models and a women running on a hill.
2.0

I think it's the sports director interview bugged me most of all. The question about out-of-town trail centres reinforcing the idea that MTB is an elitist,expensive, white middle-class men's sport got me, they should have a look through their own pages for reinforement of this shouldn't they?

I take your point about minorities in the sport whether they be by gender or colour but the fact is they are minorities! So to aim a magazine specifically at the female asian mountain biking market in Leamington Spa would be a tad foolish.

I ski and mountain bike and play a bit of golf - all predominantly white male sports - its not my fault and I am happy for anyone to take part in my sports but I dont want to read articles specifically aimed at them just for the sake of it.

As for the elitist kit being reviewed - every now and then there is a review about bikes of lesser quality than mine, I dont care about those reviews, at least ones of better higher end bikes are a bit aspirational.

bluechair84

Riche1 wrote:

The next questions are....

1.How many women are there in this months mag?
2.How many Asian, Chinese, black etc etc are there in this months mag?

The answers are...

1.I count 6 women. These include Tracy Moseley, 4 models and a women running on a hill.
2.0

I think it's the sports director interview bugged me most of all. The question about out-of-town trail centres reinforcing the idea that MTB is an elitist,expensive, white middle-class men's sport got me, they should have a look through their own pages for reinforement of this shouldn't they?

I entered a race last weekend and was surrounded by 340+ riders. I couldn't see a single coloured rider. Checking the results page, there was around 10 females.
Surely a) they are reaching their target market as it is actually erm... predominatly white males?
b) if they wanted to include more of both then they might be hard pushed as there arne't many about.
c) did include more of them to appear as if they weren't reinforcing - I can't even use your own words here because you didn't say what they were reinforcing so I'll assume you mean stereotypes - they would be 'positively discrimnating' which no-one appreciates.

Suerly it isn't 'reinforcement, but reflection?

Riche1

I'm not saying anything about writing articles specifically aimed at minorities, that would be a pointless exercise. I'm saying that there's a great deal of the pot calling the kettle black asking the sports exec what he plans to do to get MTB out to a broader spectrum and make it more accessible when they don't do it themselves.

Anyone planning on buying a £4k downhill bike soon out of interest?

cooldad

Riche1 wrote:

Anyone planning on buying a £4k downhill bike soon out of interest?

No but I subscribe to Classic Car and read about multi million £ Ferraris. Can't afford one of those neither but I can, and do drool.
Like when you watch porn.

bluechair84

I was thinking of spending £400 on a giant Glory a few weeks back, having just fallen most of the way down Glencoe a few weeks prior 8)
I'm buying XC wheels instead. I know when to steer clear.

I think MBUK had a subbox on a black rider who completed an XC race on a cheap naffy BSO - so maybe they're attempting to increase the spectrum :idea:

You're right about DH bikes though. But it's one of those sections that once done, the few people in future will have something in the back catalogue to buy.

Riche1

MatelotFreddy wrote:

This smacks to me of envy. It's a bit like the whole "overbiked" debate which raises its ugly head every few weeks. You can't afford to spend that much money on a bike (I assume because you're so dead set against it) so you don't want anyone to read about them. Quite frankly I can't afford a bike like that either, but it's still nice to drool!

I assume you don't find models attractive either, because they're out of your league and you couldn't have them, so you don't want anyone else to be able to see them either.

I don't mean this to turn into a personal attack, I'm just trying to make a point that you seem to be overreacting somewhat to the fact that you aren't that interested in the mag this month.

If i wanted a £4k downhill bike i'd buy one, i'm sorry if you can't afford one but that's not my fault. And trust me I know all about wasting money on overpriced underperforming bikes, i ride a Cannondale.

Your model point is also quite ridiculous and childish and doesn't even warranty a response in the grand scheme of things.

You obviously haven't read the mag yet, so your points are fairly invalid.

What i'm looking for are postive feedback on particular parts of the mag and now people's thought on the sports exec article.

ollie_lucas1985

I have not picked up this months but generally I felt that this mag had far less adverts that the WMB mag.. so that why I purchase it!! .. I personally think they need to do some more with all the MTB mags!!