Magazine

toastedone

Whats the best mountain bike mag out there? whats a good read?

getonyourbike

MBUK for me

toastedone

Thanks, I am looking at subscribing through magazinegroup

Welsh_Tom

toastedone wrote:

Whats the best mountain bike mag out there? whats a good read?

you know these forums are payed for by the ppl who make mbuk soooooo

i only been riding 3 months and so far i have picked up 3 mbr and 2 mbuk. both are good, but very diffent

u05harrisb

mbuk is what you want

popstar

Dirt is best.

piker

I tend to drift between the sick,rad,gnarly MBUK and the Orange 5 worshipping Mbr.

Northwind

They're all good tbh. And all different, too. If I could only read one I guess it'd be Dirt, or Singletrack maybe. But as it is I get them all.

MBR is the most drastically flawed But when it's good it's superb. Their icons interviews, with Guy Martin last month and Crawfy the month before, are the best bike journalism I've seen for years. But their reviews are, well, bollocks really.

WMB needs to decide what it is... The best content is when it strays away telling you What Mountain Bike to buy!

MBUK tries too hard. I've got an image of them all writing perfect, eloquent copy then spending hours adding in more crap, awkwardly-deployed slang, tilting the photos, etc

Singletrack and Privateer are a bit beardy.

Dirt's got a million tons of content, some of it's dire, some of it's great, some of it's just incomprehensible (or unreadable!). But there's a lot of it.

supersonic

I quite like WMB, as the writers are the bestest.

allen.coulson

Whips illustrated and Donkey Porno do it for me.

Anonymous

IMB http://www.imbikemag.com/

Free, online, reads like a magazine but with videos, downloads and stuff thrown in. Great photos, and has Surrey connections.

Anonymous

supersonic wrote:

I quite like WMB, as the writers are the bestest.

Yeah..... right

Stoo61

I like WMB but got MBR subscription as a gift and its pretty good. They are all much of a muchness.

warpcow

If you want a good read I'd say Singletrack or Dirt. Both are sometimes pretty hit or miss, but they contain 'proper' articles, and sometimes quite unusual ones which turn out to be realy good.

If you want something to pass an hour or so on a train/bus/plane, then it'd be WMB, or MBR if I had no other choice. Not saying there's anything wrong with WMB, it's entertaining enough, just that it's probably not targeted at me anymore.

I subscribe to Singletrack, but often end up buying WMB anyway.

Torres

popstar wrote:

Dirt is best.

Very much this.

It's all personal preference though, best to have a browse of a few before you commit, but i find dirt to be the best written, the most interesting and a bit more "genuine" than some of the others i've seen.

YIMan

I probably most look forward to MBUK and Dirt each month, both are full of interesting/varied content - MBUK has more reviews, Dirt is much more into the DH/racing scene.

MBR seems to be just full of adverts these days, the product/bike reviews are ok if you read around and don't take them as gospel. There's a front-page headline about "The Perfect Yorkshire Ride" this month but when you get to it there's very little to read, and what there is seems to be waffle.

I like Singletrack for the individual viewpoint pages and decent ride features, but find the product/bike reviews poor.

In my opinion WMB is the least interesting of the lot, what editorial there is I can read in half an hour. I often buy it, flick through it then think "why did I make this mistake again?".

YIMan

I probably most look forward to MBUK and Dirt each month, both are full of interesting/varied content - MBUK has more reviews, Dirt is much more into the DH/racing scene.

MBR seems to be just full of adverts these days, the product/bike reviews are ok if you read around and don't take them as gospel. There's a front-page headline about "The Perfect Yorkshire Ride" this month but when you get to it there's very little to read, and what there is seems to be waffle.

I like Singletrack for the individual viewpoint pages and decent ride features, but find the product/bike reviews poor.

In my opinion WMB is the least interesting of the lot, what editorial there is I can read in half an hour. I often buy it, flick through it then think "why did I make this mistake again?".

popstar

I would say ... Dirt is not only about racing scene but it kinda gives you latest updates about your local area and what's going on. And if looking at reviews of equipment they don't have a measuring scale but say what is good about it and what style of riding it may fit.

Their stories are very well written be it riders inside life's thoughts about MTB scene or any rumblings like that. Very inspiring, and editors thoughts are just brilliant insight into true MTB-ers mind! Awesome.

Singletrack is more of hit and miss, isn't bad and at times very entertaining read.

MBR - WMB very similar style and is aimed at active consumer.

MBUK is a bit of a joke really.

Of course IMHO.

downhillbike

mbuk

mrfmilo

Used to be MBUK, had a flick through Dirt in newsagents and have only been buying that since.

supersonic

The good thing is there is a wide spread of magazines in the UK aimed at varying audiences. Also many writers have gone from one mag to another.

MBUK is aimed at the younger audience, and leans towards gravity based antics. WMB is more varied, more product focused, but takes beginners under its wing. MBR is aimed at the more affluent rider. DIRT and STW take the more 'spiritual' side of biking to paper.

A lot will come down to if you like reading about bikes, or the people who ride them.

YIMan

supersonic wrote:

The good thing is there is a wide spread of magazines in the UK aimed at varying audiences. Also many writers have gone from one mag to another.

MBUK is aimed at the younger audience, and leans towards gravity based antics. WMB is more varied, more product focused, but takes beginners under its wing. MBR is aimed at the more affluent rider. DIRT and STW take the more 'spiritual' side of biking to paper.

A lot will come down to if you like reading about bikes, or the people who ride them.

Agree - a good, eloquent summary of the market.

SUPERSUTT

supersonic wrote:

I quite like WMB, as the writers are the bestest.

im the same but some times have a peep at MBUK but there again i do work for a newspaper and magazine distribution company

angry_bird

I've really gone off MBUK, I can't put my finger on it but it's almost like they're trying to hard or something and it just grates me for some reason.

I'll happily read WMB and MBR (infact I got an MBR subscription as my birthday present last year which was lovely of the parents), you just have to take the reviews for what they are, that they're someone elses opinion and people are always going to have some bias. I swear MBR must just be going along with the old joke now and giving 5's the best reviews.

Occasionally read Dirt and quite like it, but when I'm at the station or supermarket and decide I'm in the mood to get a mag my choice is usually limited to MBUK, MBR, WMB or any of the dull looking roadie mags.

Duggan13

I generally just buy alternately, based on whatever is in each issue month to month. If I recall correctly Singletrack is based in Todmorden so is fairly near me so I often buy that. Think they tend to focus more on mountain biking as a lifestyle and so it seems more appropriate to me- I don't think much of what they do in MBUK applies to me really.

MBR seems to have gone a little downhill to me (not in the literal sense of the word).

The first thing I usually buy for is the routes, which is odd as you can generally get all this inof off the web anyway, but there you go.

angry_bird

I did once buy an MBUK one lunchtime based purely on the fact it had socks in it, and I'd ripped a massive hole in my socks earlier in the day and wanted some new ones so I could walk around uni without my shoes on and not look like a tramp.