UK cycling mags deconstructed

tommytranquillo
tommytranquillo Posts: 13
edited November 2015 in Road general
Greetings all.

I've started a (slightly sweary) blog, reviewing the UK cycling press, cycling books and cycling podcasts. If you're interested, you can read it here:

https://cyclingdigest.wordpress.com/

Cheers

Comments

  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    I can honestly say your summary of Climbs and Punishment could have been written by me, albeit without the humour :)

    Good shout about the, ahem, other main mag (which we won't mention). It is like a cycling mag, but for grown ups. Procycling is also very good though, I am happy to subscribe to that one.
  • harry-s
    harry-s Posts: 295
    +1 re Climbs and Punishment.
    I don't normally labour over a book, but I'm struggling to finish this one. I'm afraid Felix is well and truly nested in my "tosspot" pigeonhole.
  • mercia_man
    mercia_man Posts: 1,431
    Brilliant blog. It was obvious, as soon as I started reading, that it was written with scathing wit and insight by a fellow journalist with real knowledge of the industry.

    Your summary of the latest Cycling Plus issue was apt. I couldn't believe it carried yet another glowing article about a GT Grade being taken on some epic "adventure". When I first noticed the piece, I looked in vain for the phrase "advertisement feature" at the top of the page. The magazine is moving increasingly towards the style of a Sunday supplement or women's glossy lifestyle magazine, with pages full of pretty pictures of things the advertisers want you to buy, accompanied by uncritical prose. I'm bored with reading about the virtues of gravel bikes and disc brakes - but these are the things the industry is pushing.

    I know life is really hard for people working in all publishing sectors - my old newspaper is currently making half its photographic team redundant - but it's sad to see once fine publications sliding down the quality ladder.
  • mrb123
    mrb123 Posts: 4,612
    Nice blog.
  • fat_cat
    fat_cat Posts: 566
    Top blog! Just my sort of humour.
  • topcattim
    topcattim Posts: 766
    Great blog, really enjoyed it. Totally agree with your deconstruction of C+ and based on your review will now go out tomorrow to buy me a copy of Cyclist.
  • SoSimple
    SoSimple Posts: 301
    Well written and funny as f@ck, glad I'm not the only one who finds Felix Lowe a dullard
  • DavidfromWarboys
    DavidfromWarboys Posts: 80
    The trouble with blogs is that they are just more noise!!!! Mostly, yes but.........

    Seriously, great blog, love it, will keep it open on my iPad to await new entries!

    Thanks also for the pointers to the innerring, bikesnobnyc and Geronimo :-)

    But no mention of Rapha?
  • DKay
    DKay Posts: 1,652
    Great blog and just my sense of humour. Gives vent to my own frustrations when I read most bike mags and confirms exactly why I don't buy them anymore.
    N
    N+1
  • alex222
    alex222 Posts: 598
    Great stuff. In complete agreement about your views of the magazines reviewed so far.
  • Monty Zoncolan
    Monty Zoncolan Posts: 341
    Duly bookmarked. Glad I'm not alone.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Very good!
  • crankycrank
    crankycrank Posts: 1,830
    Great blog. Here's a photo of some women taking part in the latest craze on their new "gravel bikes".bikelead_0.jpg
  • Ashbeck
    Ashbeck Posts: 235
    I used to buy Cycling Plus every month along with Pro Cycling and Cycling Weekly but I've stopped now for a few reasons.

    1. Most of the content is the same each month. If they do say, a lights for your bike review, you will find it across every bloody mag they do, including Cycling Weekly.

    2. But my biggest annoyance with Cycling Plus (in particular) is the amount of ads in it. Virtually every other page is an ad and some pages are double page spread ads. I counted them from month to month for a few months and the editorial content went down considerably. The magazine has 189 pages and if you take this months December issue it actually has roughly 90 pages of ads in it. That means you're only getting about 90 odd pages of editorial content, so virtually half the mag is ads.
    Throw in the fact that some pages are waffle like the inside front cover, contents and half a dozen double-page spreads of just a big picture as an intro to the article and you probably end up with about 80 pages of the actual mag that is worth reading. So in the end i stopped buying it, got sick of the ads.

    The other thing that put me off Cycling Weekly was they would fleece the buyer every time there was a GC race on. Take the Tour for example (and look out for this) in June they will whack the price up from £2.99 to £3.99 or even £4.99 for a couple of issues because they have added all the information about the Tour routes, riders and info, so they have added a few more pages to it. OK, fine. But what you will then find is that the following week or two weeks after that issue and after they have made you cough up an extra couple of quid, they will then produce the whole of that extra section as a mini-booklet thats stapled onto the front of the issue and they will say 'Free with this issue...your guide to the xxxx". It will contain all the same information that you paid extra for a few weeks back just in a smaller size, but they don't charge extra for it. So my advice would be don't buy the more costly version and just wait, because they do it every time theres a major race, be it Vuelta, Tour, TOB etc.

    And last but not least the bloke called Jamie Wilkins on Pro Cycling was the reason i stopped buying that mag. All he does is go on about cycling likes he's a bloody pro racing for Team Sky. No Jamie, you're not. You're an editorial hack who's job it is to put some words together and don't pretend otherwise. I knew he was a total knob when for 3 issues after the initial Ride100 all he did was go on about how 'he won'. Won what? a sportive? its a bloody sportive son not a race, you won NOTHING! He's a has been that never was.
  • tommytranquillo
    tommytranquillo Posts: 13
    The trouble is, without the ads there is no magazine. I have no problem with ads as long as there is enough good editorial content to justify the cover price.I don't mind paying a fiver as long as I get something decent in return. Completely agree with the comment about CW taking the piss, though.
  • freefall_junkie
    freefall_junkie Posts: 123
    Great blog and nail on head as far as Climbs and Punishment goes :) . I really wanted to like this book, but gave up half way through having read page after page of incontrovertible evidence that Felix Lowe is a total bell end.
  • DavidJB
    DavidJB Posts: 2,019
    [url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19745305#p19745305]freefall_junkie[/url] wrote:
    Great blog and nail on head as far as Climbs and Punishment goes :) . I really wanted to like this book, but gave up half way through having read page after page of incontrovertible evidence that Felix Lowe is a total bell end.


    What this guy?

    felix_400x400.jpg

    Doesn't look smug AT ALL. :lol:
  • captain_oakley
    captain_oakley Posts: 222
    Great Blog, well written and very amusing. Keep up the good work.

    Over many years I have subscribed to all the major UK cycling mag's, but the only one I swear by now is the US Bicycling mag, only available on import. Would be interested your comments.

    Any chance you can review the article in a recent edition of the 'Marmite' magazine, on "sexing up" musette's!

    '..... time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana...'

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