GCN - what's the deal?

cgfw201

Supermurph09 wrote:

"My wider criticism is perhaps that the pros themselves could open up a bit more and make the sport just a bit more accessible. I understand the pressures they are under but cycling as a whole could do with some openness"

I've said this a number of times, most riders either don't understand that fans (or cyclists in general) would like to know what they are up to during the week or simply don't care enough. Appreciate they have to train and rest but come on, there are enough hours in the day. Technology these days is so easy to create content on they should all be doing it. A weekly post about how your week went, what training you did, what races you have coming up, what the team is up to, who got dropped on the training ride, who fell off, who forgot their kit, who won the sprint, who ate the most cookies etc.

Throw in their own personal style, so comedic, or serious etc and each one of them has something that promotes them, promotes the team or whatever. Phil Gaimon has shown them all the way, but that "inside the peloton" view would be a really add something imo. If they were to create this content, either at a team or individual level you'd get more people "supporting" a team like in other sports. More supporters, more content views will probably mean more sponsorship so pretty much everyone wins.

Dowsett's doing this (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmeZ0 ... 57g/videos)

supermurph09

cgfw201 wrote:

Supermurph09 wrote:

"My wider criticism is perhaps that the pros themselves could open up a bit more and make the sport just a bit more accessible. I understand the pressures they are under but cycling as a whole could do with some openness"

I've said this a number of times, most riders either don't understand that fans (or cyclists in general) would like to know what they are up to during the week or simply don't care enough. Appreciate they have to train and rest but come on, there are enough hours in the day. Technology these days is so easy to create content on they should all be doing it. A weekly post about how your week went, what training you did, what races you have coming up, what the team is up to, who got dropped on the training ride, who fell off, who forgot their kit, who won the sprint, who ate the most cookies etc.

Throw in their own personal style, so comedic, or serious etc and each one of them has something that promotes them, promotes the team or whatever. Phil Gaimon has shown them all the way, but that "inside the peloton" view would be a really add something imo. If they were to create this content, either at a team or individual level you'd get more people "supporting" a team like in other sports. More supporters, more content views will probably mean more sponsorship so pretty much everyone wins.

Dowsett's doing this (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmeZ0 ... 57g/videos)

Sure is, and more power to him for doing so.

ck101

Just a quick comment to say that I think Emma Pooley is absolutely fantastic. Theres just something about her style I like, down to earth, knowledgeable and a great track record. Well done Emma...

neeb

You know, some of the stuff they've been doing recently has been excellent - see today's piece about cycling and mental health for example.

If they keep making a decent amount of high quality stuff I can put up with the commercialism I suppose. Just as long as it's not about pushing disc brakes, then I really will throw the remote at the telly.. ;-)

Tiesetrotter wrote:

Don't get this 'commercialisation' criticism. What are they supposed to do ...... voluntary work? Or are you going to pay a subscription?

I would much rather pay a modest subscription (if the content is good quality) than put up with advertising and heavily commercialised content. That's the problem these days in so many media spheres - paying to get decent quality is increasingly not even an option for those who want it.

It also seems to me that in this era of targeted advertising and interactive content there should be a way for me to avoid watching constant adverts for Zwift when I already buy Zwift in any case - surely someone somewhere is losing money there when they could be promoting stuff to me that I don't already have..?

itboffin

We tried behavioural advertising about 11 years ago, seems the general consensus was people didn't like or want it, so now it's very generally targeted

neeb

Maybe when you buy a product you could get a code to enter somewhere that removes the advert for it. To be attractive it would need the ad slot to remain empty, not just be filled by something else..

Could be a great way of getting some people to buy stuff they don't even want or need! The only problem would be that it would encourage the development of increasingly more annoying ads..

voicycle

+1 chapeau to them for today's mental health video. I don't think I've ever met a cyclist who didn't get into (or stay into or become serious about) the sport at least partly due to mental health reasons.

EDIT: the video was yesterday (Sunday).

sloppyschleckonds

alexfthe wrote:

+1 chapeau to them for today's mental health video. I don't think I've ever met a cyclist who didn't get into (or stay into or become serious about) the sport at least partly due to mental health reasons.

EDIT: the video was yesterday (Sunday).

Bandwagon jumping again, they've shown zero interest before until the sudden spike in UK cyclists discussing it the past week.

joe_totale-2

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

alexfthe wrote:

+1 chapeau to them for today's mental health video. I don't think I've ever met a cyclist who didn't get into (or stay into or become serious about) the sport at least partly due to mental health reasons.

EDIT: the video was yesterday (Sunday).

Bandwagon jumping again, they've shown zero interest before until the sudden spike in UK cyclists discussing it the past week.

There's worse bandwagons to jump on and GCN's popularity will mean that this message will get to people who may not have heard it before.

lettingthedaysgoby

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

alexfthe wrote:

+1 chapeau to them for today's mental health video. I don't think I've ever met a cyclist who didn't get into (or stay into or become serious about) the sport at least partly due to mental health reasons.

EDIT: the video was yesterday (Sunday).

Bandwagon jumping again, they've shown zero interest before until the sudden spike in UK cyclists discussing it the past week.

It will likely have been filmed weeks ago, possibly months.

Matthewfalle

alexfthe wrote:

. I don't think I've ever met a cyclist who didn't get into (or stay into or become serious about) the sport at least partly due to mental health reasons.

eh? what you on about Willis?

philbar72

Matthewfalle wrote:

alexfthe wrote:

. I don't think I've ever met a cyclist who didn't get into (or stay into or become serious about) the sport at least partly due to mental health reasons.

eh? what you on about Willis?

yeah, that makes little to no sense. I started cycling as I could no longer play football/ rugby without injury problems. mental health never came into it.

though I can see why people do do it because of that.

Beatmaker

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

alexfthe wrote:

+1 chapeau to them for today's mental health video. I don't think I've ever met a cyclist who didn't get into (or stay into or become serious about) the sport at least partly due to mental health reasons.

EDIT: the video was yesterday (Sunday).

Bandwagon jumping again, they've shown zero interest before until the sudden spike in UK cyclists discussing it the past week.

Cycling media discuss current cycling topic shocker.

bungle73

Does anyone actually know what Jon's done to his finger? I haven't seen them mention anything about it.

surfercyclist

alexfthe wrote:

+1 chapeau to them for today's mental health video. I don't think I've ever met a cyclist who didn't get into (or stay into or become serious about) the sport at least partly due to mental health reasons.

EDIT: the video was yesterday (Sunday).

Crap.

sgt.pepper

I've become much less interested since Matt left. The new guys are dreadful, particularly the one who can barely drawl out a sentence through his private school accent.

In terms of commercialisation, my biggest complaint is that it narrows their options for what they can talk about - I'd love to see more stuff about the second hand market. Even my wife enjoyed that 100 quid ebay bike challenge, said it was 'like Top Gear.'

Beatmaker

Sgt.Pepper wrote:

I've become much less interested since Matt left. The new guys are dreadful, particularly the one who can barely drawl out a sentence through his private school accent.

You lost me at 'private school accent'. It's bad enough when drivers tar all us cyclists with the same brush as a few idiots, lets not use inverse snobbery when it comes to eduction.

sgt.pepper

Beatmaker wrote:

Sgt.Pepper wrote:

I've become much less interested since Matt left. The new guys are dreadful, particularly the one who can barely drawl out a sentence through his private school accent.

You lost me at 'private school accent'. It's bad enough when drivers tar all us cyclists with the same brush as a few idiots, lets not use inverse snobbery when it comes to eduction.

I wouldn't call it inverse snobbery. He has the drawl, but none of the enunciation that is typical of a private education.

neeb

Sgt.Pepper wrote:

Beatmaker wrote:

Sgt.Pepper wrote:

I've become much less interested since Matt left. The new guys are dreadful, particularly the one who can barely drawl out a sentence through his private school accent.

You lost me at 'private school accent'. It's bad enough when drivers tar all us cyclists with the same brush as a few idiots, lets not use inverse snobbery when it comes to eduction.

I wouldn't call it inverse snobbery. He has the drawl, but none of the enunciation that is typical of a private education.

Maybe that means he came from an area with lots of public schools but didn't go to one himself. Maybe he did go to one but hated it. Whatever - accent isn't at all relevant to character, although it's very easy to forget that (especially with people like JRM around...).

I admit that I initially found his accent a little anoying too (being Scottish I just classified it as uber-English), but I'm warming to him.

sgt.pepper

neeb wrote:

Sgt.Pepper wrote:

Beatmaker wrote:

Sgt.Pepper wrote:

I've become much less interested since Matt left. The new guys are dreadful, particularly the one who can barely drawl out a sentence through his private school accent.

You lost me at 'private school accent'. It's bad enough when drivers tar all us cyclists with the same brush as a few idiots, lets not use inverse snobbery when it comes to eduction.

I wouldn't call it inverse snobbery. He has the drawl, but none of the enunciation that is typical of a private education.

Maybe that means he came from an area with lots of public schools but didn't go to one himself. Maybe he did go to one but hated it. Whatever - accent isn't at all relevant to character, although it's very easy to forget that (especially with people like JRM around...).

I admit that I initially found his accent a little anoying too (being Scottish I just classified it as uber-English), but I'm warming to him.

Totally agree - but when you find someone unlikable, small things like that are amplified.

PhilipPirrip

Just caught up on Saturday's CXing. The men's race was great.

Also great to see Helen Wyman after her announcement and her explanation of her role in elevating women's CX. It'd be great if GCN could pick up the broadcasting rights on lower cat continental and women's racing throughout the year that Eurosport don't cover.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Dan Evans smashes the KOM up Ffordd Pen Llech in 1min11secs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXP1m4Yec5c

Felt like I was watching Top Gear, footage of the actual ~0.2 mile ultra steep climb being ridden was a bit underwhelming for me, while the interview with Dan at the end was stupidly short and didn't really give us much insight into the climb or the rider.

bongofish

NitrousOxide wrote:

Dan Evans smashes the KOM up Ffordd Pen Llech in 1min11secs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXP1m4Yec5c

Felt like I was watching Top Gear, footage of the actual ~0.2 mile ultra steep climb being ridden was a bit underwhelming for me, while the interview with Dan at the end was stupidly short and didn't really give us much insight into the climb or the rider.

Ok thanks for that. Now move along to the next thing you clearly have a lot of spare time to moan about .

neeb

There’s much more insight into Dan as a rider in the separate video they did on his hill climbing bike..

Alejandrosdog

Bongofish wrote:

NitrousOxide wrote:

Dan Evans smashes the KOM up Ffordd Pen Llech in 1min11secs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXP1m4Yec5c

Felt like I was watching Top Gear, footage of the actual ~0.2 mile ultra steep climb being ridden was a bit underwhelming for me, while the interview with Dan at the end was stupidly short and didn't really give us much insight into the climb or the rider.

Ok thanks for that. Now move along to the next thing you clearly have a lot of spare time to moan about .

Stop sniping, it detracts from the time you have available to dispense bo llox technical advice

dannbodge

cgfw201 wrote:

Supermurph09 wrote:

"My wider criticism is perhaps that the pros themselves could open up a bit more and make the sport just a bit more accessible. I understand the pressures they are under but cycling as a whole could do with some openness"

I've said this a number of times, most riders either don't understand that fans (or cyclists in general) would like to know what they are up to during the week or simply don't care enough. Appreciate they have to train and rest but come on, there are enough hours in the day. Technology these days is so easy to create content on they should all be doing it. A weekly post about how your week went, what training you did, what races you have coming up, what the team is up to, who got dropped on the training ride, who fell off, who forgot their kit, who won the sprint, who ate the most cookies etc.

Throw in their own personal style, so comedic, or serious etc and each one of them has something that promotes them, promotes the team or whatever. Phil Gaimon has shown them all the way, but that "inside the peloton" view would be a really add something imo. If they were to create this content, either at a team or individual level you'd get more people "supporting" a team like in other sports. More supporters, more content views will probably mean more sponsorship so pretty much everyone wins.

Dowsett's doing this (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmeZ0 ... 57g/videos)

I'll watch anything with his OH in :roll:

In all honesty though, good videos!

philwint

I'm a GCN fan. I like the weekly show and there are often one or two other vids a week I enjoy.

The presenters are bound to be a bit marmite for people - I just about tolerated Matt and don't miss him. And i avoid anything with John Channing (sp?) in it as he reminds me of 80's childrens tv presenters. Dan, Si & Emma are all great though. Not yet decided on the new two. Its the same on GMBN. Martyn Ashton is an absolute legend and hero. But I don't like him as a presenter, Blake is soso, doddy unwatchable and Neil brilliant.

The commercialism is ok with me - they have to make a living right?

cougie

NitrousOxide wrote:

Dan Evans smashes the KOM up Ffordd Pen Llech in 1min11secs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXP1m4Yec5c

Felt like I was watching Top Gear, footage of the actual ~0.2 mile ultra steep climb being ridden was a bit underwhelming for me, while the interview with Dan at the end was stupidly short and didn't really give us much insight into the climb or the rider.

What is there to say about the climb ?

philbar72

cougie wrote:

NitrousOxide wrote:

Dan Evans smashes the KOM up Ffordd Pen Llech in 1min11secs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXP1m4Yec5c

Felt like I was watching Top Gear, footage of the actual ~0.2 mile ultra steep climb being ridden was a bit underwhelming for me, while the interview with Dan at the end was stupidly short and didn't really give us much insight into the climb or the rider.

What is there to say about the climb ?

its steep. not much else.

vimfuego

philwint wrote:

I'm a GCN fan. I like the weekly show and there are often one or two other vids a week I enjoy.

The presenters are bound to be a bit marmite for people - I just about tolerated Matt and don't miss him. And i avoid anything with John Channing (sp?) in it as he reminds me of 80's childrens tv presenters. Dan, Si & Emma are all great though. Not yet decided on the new two. Its the same on GMBN. Martyn Ashton is an absolute legend and hero. But I don't like him as a presenter, Blake is soso, doddy unwatchable and Neil brilliant.

The commercialism is ok with me - they have to make a living right?

Pretty much agree, except Matt was probably the best one on GCN for me & I find Blake's video's fun to watch. Coming up with enough watchable content is always going to be a challenge & not all of it works for everyone, so you just pick & choose right? I'm not obsessed with power meters and sock length so some of the GCN stuff is of little interest, same with GMBN and how to jump/send it/freeride, but then again they're not channels dedicated to catering just for me so hey ho.

As for John Cannings, I actually find some of his stuff OK, I just can't help seeing him as the original Holly from Red Dwarf for some reason. Kills any attempt at serious advice completely.