Bicycle Magazines

Velonews.....and the mechanic whatshisname Zoommerman ?


and the comic strip that I forget.


If the content spins down from racing then content remains relevant to the market.

outside creative writing.

On Fri, 1 Apr 2016 11:56:47 -0700 (PDT), Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On Friday, April 1, 2016 at 11:17:56 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Road bike magazines - Dude this bike we just tested is, like, the most awesome and jaw dropping bike we've ever ridden.

Mtb magazines - Riding nice trails is out - jumps straight down the face of a two story high cliff are in. Anything else is, like, not cool dude.

Touring magazines - a 300 miles ride along one of the coastlines isn't enough. Like, dude, you gotta tour Patagonia.

BMX magazines - Hey dude, two full circle backward flips are all that we report on in this awesome magazine.

Once, it seemed different to me.

I started into this journey by reading _Bicycling!_ magazine - the original
1970s version, with the exclamation point in the title. I learned something in
almost every issue, and read them cover to cover. (Of course, as a newbie,
I had a lot to learn.)

When Rodale took it over (and dropped the exclamation point from the title)
I felt it had gone downhill a notch. Nowadays, it's a lot closer to
_Buycycling_, as in "You gotta have this!!!" Advertisements disguised as
articles. Occasionally a good article pops up, but they seem rare to me.

For a while, _Bicycle Quarterly_ seemed excellent, although too much
of a one-man operation, I think. It's approached things from a different
direction, and presented some information that would never be in _Bicycling_.
It's also a beautiful magazine. But I sometimes think that Jan Heine is
running low on ideas. We'll see how it goes.

At first, I thought _Bicycle Times_ would be good, with its utilitarian bent.
But the writing isn't particularly good, in my view. And they don't promote
$200 lycra tights like _Bicycling_ does; instead, they promote $200 hipster
bike commuting jeans.

I used to enjoy Grant Peterson's writing. But does the _Rivendell Reader_ still
exist?

Thank goodness for rec.bicycles.tech! ;-)

- Frank Krygowski

I'm not a publisher but it is my understanding that the bulk of a
publication's income is from the paid advertisements. According to
http://www.gaebler.com/Bicycling-mag...g-costs++26289
a full page, black and white, advert in Bicycling is estimated to cost
$34,835.

I'm sure that the employment of any writer who "bad mouths" any of the
companies who advertise in the magazine will be curtailed :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

On 4/1/2016 6:15 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Fri, 1 Apr 2016 11:56:47 -0700 (PDT), Frank Krygowski wrote:


I used to enjoy Grant Peterson's writing. But does the _Rivendell
Reader_ still exist?

Grant puts one out on an occasional basis. One just came out a couple of
months ago. And he published a couple of books: _Just Ride_ and _Eat
Bacon, Don't Jog_.

I enjoyed _Just Ride_. Didn't know about the other one. I'll have to
look for it.


I used to like Bike Culture Quarterly a lot and its offspring
Encyleopedia, Bycycling and Velo-something that Peter Eland published
for years. I used to enjoy A to B Magazine quite a bit, despite its very
tight Anglocentric focus, but gave up when every issue became about
electric bikes. Big Brompton and mixed-modal commuting fans.

I liked all those when I could find them, but that was unfortunately
rare. I've got a few issues tucked away for reference.

I remember being in Britain a couple times, and marvelling that they had
bike magazines that seemed much more practically- and touring-oriented,
not just racing or "fast recreation" oriented like ours. I don't know
if that's still true, though. It's been years since I've been there.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 4/1/2016 8:15 PM, wrote:
Velonews.....and the mechanic whatshisname Zoommerman ?


and the comic strip that I forget.

Yehuda Moon? He's back!
http://yehudamoon.com/comic/2016-01-01/


--
- Frank Krygowski

On 4/1/2016 9:30 PM, John B. wrote:


I'm not a publisher but it is my understanding that the bulk of a
publication's income is from the paid advertisements.

I'm sure you're right.

For a while, _Newsweek_ was giving away subscriptions to new members of
our public radio station. I'm sure they were just hoping to get
readers. And at a certain point, I no longer qualified and ignored the
pleas to renew my subscription, but it kept coming anyway. I figure
they were willing to do that to add to their subscriber count when they
were trying to sell ads.

--
- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Friday, April 1, 2016 at 11:17:56 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Road bike magazines - Dude this bike we just tested is, like, the most
awesome and jaw dropping bike we've ever ridden.

Mtb magazines - Riding nice trails is out - jumps straight down the face
of a two story high cliff are in. Anything else is, like, not cool dude.

Touring magazines - a 300 miles ride along one of the coastlines isn't
enough. Like, dude, you gotta tour Patagonia.

BMX magazines - Hey dude, two full circle backward flips are all that we
report on in this awesome magazine.

Once, it seemed different to me.

I started into this journey by reading _Bicycling!_ magazine - the original
1970s version, with the exclamation point in the title. I learned something in
almost every issue, and read them cover to cover. (Of course, as a newbie,
I had a lot to learn.)

When Rodale took it over (and dropped the exclamation point from the title)
I felt it had gone downhill a notch. Nowadays, it's a lot closer to
_Buycycling_, as in "You gotta have this!!!" Advertisements disguised as
articles. Occasionally a good article pops up, but they seem rare to me.

For a while, _Bicycle Quarterly_ seemed excellent, although too much
of a one-man operation, I think. It's approached things from a different
direction, and presented some information that would never be in _Bicycling_.
It's also a beautiful magazine. But I sometimes think that Jan Heine is
running low on ideas. We'll see how it goes.

At first, I thought _Bicycle Times_ would be good, with its utilitarian bent.
But the writing isn't particularly good, in my view. And they don't promote
$200 lycra tights like _Bicycling_ does; instead, they promote $200 hipster
bike commuting jeans.

I used to enjoy Grant Peterson's writing. But does the _Rivendell Reader_ still
exist?

Thank goodness for rec.bicycles.tech! ;-)

- Frank Krygowski


I agree that Buycycling magazine has "jumped the shark", so to speak, but
every once in a while, they do a stellar article on the act of riding a
bicycle that redeems them for a little while. I'm currently finding that
Canadian Cycling Magazine is a more enjoyable read, although they
concentrate more on the racing scene than I would prefer.

On Fri, 1 Apr 2016 22:48:52 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 4/1/2016 9:30 PM, John B. wrote:


I'm not a publisher but it is my understanding that the bulk of a
publication's income is from the paid advertisements.

I'm sure you're right.

For a while, _Newsweek_ was giving away subscriptions to new members of
our public radio station. I'm sure they were just hoping to get
readers. And at a certain point, I no longer qualified and ignored the
pleas to renew my subscription, but it kept coming anyway. I figure
they were willing to do that to add to their subscriber count when they
were trying to sell ads.

I think that "circulation" is used as a measure of a publication's
popularity and thus one of the governing factors in how much they can
charge for advertisement. At least I knew a chap that was a sub-editor
on one of the local English language newspapers and he used to quote
circulation figures in support of his argument that His newspaper was
the best :-)


--
cheers,

John B.

On Sat, 2 Apr 2016 04:10:33 +0000 (UTC), Ralph Barone
wrote:

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Friday, April 1, 2016 at 11:17:56 AM UTC-4, wrote:
Road bike magazines - Dude this bike we just tested is, like, the most
awesome and jaw dropping bike we've ever ridden.

Mtb magazines - Riding nice trails is out - jumps straight down the face
of a two story high cliff are in. Anything else is, like, not cool dude.

Touring magazines - a 300 miles ride along one of the coastlines isn't
enough. Like, dude, you gotta tour Patagonia.

BMX magazines - Hey dude, two full circle backward flips are all that we
report on in this awesome magazine.

Once, it seemed different to me.

I started into this journey by reading _Bicycling!_ magazine - the original
1970s version, with the exclamation point in the title. I learned something in
almost every issue, and read them cover to cover. (Of course, as a newbie,
I had a lot to learn.)

When Rodale took it over (and dropped the exclamation point from the title)
I felt it had gone downhill a notch. Nowadays, it's a lot closer to
_Buycycling_, as in "You gotta have this!!!" Advertisements disguised as
articles. Occasionally a good article pops up, but they seem rare to me.

For a while, _Bicycle Quarterly_ seemed excellent, although too much
of a one-man operation, I think. It's approached things from a different
direction, and presented some information that would never be in _Bicycling_.
It's also a beautiful magazine. But I sometimes think that Jan Heine is
running low on ideas. We'll see how it goes.

At first, I thought _Bicycle Times_ would be good, with its utilitarian bent.
But the writing isn't particularly good, in my view. And they don't promote
$200 lycra tights like _Bicycling_ does; instead, they promote $200 hipster
bike commuting jeans.

I used to enjoy Grant Peterson's writing. But does the _Rivendell Reader_ still
exist?

Thank goodness for rec.bicycles.tech! ;-)

- Frank Krygowski


I agree that Buycycling magazine has "jumped the shark", so to speak, but
every once in a while, they do a stellar article on the act of riding a
bicycle that redeems them for a little while. I'm currently finding that
Canadian Cycling Magazine is a more enjoyable read, although they
concentrate more on the racing scene than I would prefer.

It seems to me that magazines have deteriorated over the years. I can
remember when Popular Mechanics used to have articles detailing how to
build a midget race car, how to build a welding set using an Aircraft
engine generator, how to make a hunting knife out of a saw blade and
such like. I remember that my father and I (actually my father with me
watching) built a crossbow from an article in Popular Mechanics that
was powerful enough to shoot an arrow through both sides of a 55
gallon barrel.

Now the Popular Mechanics publishes articles about "The Arizona
Boneyard Where Old Warplanes Go To Die" a tour of Davis-Monathan AFB
(which was established in 1925 :-)
--
cheers,

John B.

On 4/2/2016 1:49 AM, John B. wrote:
On Sat, 2 Apr 2016 04:10:33 +0000 (UTC), Ralph Barone wrote:


I agree that Buycycling magazine has "jumped the shark", so to speak, but
every once in a while, they do a stellar article on the act of riding a
bicycle that redeems them for a little while. I'm currently finding that
Canadian Cycling Magazine is a more enjoyable read, although they
concentrate more on the racing scene than I would prefer.

It seems to me that magazines have deteriorated over the years. I can
remember when Popular Mechanics used to have articles detailing how to
build a midget race car, how to build a welding set using an Aircraft
engine generator, how to make a hunting knife out of a saw blade and
such like. I remember that my father and I (actually my father with me
watching) built a crossbow from an article in Popular Mechanics that
was powerful enough to shoot an arrow through both sides of a 55
gallon barrel.

Now the Popular Mechanics publishes articles about "The Arizona
Boneyard Where Old Warplanes Go To Die" a tour of Davis-Monathan AFB
(which was established in 1925 :-)

Popular Mechanics and Popular Science have vestigial "build it yourself"
sections at the far back, often featuring little gizmos or toys for kids
that you can build. But they're a far cry from (say) instructions on
building your own lathe.

_Make:_ magazine seems vaguely similar to the do-it-yourself journals of
old. Lots and lots of articles about building things on your own, and
learning by doing. But it tends toward things like using a Raspberry Pi
computer to animate your 3-d printed Halloween decorations.

It's no wonder so few people can adjust their own bike brakes!

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sat, 02 Apr 2016 20:48:46 +0100, Phil W Lee
wrote:

In general newsagents, you'd be out of luck these days, although the
CTC magazine goes to members, and Velovision is still (I think)
available by subscription.

I forgot about the CTC magazine, I was a member for a number of years
just to get the magazine. I think Peter Eland has sold VeloVision on to
a new publisher, a young fellow.