Cycling UK Forum

The bits which have always interested me the most - readers' letters, CJ's technical stuff, ads, news about govt policy, - seem to be much better served on here or the internet generally, than by a 6-times a year mag. I nearly always turn to the letters page first in any newspaper or magazine. I'm not the first to note that DJ interprets 'Letters to the Editor' to mean 'Letters to DJ' which used to be an irritation in pre-forum days. Again, it's my impression that CJ has less of a role than he used to in testing and reviewing stuff, which I find a pity but if I'm fair, as I have no interest in any form of off-road cycling it would not matter much to me if things like suspension forks were reviewed by Honest John or even JC* rather than CJ. IMO the charity debate highlighted the immediacy of the internet as a medium - the mag was pretty much irrelevant by comparison. We just need to get a proper lawyer or two to post regularly on here in that capacity and we've cracked it. (Two would be better because there are generally two sides to a legal argument.)

* hartleymartin et al JC = Jeremy Clarkson.

I agree, TC.

Cycle is probably the best - someone last year asked me to review as many cycle mags I could buy (with his money!) - and Cycle came out tops for me.

My copy of Cycle came the other day, and it took me all of 30 minutes to scan-read it from cover to cover. It now resides on the shelf with the last few editions ready to go down the health centre for the patients to read.

This forum is fantastic. I know I'm a prolific poster, and I know I read most of the posts, so perhaps I'm biased. However, this forum is a font of knowledge and if you want to read up on a subject, it's here for you. No adverts, no mess or flyers, and is completely free - even for non-members.

Si. I think that I said it all really ! You do not say what you like or dislike so the rest of us must assume that the mag. is perfect for you.

lynmorris wrote:Si. I think that I said it all really ! You do not say what you like or dislike so the rest of us must assume that the mag. is perfect for you.

Said it all? Not really - you said what you didn't like and you called it rubbish without saying why. Surely if you want a better mag, you ought to say what you actually want to see in it?

I have only been a member of CTC for a year so have a limited knowledge of Cycle. However, I have noticed, commented on by someone in this issue's letters page, that there seems to be an inordinate number of articles on mountain biking, including in this current issue, and not much in the way of "touring". I also agree with Mike F in that it takes me all of 30-45 minutes to read it from cover to cover. Just as well I get C+ to fill in the gaps between issues.

articles on mountain biking, including in this current issue, and not much in the way of "touring".

Spose it depends on whether you believe that you can tour on an MTB or not - 'cos I read the one in this month's issue as a touring on MTBs article. In my view (YMMV) just because you are off road doesn't mean that you are not a real tourist. Likewise, just because you tour on a carbon race bike, packing only a toothbrush and a credit card doesn't mean that you are not touring - in both cases you are riding around new areas, experiencing the countryside, the sights and meeting new people.

But, yes, I agree that there is too much general MTBing for my liking - rather have the MTBing stuff more towards the off-road touring, rough-stuffing end of things (which, I admit, a number of the Cycle MTB articles already are).

Just bike reviews and messing around in the woods type MTB articles are much better done in dedicated MTB mags. I'd rather read reviews of MTBs that can be used for touring/camping rather than down hill monsters or superlight XC whippets, 'cos, afterall, an MTB like the On-One Inbred is great at off-roading, but also makes a wonderful on-road tourer if you fit slicks, not to mention a good commuter.

It's hardly the first time that the CTC mag has come up on here, but this thread has made me think about other people's accounts of their rides, be they touring articles or not. With a few notable exceptions, I've never found them very interesting and I think part of that is because people sometimes feel they have to wax lyrical because they are writing for publication, so the language becomes very contrived. OTOH, I'm usually really interested by people's blogs about their exploits and adventures. Perhaps it's the accepted informality of the internet, or perhaps it's the daily log approach but for whatever reason I find it beats magazine articles nearly every time.

Dunno, don't mind a tad of waxing of the lyrics as long as it's done with a bit of ability (that'd be why I've never gotten around to writing my article for Cycle). The ones that put me off are those that just list where people went with a minor comment on each: more of an itinerary than an article.

I think that the sort of article that I'd like to see is: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=41703 alas, as Cycle has its articles scheduled well in advance and already had four e2e stories ready, I believe that it was thought that any more would be overkill. But to me, Mike G's article really gets to the heart of what touring is all about, it's not so much an account of the e2e, but rather a reflection on how being on the road on a bike lets us 'live' (see told you I couldn't do waxy lyrics).

Si wrote:... as Cycle has its articles scheduled well in advance ...

But that's the whole point I was trying to make in my original post about readers' letters etc. A mag published every two months is a white elephant IMO.

It's a bit like the people who complain that their grandad could write a letter to their grandmother - in the days when they were courting - and have a reply by mid-morning so he could reply to her etc etc. Nowadays it's only one collection a day and the first delivery may be after lunch. Shock, horror. Nowadays people don't use the post for that sort of thing because thay have faster means of communicating - complete with pictures. The news of the battle of Trafalgar - one of the most important events of the day - took a couple of weeks to reach London: the fastest surviving ship they had was sent home, and even all the cannons were dumped overboard to maximise the speed. A young officer was then sent from the port to the Admiralty using relays of horses. By comparison, my son was in Thailand when the Tsunami struck and he had phoned me to say he was OK before I even knew it had happened.

Life has changed and I fear magazines as a way of spreading info are not the future.

I've been "waxing lyrical" quite a bit over the last few weeks.

The mag contacted me - and a few others, I understand - about writing a short piece about my recent JOGLE. My Raleigh Chopper had to come into the piece of course. It was hard work cutting it down to the required wordage. I've emailed it off, and await the Nov/Dec issue to see if they publish it.

I tried very hard NOT to use flowery language - I'm a blunt-speaking Lancastrian at heart - a spade is a spade, not a garden soil digging implement.

I'm sure it will be a classic of the genre, but that's not the point. Why publish an edited version in print, ages after it's been available in full on line? Who will read it? For the people without the internet, I hear, but that's an increasingly poor reason for publishing a magazine, IMO.

Yes, TC, I agree.

The magazine-reading public must be a dying breed. However, there are millions of people out there that don't come on this forum so may never have heard about my ride. Yes, they could Google all sorts of blogs - but do they?

Perhaps the mag on the shelf in the newsagents may be picked up by a cyclist-sort-of-person as a chance purchase. This chap may not be forum-active, he may not even think of himself as much of a cyclist, but he may pick up the mag in an idle moment.

Maybe he will read stuff, be inspired, and go further.

But I repeat: "The magazine-reading public must be a dying breed."

Magazines are a much nicer medium to read from (IMHO). Carting a PC into the 'smallest room' is a bit of a faff! It's probably a generational thing, and will probably change in time, but I like to be able to grab a nice (moderately) glossy mag and read about cycling. Sure the same thing might be available on the web, but I find it very difficult to browse the web while, say, watching TV, sitting on a train, having dinner, or all manner of other situations where a magazine still works wonderfully. It's also a bit like comparing old LPs to CDs: both might have the same music on them but there was a special feeling to buying an LP that you just didn't get with a CD.

There are loads of links posted on this forum to online articles and accounts, not to mention the ones written on the forum, but I rarely read any of them - with magazines I'll normally at least start every article and give it a chance. It's a more defined medium, and there is less temptation to skip to the next article all the time - thus one has a more involved experience with it. That's another reason I continue to read magazines when I might find the same info on line.

A further reason is that with magazines someone with some publishing ability has actually sifted through the offerings and edited them. Thus the quality ought to be better than 'self-published' on-line articles.

Nope, I still think that magazines have a role to play even if the same sort of material can be found on-line. Although, funnily enough, TC, here's a quote I got from someone connected with a cycling magazine recently:

....we need more rides articles that get under the skin of the journey. What magazines do well are features that draw you in. News, events lists, short reviews (as opposed to in-depth ones) and so forth are things the internet does better. I don't think we've yet reached the point where we can jettison these things, but that doesn't mean we can't also include rides features that are more 'good reads' than 'ten top tips to get the best from your trip to wherever'.

Mick F wrote:But I repeat: "The magazine-reading public must be a dying breed."

Mick I think that this may only reflect part of the modern view on the magazine. The amount of women's mags astounds me. Yet rarely one cycling one to be seen.
I think the difference is in the former the reader is supposed to be getting an insight into other peoples lives experiences and feelings.
TC is very correct about the Internet replacing a magazine in some form. The Ebook and ipad is a good example of this technology.
I think in the future the CTC will drop the mag for cost cutting reasons (my opinion only).

I think in the future the CTC will drop the mag for cost cutting reasons (my opinion only).

or possibly offer an on-line version? it's what my MG is now doing - it's less hassle, it saves money, it's greener and people get their mags when it's published rather than when they get out on a ride. Some editions of Cycle are already on line in an archive format I believe.

Although, I think paper mags are still quite popular judging by the new cycling mags that have come out in the last couple of years.