Cylcing plus does it again

[totallyfixed]

Completely agree with RT, it used to be a good mag but now pads out the pages with bike models and prices and sportives.

 

[Danny]

I think C+ are making a mistake just targeting the high end of the market, as mostly cyclists can't afford bikes costing £2k-£3k or wheels costing £300+.

I am more than happy to read the occasional article about carbon superbikes, but have concluded that there is no point in continuing to subscribing to a magazine which is devoted to bikes and kit that is way out of my price range.

 

[ianrauk]

yet I do like looking and reading about all the bling.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

yet I do like looking and reading about all the bling.

Me too.

If I want to look at stuff I intend buying I'll more than likely be looking at more modestly priced goods in an LBS or on the internet.

 

[DTD]

I've subscribed to Cycle Active – as a starter it's at the level that interests me.
As I've got a new bike (2nd) which will probably last me for a few years, I'll probably find new bike reviews of less interest, other than a bit of bike porn.

I also do a lot of photography – I used to read a lot of photo magazines, but as I've got on in photography moved away from magazines which were based on equipment reviews, to ones about photographers and photographs and ended up just getting the British Journal of Photography (which is more about the industry etc.).

 

[GrumpyGregry]

i didn't go out with my club today but had I done then I'd bet most if not all of the riders in the sports groups would have been on bikes costing £1500+ and up. Mainly mamils with well paid jobs and high disposable incomes. C+'s target demographic. the more social groups ride cheaper bikes generally but even then the odd bit of exotica turns up.

I have a subscription to C+ yet don't own a bike that cost more than £1lk, don't suppose I ever will but there is no harm in drooling. I like the routes, have gone out and ridden a few in my time, and the articles by St Pierre.

 

[HelenD123]

I cancelled my subscription to C+ as it was getting to samey and I'm not interested in high end road bikes. I just read the CTC's magazine now, but I guess that's more where my interests lie anyway.

 

[Smokin Joe]

I think C+ are making a mistake just targeting the high end of the market, as mostly cyclists can't afford bikes costing £2k-£3k or wheels costing £300+.

I am more than happy to read the occasional article about carbon superbikes, but have concluded that there is no point in continuing to subscribing to a magazine which is devoted to bikes and kit that is way out of my price range.

Cycling Weekly has gone the same way, ignoring the long term traditional cyclist in favour of the fashion MAMIL. They are going to come a cropper when the current cycling boom ends (they always do), the "New golfers" have found another craze and they find that those of us who are here for the duration have given up on them in favour if the internet.

 

[Fiona N]

I cancelled my subscription to C+ as it was getting to samey ... I just read the CTC's magazine now, but I guess that's more where my interests lie anyway.

Yep - got to agree with that and when I do want some bling, I tend to go for a foreign cycling mag - Italian, German or American so it's real fantasy

BTW some of the German and Italian mags have the most fantastically technical articles - real heavy duty science and engineering stuff - which I can't ever imagine appearing in a UK mag. Last time I was in Switzerland, I picked up a German bike magazine at the airport and there was an article about designing and testing frames for stiffness, resilience and longevity (featuring Storck, I think) and there were equations in it and well as graphs of s-s curves for different materials and composites. It was more like a journal of mechanical engineering apart from the adverts featuring scantily clad airbrushed girls and guys on expensive bikes...

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Adventure Cyclist has some splendidly tech stuff in it, reminiscent of the old ctc mag when Chris Juden's work was given the profile it deserved.

 

[Garz]

Good points here. Agree about the samey and high priced overpriced reviews, it is unnecessary. Another annoyance is the last chunk of the mag wasted on the same rubbish bike make/prices lowdown.

 

[Cush]

Noticed in the same issue that they are promoting Echinacea as the wonder herb. When I looked up some seriouse advice on the net I find that it is any thing but a wonder herb (yes I am one of those who will try any thing that may help to give an extra boost)

 

[roubaix murry]

Equations!!
Would be cancelling my sub as soon as they put equations in ............... unless its n+1 that is.

 

[Fab Foodie]

In defence, they did wheels sub £300 a while back.
Furthermore, on a £1000 road-bike the weakest point is generally the wheels and to make a worthwhile upgrade you'd be looking at around £300 IMO and there are a lot of £1000 to £1500 bikes out there.

My subs have just come-up for C+ and I may let it slide this time. I like the bling, but the tests scorings are mostly useless.
Still good to get a feel for what's out there though and what's new.

 

[Jezston]

Is there a magazine out there that as well as giving practical advice to commuters and entheusiasts rather than boy racers, also does features on quirky hand built lugged-titanium hub geared scraper bikes?