[BurlyShirley]

I dont know WTF, but I had a few minutes to kill yesterday so I went in Barnes & Noble to read all their magazines and then leave them lying around when I left.

Anyway, I picked up an MBA, havent read one in a while and WOW. Not ONE item of substance in the entire rag. I guess MAYBE beginners could get something from the "lube your chain" tech talk, but seriously it was horrendous.

There was some pics of Mark Weirs pumptrack, and an article about WHERE TO GO ON YOU SUMMER VACATION! WTF? Its freaking JULY! Dont you think that would have been a proper article for I dunno, APRIL or something when people plan these things?

And the locations were great too. WHISTLER. WOW! Never thought of that one.

What a piece of crap.

 

[MudGrrl]

why weren't you perusing the tittie mags?

 

[douglas]

or Glamour

 

[BurlyShirley]

why weren't you perusing the tittie mags?

I wasnt wearing any underwear and I was afraid of making a scene.

 

[robdamanii]

I dont know WTF, but I had a few minutes to kill yesterday so I went in Barnes & Noble to read all their magazines and then leave them lying around when I left.

Anyway, I picked up an MBA, havent read one in a while and WOW. Not ONE item of substance in the entire rag. I guess MAYBE beginners could get something from the "lube your chain" tech talk, but seriously it was horrendous.

There was some pics of Mark Weirs pumptrack, and an article about WHERE TO GO ON YOU SUMMER VACATION! WTF? Its freaking JULY! Dont you think that would have been a proper article for I dunno, APRIL or something when people plan these things?

And the locations were great too. WHISTLER. WOW! Never thought of that one.

What a piece of crap.

I'm so disgusted with the "beat the heat" suggestions that I wanted to choke something.

 

[N8 v2.0]

But did they test a Specialized bike and write up some rave reviews about it?

 

[BurlyShirley]

Man,
People need to write articles about "The time I rode my bike from Seattle to Denver" or "The time I crashed 30 miles from civilization and broke both my legs and had to fend off coyotes" but none of these writers freaking ride enough to have these types of experience IMO.
Gear reviews are fine, but that shouldnt be the focus of the mag.

 

[Polandspring88]

I wasnt wearing any underwear and I was afraid of making a scene.

Thats never stopped you before.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Thats never stopped you before.

The Cops did and now I can never run for public office.

 

[LOOnatic]

You know that "sky mall" magazine in the seat of the airplane? You know, its real glossy with worthless crap to buy?
Well MBA is like that with a little more commentary.

Worthless every month

 

[I Are Baboon]

So did you buy it?

Oh, I think the current MBA at Border's is better.

 

[moff_quigley]

As much as most seasoned MTBers seem to hate/despise/ridicule MBA (I'm one of them) we sure do seem to support the drivel that spews forth from that mag. "Bikes with long CS suck" and "29ers handle slow and crappy" etc and etc and etc.

 

[binary visions]

The Cops did and now I can never run for public office.

Between your drunken antics and your shock-value commentary, any single person on this board has enough material on you to keep you from running for public office anyway.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Or what about Articles featuring some of these custom builders, huh? What about doing ACTUAL GEAR COMPARISONS? REAL TESTS?

Which Brake has the most power? A real test:

Which frame can stand the most punishment: Give me some NUMBERS

Put different Susp. designs on a treadmill, dyno, whatever...you know?

Its not as if there arent things to be written about. Its irresponsible, these stupid mags.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Between your drunken antics and your shock-value commentary, any single person on this board has enough material on you to keep you from running for public office anyway.

You guys wouldnt do that, would you? Nah.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Or what about Articles featuring some of these custom builders, huh? What about doing ACTUAL GEAR COMPARISONS? REAL TESTS?

Which Brake has the most power? A real test:

Which frame can stand the most punishment: Give me some NUMBERS

Put different Susp. designs on a treadmill, dyno, whatever...you know?

Its not as if there arent things to be written about. Its irresponsible, these stupid mags.

Sounds you want scientific method applied. I'm pretty sure there are no scientists involved.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Or what about Articles featuring some of these custom builders, huh? What about doing ACTUAL GEAR COMPARISONS? REAL TESTS?

Which Brake has the most power? A real test:

Which frame can stand the most punishment: Give me some NUMBERS

Put different Susp. designs on a treadmill, dyno, whatever...you know?

Its not as if there arent things to be written about. Its irresponsible, these stupid mags.

The articals are really just advertisements...

 

[BurlyShirley]

Sounds you want scientific method applied. I'm pretty sure there are no scientists involved.

Yeah but you know, I put a frame in a vice, put a car jack on the front fork and see which head tube snaps off the easiest. Surely the could use a hydrolic press and get some numbers. I dunno. I wish I ran one of these mags. It would be totally different.

 

[blue]

I seem to remember browsing their 29er/26er comparison a few months ago and saw lots of scary numbers. I didn't really care, but it seemed very scientific, for MBA.

Then I flipped through the "ask RC" section and wanted to kill babies.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Easily the best part of this site is the new RideReports forum. I love taking in every word and every pic of every one of them. That's what mountain biking is about. Not just the stupid gear. Yeah, you need good gear, but come on...

 

[OGRipper]

Rage against the machine man...

Seriously, some mags have at least some credibility from being independent and willing to bash products produced by their advertisers, and for targeting adults with some bike knowledge.

MBF is not one of them.

 

[dan-o]

It sounds like you want some BIKE-Germany action. They go crazy with testing.
Want to know the rolling resistance of DH tires on a sandpaper covered steel drum? They have it. Want to check suspension response on a treadmill covered with broomsticks? It's in there.

 

[Echo]

Here's how MBA rates gear they "test":

1. Company sends MBA an item to evaluate.

2. MBA uses it, probably not correctly.

3. If Company lets MBA keep the item, they give it a good review. If Company asks MBA to send the item back, they give it a bad review.

Pretty simple system actually.

 

[Echo]

Oh, and if the item might compete with something that MBA is considering doing themselves, such as "Break it, Fix it, Ride it", they will give it a bad review.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Here's how MBA rates gear they "test":

1. Company sends MBA an item to evaluate.

2. MBA uses it, probably not correctly.

3. If Company lets MBA keep the item, they give it a good review. If Company asks MBA to send the item back, they give it a bad review.

Pretty simple system actually.

 

[DirtyDog]

Man,
People need to write articles about "The time I rode my bike from Seattle to Denver" or "The time I crashed 30 miles from civilization and broke both my legs and had to fend off coyotes" but none of these writers freaking ride enough to have these types of experience IMO.
Gear reviews are fine, but that shouldnt be the focus of the mag.

Bike Magazine had stuff like that back in the day. Anyone remember the Beer Foam Shootout? Is Bike still around?

 

[binary visions]

Bike Magazine had stuff like that back in the day. Anyone remember the Beer Foam Shootout? Is Bike still around?

Yeah, I subscribe to Bike.

The articles aren't nearly as cool as they were back when it started, but the pictures are still good.

 

[bluebug32]

As a magazine editor, I think MBA is a poorly researched-lifeless magazine with some of the worst layout and art direction in the business. They're articles are sexist and often-times innacurate and they happily suck it for any advertiser who pushes a crumpled dollar their way.




To put it nicely....

 

[DirtyDog]

My favorite old Bike articles:

Beer Foam Shootout Put a bottle of beer in the bottle cage of several full suspension bikes. Ride down rough trail. Open beer. The one that foams the less was obviously on the bike with superior suspension. Duh.

Tire review Mount tires on rims, inflate, roll down a steep trail. The one that rolls the farthest is the best tire.

Hundred bucks They gave 3 guys a hundred bucks and told them to go have bike related fun with it. My favorite was the story of the guy that used his bike and BOB to haul a keg and a stack of pizzas down to the beach for a bonfire.

That mag was just fun to read. I don't give a **** about this months micro-changes in suspension design or what bike is 3.7% better than another.

 

[Heidi]

Beer Foam Shootout Put a bottle of beer in the bottle cage of several full suspension bikes. Ride down rough trail. Open beer. The one that foams the less was obviously on the bike with superior suspension. Duh.

Hahah - I know what I'm going tomorrow night!

 

[bikenweed]

Nice! I subscribed to Bike between 1996 and 2005. Definitely the best magazine out there, but after it got bought, it lost a lot of, uh, soul.

I just reread the Freeloader's Guide to Colorado Couch Surfing while I was pooping a few minutes ago.

My favorite old Bike articles:

Beer Foam Shootout Put a bottle of beer in the bottle cage of several full suspension bikes. Ride down rough trail. Open beer. The one that foams the less was obviously on the bike with superior suspension. Duh.

Tire review Mount tires on rims, inflate, roll down a steep trail. The one that rolls the farthest is the best tire.

Hundred bucks They gave 3 guys a hundred bucks and told them to go have bike related fun with it. My favorite was the story of the guy that used his bike and BOB to haul a keg and a stack of pizzas down to the beach for a bonfire.

That mag was just fun to read. I don't give a **** about this months micro-changes in suspension design or what bike is 3.7% better than another.

 

[DRB]

The Cops did and now I can never run for public office.

You and Partsy need to hook up.

 

[DRB]

My favorite old Bike articles:

Beer Foam Shootout Put a bottle of beer in the bottle cage of several full suspension bikes. Ride down rough trail. Open beer. The one that foams the less was obviously on the bike with superior suspension. Duh.

Tire review Mount tires on rims, inflate, roll down a steep trail. The one that rolls the farthest is the best tire.

Hundred bucks They gave 3 guys a hundred bucks and told them to go have bike related fun with it. My favorite was the story of the guy that used his bike and BOB to haul a keg and a stack of pizzas down to the beach for a bonfire.

That mag was just fun to read. I don't give a **** about this months micro-changes in suspension design or what bike is 3.7% better than another.

Those were good. I also remember one where they wrapped themselves in bubblewrap as protective gear. And another where they were racing Bike Es down some downhill.

 

[BurlyShirley]

Somebody have an email addy of someone at these mags who we can link this thread to? Seriously. These are the opinions of mountain bikers. I know that mags are facing becoming obselete from the net, maybe they should take the readers' advice.

EDIT: And what would be nice, when someone complains, is for the mag not to say something to defend itself. No amount of defense will make the mag NOT suck. It just needs to change, plain and simple.

 

[DirtyDog]

Somebody have an email addy of someone at these mags who we can link this thread to? Seriously. These are the opinions of mountain bikers. I know that mags are facing becoming obselete from the net, maybe they should take the readers' advice.

I was able to have an email conversation directly with the editor of Mountain Bike a few years ago about this very thing. Basically what he told me was they don't give a ****, they know what they are doing, and they aren't interested in doing anything different.

 

[BurlyShirley]

I was able to have an email conversation directly with the editor of Mountain Bike a few years ago about this very thing. Basically what he told me was they don't give a ****, they know what they are doing, and they aren't interested in doing anything different.

hahah, that's awesome because that mag no longer exists They REALLY must've known what they were doing.

 

[I Are Baboon]

hahah, that's awesome because that mag no longer exists They REALLY must've known what they were doing.

It exists. It comes packaged with Bicycling. You get both free with your IMBA membership, but I really don't know why IMBA chooses to punish their members like this.

 

[BurlyShirley]

It exists. It comes packaged with Bicycling. You get both free with your IMBA membership, but I really don't know why IMBA chooses to punish their members like this.

Oh. Well. No wonder Ive not seen it then.

Whatever.

Still the most disappointing mag is decline. I bought a few issues actually, and didnt even finish flipping through the last couple. Crappy layouts, etc..

Also, why would I want to buy a mag to read Brian Lopes and other people b!tch about how crappy the state of pro racing is?

WTF is that?

 

[Spunger]

Well I do the same thing at the same bookstore, except I grab Decline as well or Dirt if they have it

I quit subscribing to MBA this year as it was just the same articles, same products over and over again. I don't need articles on how to beat the heat, or which maxxis tire is best, or tips how to spend $25-50-100+. Plus their one XC bike review, one FR bike review, and then the oddball got old quick.

Dirt and Decline have only what I'm interested in (FR, DH, and DJ). Their prices are higher than MBA or the other mags but they are more like fancy photo books (the quality is up there). I might get a subscription to one of them and try it.

 

[I Are Baboon]

Oh. Well. No wonder Ive not seen it then.

Whatever.

Still the most disappointing mag is decline. I bought a few issues actually, and didnt even finish flipping through the last couple. Crappy layouts, etc..

Also, why would I want to buy a mag to read Brian Lopes and other people b!tch about how crappy the state of pro racing is?

WTF is that?

Well Mountain Bike is like eight pages long so you may have mistook it for a store flyer or something.