MBUK

[Russell]

Google? Facebook?

How many ads would they have if nobody used them? Even enterprises that are entirely funded by advertising need to have audience first and foremost.

Well, that depends on how good their sales team is

 

[rosstheboss]

"advertising led" isn't a sustainable model.

Google? Facebook?

FWIW, I think MBUK is right.

I don't consider a '98 Kona to be retro (other than the brakes, there's really very little difference to a more recent bike) but accepting that some people here do, would they say that their 1998 Kona is a better ride than their 1988 Kona??? Of course they would, so why would a 2008 bike not be better than a 1998? I would hope that as much work went into improving the ride between '98-'08 as it did between '88-'98... Wouldn't you?

Exactly!!! Would it not be a bit strange if bikes got technically WORSE year after year?!? MBUK's job is to sell new bikes for bike companies - hence no 2nd hand section. Have you read a review of anything in any magazine and wondered what difference there actually is between different products? The testers get paid money to write down what they think is wrong in a product to provide an opinion and to keep them in a job - If thats their mindset then of course they're going to think a 5/10/15/20 yo bike is a pile of shit!!!
There are many parallels in other pastimes - remember when Top Gear took the old Ferrari, Lambo and Maserati to the track and they got dumped on by a diesel astra? What car would you rather own or just have a go in?

 

[jez-4-bikes-max]

The Lambo

 

[Defiant]

The Maserati

 

[MikeD]

MBUK's job is to sell new bikes for bike companies - hence no 2nd hand section

Having been in the office when the second hand section was pulled, I can guarantee that that wasn't the reason - it came out because running it was a pain in the bum (all the ads came in on little forms cut out of the mag, hundreds of them, which all had to be typed in by somebody, and then had to be run in 5pt text to fit them all in) and it was two pages that, it was decided, could be better used with more editorial ;-)

 

[losidan]

If as stated there main target audience is the youth market then I understand why they focus on the latest stuff. When we were younger we wanted the latest and best, not something old....Same with everything not just bikes isnt it?? Similarly it is only natural to get to a point to look back with "misty eyes" and miss the "old days"

Maybe a few years it'll be like BMX (as more riders come into the the retro scene as they rack up the years) where you have, old skool, mid skool and new skool. So, it maybe that soon there is a demand for a retro bike dedicated mag as the potential readership grows....