What about a retro mtb magazine??

[lewis1641]

I think the only way you could expect this not to fail would be to go down the route of the ride journal.

Carry on I am listening?

http://theridejournal.com/

very high quality,excellent photography, very well written. limited print run. not cheap (about £10 a pop). in my opinion aimed at the more mature cyclist (as in mature, not old).

the articles are written like short stories.

theride covers cycling in general but has a very boutique feel to it. i think a retro mag in this veign could well work. there's a retro bmx mag out there thats written in english and german. that could be another option.

 

[bduc61]

I had a magazine. A magazine is a tough way to try to make money, especially since computers have made publishing so easy that there are already too many small magazines. Computers and the Internet can now collect the wisdom and make it available all the time without having to move physical paper around. It's a brutal and relentless pastime, hobby, business, or whatever you want to call your time vacuum.

Every time you get one out, you have to start thinking about the next one. You never get to relax. People can't write simple English, if the submissions I saw were any indication.

Advertisers are tough to convince. Here's what they want to know. What would a print version have that the archives on this site do not? How many of us are there, what sort of demographic do we represent, how much money do we spend and what do we spend it on?

I see the Internet as a permanent library of magazine articles on any subject of interest to more than one person. It's hard to think of a related subject not already covered online. What sort of articles and photos would such a magazine publish? How would it establish all important and limited display space on public sale? There are thousands of publications competing for the shelf space that displays a few dozen.

The Devil's in the details.

could not agree more

internet has changed the world, like it or not. It is an information medium such as a magazine. But it is lighter, faster, cheaper, bigger ......

printed matter will disappear more and more ( I would not want to own a bookshop now :cry: or would hurry selling it)

numeric information is the way forward

I won't say books and magazine will disappear but they will focus on a more and more targeted customership and be more and more expensive !
that is the trend :shock:

By the way do you know that if a book is sold a 100, about 15 are for the printers ! 30 to 40 (if not more) go to the bookshop, 15 to 20 go to the dispatcher, 15 to 20 to the publisher and less than 5 to the writer ( and there is a bit of tax)
publishing specialist can amend my figures as it is not my specialty but I believe they are not far from the mark
Now guess where money can be made ! cutting the intermediaries who swallow more than 50% of the total price.
Make it numeric like google and amazon wish , sell it for 70 or 80 as suggested for numeric books ( not much cheaper than the printed one !) and see where the profit goes !!!!! this is a titan's fight we are seeing now for this new business :shock:

back to retrobike "articles"

now maybe the mods could open a subject where retrobikers who feel knowledgeable enough and have time ( scarce ressource) would write true articles similar to magazine ones.

I would not mind finance this type of effort for let's say 12 GBP a year ( subscription :?: )
If we are enough with the same attitude, it could retribute these hard workers

 

[SF Klein]

Agree that paper based reading materials will eventually go away in the modern world. Amazon.com announced that their Kindle electronic book reader was their best selling holiday gift ever. Once prices come down even further and wireless WiFi is even more ubiquitous in the cities, it's hard to argue against a scenario where you can download the morning's news, or grab the latest online magazine and have it on a Kindle-like device and you didn't even have to go to the newsstand. If you're in the publishing business, this is an interesting time. If you're in the paper business, toilet paper is probably becoming an increasing percentage of your business.

 

[Blackadder]

Thanks to all that have put their bit in on this I appreciate your honesty cheers guys....But I also have to add that I do think it is sad that people think that mags and reading material like books etc, etc are a dying thing what a shame I think the Nazis would be happy as they single handedly tried to destroy literature and now the internet has done it for them :roll: (No offense meant by mentioning the Nazis)

 

[terryhfs]

what a shame Sad I think the Nazis would be happy as they single handedly tried to destroy literature and now the internet has done it for them

Erm, I'd argue exactly the opposite. The Internet means that, if we haven't already arrived there, every piece of literature, art, music and film will be available to everyone, anywhere and all the time. That's an astonishing human achievement and the precise opposite of what the Nazis wanted to achieve.

And Halfords aren't crap and neither are Carrera bikes. Isla Rowntree did some design work for Carrera - she's a well respected industry figure. Most bikes are built from frames built in the same factories from the same materials and assembled using the same components. Believing one to be inherently better than another purely because of the brand is just falling for the advertising hype. If you've got a Carrera and you've had some memorable rides on it then it's a great bike.

And the worst service I've ever had from a cycling establishment? My local bike shop. Commercially inept and technically ignorant.

 

[Blackadder]

Erm, I'd argue exactly the opposite. The Internet means that, if we haven't already arrived there, every piece of literature, art, music and film will be available to everyone, anywhere and all the time. That's an astonishing human achievement and the precise opposite of what the Nazis wanted to achieve.

Well I don't want to argue about it but not being able to appreciate the real thing like books and film and pictures without the internet it is a little sad. Nothing is better than the real thing I mean do you like riding bikes or are you happy just looking at pictures on the internet? Have you ever visited the Louvre gallery? if you have you know how wonderful art is and how it can touch your soul......Sorry but looking at it on the internet just will not do that for you, by not having the real thing and looking through the web is soul destroying yes the internet gives you access to the world but it also takes away life's character. Because of the web (paper) mags and (paper) books are slowly dying and that is what I meant by Nazis and there achievements I have had a lot of info from the wife I admit she is a Jewish historian so I do tend to be one sided. But one thing I will say is I would much rather sit down the pub talking to all of you about bikes and the world to your faces but I can't so I am thankful for the internet for that small mercy :roll: anyway sorry no offense was meant.

 

[T'boo Ted]

as much as i like magazines (i tend to hoard them)... you can't really say that going to an art gallery as opposed to the internet is the same as mags vs net... its seeing the bikes in the metal, as pictures of art in mags isnt' the same as actually seeing them...
personally real thing>mag>net... but i'll take whatever I can get...

 

[Blackadder]

as much as i like magazines (i tend to hoard them)... you can't really say that going to an art gallery as opposed to the internet is the same as mags vs net.

No you can't but what I am saying is you may want to read and look at some glossy pictures of a bike that you really have a passion for. You are say at work on a lunch break and you are stuck in an office with no personal internet access then what do you do?. A mag will always win over ease of accessibility over the internet I am not saying the net is a bad thing but what I am saying is it is much easier to pick up and read a mag than it is to have internet access as not everyone has it.

 

[T'boo Ted]

yeah, agree with that... the number of times someone has nicely scanned up some article or review, thank you very mcuh, but I do wish I had the origianl in my hands, and a printout is just not the same

 

[john]

An interesting deabte and some good points made, esp by CK.

There's an interesting story about a cool and slightly leftfield MTB website which developed into a cool and slightly leftfield MTB magazine which is now a MTB magazine and website like all the others. Does this story have a point? You decide.

We here at RB definitely have plans to get something in print. Hopefully this year (although we say that every year). It won't be taking the form of a monthly mag though and will be done (as ever) for the love and not the money.