What about a retro mtb magazine??

[terryhfs]

It just wouldn't fly commercially. Why divert advertising spend into a mag that has a few thousand readers when you could be advertising in a publication with ten or a hundred times more readers?

re: Classic Cars - a friend of mine has just spaffed out £40K on sorting the bodywork alone of his e-type. There is a ton of money in the market - it's incomparable to cycling.

And why would we need a mag? We have this site. What would be in a mag that isn't here already?

 

[SF Klein]

There is a small yet significant flaw in your plan. Any magazine would go bankrupt if there was no advertising inside, none could survive purely from sales.

Magazines for new bikes get advertising from new bike manufacturers, new component manufacturers, bike shops that sell new stuff and so on. Who is going to advertise in a magazine that specializes in old, no longer available stuff? How many manufacturers or retailers do you see advertising on the forum?

Classic car magazines I hear you say, I don't think it's fair to compare classic bikes to classic cars simply by the virtue of the number of people involved in the industry and the money spent. There are many specialist firms that make huge ammounts of money (and therefore have it to spend on advertising) from automotive engineering or restoration.

Yes Retrobike has a following but look at how many active members we have, probably a couple of hundred or so. The majority of people join up to ask how much their Giant Bumgrape or Kona Wannalayme (copyright chris667) is worth before vanishing never to get too involved in the forum. Then look at how much voluntary work goes on to making Retrobike work from John and the modding team.

I don't believe a magazine would work to be honest though I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

True enough that advertising is usually necessary to support a mag but even in the online world, there's a lot of talk lately about charging for online content. The Wall St. Journal is probably the most successful example of this so they get both subscription revenue and advertising revenue. Watch this trend as it gets tested by other media outlets.

Also, think of all the eBay sellers who specialize in retro parts - they could be targeted as an ad client by a retro bike magazine sales organization. So too could the welders and painters that specialize in repairing or restoring old bikes. You could also pitch advertising to 3M and its clear vinyl products that could be specially cut to be applied to protect a nice paint job. Point is, there are plenty of ad clients out there that could be targeted but whether or not they'd pay to advertise would depend on the sales pitch and quality of the magazine.

 

[Blackadder]

It just wouldn't fly commercially. Why divert advertising spend into a mag that has a few thousand readers when you could be advertising in a publication with ten or a hundred times more readers?

re: Classic Cars - a friend of mine has just spaffed out £40K on sorting the bodywork alone of his e-type. There is a ton of money in the market - it's incomparable to cycling.

And why would we need a mag? We have this site. What would be in a mag that isn't here already?

Why not? simple thing is you can buy a mag and take it with you on a long haul flight even a short flight it is a simple thing you can take a mag practically anywhere you can't take a computer everywhere can you? say the toilet well you could if you are weired

 

[SF Klein]

Why not? simple thing is you can buy a mag and take it with you on a long haul flight even a short flight it is a simple thing you can take a mag practically anywhere you can't take a computer everywhere can you? say the toilet well you could if you are weired

Back when the internet really started to take off, someone asked Rupert Murdoch (owner of the FOX empire) if he thought his newspaper business was doomed. His classic reply was "As long as there are toilets, there will be newspapers."

 

[scottrider]

a bit off subject but today MBUK hit a new low...aparently two of the best bikes of 2009 come from halfruds...i fell on the floor loling, :shock:

 

[terryhfs]

Why not? simple thing is you can buy a mag and take it with you on a long haul flight even a short flight it is a simple thing you can take a mag practically anywhere you can't take a computer everywhere can you?

Hmm. I think you'd struggle to sell this idea to your financers. "There'll be literally, right, maybe 500 people in the world who'll buy the magazine. We'll have hardly any advertisers as the field is so specialist. And get this - best of all - of those 500 readers, maybe once a month three of four of them might take a plane somewhere. It's genius. Cough up the dosh."

 

[Blackadder]

Back when the internet really started to take off, someone asked Rupert Murdoch (owner of the FOX empire) if he thought his newspaper business was doomed. His classic reply was "As long as there are toilets, there will be newspapers."

Exactly..... But I have to admit I never thought I would agree with anything Murdoch ever said :shock:

 

[Blackadder]

a bit off subject but today MBUK hit a new low...aparently two of the best bikes of 2009 come from halfruds...i fell on the floor loling, :shock:

OHHHH..........PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE HAVING AN EARLY NEW YEARS LAUGH!!!??? :shock:

 

[scottrider]

a bit off subject but today MBUK hit a new low...aparently two of the best bikes of 2009 come from halfruds...i fell on the floor loling, :shock:

OHHHH..........PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE HAVING AN EARLY NEW YEARS LAUGH!!!??? :shock:

NO I AM NOT JOKEING GO SEE!!!! http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/artic ... f-09-24369
:roll: :roll: :roll: MBUK what a joke!

 

[terryhfs]

NO I AM NOT JOKEING GO SEE!!!

Why would that be a joke? The Boardman bikes are sensibly equipped, thoughtfully designed, good value. That sounds like a good set of reasons to reccomend a bike. Or would spending £200 more for a cooler brand name somehow transform the ride?