Cycling Weekly reader survey

[Justin(e)]

The general rule with IPC (CW publishers) is that they maintain editorial independence very strongly

They are the only mag I've ever seen review Dave Hinde bikes.  Must be a coincidence that he takes a double page ad in most issues.

I know a reviewer for Cycling Weekly.

She says it is a very tricky job balancing her own independence against the phone calls of product makers who harangue her (and give her freebies).  It is just easier to give a favourable review to please her editor and the company.  That way she gets another commission to write an article and more free clothes.

Even if she dislikes a product it will inevitably score a 6/7 out of ten.  It is as if there is grade inflation in the magazines (just like schools and the inverse of dress sizes).  When was the last time you saw a product carpeted or a score less than 6?

Editorial independence & CW. Oxymoron.

[Keith]

In over 35 years of involvement in cycling, I never found any need to read CW or felt any loss of touch from not reading it. Its always been a bit of a mystery to me how it keeps going and I always used to assume it was just bought by the type of people that liked to read their latest TT times in last weeks Club 50. Yawn.

Anyway when I used to advertise events in it, it was too expensive and the CTC mag gave better responses.

[kond]

I always used to assume it was just bought by the type of people that liked to read their latest TT times

Go on some of the TT forums and you'll find out that they think CW deserted them and their interests a long time ago! Things have improved a little of late but a random sportive will get several pages where the national TT events will often only get a small paragraph. Results are much reduced on what they used to be as well.

CW is very much focused on the have a go racer/sportive market. They rarely review a bike that costs less than 2k and rehash the same fitness and training advice on a pretty regular basis. I still get it though because I like reading about bikes! Michael Hutchinson is also always worth a read.

[Bones]

In over 35 years of involvement in cycling, I never found any need to read CW or felt any loss of touch from not reading it. Its always been a bit of a mystery to me how it keeps going and I always used to assume it was just bought by the type of people that liked to read their latest TT times in last weeks Club 50. Yawn.

Anyway when I used to advertise events in it, it was too expensive and the CTC mag gave better responses.

Not had so long on two wheels and have had spasms of buying CW but don't miss it when I don't either. I have a subscription to Cycling Plus but two years down the line feel they just re-cycle the some stuff a lot of the time - at least once a year, an article on how cycling makes you better in bed! Yes I sleep really well after a hilly 200k until the pain kicks in about 0500. I enjoy the CTC magazine and feel it is less biased in its reviews but if I really want to know about something I would ask on here and get the opions of people who have had to spend their hard earned cash to discover how good or bad some product really is.

Now I have done a few audax rides I appreciate the articles in Arrivee much more . I suspect the editor would be grateful for short articles about almost anything cycling related even if there was only a tenuous link to audax.

[PatC]

    My point was that Arrivee is the magazine of AUK therefore it's content should reflect that. We can't very well complain that other mainstream cycling publications ignore Audax if we allow our magazine to feature articles that are 'outside' of Audax however interesting they may be. I have every respect for peoples differing tastes but feel that Arrivee should remain solely 'Audax'.

   Isn't the purpose of Arrivee to promote Audax? Over the years many articles have inspired me to have a go at events which I've always assumed is the whole point of the mag. At the very least write-ups in Arrivee are good publicity which is something we don't and are not likely to get in the mainstream mags. 

   One of my other cycling interests is riding mountain passes but I would not expect Arrivee to cater for that. Nor would I expect to see articles about commuting, mountain biking or BMXing.   

[Weirdy Biker]

Inclusion of tours, endurance MTB, raids, sportives etc etc in Arrivee is entirely in line with the purpose of AUK as laid out in the company memorandum.

Audax is a means to an end, not an end in itself.

[hellymedic]

IMO Long-Distance Cycling is not just doing Audax rides. A magazine which only had articles about this would be in danger of getting monotonous rather than inspiring.
IMO...

[rogerzilla]

I filled out the survey then it said there was a problem with my answers, but had blanked them all without telling me what I'd done wrong, so I thought "sod it" and closed the window.

Jakob Nielsen would have a fit.

[PatC]

    I'm not suggesting every article has to be a rigid discription of an Audax event. One of the articles that springs to mind (fairly) recently was by Colin B about weight training and gym work. This concept seemed very 'un-Audax' but he tied it in with his recent PBP experiences which made it very relevant. It's not inspired me to take out a gym membership but it was an interesting angle on Audaxing.
    I wouldn't expect to see articles about the Etape du Tour but could see that an account of a riders buildup to the event using Audax events would be interesting. Articles about lighting, navigation all add to giving riders the knowledge to undertake events. 
   

[mikewigley]

There's an excellent letter in this week's Cycling Weekly from Chris, a new Organiser for Peak Audax

http://www.highergrangefarm.fsnet.co.uk/PeakAudax/document/CyclingWeekly.pdf

That's Robert Watson on the left but does anyone recognise the rider on the right?

[border-rider]

Bob Yates ?

Not sure, but it looks like him and he's from the same part of the world as Robert Watson.

That lane looks like something that might feature on the Rural South to me, and I know both of them have ridden that in the past

[Bones]

Slightly off the subject but Cycling Plus have the "Poor Student" down as an event to do in their what to do in January blurb! I had to read it twice to make sure I wasn't imagining it! I suspect audaxes will not feature so prominently once the sportivers come out from under the compost heap or where ever they go in winter.