MEDIA SPECIAL
Hot off the press
The way your average cyclist consumes media is changing. Be it digital subscriptions via tablets, good old fashioned print, or a bit of both, publishers are having to adapt. Mark Sutton examines the consumer mag market...
THE RIDE JOURNAL – Industry favourite The Ride Journal is up to issue seven now, which doesn’t make it sound particularly old. Editor Phillip Diprose set about creating issue one five years ago, however and the magazine has put on weight every issue since the launch. Diprose told BikeBiz: “We’ve tried to stop
ourselves getting any bigger. It’s a case of balancing bigger being better with crippling escalating postage costs. As for the content we always try to offer something new. It would be really easy to rely on people we know are great, but that’s the quickest way to grow stale. This way we keep telling new stories, keep shining a light on new talent and hopefully keep people interested in a format that has remained pretty solid since issue one.” The format remains the same, with a blend
of riders both professional and amateur, celebrities with cycling stories, though The Journal remains open to ideas. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say getting to talk to
Jens Voigt wasn’t a highlight,” said Diprose. “He’s the only rider I’d actually singled out as wanting for the journal and I finally got the chance to speak to him. I don’t normally get phased when it comes to talking to riders, but this was Jens Voigt. Thankfully he was just as great to chat with as I’d hoped. “Of other ‘names’ we’ve got Sir Bradley and
even Formula 1 star Mark Webber, but as ever it’s just as much about the everyday riders. People from all across the world with great tales to tell, photographers and artists who can
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capture a moment in a way you don’t usually see in cycling magazines.” The Ride Journal is to ‘take a break’ ahead of issue eight, we’re told, with Diprose himself conceding that he hasn’t been able to ride as much as he’d like in recent years. Cycle retailers are still very much part of
Peter Eland’s Velovision focuses on less traditional cycles
bringing the magazine to market and any that would like stock should contact
editor@theridejournal.com for information. Meanwhile, if you haven’t already, check out issues one through four, now free to download at
theridejournal.com.
CYCLE (CTC) –With the membership of the
CTC constantly on the rise, so is the circulation of its magazine, which now goes out to 53,000 members six times per year. The CTC told BikeBiz that “many renew their membership just so the magazine hits their doormats”. With many copies going out to cycle club
members the organisation feels that its readership could be much larger too with copies often passed around. What’s more, research by the CTC suggests that the magazine is also highly regarded by women, with 24 per cent of its readership going out to female subscribers.
Another title managed by Peter Eland – the market’s sole electric bike-only title
THE ALBION – Now onto volume three and
nearing two years since the issue one launch party, The Albion remains a popular free countertop BMX magazine in 20-inch specialist stores up and down the country. The Albion now prints 9,000 magazines for
UK, the Republic of Ireland and NI circulation per issue, as well as having opened its distribution up to the United States. Further to this, 2012 saw the publisher embrace digital, placing its back issues on web-flipbook Issuu, where it has since seen over 300,000 views. Publisher Tim March told BikeBiz: “For 2013
we are going to be doing more of the same. We are very lucky to have the backing of the industry for what we do and without them we could not provide our readers with the quality media we produce, and they don’t have to spend money on a mag so they can keep their bikes running with the cash they save. We will continue to support bike shops, skateparks and specific retailers as they help grow their scenes at the grass roots level and beyond.” To carry stock of the magazine all retailers need is an account with 4Down, Tabletop, Scoop, Snap, Seventies, Moore Large, Zeal, Boardroom, Shiner, or Elephant.
VELOVISION AND ELECTRIC BIKE
MAGAZINE – Both of Peter Eland’s titles this year switched to a three issues per year model, with both having grown a strong digital subscription following to back the print magazine’s presence. Supplied on a free distribution model, Electric
Bike magazine continues to concentrate on in- depth reviews of current models from the UK's leading suppliers, all immediately posted online, along with buying advice for beginners. Paper copies are distributed at shows, through
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