DENNIS PUBLISHING
From left, the Cyclist team: James Young, Pete Muir, James Spender, Rob Milton, Stu Bowers, Sean Igoe, Chris Stowell and Peter Stuart Bridging the gap
You might have noticed another road cycling magazine emerging lately, notably with a bit of weight behind its pagination. Mark Sutton meets the Cyclist team and talks to publisher Nicola Bates about and the wider Dennis business…
WHO SAID print was dead? In a less than ideal economy to add a print title to its already extensive portfolio, Dennis Publishing has thrown caution to the wind and marked its 40th anniversary with the launch of Cyclist, now on issue ten since it’s launch back in September 2012. It’s a title that publishing industry celebrity
and founder of the media firm, Felix Dennis, was apparently originally uneasy about adding to the collection of titles, which presently include Men’s and Women’s Fitness, The Week, Viz and Auto Express, among many others. Dennis’ early concerns about adding a cycling title to an already busy marketplace were eased by the appointments of several industry figures who had previously worked with competitor’s titles, yet made the jump to be part of the new road cycling title. Among the recruits to the team are Stu
Bowers, the deputy editor and former Cycling Weekly writer. Bowers has also represented Britain in two cycling disciplines. Then there’s the designer, Rob Milton, for whom many will credit with the fresh feel to the magazine. Milton, already with plenty of prior experience, including three years at Men’s Health, has recently been nominated for the PPA Designer of the Year award. Sean Igoe was also brought in from his
former advertising sales director role at Factory Media. Tasked with business development and sales, Igoe has previously also headed up the advertising departments for sports and gaming titles at Future Publishing. What’s more, Igoe’s committed to the cause, signing himself, plus account manager and former IPC and Magicalia man, Chris Stowell, up for the Big Issue London to Paris ride later this year.
BIKEBIZ.COM
“We’ve doubled our subscriber target of 2,500 in the first year.”
Nicola Bates, Publisher
With former Men’s fitness editorial director,
Pete Muir, in place as the editor, supported by Bowers, James Spender and new recruit Peter Stuart, the Cyclist editorial team is heaped with experience in cycling, fitness and travel. This, explains Muir, complements the magazine’s brief of ‘showing people things they haven’t seen in the cycling press before’. “Our audience earn on average 50k a year.
They’re affluent, aspirational people who, as rehashed as this statement is, see cycling as the new golf. We’re steering clear of reviews with star ratings, as what suits us may not necessarily suit everyone. Our goal is to steer our readers in the direction of a product that will suit their needs, assisting them in making an informed decision.” The magazine takes the scientific approach
to articles about saddles, for example, detailing which styles suit different riders, according to the experts behind the design, as opposed to what the marketing department may have to say about the product. A similar approach is taken to articles on cycling tours around the world. The content is built largely around the riders themselves and their experiences in the saddle at each stage, as opposed to a list of gradients and overly complicated maps. Details on how to undertake such expeditions, right down to flight information, combined with stunning photography from a number of freelance professionals, inspire the reader.
MORE ABOUT DENNIS
Dennis is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year The publisher has offices in London, Peterborough, Wollaston and New York Dennis magazine portfolio covers current affairs, tech, automotive, fitness and cycling The UK office office employs over 400 staff Dennis has its own 12-strong in-house app development team who put together the successful ‘Cyclist app’
BIKEBIZ JUNE 33 Keen to link further with the motivated
cyclist, as well as the industry, the publisher signed as the media partner for the Pearl Izumi Tour Series, and the presenting partner for the Canary Wharf stage. Publisher of Cyclist, Nicola Bates tells
BikeBiz: “We’ve been incredibly well-received in our early days by the bike trade. Of course to begin with many were understandably wary of another title, but once we’d passed our third issue things began to really happen. The pagination has gone from 132 for issue one, to 188 on our tenth edition, our fourth successive increase. Having set a target of 2,500 subscribers in the first year, we’ve just this month passed 5,000. Overall copy sales are in rude health, with an average of 20,000 sold per issue, and currently carrying 60 pages of advertising. We’re really pleased with our performance to date”
The consumer seems to appreciate the
magazine’s style too, says Bates, with the publisher’s debut London Bike Show stand running out of back issues on the first day, requiring more stock of the prior issues to be shipped in for the final day of show. At present, you’ll find Cyclist alongside
Dennis’s other titles on the newsstand of local newsagents, supermarkets, travel stores and sampled free of charge in the foyers of many of London’s corporate buildings.
cyclistmag.co.uk
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