Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

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AUbicycles
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Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby AUbicycles » Thu May 11, 2017 7:21 pm

You may have heard that ride magazine will cease publishing the print magazine - the website however shows every indication that content production is continuing.

Specifically in October there is an edition planned and in 2017 and 2018 the Tour de France edition will also be printed.


Phil Latz of Bicycling Trade magazine (and founder of Bicycling Australia mag - while was sold to Yaffa) published an interview with Ride Cycling Review Founder / Editor Rob Arnold. http://www.bicyclingtrade.com.au/news/t ... w-magazine

The interview doesn't however explore the reasons and there is a suggestion that there will be announcements (for new endeavours?) soon.

Christopher
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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby Nikolai » Thu May 11, 2017 10:25 pm

Rob will come up with something interesting. Digital this time. For me, it's a sad news in more than one sense. I like holding paper in my hands. I also like to come back and re-read something. I never do this online unless it's a longform piece.

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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby AUbicycles » Fri May 12, 2017 6:18 am

Ride is a glossier magazine than the competitors but also has a narrower audience than the other road cycling magazines - that can be an advantage but also disadvantage.

Digital is well and truely the norm for Ride magazine readers and providing added value becomes tougher with digital competition. That said - print can succeed if it has the right niche... but this also can limit the ability to distribute.

Perhaps because of digital or simply changing habits, I very rarely ever complete read a magazine whereas I used to always read each mag from cover to cover and delve over ever single detail - though this was before the time of ride and also when the 'snippet' style content (with lots of short items on one page) was less common.
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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby MichaelB » Fri May 12, 2017 8:39 am

Nikolai wrote:Rob will come up with something interesting. Digital this time. For me, it's a sad news in more than one sense. I like holding paper in my hands. I also like to come back and re-read something. I never do this online unless it's a longform piece.
+1 for me.

Once out of print, unlikely to subscribe. Hard to read iPad in dunny.

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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby brumby33 » Fri May 12, 2017 9:37 am

I'm finding this may be the plight of many printed publications and not just bicycle Mags and I think if many of them go digital, that will be their demise. Advertisers also want to see their highly priced adverts in hard copy..not digital.
I think even some Aussie Publications get their printing done overseas.
$10 seems to also be a crucial price point to some publications irrespective of the interest group they are targeting, once it goes into the $12 area, it approaches the pricing of Overseas imported magazines. I notice an increase of English and American version of Cycling Mags in the newsagencies.
I'm also starting to see major gaps in the Newsagency Magazine shelves lately....is this a worrying sign?

I won't go digital, it's hard enough when some Mags go from Monthly to Qtr yearly and become thinner as well, reading them takes less than half an hour and you're left hanging for the next 3 Months.
I mean does it really take 3 Months to get decent Cycling content and have it printed?
I'm an avid reader of the Ride-on magazine but they seem they are getting later and later between publicatons.

I hate reading magazine content on a screen of any kind, nothing better than relaxing with a printed magazine over a beer/wine or coffee. Even buying a book online, if it's a choice of getting a soft cover hard copy or an online digital copy for $10 less, I'll pick the book with postage all the time as I know I have it for life...don't need to worry about faulty or outdated electronics to keep it.

So, I hope all Mags don't all disappear in the future:shock:

Cheers

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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby Thoglette » Fri May 12, 2017 11:14 am

brumby33 wrote:I'm finding this may be the plight of many printed publications and not just bicycle Mags and I think if many of them go digital, that will be their demise. Advertisers also want to see their highly priced adverts in hard copy..not digital.
This is an inevitable result of the last 30 years of "chase the advertiser" model of magazine production and the associated horizontal consolidation of the print industry, which was already vertically integrated.

All that "digital" has done to magazines is the same as it has done in every other market: unshackle the monopoly lock-in. Previously, if I wanted to find a UK or US magazine I'd have to a) know that it existed and b) hunt down a specialty importer or subscribe site-unseeen.

Unfortunately, until publishers realise that click bait is not content their dead-tree editions are going to suffer.
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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby elantra » Thu Jun 01, 2017 3:48 pm

MichaelB wrote:
Nikolai wrote:Rob will come up with something interesting. Digital this time. For me, it's a sad news in more than one sense. I like holding paper in my hands. I also like to come back and re-read something. I never do this online unless it's a longform piece.
+1 for me.

Once out of print, unlikely to subscribe. Hard to read iPad in dunny.
In a perfect world there would be room for printed magazines and online news sites, but i guess too many people think that the only thing worth looking at is whatever rubbish pops up in their fbook feed.
Personally i like to buy the occasional cycling mag, such as Ride or Bicycling Australia etc.
Can't read an online journal on an aeroplane and also the signal to noise ratio is better in print than for most online stuff - except BNA of course ! :wink:

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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby AUbicycles » Thu Jun 01, 2017 9:06 pm

The evolution of magazines means that many general mags continue to disappear whereas some types will continue (though sales volume may change)

• Mags that appeals to older audiences (grannies) women's and gossip
• High quality niche mags
• Established shooting star mags (Time or The Economist)
• Free Magazines

For the world of bike, apart from being too slow for 'news', so many online sites are capable or creating free high quality content and while the experience or reading digital is different - the information is there.
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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby MichaelB » Wed Nov 08, 2017 10:57 am

Has anyone subscribed to the new electronic edition ?

If so, how have your found it ?

When it was in print, I was an avid reader, but a bit meh re reading it on an iPad.

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Re: Ride Cycling Review Stops Print Magazine

Postby AUbicycles » Tue Nov 21, 2017 6:01 pm

It can be an identical article but paper is more readable. For digital, a readable article tends to have a different writing style / article format.
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