What about a retro mtb magazine?

The biggest chunk of publishers' turnover comes not from the purchase price, but from advertising revenue. Unless you were happy to have several pages devoted to modern equipment sales, you'd be running at a serious loss.
The last bike mag I really enjoyed reading (and didn't feel I'd wasted money on) was Dirtrag, around 3-4 years ago - don't know if it's still the same now, but it seemed to have a really good mix of stuff and made me appreciate other aspects of cycling a lot more.

Excellent idea and i think John has a money tree in his garden so he can cover the huge outlay really easily

A small magazine my Girlfriend writes for is bi-monthly, employs 5 and doesn't exactly make millions in profit.

Their distribution is @ 60,000, readership about double that, but the key (as above) is the advertising, as long as you can show advertisers you have the 'customers' for their product they will invest in the product, but then the 'retro' mag is going to be full of adverts for modern stuff.

lrh":2r1791pr said:

In place of the old gallery it would be good to have a "Garage" area where you could post pictures, spec and write a bit about your bikes... Kinda like the "30 Days of GT" feature. The trouble with project threads is they're 90% banter.

If the Wiki was more popular people would write more guides, articles, history of brands, etc.. I've written a couple of technical guides but had to just stick them in general chat to be noticed. I must figure out how the hell you use the Wiki :?

Perhaps the old gallery and mag/brochure scans forum should be merged into the Wiki and that becomes the one stop shop for organised info?

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I'll have a look at your threads and see what I can transfer across to the Wiki. Might make me do Somme myself.

For the info there is always a column in the Switchback Magazine. Always interesting and even the modern bits can be as it often other stuff not the bikes.
Their website isn't online but they have always made the magazine, not sure if it costs anything, mine is a free online subscription.

I think the magazine market has declined since the advent of the internetz, iPhones, tablets etc, and the retro-mtb readership would be fairly small.
I was actually looking at MTB magazines in Tesco today, but didn't fancy spending nearly a fiver on a magazine with a "free" sponge, or karabiner :roll:

The last MTB magazines I bought were actually retro-MTB ones though, as in from 1993/4
If you want a retro-MTB magazine then just buy an old copy of MBUK from years ago, you can find them in the for sale section, on ebay, or place a Wanted ad.

FluffyChicken":10top4ul said:

I'll have a look at your threads and see what I can transfer across to the Wiki. Might make me do Somme myself.

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Doh! I've just realised why I couldn't do anything on the Wiki, you have log in separately! I'll have a go at adding my stuff to the Workshop tomorrow.

But again, it's a bit remote from the main forum and I'm not sure many look at it :?

In France with "Génération Mountain bike", we are proud to write an article in a mtb magazine. Each month we show a retro mtb with its story and its genesis.

the wiki needs to be made simpler, especially for idiots like me, there is a load of info that needs uplifting on many many threads IMHO.

Searching for stuff of old threads takes hours, the central hub needs to be the WIKI.

Long live the WIKI.

(but please somebody with some savvy take the initiative and do a thread detailing the steps to uploading etc. For the simples amongst us.)

As for a retro magazine. I long for the days of old. You must remember, when fellas did it simple, like Fat Tyre Flyer...? Id buy it and read it, sod tablets and I-Phones, im all the the oldskool, hell bring back Red Telephone boxes.....

It wouldnt need to be glossy or cost a mint. But hey we Now live in the modern world. (and it aint the same).

PMSL.

I can't read large blocks of text from a screen without my head & eyes aching, even when I'm wearing glasses, so I never really get the same level of info online. Plus there's the ability to stuff a mag into a bag or coat pocket, and read it anywhere without needing to recharge the batteries. Or avoid direct sunlight. Or worry about it getting a bit wet.