F-Stop Junkie

In all seriousness, there's not a lot of benefits to SM-ship. It's a sort of council of elders, discussing forum matters before taking it out to the wider group. We also get priority ordering when each batch of TF merchandise comes in (and the T-shirts are awesome!) as well as a modest discount at a few trials suppliers. Now being a mod, *that's* when the big pimpin' begins!

To get into WH Smiths or Tescos takes a *lot* of time and effort. In order to do so, you've got to prove you're worth more to the retailer than one of their existing titles. That's hard enough to do if you're Future or EMAP, if you're a small publisher with a new magazine, it ain't going to happen. I think it took 18 months - 2 years for Singletrack to get into WH Smiths, and they're yet to get into Tescos!

I don't know why, but both the previous two DJ rides were held in blazing, warm sun as well. It turns out incredibly nice photos, almost like someone's looking down on us...

And thanks to him, the office never runs out of tea There's also a lot of people will just forget to buy it. If they see it in WH Smiths, then they'd get it, but if it's subscription/mail order only, the impulse buy won't be there.

24" Inspired/Heatsink - trials. 26" Chase Cannondale 'street' bike with sus forks and big gears - not trials That was the sort of street I meant, but it's really shades of grey, isn't it?

Not all the trials reviews in MBUK have been that bad, right Mark?

But it's a biketrials magazine. If it ain't biketrials, why put it in a biketrials magazine? What about street riding? That's got a lot of trials influence in it, just with ? If you're not careful, you quickly dilute the content.

But then if you're going to include moto trials, why not include BMX? That's like trials and a lot of people are into it. What about Formula 1? What about putting some car reviews in for people who are into trials and cars? There's enough work to do on a magazine just about biketrials, there's no need to make it harder than it already is!

Print magazines have two major problems: Contributors Layout The reason why forums do so well is that users are generating content - at varying levels of quality - very frequently. Plus the reward for posting content is very quick. To get people to have to write so many words by such and such a date (and for no money, at least at first) is hard to sustain. Look at HipHop, it often includes bits about motorbike trials or some such to fill up space. Product news is hard to do these days as you'll get neighsayers on the forums going 'heard it, old news...' Once you've got words and photos, if you've got someone to proof read and do layout then you're onto a winner. If you haven't, it's a long, hard process. I'm sure you've got high hopes and expectations for this Ian, but you need to maintain high quality. If you're accepting content from anyone, then you need to be able to turn stuff down. Nothing will kill a magazine more quickly than mis-spellings and blurry photos. You can get away with it on a forum because you're not paying for it. When someone is paying good money, you need to provide a good product. This leads me onto... One thing that always comes up is 'let's feature riders of all levels'. A noble sentiment, but why do I want to read about a load of people I've never heard of who arn't great riders? By all means, feature riders of all ages, but there has to be substance and reason as to why - not just because we feature anyone. If I'm paying good money, I want to read about good riders who do things I can't. I'm sure you've already done the comparisons, but look at magazines and work out what you want to imitate. Take elements from existing mags, use their experience, and put it together best you think. If I were going to do this, I'd build a news website, then launch a magazine off that once you've got an established brand and product. It gives you a chance to learn, experiment, test the water and make mistakes in a low cost, low risk environment. It also means you can keep upto date with stuff too urgent for the magazine, and it's another avenue to sell to advertisers too. Good luck Ian, it's a difficult business - especially during the winter when news dries up! - but think widely and you'll do well. There are some things forums don't do well - interviews, features, etc - which do work well in print. Magazines also have an authorative tone, but quality and integrity need to be maintained at all costs. If you can build a reputation as a good writer or reviewer, then people will take your opinion onboard far more than some forum monkey.

Not as long as I've been waiting to use this!

Gets reading spectacles, mug of cocoa, and waits...

The handover (sic) from a pill isn't the same as the hangover from alcohol as far as I'm aware, and I'm not toxicologist. Basically the point I was trying to make was that E affects your ability to gauge your hydration level, and it's over-drinking of water which kills people because they're told that if they're dancing they need to drink plenty to combat dehydration - which is fair advice in anyone's book. The comedown on E is probably more to do with either seretonin depletion or your brain trying to restore it's chemical balance.

Urgh, was only going to be a matter of time before someone brought out *that* Bill Hicks clip. Yes, been done, he wasn't that great, move on...

Funny, a lot of people I know who take drugs don't fight, don't start fights, and are generally sound. Where as, the "drunk twats at 2am in town", usually aren't. Go figure.

I'm the same... Never liked lager (still struggle with it to be honest) but then I found spirits and cocktails! Ok, so I'm not the last of the big drinkers, but I've found what I like - cider included. It tends to be stuff that is either not bitter or (for spirits) too strong. I thought it was just my sweet tooth, until I read about Supertasters... Sound familiar to anyone? E - doesn't make you thirsty in itself, but is prone to make you dance a lot. Dancing = dehydration = make sure you drink, therefore ecstasy = drink plenty. Errr, no. Ecstasy makes it hard for the body to detect when it's dehydrated, and also if it's drunk too much, so people will drink too much and not realise it. Because they've been hit with a single bit of advice (make sure you drink plenty), those who are just standing around drink as much as the dancers - also not good. Each to their own, be careful, know the consequences and do what you think is ok.

Ding, ding. Next stop... irony.

I never understand why people zip-tie mechs. Just use the b-tension screw to stop it hitting the frame. Looks better, and is quieter.

Almost spot on. Multiple exposures means taking upto three photos one on top of the other so you can see all three at once. The other two, you're correct on.

Aye, a big download was 12 meg, and most videos were 1-2mb. Them were the days. Ian was actually the first 'pro' rider I ever took photos of for MBUK at Rutland Water back in the summer of '99. MBUKTRUFACT!! I do have quite a few shots of Ian from the late nineties/early 2000s at my parent's house. I believe Ian sold off the frames, including one minter which had never been ridden... I have an email somewhere from a Raleigh engineer with all the details, geometry, build details, the lot. Was pretty ahead of it's time to be honest. Ian later moved onto Indentiti, and that was the bike he rode on Under Pressure.

Oh Lord I feel old... Of course people get drunk, of course it's bad for you, and - to an extent - it's damn good fun. It's a handy little life less, a little excess, a little pain and the world is right again. And fried food cures problems. The problem these days is that it's too easy to buy a shit load of cheap crap to get you drunk. Who really likes White Lightning? It's awful stuff. Plus Britain has a real binge drinking culture - go out, get smashed, great night! Abroad drinking isn't something you actively do, it's something that happens. If drinking was an Olympic sport, we'd have a paralytic head start over every other country. Our tramps would be the best at fighting an imaginary opponent. Even heading rapidly towards thirty, I know a lot of people who still go out and drink waaaay too much but hey, it's their life, why not? People are younger for longer these days. I'm very much of the drink less, drink better group. Still costs me the same on a night out, but no hangover and damn good whiskey.

I remember getting an early copy of Evolve from Reed (A great, great guy) when it came out and hyping it somewhat in MBUK. When he came over for Bike 2001 Evolve FLEW off the Chilli stand, they had to restock several times which took them by suprise, and they sold about 50% more copies in three days than they had in about 8 months in the States. I'm gutted Reed never rereleased them on DVD properly, but I've got a feeling parts of them pop up on Manifesto... I'm off to rummage through my old school trials DVDs

Christ, I'd forgotten how much I'd watched that... I wanted* one of those baggy Volvo Cannondale tops so badly, the team only ones with VOLVO in huge letters down the sleeves. I bought Chainspotting on DVD recently, found out a friend of mine can still recite half the dialogue from memory, and realised how great a video can be with great production values and relatively small riding. * I still really want one of those tops.

I seem to remember it was Matlock Quarry, yeah. One of Paul T's rides with Matt and Ed.

Christ, it's funny how old videos like that turn up! Gotta love those old Section7 videos.