Mbuk....

[Waynio]

Just thought i would ask people questions and their opinions on the following:

Does anyone who rides trials read MORE than just the trials section?

What do you expect to see in the mag?

Who do you expect to see in the mag? and WHY?

I wont put a long list, it will get boring.

I personally feel that people have a go at the mag without any genuine reason apart from "not seeing enough" trials in there.

I read Rob Warner's column just like marts every month, and this months is really really kool, i feel the problem with any disipline (not just trials) is that the "new" people in the sport are just not ambassadors like Martyn (Trials), Rob Warner (DH), Chris Smith (Freeride) etc. Maybe this is why the mag doesnt include more no named people?

Quite a few years ago they used to do articles on "up and coming stars" that has dropped off i think because the magazine applies to millions of people and of those millions id guess that (of people who buy the mag) LESS than 10% are Trials riders? The magazine needs to fullfil the needs of ALL types of riding, so if one article has not enough DH or XC in them customers may not subscribe to the magazine next year, or wont buy the next issue?

Whats your thoughts?????

Cheers.

Wayne.

[Ali C]

Does anyone who rides trials read MORE than just the trials section?

Yeah, I quite like all types of riding having done dh and dirt jumping in the past. I often read every artical.

What do you expect to see in the mag?

Good gossip, plenty of parts reviews, photos that impress me (dirt I feel has the better pics though) articals about interesting bikes, people and places.

Who do you expect to see in the mag? and WHY?

Its cool having the old faces in the mag, they have done a lot for the sport and deserve what they get, BUT I also feel a lot of riders who put in as much effort and dedication into their riding (not just trials btw) dont get any coverage. Its almost like they are being ignored and it does get frustrating.

[Christophe']

I bought the first ever issue of Mbuk for "Mountainbiking"

I still do, but realy want to see a few more trials articles that are more realistic.

ie, most riders in the uk are not riding caves without correct lighting.

Just invite Mbuk (with the Behr) to any large street ride and I think youve got a good article.

Just maybe, everyother month.

[JT!]

I think not seing enough trials in there is a perfectly good reason for not buying the mag.

You can't blame MBUK for not putting more trials in, because like you said, there's very little potentail trials rider customers who'll buy the mag than DHers and freeriders etc. And you can't blame a trials rider for not buying it, becuase there is very little trials in there. I personally don't buy the mag becuase of that, and when something interesting crops up it gets scanned and it's on here within a week anyway. I know that's not the best outlook to have and not exactly suportive mind.

Also, didn't Mike Singleton write in a letter once that had the piss ripped out of it?

[steve@banbury-trials]

i get the mag monthly ,i have a read of it and see whats happening and what parts have been realised,i also read the letters too.

but i personally don't like the way trials is almost excluded from the mag,i realise that trials is a minority sport but it still is a discipline of mountion biking so it deserves its place in the mag.

i'd like to see hop idol brought back ,and bike reviews on trials bikes ;maybe bringing trials into the lime light by these means will help our sport grow.also if mbuk featured some more trials in there dvd's from the likes of danny mac people will think that trials isn't all about no saddles and big bunny hops.

well i've stuck my two pence in now steve

[Ali C]

Just invite Mbuk (with the Behr) to any large street ride and I think youve got a good article.

Just maybe, everyother month.

Not sure how interesting that would be though, theres plenty of rides going down where photos are taken, put on here with people explaining what went down. I cant think an artical would be much different and I dont think any non trials riders would be that interested.

I always found one on one articals or a couple of riders in an interesting place makes the best reading. could be Damon on a boat, Danny mac in a church, Danny butler and slinger on some scenic rocks on a beach (with the tide comming in).

I would think those would be more interesting to trials riders and non trials riders alike.

PS, MBUK pissed me off big time with its coverage of the world champs in fort bill! According to them trials doesnt even exist!, no results, no comments and just one tiiiiiiny pic.

[Muel]

Get the MBUK lot down to the DJ Ride!!

If we can get street riders as well as trials riders, it would be pro.

I'll hopefully be coming next year, we'll see.

[Christophe']

Not sure how interesting that would be though, theres plenty of rides going down where photos are taken, put on here with people explaining what went down. I cant think an artical would be much different and I dont think any non trials riders would be that interested.

I always found one on one articals or a couple of riders in an interesting place makes the best reading. could be Damon on a boat, Danny mac in a church, Danny butler and slinger on some scenic rocks on a beach (with the tide comming in).

I would think those would be more interesting to trials riders and non trials riders alike.

PS, MBUK pissed me off big time with its coverage of the world champs in fort bill! According to them trials doesnt even exist!, no results, no comments and just one tiiiiiiny pic.

yer , sounds good.

Just anything better than the current 1 man band.

so many good riders out there.

Maybe some of them are just too good

[JaMmY]

Mbuk is a brill magazine and i do enjoy reading the whole thing, but it could do with abit more info and stuff about trials. Apart from that it is clearly the best biking mag out there with great pics and info. Parts ratings are good aswell. Have you noticed how much more expensive DH parts and bikes are than trials bikes!!

[bonzojim]

i agree with ali c , pages of fort bill and some poxy little pic of trials hidden in the corner ,it pissed me off to.

roy.

Edited December 2, 2007 by bonzojim

[Mike W]

The first page i read is the trials one.

I read all of the product reviews but im not really too interested in the other types of riding at the moment because all i ride is trials.

I do still think this "anti-hop" trials thing is silly, its people trying to be individual but that tends to be the trend at the moment.

I really didnt like the article written about chris akkrigg, all it did was say trials was boring hoppy riding.

its not chris akkrigg going brakeless that anoys me, its his bike nobody should care what he does with it. BUT i just didnt like how it was written.

Also the lack of pictures, theres only a seperate few pages of trials every say three months.

[eskimo]

I stopped buying MBUK years ago, but i never really bought Ridebmx either.

[Simpson]

Does anyone who rides trials read MORE than just the trials section?

Im interested in all types of riding but mostly like the pictures, i mean i like mini inverveiws and stuff but i find with tooo much chit chat it just gets too lengthy and can be a bit tedious, so i like the big shinny pictures and spec's on new street machines, not as interested in the DH stuff just because i cant relate to it as i like in the middle of a massive complex of concrete spreading out for miles, and the pictures can emulate the speed or danger as much as it can7 on a video

What do you expect to see in the mag?

I expect to see very little trials and a large range of the other stuff.... thats a simple one! but the trials doesn't intrest me too much i don't feel like i need to see too much of it, i can see high deff. pics on here for free and i mean jeez a magazine costs alot, id prefer to buy nuts and zoo than a bike mag really..... i think this forum is so great we dont need anything like that

Who do you expect to see in the mag? and WHY?

yea you do expect to see all the classic iconics, but i think people can relate more to these than just new comers every week but yea names dont mean tooo much.... shinny pictures however.... do

Edited December 2, 2007 by Simpson

[the organiser]

Frist i must say its been a long time for someone to post a good topic thats been ansered by most in a very good and positive way so far,

i must agree with Ali on most counts as this month 3 pages on Mart in a cave was a bit of a downer, and no report on the worlds, and never a report on the world cups ever,there are some top riders now in the UK in the comp and street scene but we have never seen these guys in the mag over the last 4 years, also a report now and again on some of the great club comps in the UK

i would like to make an invite to the mag to send some of there riders to come and make a YMSA club event and have some fun...

two pages out of lets say 100 is not a lot of coverage in the mag

they need to get back to the grass roots of trials and have a bit of street and comp coverage in there and i dont mean mart on a wall or mart on a rock or hang on its coming up to xmas it will be Mart on a wall with a santa hat on lol,

lets now start a new with some of these riders in there ie Ali C,Ben Savage,Danny Butler,Ben Slinger,Neil T, Danny Mac, Damon...

or even all of them with a santa hat on lol

Dave B

[Waynio]

its nice to hear and people view their opinions.

i personally was expecting to come back to this theread and possibly world war 3 have started.

some interesting comments and something for sure that can go forward and MBUK will probably look into read and possibly work on.

as some have said Ali included very positive and thoughtful posts. it does need reviews and such things on trials stuff.

The photoshoot thing i will have a word with Martyn about BUT as an example. i think the "Christmas Leeds Ride" is something worth capturing? WHY? because people are gathering for a ride that has happened for the last few years, bad weather and the all (yet it doesnt stop the rider unite!)

Also i do agree the DJ memorial ride, needs more "coverage" someone to be there to do a full blown write up on. BUT what we have to remember is the more positive comments and information we can supply the mag with the better.

The Akrigg thread where all the critisism is? WHY would MBUK want to put more trials in? after reading some of the posts in there?

Keep it positive keep putting answers to the questions, each to their own, peoples views and opinions can be aired in here. most should be positive as its positive thinking we are looking for to try and get more publicity for trials

Cheers

Wayne.

[Phil H]

Overall I am agreement with what has been said - mbuk could be improved if it featured new, up and coming riders. Personally I stopped buying it because on the trials pages it only gives you 5 minutes worth of reading which you could more than account for by reading the 'news' thread on this forum.

In all fairness im sure less than 5% of Mountain bikers in the UK ride trials so it seems atleast proportionate.

its nice to hear and people view their opinions.

The Akrigg thread where all the critisism is? WHY would MBUK want to put more trials in? after reading some of the posts in there?

Keep it positive keep putting answers to the questions, each to their own, peoples views and opinions can be aired in here. most should be positive as its positive thinking we are looking for to try and get more publicity for trials

Waynio, I agree with what your saying nearly 100% but in the above quote I just don't think it's right. This is a forum, as you said 'each to their own' which means if people have a negative viewpoint they are fully entitled to aire it, everyone being positive about everything would be ideal but it's not about what people 'should' say its about what they want to say. Apart from that, you speak the truth

Cheers, Phil

[liam-pantera]

hi

i bought a subscription to mbuk a year or so back and i can say its a real waste of money , when i first started reading aobut 2 years ago the magazine was brilliant and it used to inspire me and i would read every page including the trials pages .

but know i dont like it at all its realy boring and there are loads of factors of trials they ignore aswel , ive never seen a 20" bike on a full page spread before and i dont liek how they idolise martin ashton . Iadmit back in the day martin was an excelent rider who invented alot of what we do today but know hes old and cant keep up so why keep trying to show him in a new light . for example this week he has been riding in a cave and last week he was riding on some cliffside , i admit these were dangerious and made great photos but its getting boring . id love to see them take a young rising trials star like stan shaw or somat and follow him around documneting on competitions and street riding in differnt countrys .

the outhere sections are still a good read and have more content than the trials section but next year i will be canceling my subscription .

[JT!]

The Akrigg thread where all the critisism is? WHY would MBUK want to put more trials in? after reading some of the posts in there?

PM link?

[PaRtZ]

Does anyone who rides trials read MORE than just the trials section?

no

What do you expect to see in the mag?

me. Not in a big headed way, but I think it'd be nice to see MBUK actually get to grips with more than just the best riders. They're really imaginiative in the office, but it just seems to be quite monotonous. Also theres definitly not as much trials as there used to be, I can't remember the last time that MBUK did a full article on something trials related on equivalent scale as a dirt jump competition or a new record etc. It just seems to be "read this to learn how ashton does 360 drops" etc.

Who do you expect to see in the mag? and WHY?

More rider related material and not famous riders just "those people you've heard of but dont know what they look like" Then read MBUK and see them and what they can do.

[Tom_]

hi

stuffff stuff blahhhhh, ive never seen a 20" bike on a full page spread beforemore balahhhhhh

I agree with all that you said except this.... Its Mbuk MOUNTAIN BIKING mods arnt exactly mountain bikes.. in apearence there closer to bmxs... I M O!!!

[liam-pantera]

yes your right but define a mountin bike " A mountain bike or mountain bicycle (abbreviated MTB or ATB (All Terrain Bicycle)) is a bicycle designed for mountain biking, either on dirt trails or other unpaved environments. In contrast, road bicycles are not rugged enough for such terrain. "

that is the actual term for a mountain bike and in that discprition it does not include a specific wheel size .

your right 20" trials did start from bmx's with brakes but now they have evolved and they deserve to be included in the magazine .

[Mike W]

In mbuk the little trials that is in the magazine is not really aimed at trials riders, its more aimed at people who do other diciplines of cycling trying to play around with trials.

[craigjames]

i used to buy mbuk for the mountainbiking articles, as i wasnt into trials when i used to buy it. there has never been any substantial coverage of trials int eh magazine and as everyone has said its fora good reason, were a very small market of its potential and excisting readers, and therefore not at the top of its priorities.

i stopped buying mag, which i subscribed to from 98-2003, becuase it turned into a poorly put together badly written £4 wodge of wasted tree. far too many cheesey articles, tests that have no real deail or analysis (many of which they recieve backhanders from to give best of tests), thats not rubbish either was told by that falcon 'donate' money so the claud butler cape wrath recieves best of test adn ahs done for the last 3-4 years. personally i cant take a magazine that does that sort of thing seriously. i seriously dont like the way doddy writes or the way in which he portrays himself in the mag. i still buy the odd mag just to see if things have improved or theres an article on the cover that interests me.

the only other magazine that i subscribe to is dirt, i have nearly every mag since june 98, and for good reason i prefer the layout, the articles, the way things are tested and the photography, it has a more of a roots feel, written and ridden by the same people. unfortunately i dont think that a magazine like dirt will ever feature an article on trials, once again we dont feature in its target market.

i think the idea of featuring the dj ride as a full article in mbuk is great, theres a story behind it, it shows the whole camraderie and support for each other within the sport and it brings some of the best riders in the country together for one day. its something that mbuk could get a full article out of without focussing on one big name.

[Waynio]

just to let you all know i am working very closely with "Trial Magazine" with a chap called John Hulme who is an exceptional bloke, who is trying his best to get more and more bike trials featured in the "Trial Mag"

If you want "more" trials specific it may be worth keeping your eye out for that mag next year too. subscriptions are only £25.00 for 12months delivered to your door, thats 6 issues. and has motorbike stuff in too, always good to keep in contact with the motorbike side which our sport has developed on and from.

there will be some exciting reading in that over the next couple of issues too!!!!!!

Wayne.

[Al_Fel]

I can't be arsed reading the whole thread so I don't know if anyones said it yet but the problem with trials magazines is the internet. Why would anyone pay money to find stuff out a few weeks after they read it on the internet for free? Thats just my view on things.