Mbuk....

[Alex Dark]

I still buy it and read all of it..... i keep the old sarry going to do some occasional dh, fr and dj stuff......so i like to keep in touch witht he rest of the mountain biking world, not just trials...

[TrashZen]

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

I buy it occasionnally, peep in the trials section first, but I like the comparative tests on equipment and the dirt sections too.

What do you expect to see in the mag?

A bit of everything, it's a diversion really, but I know I don't buy it for trials specifically, though, I think they could actually cover more trials (it looks like the other sections are really taking all their time and logistics (hence the very few professional pics and on trials or of regular riders or group ride coverage etc... but be honest, that'd be selfish to try convert a mountain biking mag into a trials mag)

I think its serves DH and XC and Dirt very well, and I reckon that the 1 page dedicated to trials out of a 100 is probably more, pro-rata than the ratio of readers who ride trials versus the other types of riders.

So I still think it's doing better than nothing. But they should have covered the World Championship fully, it could have taken a double page spread or something... with proper pics.

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

The regular UK scene (not only the top brit who score at comp, but some of the mental riders we see on the forum, Neil, D Watson, CLS, and maybe some of the other top European pros)

Like they spend half a day with them and get a chance to know them more and take pics etc for a real article like they do often for the XC or the Dirt sections.

Because the trials community is so active in this forum, why not ask people to contribute?

For example, there could be a thread on the forum where a mag could ask: do you have good pics of this or that event and riders could post their best pics of the event for possible use in the publication. (and if need be of an incentive, maybe win a subscription to the mag for their contribution if the pic is used, or something like that)

They would suddenly have access to a huge amount of decent pics, even if they didn't despatch a photographer.

[robster]

I don't think they cover 20" enough, this is where all the decent 26"comp riders learn there trade.

All of the young up and coming riders tend to start on 20". Yes I agree it is after all a mountain bike mag, but more competition coverage would be better, team news who is doing what and when they are doing it, more natty would be good to see.

The mag is a little bit "Max power" for the older rider ie me, but I do like the bike tests and stuff like that. But any trials coverage can only be good for the sport if it is done correctly.

MBR is a better mountain bike read if you ask me but that is only my opinion as humble as it is

JP

[abtrials]

my view on the mag is generaly good i use to buy it all the time but then there was no trials in it other than hip hop??

i think personaly tarty bikes should get an advert in the mag and there should defo be more trials pages there is plenty of comps / organized rides for them to write about??

i know people have said that only 10% of riders that buy the mag are trials riders, but this is because there is no trials in the mag, i mean it cant take much to put a few more pages in the mag with a proper trials section, its still a massive part of mountain biking, and needs a mention. i mean we all read about other types of riding a?

[Hurman]

To me a magazine dedicated to any hobby or sport should inspire and enthuse the reader. If it doesn't relate to it's readers then it is knackered and MBUK need to be aware that there are big things happening in the bike trial scene in the UK.

John at Trials magazine is very keen to tap into this growing and energetic scene and has included reports from several of the Biketrial UK National Championship rounds in his magazine this year and is happy to do so. The comp scene isn't just what bike trials is about but it is such an easy way of getting a feel for how the sport / discipline is growing. You have an organised event in a pre determined place where you are guaranteed to see at least a few of the UK's top riders and plenty of the up and coming ones. All that is required is a photographer and a report.

The two Martin's are legends and have earned their status within the bike trial scene but there are riders out there who are raising the bar and riding radical lines in comps as well as on the street. There are 11 year olds riding Expert routes which lads twice their age are struggling with.

I feel if MBUK want to give the reader something more they need to get themselves out of the cave and take a trip up the M1 to one of the most vibrant trials scenes and then continue around the UK and visit some of the guys who post their pictures on here.

Right that's my bit said and the soap box put back in the garage.

Good luck with your research Wayne will MBUK be doing a bit on up and coming minders!!!

[Rusevelt]

Its interesting the number of comprehensively edited comments from some members here (ie; Waynio & Julien). MBUK seems to have lost its way from he days of Trials Kings, Kurt Brain, Danny Holyrod. the last time i bought mbuk with decent trials coverage was the Chris Akrigg inteview....how long ago was that. the only person capable of producing a sh*t hot trials magazine is Juilen (trashzen) if he had the time.....unfortunately he doesnt.

[Gavyn.]

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?

I read it all usually, but most of it is very irrelivant to me and i find it crap.

What do you expect to see in the mag?

More of the old stuff, there's hardly ever any local trials riders in it now just the same handfull of people. Bring back the days when ashton would tour round and meet new up and coming riders and there would be a whole 4 page section on it.

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

obviously more trials, but I still understand that the xc/dh riders by far out number us. perhaps just the odd interveiw with someone different, with new, fresh talent. Because i'm getting bored of reading about akrigg going here, and ashton going there. especially when it's somewhere out of the uk, because why is it called mbuk. surely the title implys the riding is done in this country and the only things we should be reading about outside of this country are world rounds.

Gavyn

[JD™]

just quickly, and i admit i didnt read the whole post because i just got in bed but..... there was a comment made by wayne as to the fact that MBUK appeals to millions of people. I'd just like to say that it has an ABC audited figure of around 40,000. even with the average readership figure being 2.1:1 ratio, this doesn't equate to millions. and I still reckon trials is less than 10% of that, otherwise it would obtain 10% of the editorial content, which it doesnt. in an 90-odd page magazine, we would see 9 pages of trials...... i think MBUK have got the balance just right personally as we ARE in the minority here as trials riders.

sorry if any of that has been said.

J

[boon racoon]

Unless it has a story or angle behind it then what else is there to cover in trials that isn't already done by people taking photos or videos on rides?

All the masses seem to want these days is pictures of the best tuck or videos with large TGS moves, which you get right here on the forum

BMX mags by having high quality photographers getting TOP quality pictures. Even if stuff is shown in videos. MBUK I don't think have this - their photographers are more freelance and based around "good photography" and biking in general, rather than specifically focussed. BMX has contributing photographers (and good ones) to magazines from all over the place who ride as well..so are always part of the scene itself, going on trips etc. Helps loads I reckon.

The text in MBUK just seems too forced and watered down to the point of it being embarassing. I know it's a different audience and all but BMX mags just cover things as it is in a very casual way, much more my cuppa tea.

But then it's all down to the publisher too. Future is a big publisher, so operate in a more business-like manner with more reputation at stake. Hence MBUK employ well-known and renound photographers, probably at a high cost!

I doubt Future would ever let articles run like ones you see in BMX mags! MTB has a much cleaner, more regimented image.

Edited December 3, 2007 by the boon

[craigjames]

Unless it has a story or angle behind it then what else is there to cover in trials that isn't already done by people taking photos or videos on rides?

All the masses seem to want these days is pictures of the best tuck or videos with large TGS moves, which you get right here on the forum.

The way in which BMX mags operate is by having high quality photographers getting TOP quality pictures. Even if stuff is shown in videos. MBUK I don't think have this - their photographers are more freelance and based around "good photography" and biking in general, rather than specifically focussed. BMX has contributing photographers (and good ones) to magazines from all over the place who ride as well..so are always part of the scene itself, going on trips etc.

The text in MBUK just seems too forced to the point of it being embarassing. I know it's a different audience and all but BMX mags just cover things as it is in casual way, much more my cuppa tea.

think youve got it right there mate, its what i was trying to say. i think the only mtb magazine that gets close to bmx mags is dirt. the quality of the photography is awesome.

[Rusevelt]

think youve got it right there mate, its what i was trying to say. i think the only mtb magazine that gets close to bmx mags is dirt. the quality of the photography is awesome.

Yeah but even Dirt magazine is becoming more and more biased towards Downhill & 4X. It used to be a balanced mix of freeride, street & dirt.

now its 99.9% Downhill & 4X how lame. Tim March needs to get real stop focusing so much content on racing. as for Mbuk, too much GLOSS, and too little real CONTENT.

Edited December 3, 2007 by Rusevelt

[Jonny Jones]

Simply put mate I used to subscribe, but I don't anymore. I still have my copy of the 'Legends' issue they did with silver sparks flying out from the center of the front cover, that was a great issue, but every other issue has nothing in it. I still think our sport is worthy of more than two pages a month! Its quite disgusting in a way. I threw a lot of issues out the other day (they were taking up space and they didn't have anything decent in them) but I kept the good ones with friends who had been interviewed in HipHop etc, plus all the mags from the late 90's. They were the best. BRING BACK HIBBARD!! EDIT: OK this post wasn't that productive haha, but thats my general feeling towards MBUK... In fact I started getting Ride and DIRT more, purely cos their design ethos and writing style is far superior, they play with design and typography way more too.

Edited December 4, 2007 by Jonny Jones

[Waynio]

my claim to fame, i was in the 200th issue!!!! lmao!!!

Neil i agree sorry i was un available today, but iv got something right up my street which will be fun and will give a good background, i just have to persuede someone that i can do it............which wont take much doing.

Minder.............i have an advertisement in my interview in trials mag for one! Consider Elliot @ the age of 5 1/2 the number 1 to get the job.

Wayne.

[Mark W]

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.

The same reason I buy every issue of Ride and Dig, even though most of the info there I know already. It's purely down to the photos used, the layouts, the articles that only they have, etc.

MBUKs photography, for me, isn't that great. Compare Dirt/Dig/Ride with MBUK and the quality is miles apart. They're good images I guess, but they all look pretty 'stock'. If you look at, Dirt, say, you'll see roughly the same subject treated completely differently, and that's what makes it work. Dirt's layout also looks a hell of a lot better, and their writers seem to... I don't know... be writing because they enjoy writing about something they love doing, and are heavily involved in, rather than just getting something across to their readers. Most of MBUKs better stuff is the well known riders who are already well known to the mag interviewing their idols, where you can really see the passion involved. That's probably what I think is missing as well, MBUK seems almost out of touch with what it's really like to ride? They seem to go on about "just going out and having fun", but it never has that kind of raw, simplified feel to it.

When I used to buy it (as soon as it started getting around £4 I stopped. Higher cover price, with no improvement in content, but the same (if not more) amount of adverts - not a great deal), trials coverage was usually disappointing, but that just seemed to be because they don't have any photographers who are properly interested in trials, with the exception of Chris R. As a result, you'd get an article that was written for the general MTBing populace to get more to grips with the idea of trials, with photos that didn't really represent the riding to it's best. Case in point - that photo of Chris Akrigg in the new MBUK (that sparked the 'brakeless' controversy). Chris has an amazing riding style, and it'd be cool to see how he's pushing the limits of trials with his new setup, rather than another stock "on the back wheel" trials photo.

[Rusevelt]

MBUK was a shit hot reference mtb mag back in the hey days of Martyn Ashton & Martin Hawyes, trialskings. but now mbuk is just sh*te for reference material and even quality photography. just look at the lame pics of martyn ashtons deep cave ride in the latest issue. fair enough they dont have a big team to source out the trials material but still they really havent bothered to source out inspiring new riders on the trials scene and have a photo session like they used to with Kurt Brain and Danny Holyrod. these guys made middle and even front page material on the mag. even martyn ashton hinted to me (when i first met him in bluewater 2003) that hates formulating the trials column because he feels that his back page contributions are in vain. im sure by next summer the mtb material will pick itself up even if bmx will be the main focus of bicycle stunt riding when Bejing olympics kicks off next year.

Edited December 10, 2007 by Rusevelt

[Mark W]

Only gonna be BMX racing at Beijing, and not even BMXers care about BMX racing