Best bike magazine?
Discussion
Privateer is by far the best magazine, pricy but well well worth the read. The rest of the magazines are just adverts interspersed with "product demos" from featured advertisers.
http://www.privateer.cc/index.html
http://www.privateer.cc/index.html
Edited by SkinnyBoy on Tuesday 16th August 12:19
It's not MTB specific (in fact, it has a slight road cycling bias), but I like Cycling Active. It's pitched a fairly casual rider and never uses terminology that isn't explained. Some really good fitness and technique articles as well as equipment reviews.
Also, they usually have a cake/coffee review section. Which is important.
Also, they usually have a cake/coffee review section. Which is important.
I'm sad so I read them all:
MBUK: As said above, a bit like a comic. Covers a wide range of biking though (freeride/DH etc). A bit too focussed on looking cool.
What Mountain Bike: A bit boring but decent if you want reviews of kit. Spending 5 pages reviewing riding shorts is a bit excessive. Also about a 1/4 of the mag is a summing up section which is just a waste
MBR: My favourite. Has good reviews of both routes and bikes. Seems a bit obsessed with certain brands though (Orange).
Singletrack: Nicely written and lovely pictures, but not very much actual content.
MBUK: As said above, a bit like a comic. Covers a wide range of biking though (freeride/DH etc). A bit too focussed on looking cool.
What Mountain Bike: A bit boring but decent if you want reviews of kit. Spending 5 pages reviewing riding shorts is a bit excessive. Also about a 1/4 of the mag is a summing up section which is just a waste
MBR: My favourite. Has good reviews of both routes and bikes. Seems a bit obsessed with certain brands though (Orange).
Singletrack: Nicely written and lovely pictures, but not very much actual content.
MBR is a good read and on most news stands. A little too commercial and is about selling stuff.
MBUK - there is only one reason to read MBUK, Mint Sauce. The rest is adverts and back slapping over coolness for kids.
Singletrack - Lovely read. Brilliant editorials and a mag about bike riding as opposed to buying new kit and keeping up with the athetons.
What Mountain Bike - one long big fat huge advert....
MBUK - there is only one reason to read MBUK, Mint Sauce. The rest is adverts and back slapping over coolness for kids.
Singletrack - Lovely read. Brilliant editorials and a mag about bike riding as opposed to buying new kit and keeping up with the athetons.
What Mountain Bike - one long big fat huge advert....
MBR - I can't read it without getting angry, their bike reviews especially wide me up "control tyres" Grrrrr - they review 4 trail bikes, 2 are lighterweight shorter travel ones that come with 2.0 sized tyres OE, 2 are harder hitting 5-6" jobs which come with 2.3 tyres OE - but they fit them all with 2.0 tyres to make it 'fair' and then complain one of the bigger bikes is lacking grip also they might as well rename it the Orange 5 fan club, it wins every test, every time. Whilst it's probably true that 80%+ of Mountain Bikers in the UK are riding natural xc stuff most of the time, other riding does exist!
MBUK - if my mag of choice, yes it does cover a lot of the 'cool' parts of MTBing disproportionally to the amount of it that actually goes on the UK but it's far more interesting to me to read about a boat plane Freeride trip in BC than riding 29'ers in Devon, they've also not lost their sense of fun (or their sense of nicking some of MBR's better ideas)
What Mountain Bike, it's MBUK's sensible older brother, but at least they review bikes as-they-come and often offer information on ways it could have been slightly better by making a few changes.
Singletrack, I enjoy it, the pics are great but it seems to come out when it likes and it's not always easy to find.
Dirt, a mag written and produced for the cliquest of riders, it's got beautiful pictures, supplemented by words randomly machine-gunned around the page full of bike nerdy terms that I don't understand - I think you have to be under 25 to 'get' it. It’s also primarily a Downhillers mag too.
MBUK - if my mag of choice, yes it does cover a lot of the 'cool' parts of MTBing disproportionally to the amount of it that actually goes on the UK but it's far more interesting to me to read about a boat plane Freeride trip in BC than riding 29'ers in Devon, they've also not lost their sense of fun (or their sense of nicking some of MBR's better ideas)
What Mountain Bike, it's MBUK's sensible older brother, but at least they review bikes as-they-come and often offer information on ways it could have been slightly better by making a few changes.
Singletrack, I enjoy it, the pics are great but it seems to come out when it likes and it's not always easy to find.
Dirt, a mag written and produced for the cliquest of riders, it's got beautiful pictures, supplemented by words randomly machine-gunned around the page full of bike nerdy terms that I don't understand - I think you have to be under 25 to 'get' it. It’s also primarily a Downhillers mag too.
MBUK: back in my yoof I read this, but didn't pick up a copy for at least 10 years until recently. Got a trial subscription deal when I was up at the DH World Cup in June and it's surprisingly good, now a much better read than MBR.
MBR: I subscribed for 2 years with Tesco clubcard points, not that impressed as it just lacks actual reading content. Glad it cost me effectively nothing.
Singletrack: I subscribed from issue 1 and loved it, but felt it was getting a bit pretencious and lacking content and haven't read it for a few years now.
Dirt: the f**king daddy of MTB mags. I'm not a DHer but I do follow the racing a bit, but the style and content of the mag are superb IMO. In fact, I'm struggling to keep up with the mags and think I have at least 1 subscription copy still sitting unopened in it's envelope. Problems arise when it arrives at a similar time to EVO as I'd still rather read that!
Quite keen to try a copy of Privateer but the cost puts me off...
MBR: I subscribed for 2 years with Tesco clubcard points, not that impressed as it just lacks actual reading content. Glad it cost me effectively nothing.
Singletrack: I subscribed from issue 1 and loved it, but felt it was getting a bit pretencious and lacking content and haven't read it for a few years now.
Dirt: the f**king daddy of MTB mags. I'm not a DHer but I do follow the racing a bit, but the style and content of the mag are superb IMO. In fact, I'm struggling to keep up with the mags and think I have at least 1 subscription copy still sitting unopened in it's envelope. Problems arise when it arrives at a similar time to EVO as I'd still rather read that!
Quite keen to try a copy of Privateer but the cost puts me off...
Gooby said:
That is because it is the best bike ever! If you dont believe it then you are wrong (or dont ride a '5)
How long have you worked at MBR then? 
This is usually when the MBR haters would cry it's crap and lose the argument, but they are great bikes, but every test, evey time by a bike that's pretty much unchanged year after year after year, whilst the others get better and better I don't think so.
Mr Gear said:
It's not MTB specific (in fact, it has a slight road cycling bias), but I like Cycling Active. It's pitched a fairly casual rider and never uses terminology that isn't explained. Some really good fitness and technique articles as well as equipment reviews.
Also, they usually have a cake/coffee review section. Which is important.
I agree.Also, they usually have a cake/coffee review section. Which is important.
It's a shame there isn't really a magazine that covers road/mountain/fashion victim fixie stuff all under one roof.
XitUp said:
I agree.
It's a shame there isn't really a magazine that covers road/mountain/fashion victim fixie stuff all under one roof.
Cycling Active comes pretty close. I like the lack of snobbery about other disciplines. If you are only into road biking, or only into downhill, it's probably not for you though.It's a shame there isn't really a magazine that covers road/mountain/fashion victim fixie stuff all under one roof.
I tend to read MBR and MBUK each month. MBR is my favourite as it seems to offer a decent balance of reviews and features and seems to be fairly grown up. The comments above about their attitute to Orange may be true (I've not read it long enough to know) but at the end of the day the bike reviews are only a small part of the magazine.
MBUK is a good enough read but I tend to find it a bit immature at times. I've never read Singletrack although I should give it a try. I've picked it up to look at in the newsagents a couple of times but it's never grabbed me enough to buy.
If I had to pick one I'd go for MBR.
MBUK is a good enough read but I tend to find it a bit immature at times. I've never read Singletrack although I should give it a try. I've picked it up to look at in the newsagents a couple of times but it's never grabbed me enough to buy.
If I had to pick one I'd go for MBR.
Subscribe to Singletrack, it's the best mix of stuff I'm actually interested in.
Have got a digital subscription to Dirt Rag via Zinio which works well and costs very little, good for a US perspective.
Sometimes pick up MBR if I'm bored or they have a route I really want. Gets incredibly samey month-by-month and year-by-year if you buy it regularly though. MBUK is just a joke these days. Dirt is nice for a flick through occasionally though.
Have got a digital subscription to Dirt Rag via Zinio which works well and costs very little, good for a US perspective.
Sometimes pick up MBR if I'm bored or they have a route I really want. Gets incredibly samey month-by-month and year-by-year if you buy it regularly though. MBUK is just a joke these days. Dirt is nice for a flick through occasionally though.
Allblackdup said:
Guys, i know the OP's question was regarding MTB magazines, but is there a decent road bike mag or one that covers a bit of all?
Only one i could see in Tesco's earlier was Cycling Active.
Cheers#
i stick to cycling weekly becuase they know what they are talking about, they have some great writers on their team. it has good training articles, some race coverage, good reviews and they feature the more unusual stuff in the tech sections. plus they dont seem to be too under the influence of the big brands.Only one i could see in Tesco's earlier was Cycling Active.
Cheers#
cycling plus is another good read but its monthly and during the comeptiion season a lot happens in a month - not that they feature racing that much. CW also has the best range of advertisers.
the problem with cycling active is the frequency they test and review the low end stuff. fine for newbies but not a lot in it for the more experienced rider.
also, they try to cover too much, i dont want to read a review on £2K road bikes by someone who was last month reviewing £500 mtbs or £300 off the peg fixies because i wouldnt trust them to know what to be looking for, what to test and where to test it.
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