Let down by this months 220 magazine
trudger
Posts: 61
in General Chat
In last months 220 the preview for this month read
' Our biggest-ever bike test, from the £500 Raleigh Airlite to the sleek Ceepo Viper and load in-between '
At this i thought great, for 2 reason.
1. I have a Raleigh Airlite, so would be interested to read review.
2. This would be a usefull guide for my next step-up.
So imagine my complete deflation when I turn to this months eagerly awaited article to discover the comprehensive guide contains a total of 7 bikes. Also I am unable to find any reference to Raleigh.
What a con aimed at ensuring we all rushed out to get the latest edition.
Feel robbed !!!!
' Our biggest-ever bike test, from the £500 Raleigh Airlite to the sleek Ceepo Viper and load in-between '
At this i thought great, for 2 reason.
1. I have a Raleigh Airlite, so would be interested to read review.
2. This would be a usefull guide for my next step-up.
So imagine my complete deflation when I turn to this months eagerly awaited article to discover the comprehensive guide contains a total of 7 bikes. Also I am unable to find any reference to Raleigh.
What a con aimed at ensuring we all rushed out to get the latest edition.
Feel robbed !!!!
0
Comments
Lets hope someone from the mag reads this and tries to change it!
i know this is expensive pursuit but there are ways to make it seem relevant and accessible -i don't think that extensive reviews of (admittedly beautiful and a little inspiring) expensive kit is the way.
Was expecting more from 220 on the bike reviews in terms of number.
Like the reviews of the expensive kit - bit like page 3, you'll never get one but....
Absolutely - regular readers will already know that this area is one of my favourite bleats about 220!
3K bikes? Glopping material for the vast majority at best surely?
didds
Very true, but to pay to see them when you could visit the manufacturer's website for pictures seems a bit off.
Admittedly, sometimes it's entertaining to read about just how good a top end bike really is, and to hear how it feels to ride etc. rather than just looking at images. But as we all know triathletes have major gear cravings, and for a magazine not to feature something that the reader can (either soon or realistically 'one day in the future') buy would make it like those, I find, rather pointless fashion magazines showing pictures of models in clothes that aren't even for sale.
I got a free subscription for Xmas so I'm still happy but I agree with al of the above.
Can someone print Coneheads letter ?
I'm just playing devil's advocate as I'm just starting out and need info on cheap bikes, not drowning and sprint/Olympic training regimes. I guess there's room for 2-3 mags focusing on the different intensities of the sport.
Mat
Interesting comment from MintyMat on the diversity within the sport. I used to be into athletics and wouldn't have wasted a moment of my time reading Runnners' World or suchlike because there's so much focus on 10k, Marathon etc. and nothing for track runners.
I doubt there's a market for a sprint tri mag, an OD mag, and an Ironman mag!
I think 220 is best of a bad lot.
In fairness to them, there's only so much one can actually write about the sport. I always like the day it arrives yet I'm usually disappointed by the content - a 2 pager on how to choose goggles! - and feel very poor because I can't afford half the kit advertised.
I'd like more real life stories, maybe some features on tri holidays / training camps. I'd also like to see more diaries like Nik Cooke's but for athletes of varying abilities.
Apologies to rookies, but in TW the features on the rookies "ooh, I've never worn a wetsuit before" are too prominent. Some focus is warranted obviously but not all of it.
I'd like to see an age grouper year long coaching diary & commentary: one guy who does OD say in 3 hours, 1 who does 2:45, one who does 2:30 and so on and see how they are encouraged to knock 10+ mins off their times.
Something similar for 70.3 and IM too. How the races differ, how to step up from one to the other etc.
More proper interviews with the Elites too.
Maybe a monthly club focus?
that's very valid Matt, of course. But in the (admittedly small) time I've been reading 220 I do not recall a SINGLE review of bikes under (say) £700 ie the bottom end of the market. So you could thus say that 220 appear to cater for the elite end - the equivalent of vauxhall Corsa driver glopping over top end ferraris. Allied with the "race reports" which seem to offer nothing more than the individual race websites do for those that are REALLY interested to see if Jake Thackerwhack beat Fred Frurgle in the Gobsmacker Flapjack triathlon and what bike split Nadja Friendlich managed. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. This sort of race report is just a space filler, providing enougg pages to put adverts on the back of.
didds
Would that make good reading ?
I think I know a bloke ?
It's a shame some of them don't take more notice of the forums to pick up good material for expanding on, and a bit more fun from time to time!
Quite right.As there is a wealth of experience and different viewpoints out here in cyber land,the forum is a virtual magazine anyway,and is capable of providing a multitude of different views in a short period of time.I appreciate that it does take time and some of us are not as eloquant in the written approach as others,but that shouldn't dissuade anyone from posting what they feel for fear of reproach.A short comparrison between regular contributors and number of members of the forum shows that there could be a larger number of contributors to the debate about what people want.So come on peeps,don't be scared it is your chance to create articles that you want to see.I would but I just cannot download any of my sodding photos...bugger.
Also-am I the only one to notice that the Aqua Sphere goggles they were giving away with subscriptions were the best thing in the world 2 months ago-but didn't even get a mention in the goggles fitting section now they are giving away Blue Seventy goggles?
I think these magazines are good for someone to get to know the sport, not for a lifetime subscription. You learn a lot more, and a lot faster, from others on forums like this, your favorite websites, or just trying things out yourself.
i missed coneheads letter last month, just read it now and it was about how tri organisers seem to lack sorting out novice waves....i totally agree, i'm really struggling myself to find a race after the liverpool tri.....i would prefer an open water swim race so i can gain experience in novice races before i move to sprint races and i hope OD races next year...i see myself taking part in big races, london, windsor etc. that have a massive field but i would not be confident to do this at this stage.
anyway...sorry to go off subject there...TW is good for now...lol