jon hill

what have they done ?

ive bought PB for maybe 10 years, and its always easily been the best motor related mag - better than Evo (yes, really). Always funny, informative (technically excellent), good opinions, relavent, etc

and this month its "max bikes" birds, specials & a vaguely teenage rebelion slant - the government arent going to stop us riding our bikes, oh no

what a pile of crap

they seem to have lost the ability to take the **** out of themselves which pretty much defined the mag.

sad

NotoriousREV

yep, sorely disappointed, I bought PB because it wasn't Fast Bikes or Superbike i.e. ****, but now it's just pandered to the lowest common denominator i.e. young flange wearing not much and poser add ons.

Style over content sucks the big one. John Robinson will be spinning in his grave, I expect.

father_jack

Used to read it a few years ago - what did John Robinson die of?

jon hill

cancer i think

it was only a few months back

NENO

Just let the editor know what you think, if enough people moan they won't do it again.

DMB

sadly the changes are the result of a reader survey according to the last issue i read (the one with the r6 set up in, and the piece on speeding)

NotoriousREV

the survey was sent out with 1/3rd of all magazines about 2 months back (never saw it myself) and the changes were made almost immediately. I suspect the decision was made before the survey was sent. I'd be very interested to se the actual survey and the answers it inspired. If it was along the lines of:

Do you like looking at 18 year old girls in g-strings?

Then the answer is going to be yes in the majority of cases. In fact my answer would be yes, but if the quesions was:

Do you want your Mrs to give you loads of hassle while you read you favourite magazine because there's a picture of **** on every page?

then my answer would have to be no.

If I want to look at scantily clad women (or naked women for that matter) I can buy (and do buy) that kind of magazine, however I buy PB because it's a bike magazine and I don't want evey young shop assistant thinking I'm a perv and buying that particular mag because Kirsty (22) from Bournmouth has her **** out on the front cover.

Reffro

Agreed PB used to be the best bike mag going, but now its crammed full of adverts and the technical features are hopeless, they've turned out like fast bikes and superbikes, though at least superbikes have Ogri. But PB isn't worth the £3.20 they charged for hte current issue, but blame Simon Hargreaves, didn't like his when he was just a writer, now he's been put in charge.

TBMeech

Agree PB used to be stunning, then Superbike changed to a sh1te mag full ot t1ts and ads, then FB is exactly like that, not read PB for a couple of years but sounds pony, would'nt read it now, only read Motorcycle Racer myself now.

Hoppy

PB was market leader for years, but has been slowly losing sales until the growing SuperBike overtook it in 2000. Now what has SuperBike got that PB didn't? There's your answer (or at least part of it).

Sounds like the market leader Bike is the mag for you guys, which has been the home of Ogri for getting on 30 years now.

BTW it's not Kirsty on the cover, but Corina

Cheers,

Richard.

jon hill

lol @ hoppy

ok - i'll go buy pipe & slippers monthly

the thing is, i didnt think that there was the same market in late teens modded bikes as there is for max powered saxo's

the average age of a sports bike driver must be higher than a max muppet ?

Steve Hartland

Agree with all the above comments, since returning to off roading and enduros I've started bying TBM (Trail Bike Magazine), absolutly brilliant read, along with sister mag SuperMotard Mag.

As for road bikes, only get TWO now, and thats only occasionly

Steve

Simon

Two Wheels Only is pretty good. The bike equivalent of EVO I'd say.

Hoppy

Jon, the largest age group of motorcycle mag readers is 25-34 with around 35% falling in that age bracket. Only Bike and MCN being a bit older with more in the 35-44 years group. The average biker has been getting steadily older for a decade or more.

But I think it's got more to do with mental age than strict chronology (I'm serious!). I'm well into 40-something but whenever I get on a bike I'm Barry Sheene circa mid-70s.

Isn't that what born-again bikers are all about? (And they are the ones driving the market.) With a mental age of 16-18, I can surely pull the likes of Corina any time

Regards,

Richard.

jon hill

hoppy mate - seek help

Hoppy

LOL

I have. Grecian 2000 and Viagra

Richard.

jon hill

did i see you driving a dodge viper past mcdonalds last night, playing born to be wild... ???

NENO

Hoppy, new it wouldn't be long until you got in on this! LOL

Mike

Hoppy

muppet paster

Got sick of all the glossy bike mags a few years ago. I used to love Fast Bikes when Colin was in charge, and the brothers Emmett wrote for them, but it slowly went down hill...

The only bike mags i bother with now-a-days is Used Motorcycle Guide and sometimes Used Bike Guide. Although i went off UMG a bit when they got a new Webmaster in to moderate the previously unmodded board on their site. Not that it needed modding with only about 10-15 regulars and the odd fly-by poster! But still, Wolfie w@nked it up and within a week the board got closed!!! sorry what was i on about?...

muppet paster

Talkin' on bikey things let me just lean through this corner...





I know, i know, outdoor garment!

DRUNKNORGY

The Only Glossy Bike Magazine worth buying now is RIDE, as its focus is mainly upon Product Evaluation and Improvement in Riding skills. I find all the other Magazines (apart from MCN and USB) are MAX POWER types and are irrelevant to 99% of Regular Bikers(They have lost the plot IMHO).

^Qwerty^

I've been buying it for years. I've got a big pile (like really big) of back issues in various places. It does however appear to have gone downhill.
Im not that bothered about the birds on a few pictures, but the editorial has gone all "gutter" like.

It was funny before, but not anymore.