Superbike Magazine...

[Toast]

Has anyone got an opinion on this mag?

I quite like 'Fast Bikes' amongst the Pommy mags, 'cos they have interesting tests, it's pretty well written and I believe that they know their shit.

Superbike, however, does a digital subscription package for 14 pounds per year, which seems like a bloody good deal to me given that each mag in the shops is about $15.

http://www.zinio.com/offer?issn=02628456&of=PH2&bd=1

So yeah, any critique on the mag would be good. Cheers.

[Sniper]

I quite like them

[Grumpy]

I've had a look at the last few issues and it aint too bad. You can't beat that good old English humour.

[The_Dover]

Yeah, I bought a load when I was back home for a month, you're welcome to have a look at them.

They are pretty good, fairly objective and don't take themselves too seriously. Good photography and plenty of self depreciating humour. It's like a mag by one of your mates (the one with a clue, not me) but with flash pics.

Nice girls in the centrefolds too, just quietly.

[SPORK]

Yeah, I luvvit. Makes for good reading while you're meant to be working at school.

The "Real World" section they just added is pretty grood as well.

I really love the layout and pictures, it's done very well. Not to be a dick, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of KR in every respect.

[gav]

I've been buying Performance Bikes since about 1986, Fast Bikes since about issue 2 or 3 and Superbikes from somewhere in between. Superbikes is nowthe best and has been for quite some time. Fast Bikes seems to be struggling and Performance Bikes is sliding down hill as well, They have had some incredible bad breaks with staff, who knows how they will recover from losing Gus Scott after Ronnie, John Robinson and one other guy died not so long ago as well.
Saying that Superbikes doesnt seem quite the same since guys like John "Sonic" Cantlie left, but he still pops up as a free lance every now and again.

[limbimtimwim]

Performance Bikes is sliding down hill as well, They have had some incredible bad breaks with staff, who knows how they will recover from losing Gus Scott after Ronnie, John Robinson and one other guy died not so long ago as well. The other guy was James Bartle. I quite like the direction PB have taken in the last 3 or 4 issues, they reckon we are tired of endless 'group comparisons' and instead seem to want to focus on.. well.. 'performance bikes' both past and present. They've ditched the semi-naked ladies and instead are filling the pages with mechanical bike porn. I like how in the last couple they have been saying "Look! Old bike just as fast as the new ones, and it has a better seat!"

[TwoSeven]

I used to read PB and fuzzy bollox quite a bit, mainly because I used to do stuff for emap. Switched to TWO when it came out, but thats hard to get.

[Lou Girardin]

I used to get Superbike until the all the interesting writers left and it became juvenile. (Like so many other things)
They lost Fred Gassit too.

[White trash]

Those pommy ,mags are all good for a quick laugh, but there's no way I'd put a whole lot of stock in their reports.

[Lou Girardin]

Those pommy ,mags are all good for a quick laugh, but there's no way I'd put a whole lot of stock in their reports.

I don't know so much, their fuel consumption figures seem more realistic than the NZ journo's.
I don't know how the hell you can average 18 km/l from a Bandit fr'instance.
I only get that down long hills.

[FastBikeGear]

Superbike, however, does a digital subscription package for 14 pounds per year, which seems like a bloody good deal to me given that each mag in the shops is about $15.

http://www.zinio.com/offer?issn=02628456&of=PH2&bd=1



I think SuperBike Magazine is no longer available from Zinio

[george formby]

Yeah, I luvvit. Makes for good reading while you're meant to be working at school.

The "Real World" section they just added is pretty grood as well.

I really love the layout and pictures, it's done very well. Not to be a dick, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of KR in every respect.

I got to agree, takes me a lot longer to read Superbike than the local mags but i guess that comes from selling in such a huge market & the increased budget for tests etc. What really stood out with Superbike for me has been the "how too" articles & the series of riding / road skill articles. Really in depth & thought provoking stuff. Just wish i could afford to buy it more often.

[pritch]

Seriously mean thread dredge :blink:

[NZsarge]

Those pommy ,mags are all good for a quick laugh, but there's no way I'd put a whole lot of stock in their reports.

+1, like any magazine reviewing bikes cars etc, all to be taken with huge grains of salt!

[White trash]

+1, like any magazine reviewing bikes cars etc, all to be taken with huge grains of salt!

Unless it's a review I've written of course, I'm completely unbiased:innocent:

[rapid van cleef]

You should also check out Ride magazine. Very good down to earth reviews in laymans terms covering all sorts of stuff from gloves etc to bikes, how to's etc. I prefer it to superbike mag. I find some other magzines poorly written. Each to their own.

[twinbruva]

You should also check out Ride magazine. Very good down to earth reviews in laymans terms covering all sorts of stuff from gloves etc to bikes, how to's etc. I prefer it to superbike mag. I find some other magzines poorly written. Each to their own.

You're quite right, so many so-called scribes can't write to save themselves but then I suppose that isn't a major issue when many who buy the magazine will only look at the pictures anyway.

Too many magazine articles are written to satisfy advertisers, which is why a magazine that features bikes built by their owners will always be more interesting.

[HQfiend]

Nuthin quite like reading a review in a pommy mag then finding the rehash a month later in the NZ ones!

[OutForADuck]

Seriously.. CPR to a 5 year old thread... KUDOS.

As for SuperBike I used to subscribe via Zinio but they have just pulled the subscription and offered me an equivalent sub to another mag. I would have thought that mags would be contractually locked into the end of a subscription period???? but there ya go.

[FastBikeGear]

You should also check out Ride magazine. Very good down to earth reviews in laymans terms covering all sorts of stuff from gloves etc to bikes, how to's etc. I prefer it to superbike mag. I find some other magzines poorly written. Each to their own.

Yeah I am a big fan of RiDE Magazine but it's another one that you can't subscribe to in a digital format....it's amazing these guys haven't realised that it's inevitable that if they don't publish and distribute a subscription in a digital format they will go bust.

[HenryDorsetCase]

The other guy was James Bartle. I quite like the direction PB have taken in the last 3 or 4 issues, they reckon we are tired of endless 'group comparisons' and instead seem to want to focus on.. well.. 'performance bikes' both past and present. They've ditched the semi-naked ladies and instead are filling the pages with mechanical bike porn. I like how in the last couple they have been saying "Look! Old bike just as fast as the new ones, and it has a better seat!"

I agree: I nearly didnt renew last year, but am glad I did. I also really like the offbeat bikes they like: theres an SV650 in this months issue with Tigcraft frame, dripping with fruit and 700cc and more to come (racebike). Plus the look around people's garages section: I've got some good ideas from that.

Its on the way up I reckon. (I get PB, Cycle World and Kiwirider every month.)

[HenryDorsetCase]

Yeah I am a big fan of RiDE Magazine but it's another one that you can't subscribe to in a digital format....it's amazing these guys haven't realised that it's inevitable that if they don't publish and distribute a subscription in a digital format they will go bust.


I love getting actual paper magazines in the mail every month. Its like shagging a new bird every month without getting divorced and losing half your house.

[imdying]

Yeah I am a big fan of RiDE Magazine but it's another one that you can't subscribe to in a digital format....it's amazing these guys haven't realised that it's inevitable that if they don't publish and distribute a subscription in a digital format they will go bust.I'm a big fan of the web and eCommerce in general, but I still buy 3-5 magazines a month. I will never pay for a digital subscription, I could download that for free with less hassle, and I'm unlikely to ever be able to stack up virtual magazines beside my coffee table.

Could be a generational thing though, be interesting to see what an 18 year olds take is.

[FastBikeGear]

I'm a big fan of the web and eCommerce in general, but I still buy 3-5 magazines a month. I will never pay for a digital subscription, I could download that for free with less hassle, and I'm unlikely to ever be able to stack up virtual magazines beside my coffee table.

Could be a generational thing though, be interesting to see what an 18 year olds take is.

Who cares about 18 year olds! I want the convenience of being able to carry all my magazines around on one device with me all the time. I also want the convenience of reading them any time anywhere. I want them immediately they are published - not a week later. I don't want to pay for trees to be chopped down turned into paper and printed and bound into books - partly because I am green but mostly because it's an expense I don't want to pay for. Of course I also want them interactive like Richard Branson's new magazine 'Project' I want beautiful colour photos that leap off the page that I can zoom in on and rotate etc. I also want the readers option of being able to activate embedded sound and video so I have the full tactile sensory experience. I want to be able to conduct searches for articles etc. Why anyone would want the inconveniences and limitations of a paper magazine is beyond me. If you haven't experienced a digital magazine like 'Project' you aren't yet qualified to have an opinion. Comments from these people are a bit like those opinions from people who have never ridden a motorcycle. "I've never ridden a motorbike and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would choose to risk life and limb on one!"

[imdying]

Who cares about 18 year olds!You can ignore them if you like, but it's not a long term business plan... I buy my bikes new now, but I don't buy them from shops that treated me as sub-human when I was a teen :msn-wink:

I want the convenience of being able to carry all my magazines around on one device with me all the time. I also want the convenience of reading them any time anywhere.You might have a different perspective on magazines that I do mate... they're just a little light reading when I'm bored at home, shit I don't even read all of the ones I buy in their entirety

I want them immediately they are published - not a week later.Agreed... but would it really make much difference to me? Perhaps if it were MotoGP weekly where it'll be out of date quickly.

I don't want to pay for trees to be chopped down turned into paper and printed and bound into books - partly because I am green but mostly because it's an expense I don't want to pay for.It's only money, you can't take it with ya! Shit, what would I do with that $20 a week anyway!? $20? Who cares! :D


Of course I also want them interactive like Richard Branson's new magazine "Project" I want beautiful colour photos that leap off the page that I can zoom in on and rotate etc. I also want the readers option of being able to activate embedded sound and video so I have the full tactile sensory experience. I want to be able to conduct searches for articles etc. Why anyone would want the inconveniences and limitations of a paper magazine is beyond me.They call that web a website. I mean, who wants a fixed in stone magazine anyway? Why publish it at all? Why not just add more content on a regular basis? You don't sound like you want a magazine, you sound like you want a iPad with a cellular connection :)


If you haven't experienced a digital magazine like project you aren't yet qualified to have an opinion. Comments from these people are a bit like those opinions from people who have never ridden a motorcycle. "I've never ridden a motorbike and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would choose to risk life and limb on one!"Sigh... how very non inclusive of you. Comments like those from people who represent business' make me not want to bother even checking pricing with them.

I have a stack of magazines in the garage which are fun to flip through when I waiting for a soldering iron to heat up or whatever... and I still go to them first instead of using the web browser on the PC right next to them. I have a few niche topic magazines I get digitally, but I'd still buy them if they were available in shops.

Some things you can only get from a hard copy mate.

[HenryDorsetCase]

do you take your iPood into the shitter with you to take your mind off the dreadful business going on down below?

didnt think so.

[OnCam]

i buy superbike, performance bikes and Bike magazine maby one a month depending which is the best

all of them at the moment are ok, sometimes they do lack quite badly and not alot is appealing.

they do repeat eachother and do similar tests but the photos make up for it, BIKE is a very decent read and its good to read about something other than sportbikes.


i do skim through it first to see if there is enough material to consider paying the $15for however i do find myself wanting the bikes they review so it could get alot more expensive if you get addicted this way

[slowpoke]

Who cares about 18 year olds! I want the convenience of being able to carry all my magazines around on one device with me all the time. I also want the convenience of reading them any time anywhere. I want them immediately they are published - not a week later. I don't want to pay for trees to be chopped down turned into paper and printed and bound into books - partly because I am green but mostly because it's an expense I don't want to pay for. Of course I also want them interactive like Richard Branson's new magazine 'Project' I want beautiful colour photos that leap off the page that I can zoom in on and rotate etc. I also want the readers option of being able to activate embedded sound and video so I have the full tactile sensory experience. I want to be able to conduct searches for articles etc. Why anyone would want the inconveniences and limitations of a paper magazine is beyond me. If you haven't experienced a digital magazine like 'Project' you aren't yet qualified to have an opinion. Comments from these people are a bit like those opinions from people who have never ridden a motorcycle. "I've never ridden a motorbike and I can't for the life of me understand why anyone would choose to risk life and limb on one!"


You can ignore them if you like, but it's not a long term business plan... I buy my bikes new now, but I don't buy them from shops that treated me as sub-human when I was a teen :msn-wink:
You might have a different perspective on magazines that I do mate... they're just a little light reading when I'm bored at home, shit I don't even read all of the ones I buy in their entirety
Agreed... but would it really make much difference to me? Perhaps if it were MotoGP weekly where it'll be out of date quickly.
It's only money, you can't take it with ya! Shit, what would I do with that $20 a week anyway!? $20? Who cares! :D

They call that web a website. I mean, who wants a fixed in stone magazine anyway? Why publish it at all? Why not just add more content on a regular basis? You don't sound like you want a magazine, you sound like you want a iPad with a cellular connection :)

Sigh... how very non inclusive of you. Comments like those from people who represent business' make me not want to bother even checking pricing with them.

I have a stack of magazines in the garage which are fun to flip through when I waiting for a soldering iron to heat up or whatever... and I still go to them first instead of using the web browser on the PC right next to them. I have a few niche topic magazines I get digitally, but I'd still buy them if they were available in shops.

Some things you can only get from a hard copy mate.

Yep, I'm with imdying. Gimme an old hard copy from the bottom of the pile that I can flick through as I'm reading brekkie any day. Who wants to have to fire up the lap top just for a casual read?

I don't really see the point of an online magazine, if I want something on the net I search for it, and find it for free....what's this paying for it malarky? It's like online porn....why would anyone pay for it when there's so much available for nowt?

[sosman]

Hey Toast....go into boarders in Westfield Albany...they got tonnes of bike mags.
You can read all the mags while sipping a latte! :bleh:

[racefactory]

Hey Toast....go into boarders in Westfield Albany...they got tonnes of bike mags.
You can read all the mags while sipping a latte! :bleh:

Second that!!!

That's a great magazine but I think PB (performance bikes) is the best of the lot. quality mag.