MCN - do they realise just how sh*t everyone knows it is?

[muzikill]

The biggest thing that hacks me off are the 'artists impressions' and the 'spy shots, this weeks spy shot has a comparison next to it (can't rememeber what bike it is) and the spy shot is blocky and could be any bike! how the f*ck can that be a comparison? They constantly contradict themselves by printing something then either dismissing they ever did or reverse on what they said a few issues back.

Oh yeah and the speeding camera scandals and the bike 'tagging' & 'limiters' farce stories, just a excuse to fill two pages of utter rubbish.

I've seriously thought about starting up a site to point this out evertime they talk rubbish and quote what they said previously to show up how p#ss poor their 'journalism' is.

Rant over!

[Wideboy]

have to agree but i only buy it to see whats for sale

[fizzwheel]

how p#ss poor their 'journalism' is.

It is I agree, but MCN are in the business of selling papers, and b*ll****, scandal and misreporting to make a story is what sells papers, they are if you like the Tabloid of the bike press.

I tend to read MCN back to front as I find IMHO that the race pages at the back are pretty much well thought out, written and the information and race stuff is of a pretty high standard, if only the rest of the paper was like that...

[Razor]

Yep I like the race pages too.
I'm so broke at the mo I can't afford the MCN...
Today at lunch I went into WH Smiffs and read the latest ish of BiKE... I felt like a student again...

[StreetHawk]

Actually I didn't buy MCN today for the first week in about 6 months. Finally had enough of all the scare stories that are purely there for senationalism. Also they have a section where they concentrate on a certain product range each week such as leathers over £400 etc.. BUT, they don't actually review anything. They simply list all the products available with little pictures! I can see whats available myself, what I want is a review of someone who has used it, pros , cons etc..

Decided i'll save the £1.80 a week and buy RIDE magazine every month. Even though that is owned by MCN or t'other way round..

[eviltwin]

Decided i'll save the £1.80 a week and buy RIDE magazine every month. Even though that is owned by MCN or t'other way round..

Ride, Bike and MCN are all emap titles i.e. owned by the same publishing house....still, no matter, all mags and newspapers are invited to exactly the same press launches so just buy whichever you prefer reading (and then borrow something else from your mates for a different take) nobody really gets an 'exclusive'.

mcn is full of turd because it has to come out every wednesday...imagine having to try and fill a whole paper with newsworthy stuff every week...

[rf9rider]

I felt like a student again...

You mean you never washed and spent all day in bed?

[mister c]

I used to be an avid reader of MCN, but then got cheesed off with the "Buy the new version because it's .02mph faster and handles better" attitude. I havent bought a copy now for years it's just drivvel.

[kwak zzr]

i get mine 2nd hand off a mate, i think its great for free:)

[Viney]

MoreCrapthanNews

[-Ralph-]

Dont read the first 3 or 4 pages. After that it's all right. I only buy it 'cos I want something to read on the bog. It's weekly and I've finished RiDE or BIKE within a week of buying, so without MCN I'm back to reading the back of the shampoo bottle for the next month.

As Viney said more CRAP than news, but it's better than a bottle of pantene and the warning label on the razor socket! ;-)

[Smudge]

Yep I like the race pages too.
I'm so broke at the mo I can't afford the MCN...
Today at lunch I went into WH Smiffs and read the latest ish of BiKE... I felt like a student again...
i dont know you'll be weezin the ju,uce next lol

[Spanner Man]

Morning all.
Ride magazine used to have 'Tells it like it is' on the front cover. Well I can assure you that they don't.
In 2001 there was a problem with certain grades of gold DID chain, namely 520 & 530 VM. The sideplates were cracking at an alarming rate, & due to the nature of the cracking I suspected that the sideplates had been overhardened. I had 9 chains that I had supplied crack over a period of 12 months. I suspect it was due to a change in the production process, or a relocation of the manufacturing plant, as there were no faults on other gold DID chains, DID 'black' chain, or chains from any other of the main manufacturers. It was just confined to 520 & 530VM, which coincidentally were DID's most popular sellers. Fortunately no-one was injured as a result, but there was some damage to the bikes on which the chains had broken.
Without going into a long story, suffice to say I had the bit between my teeth, & simply refused to be fobbed off with crass excuses from my wholesalers, or Bickers the importers.
One such excuse was it's the road salt used in Britain! Well if it was, surely it would effect all chains, not just the above. Not to mention the one fitted in June that broke in July!
I had in my possession a 530VM which I had supplied in 1998 which was completely worn out (one of the worst I've seen) but with no cracks in it.
I also had a 530VM which I supplied in 2000 which had 13 cracks in it, not including the link that broke. I was sure that a metallurgist would have been able to discern any differences between the two.

I contacted Ride magazine, who by then were part of Emap. I sent them every bit of information I had, together with statements from my customers who had been inconvenienced by the problem, I told them about the two chains in my possession which could be used for comparison. Guess what? It was deemed to be not newsworthy!
Well, if a potential problem that exists out there that could literally kill people is not newsworthy I don't know what is.

I wrote back to them & told them that perhaps they should change their slogan to 'Tells it like Emaps advertisers say'....Needless to say I didn't receive a reply.

Cheers.

[Ceri JC]

Thing is, unless they report loads of racing coverage (which many riders, myself included, are not really interested in) there isn't really enough bike "news" to justify a weekly paper IMO.

There are only so many transport reports, proposed new laws etc. relating to bikes a year and there's only so much you can talk about without repeating yourself. Likewise, there are only so many new models in the works. It's tedious how the main bike mags review the same bike about 7/8 times over a year. Increase the frequency with which it comes out by 4.5 and it's clear why a weekly newspaper runs out of things to write.

[johnnyrod]

It's like the Sun, but that is probably insulting the Sun a bit. I love bieks and will be a biker as long as there's a hole in my backside, but the bull aspect, which you get from plenty of other bikers too, is something I hate, and this only serves to propagate it.