MBR Magazine Reviews - Product Reviews

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Posted: 11/10/07

'COULD TRY HARDER...'

Strengths:
Its usually good for the latest bikes and products but the reviews (or reviewers) are rarely excitable. Most of the articles are good and informative with tests which are beneficial to the average consumer.

Weaknesses:
They tend to be a bit picky when it comes to assessing the latest goods and fail to see that nothing is perfect. If someone invented an indestructable 4lb mountain bike which took the world by storm and only cost £20, they'd still only give it a 6 out of 10.
Some of the articles are odd. Fly fishing and MTB'ing combined? Running out of ideas MBR?

Overall:
Its one of the top two, up there with What MTB but falls short due to its phlegmatic attitudes and 'arty' layout. The writing can be a bit flowery but the reviews are nothing but honest.

Performance		60%
Reliability		80%
Value		60%

Overall Rating

67%

David Russell-Wilks

Posted: 27/04/07

'NOT AS GOOD AS T USED TO BE'

Strengths:
Used to be a great magazine

Weaknesses:
Now it's just dull and pointless

Overall:
save your money and buy something better, or just read Bike Magic instead.

Performance		20%
Reliability		20%
Value		20%

Overall Rating

20%

Henry Adams

Posted: 17/02/06

'AN EXCELLENT MAGAZINE!'

Strengths:
I have recently subscribed to this mag because it is readable by ordinary people who enjoy Mountain Biking and not just written for the youth market.

I read it from cover to cover because all of the articles are relevant or of general interest.

Weaknesses:
Like all magazines it is expensive!

Overall:
It is good to have a mag that is written with intellectual and emotional maturity.

Performance		80%
Reliability		80%
Value		60%

Overall Rating

73%

Masklin GT

Posted: 14/02/06

'GREAT FOR XC'

Strengths:
Its has some great routes in. Telling us the histroy of the route that is planned.

Weaknesses:
Ermm nothing to be honest.

Overall:
A great Mag for people who aint 100% into racing or DH.

Performance		100%
Reliability		80%
Value		100%

Overall Rating

93%

Ashley Wright

Posted: 07/02/01

Strengths:
Are there any. no thats mean - Makes something to read when you are bored. Nice to see where the money is spent on sending the Jurno's to exotic locations.

Weaknesses:
Product reviews of questionable quality. Seem to concentrate on the writing staff other than joe public. Doesn;t seem to know what it's target audience is.

Overall:
This started out as a good mag, and has slowly gone down hill. I know just browse through it in Smiths and will only but it if there is something really good in it.

Also the mag nexer comes out on time any more. I wonder if it will fold eventually?

Performance		40%
Reliability		20%
Value		40%

Overall Rating

33%

john clinch

Posted: 07/02/01

Strengths:
Its still in print.

Some useful info on some products

Adverts are quite handy

Weaknesses:
Too much of the small amount writtten about each bike is stuff like.

XT rear mech....... Deore hollow crank whch you could work out from the brochure, manafacturers website LBS etc.

Staff have short upper bodies/stiff backs and need risers on all bikes to help out. They also hate you for using this website

Overall:
The best of the uk monthly mags for wheels on the ground types

Performance		40%
Reliability		20%
Value		40%

Overall Rating

33%

Jon Doran

Posted: 08/02/01

'Southern shandy drinkers on their hols'

Strengths:
Printed on robust paper which can be recycled to produce more worthwhile publications

Weaknesses:
Hard to know where to start, but the quality of writing would be a good point... Uninspired is the adjective that leaps up from behind the parapet, closely followed by dull. Tests have little real substance and a strange penchant for pointless trips to Greek islands, south of France, etc, anywhere but the UK where most of us actually ride, pervades the magazine.

Overall:
It's kind of tragic that what used to be a top magazine with humour and intelligence seems intent on a slow slide into undistinguished tedium. The ads are the best thing in it and I think it's blatantly obvious that trail riders or whatever you want to call them deserve much better than this. Sad. The reliability rating is cos it's relaibly bad...

Performance		20%
Reliability		100%
Value		20%

Overall Rating

47%

Kevin Hodgson

Posted: 09/02/01

'Getting worse issue by issue'

Strengths:
Pull-out route maps are useful. Have made an art out of writing article about their holidays.

Weaknesses:
Often economical with the truth when doing multi-day routes. When they've been somewhere exotic they can't even tell you where exactly it is or provide a mapped trail. Slowly degenerating from a quality mag for trail riders into piss-poor mulling together of every type of rider. They are now running article about cars! Routes are often recycled and not as long as they used to be. Weekend away articles fail miserably to tell you where the actual route was. Many articles have zero substance (e.g. Arran ride, acheived noting on 1st day, went home 2nd day, wrote 6 pages about doing nothing)
Even the totty is getting poorer!

Overall:
Going down the pan very quickly. P.S. Has anyone noticed the ONLY magazine in MTBR to get more than 4.5 score?

Performance		20%
Reliability		20%
Value		40%

Overall Rating

27%

Gary Ewing

Posted: 13/02/01

'Photo captions worse than the NME's'

Strengths:
Good articles...

Weaknesses:
...if you're lucky!

Overall:
The slide into tedium continues. Issue after issue this publication holds my attention for less and less time.
MBR does feature articles that are well written and interesting, but at only one or maybe two per month there just isn't enough of them.
I have heard that some people find the workshop sections useful, but only if you happen to own the thing they're dismantling that month.
The regular articles are what really let this mag down. They could use the bike test as a way of finding out which bikes are most fun to ride in which situations, or which are fastest in which situations, but no. Every month they test 4 bikes which are chosen for no particular reason, and draw no meaningful conclusions.
They could visit places that we could all travel to and write interesting stories that tell us about the area, but no. Instead we get basic dialogue describing how they went up there, across that bit, down there, then went into the pub and drank lots of beer. I sometimes wonder if the beer is more important to them than the riding. And don't get me started on the pointless totty pictures...

Performance		20%
Reliability		40%
Value		20%

Overall Rating

27%

Cat in Middlesex

Posted: 15/02/01

'I like this mag despite what other people say !'

Strengths:
Does'nt go on about things the normal rider dos'nt do. Tells it how it is and gives lots of reviews in each issue

Weaknesses:
Does waffle on a bit sometimes.

Overall:
I like it, maybe because its not solely aim at men.

Performance		60%
Reliability		60%
Value		60%

Overall Rating

60%

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