Ride Best Buys?

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The Spin Doctor
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by The Spin Doctor »

gremlin wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:51 am
Taff wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:31 am I always assumed (maybe wrongly) that this sort of thing is influenced by the amount of money that's the manufacturer pays in advertising in the magazine.

Would a mag really give a product a poor review when it's being paid a good chunk of cash to advertise that same product?

That. If the big manufacturers are handing over test bikes and test kit, as well as taking out full page ads, are any editors going to bite the hand that feeds them?

If you want, professional, unbiased opinions from expert polymaths, look no further than these esteemed pages. :wtf:
Superbike infamously lost all Honda's advertising for years after a negative test bike review.

I did hear rumours the a similar promise had been made by a major clothing importer if their reviews didn't improve. How true that is I have no idea.

But the early RiDE tests were pretty decent I thought. I bought a Scott jacket on the back of them and it was probably the best jacket I ever owned - shame I grew out of it. I also bought RS Performance gloves thanks to their tests which found them pretty difficult to destroy. FWIW, I got hold of one of their 'best buy' pair in a dealers three-four years back and did my usual test - get hold of the forefinger in one hand and the other fingers in the other and pull and see what happens to the seam. The leather promptly ripped straight through. My RS gloves are now twenty five years old, and have been worn in all weathers... I still can't do that kind of damage to them.

If you want to see the sort of thing they did, take a look at the FortNine channel on YT. That's gone from a bit amateurish in the early days to seriously professional production, and they get MILLIONS of hits - I'd guess they can do some serious damage to even a big manufacturer's product lines.
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Horse »

The Spin Doctor wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:50 pm
gremlin wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:51 am
Taff wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:31 am I always assumed (maybe wrongly) that this sort of thing is influenced by the amount of money that's the manufacturer pays in advertising in the magazine.

Would a mag really give a product a poor review when it's being paid a good chunk of cash to advertise that same product?

That. If the big manufacturers are handing over test bikes and test kit, as well as taking out full page ads, are any editors going to bite the hand that feeds them?

If you want, professional, unbiased opinions from expert polymaths, look no further than these esteemed pages. :wtf:
Superbike infamously lost all Honda's advertising for years after a negative test bike review.
Bike magazine, back in Mark (is he out of prison yet?) Williams days.
Even bland can be a type of character :wave:
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Skub »

Horse wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:12 pm Bike magazine, back in Mark (is he out of prison yet?) Williams days.
He did 13 months in the US and a further 3 years in the UK.
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Asian Boss »

Ride testing (and their survey) were genuinely independent of advertisers. At least it was from 1995 to c.2005.

I do remember AN Other major magazine which took a far more commercial approach.
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Horse »

Skub wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 5:34 pm
Horse wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:12 pm Bike magazine, back in Mark (is he out of prison yet?) Williams days.
He did 13 months in the US and a further 3 years in the UK.
He was trying to reboot his 'Running out of road' recently.

https://runningoutofroad.uk/blog-2/
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Yorick
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Yorick »

Skub wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 5:34 pm
Horse wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:12 pm Bike magazine, back in Mark (is he out of prison yet?) Williams days.
He did 13 months in the US and a further 3 years in the UK.
Eh? What for?
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Horse »

Yorick wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 6:22 pm
Skub wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 5:34 pm
Horse wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:12 pm Bike magazine, back in Mark (is he out of prison yet?) Williams days.
He did 13 months in the US and a further 3 years in the UK.
Eh? What for?
Getting caught ;)
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Horse »

Even bland can be a type of character :wave:
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Skub »

KFB and Horse winned me @ interwebz.
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by The Spin Doctor »

Yorick wrote: Wed Sep 29, 2021 6:22 pm Eh? What for?
Speeding.
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Hot_Air »

Indeed, he was carrying too much speed ;)

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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Hot_Air »

Taipan wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 12:13 pm is the Ride Best Buys endorsement worth taking note of?
Back on topic, I reckon the Bennetts Social reviews are more reliable than Ride nowadays. I’ve more trust in gear reviews funded by an insurance company (no reliance on advertising revenue) than reviews by a magazine dependent on advertising. IMO, John Milbank at Bennetts Social is also a better writer and journalist than Ride’s current hacks.

Unfortunately, the days when Ride did proper tests appear long gone. Although the magazine can be an enjoyable read with some decent articles.
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Le_Fromage_Grande »

Horse wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:12 pm
The Spin Doctor wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:50 pm
gremlin wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 10:51 am


That. If the big manufacturers are handing over test bikes and test kit, as well as taking out full page ads, are any editors going to bite the hand that feeds them?

If you want, professional, unbiased opinions from expert polymaths, look no further than these esteemed pages. :wtf:
Superbike infamously lost all Honda's advertising for years after a negative test bike review.
Bike magazine, back in Mark (is he out of prison yet?) Williams days.
For slagging off the 1st Goldwing, I don't think Honda advertised in Bike again until after it was bought by EMAP, though Team Bike got a load of HRC race bits from Honda UK
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Re: Ride Best Buys?

Post by Asian Boss »

Hot_Air wrote: Thu Sep 30, 2021 7:47 pm
Taipan wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 12:13 pm is the Ride Best Buys endorsement worth taking note of?
Back on topic, I reckon the Bennetts Social reviews are more reliable than Ride nowadays. I’ve more trust in gear reviews funded by an insurance company (no reliance on advertising revenue) than reviews by a magazine dependent on advertising. IMO, John Milbank at Bennetts Social is also a better writer and journalist than Ride’s current hacks.

Unfortunately, the days when Ride did proper tests appear long gone. Although the magazine can be an enjoyable read with some decent articles.
John Milbank worked on the DiRE BRiDE back in the day.

Last time I looked RIDE had evolved into the wanky old touring magazine. When it started it was all about exciting second hand bikes, buying and running them.
To a kid looking up to me, life ain't nothing but bitches and money.