Escape Collective to Replace Cycling Tips

Questions about bike hire abroad and everything light bike related. No off-topic chat please

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itsacarr
Posts: 1008
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 4:55 am

by itsacarr

Another vote of excitement to see everyone back under a new roof. People I trust and stories I genuinely find engaging. No one outlet is going to satisfy everyone for all things but CT was one of the few places with long form pieces I really enjoyed.
Just ride ..

TwiggyForest
Posts: 191
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2020 2:06 am

by TwiggyForest

Looks good, but membership is too expensive for me. $75 AUD I can tolerate, $150 not so much.

by Weenie


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njleach
Posts: 209
Joined: Sat Jun 26, 2010 9:46 am

by njleach

They have reached 60% of their target

thebikemanguy
Posts: 56
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2021 8:54 am

by thebikemanguy

TwiggyForest wrote:
Thu Mar 02, 2023 10:33 pm
Looks good, but membership is too expensive for me. $75 AUD I can tolerate, $150 not so much.
If this is coming from a genuine place of financial hardship (and $150 is expensive for you), I'd email Wade et. al and explain that. They're good folks, maybe they'll help you out!

That being said, if you *can* afford $150 and it just seems like a lot of money for a subscription, I'd ask you to consider how much journalism in general is struggling, and how difficult it is for a high-quality publication to survive in the 21st century without resorting to advertising, low-quality clickbait, and/or selling yourself to the nearest hedge fund. No one is getting rich off this; it's simply what it costs to pay high-quality journalists a decent wage to do high-quality work. You need only glance at the rest of the cycling media landscape to see what the alternative is.

Conradsleight
Posts: 122
Joined: Tue Mar 10, 2015 5:27 am

by Conradsleight

thebikemanguy wrote:
Thu Mar 02, 2023 10:46 pm
TwiggyForest wrote:
Thu Mar 02, 2023 10:33 pm
Looks good, but membership is too expensive for me. $75 AUD I can tolerate, $150 not so much.
If this is coming from a genuine place of financial hardship (and $150 is expensive for you), I'd email Wade et. al and explain that. They're good folks, maybe they'll help you out!

That being said, if you *can* afford $150 and it just seems like a lot of money for a subscription, I'd ask you to consider how much journalism in general is struggling, and how difficult it is for a high-quality publication to survive in the 21st century without resorting to advertising, low-quality clickbait, and/or selling yourself to the nearest hedge fund. No one is getting rich off this; it's simply what it costs to pay high-quality journalists a decent wage to do high-quality work. You need only glance at the rest of the cycling media landscape to see what the alternative is.
This 👆 the internet got everyone used to thinking everything should be "free" (or very inexpensive), but one of the biggest downsides has been the errosion of traditional journalism and the business model supporting it.

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C36
Posts: 2468
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:24 am

by C36

For something asset-light compared to physical and digital magazines, I do find the 100€ mark quite optimistic, Tour charge 60€ for the digital magasine and le Cycle 40€ for physical and digital support.

I subscribed to show support for this first year, but I am not as hyped as some seem to be seeing a very very long list of journalists, I would have envisioned something with a tighter crew.

Tifosiphil
Posts: 355
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2018 11:09 pm

by Tifosiphil

I'd agree, it is likely that I will sign up as I enjoy the podcast and the journalists their so much I want to support them but the subscription is 20% more than Rouleur annually and I would have to choose between the two and it does still put a smile on my face receiving Rouleur in the post every few weeks

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guyc
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Location: Hampshire, England
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by guyc

C36 wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:57 am
Tour charge 60€ for the digital magasine and le Cycle 40€ for physical and digital support.
Which they can do because they're ad supported.....

StiffWeenies
Posts: 612
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2021 3:39 pm

by StiffWeenies

citrusparty wrote:
Thu Mar 02, 2023 3:56 am
Glad to see that they're back, but I'm slightly worried they've brought on too many people for a startup. Thoughts?
way too much overhead

thirdsun
Posts: 401
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2021 3:20 pm

by thirdsun

C36 wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:57 am
I do find the 100€ mark quite optimistic, Tour charge 60€ for the digital magasine.
I'm very grateful for their measurements and aero tests but their reviews feel otherwise very light. Barely a paragraph about each bike.
guyc wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:00 am
Which they can do because they're ad supported.....
There will still be advertising it's just not their focus.


Personally, I wish there was a monthly subscription. I'm looking forward to this but I'm not if I want to go in with a full year subscription. However I understand why a monthly subscription doesn't help them determine if this is an economically viable endeavor.
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Lina
Posts: 1055
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:09 pm

by Lina

This just seems like a cash grab using your name and people's empathy. WAY too much people for a startup thing, but they need it because they're trying to cash grab as much as possible and the more "names" they have the more people will find someone they like in that list. And the more "reasonable" the subscription becomes. I'm expecting sell out to advertisers and regression to normal cycling media shilling within a year.

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C36
Posts: 2468
Joined: Fri Mar 03, 2017 3:24 am

by C36

thirdsun wrote:
C36 wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:57 am
I do find the 100€ mark quite optimistic, Tour charge 60€ for the digital magasine.
I'm very grateful for their measurements and aero tests but their reviews feel otherwise very light. Barely a paragraph about each bike.
I do value 10x more lab data than journalist feedback that always has a “?” on impartiality attached to their comments. Often to light on the technical front and weak on challenging marketing claims (CT crew doing a bit better than many others). Setting up lab test is a complete different level of complexity than riding a bike and writing about it.

Tour comments on bike are very normal in length, for equipment it’s on the short side of things.

Again I want them to succeed (and Imageoutside Image) and didn’t look too much on cost when I subscribed, but i would like them to put things in perspective (and maybe forum members too ?) that some traditional magasine bring things that have no equivalent on the market today.

thirdsun
Posts: 401
Joined: Fri Aug 06, 2021 3:20 pm

by thirdsun

C36 wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:33 am
thirdsun wrote:
C36 wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:57 am
I do find the 100€ mark quite optimistic, Tour charge 60€ for the digital magasine.
I'm very grateful for their measurements and aero tests but their reviews feel otherwise very light. Barely a paragraph about each bike.
I do value 10x more lab data than journalist feedback that always has a “?” on impartiality attached to their comments.
That's the problem. If a bike disappoints they should be able to come out and say that. They could also have a discussion with different reviewers and viewpoints. However at the end of the day they still rely on manufacturers sending them their bikes to test. I don't see how a lack of advertising can change that dependance...unless they are willing to go out and buy their own S-Works and Pinarellos to review.

And yes, I agree that we need more hard facts in addition to ride impressions. Again, I'm very grateful for Tour's testing. Nobody else seems to be able to pull it off. These days manufacturers won't even tell you what their bikes weigh.
  • Canyon Aeroad CF SLX 8 Di2
  • Cervelo Caledonia Rival eTap AXS
  • Vitus Venon Evo
  • Canyon Grail CF SL 8 Di2

Lina
Posts: 1055
Joined: Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:09 pm

by Lina

thirdsun wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 12:01 pm
C36 wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:33 am
thirdsun wrote:
C36 wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:57 am
I do find the 100€ mark quite optimistic, Tour charge 60€ for the digital magasine.
I'm very grateful for their measurements and aero tests but their reviews feel otherwise very light. Barely a paragraph about each bike.
I do value 10x more lab data than journalist feedback that always has a “?” on impartiality attached to their comments.
That's the problem. If a bike disappoints they should be able to come out and say that. They could also have a discussion with different reviewers and viewpoints. However at the end of the day they still rely on manufacturers sending them their bikes to test. I don't see how a lack of advertising can change that dependance...unless they are willing to go out and buy their own S-Works and Pinarellos to review.

And yes, I agree that we need more hard facts in addition to ride impressions. Again, I'm very grateful for Tour's testing. Nobody else seems to be able to pull it off. These days manufacturers won't even tell you what their bikes weigh.
And even if they go out and buy their bikes they're waiting months from "release" to even have the bike in their hands. Then few weeks to months to have any sort of review of the bike. They couldn't compete with any of the medias that have their hands on bikes before release and have a piece out when the NDA runs out and the brand sends a press release of a new product.

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guyc
Posts: 1742
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:40 am
Location: Hampshire, England
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by guyc

StiffWeenies wrote:
Fri Mar 03, 2023 10:21 am
citrusparty wrote:
Thu Mar 02, 2023 3:56 am
Glad to see that they're back, but I'm slightly worried they've brought on too many people for a startup. Thoughts?
way too much overhead
I doubt very much whether they're all on staff, but will instead act as freelance contributors. No way would they be able sustain salaried.

by Weenie


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