CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News

Velo Vision Magazine ends publication

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  1. LaidBack
    Member

    Based in York for many years but more recently in Lincolnshire, Velo Vision will cease publication of its print and digital editions.

    Velo Vision was unusual in having covers featuring bikes not usually seen in magazines such as Cycling Plus. Sales of the mag were subscription only though as big advertisers considered it of little value to the 'bikes as a commodity trade' aka 'the mass market'.

    However it did allow people using bikes as transport to see what was going on in the rest of the world. The first issue was in 2001.

    We supplied a few review bikes such as:

      • Nazca Fuego
      • Raptobike Lowracer
      • ICE Adventure FS
      • Nazca Gaucho 28
      • ICE Vortex - reviewed in Edinburgh
      • Performer Saki

    We wish Howard Yeomans all the best. I't's a tough decision to make but the legacy of VV will still be available. Magazine published on Issuu.

    Ligfiets Net in NL picked it up yesterday on twitter - one of the 'new means of distribution' that threatens the viability of the 'long read'.


    Ligfiets Plaza announces Velo Vision closure     by LaidBackBikes, on Flickr

    Posted 7 years ago #

  2. chdot
    Admin

    I blame the internet.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  3. LaidBack
    Member

    I blame the internet.

    For everything?

    Posted 7 years ago #

  4. chdot
    Admin

    Might as well.

    It's easier.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  5. Arellcat
    Moderator

    I was a subscriber to Velovision for most of its run, and I too am very sorry to see it end. My copies of all 52 editions will probably become an heirloom.

    I learned of cargo bikes and velomobiles through VV, and through its older half-sister, Encycleopedia, for which Peter Eland was editor. Both Peter and Howard are engineers; Peter was schooled in writing and production, while Howard brought more of a technical aspect to many of the recent articles (and previously ran the Bikes Made Good mobile repair service).

    Both Laid Back and I featured in Velovision at a personal level over the years, sometimes reviewing bikes and sometimes helping model them.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  6. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    I didn't know this publication existed but I can feel the real sadness and regret for its passing in the posts above.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  7. chdot
    Admin

    http://www.velovision.com

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velo_Vision

    I used to buy about half a dozen magazines a month - bicycle, computer, other.

    Then it got to the point where I would (almost) only buy one for a long train journey.

    Now even that doesn't always happen.

    The fact that shops are still 'full' of magazines shows that people do buy them - though many have much lower circulations (like newspapers).

    I blame the internet.

    One significant reason is the way (particularly) Google (and FB) has taken a significant slice of the available advertising revenue.

    Things change, not always for the better.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  8. chdot
    Admin

    I 'blame' Smartphones too.

    So much money spent by so many people on a thing instead of on a nice warm bicycle/magazine/coffee.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  9. Frenchy
    Member

    I didn't realise I wanted a nice warm bike and magazine till now.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  10. LaidBack
    Member

    The question is...

    Does anyone here actually buy bike magazines anymore (both paper and Issuu etc)?

    Which ones does the forum think are worth reading?

    Frenchy and IWRATS - have plenty of copies of last issue. I used it as a promo tool to show what was out there.
    I may bring some to give away at PY. I've done that before to let people see what they are missing. Of course Anth / Wilmington still has the CityCycling online magazine linked to forum title. This is in effect the forum of a magazine (chdot)? Not the first bike magazine to come from Edinburgh.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    "This is in effect the forum of a magazine (chdot)?"

    Not really.

    CCE came about mostly because I thought my existing blog/news site had run its course and something for 'more voices' would be a good idea. Anth was running an online magazine with contributions from various other people.

    We talked through ideas, combined the names of our two sites and sent messages to our various contacts.

    The rest is continuing to be history.

    "Not the first bike magazine to come from Edinburgh."

    True.

    And probably earlier ones.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  12. crowriver
    Member

    A pity VV has come to an end. I was a subscriber for a while, and bought loads of back issues too. However I gradually ended all my magazine subscriptions: just don't seem to have the time to read them!

    I too blame the internet - not only for the (financial) demise of magazines but also for the demise of my time to read them.

    Posted 7 years ago #

  13. LaidBack
    Member

    Cycling in the Public Gaze

    Ballantine was founder and editor of Bicycle Magazine which, at the beginning of the 1980s, provided a broad coverage of cycling activity beyond the more established areas of racingand touring It was the first cycling magazine in the UK to adopt the large scale colour printlayout of a 'glossy'. However, Ballantine in his own words “parted company with Bicycle Magazine in 1983 and hooked up … with Bicycle Action published by Richard Grant and Nigel Thomas. This latter magazine made a pitch to promote the new opportunities of cycling off-road. Campaigning voices, prompted by the 1978 publications of Bicycle Planning and Way Ahead the Bicycle Warriors handbook, both written by Mike Hudson and published by Friends of the Earth were served by small scale productions such as the Edinburgh-based Freewheeling which advertised issues on topics such as 'Wet weather cycling' (Sep 1979) and 'Cycling in Schools' (March 1980). The London Cycling Campaign was also officially launched in September 1978, Sustrans the following year. Friends of the Earth (FoE) were very keen to associate themselves with cycling, running events such as 1981's 'Great British Bike Ride' a 3 week cavalcade starting from John o' Groats on August the first aiming for Land's End.

    Extract from: Activism and Market Innovation:
    Changing patterns in the cycle trade
    Peter Cox - University of Chester

    Posted 7 years ago #

  14. Blueth
    Member

    Sorry to see it go.

    However, those who wish to combine the feindish internet with reading cycle magazines (and a load of others) should sign up to the Edinburgh Library system whereby you can read them free of charge; but presumably paid for oot yer cooncil tax to provide some income to the publishers.

    Posted 7 years ago #

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