Messages

1

Gear Talk / Re: Online bag comparison tool

« on: October 21, 2019, 12:41:19 pm »

Very impressive indeed! Shoot me a note at editor(at)adventurecycling.org and we'll try to get a mention of the resource in an upcoming issue of the magazine!

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General Discussion / Re: Passing of Bruce Gordon

« on: June 12, 2019, 07:20:32 pm »

Hoping Adventure Cycling will do a story on him in a near future issue of the magazine.    His touring bicycles are near perfection.

Alex from Adventure Cyclist here. We'll have a Waypoint about his passing in the Aug/Sept issue, but not a full-blown profile anytime soon. Dan D'Ambrosio wrote a great one in Feb. 2013 that's still well worth a read. https://www.adventurecycling.org/default/assets/resources/20130201_BruceGordon_D'Ambrosio.pdf

Glad I had the chance to meet Bruce at Interbike a few years ago. He certainly lived up to his surly reputation!

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General Discussion / Re: e-bikes are motor vehicles

« on: November 13, 2018, 01:06:43 pm »

Alex from Adventure Cyclist here. We (myself and magazine staffers) have been watching this discussion for a bit and it's super interesting. Not sure how many here follow the great Leonard Zinn, but he's a great example of someone who's riding an eBike now b/c of a heart condition (story here: https://www.velonews.com/2018/06/bikes-and-tech/zinn-e-bike-can-life-changing-lifelong-cyclist_470738). Of course, plenty of folks riding them for other reasons too, not least of which is that they are indeed fun.

We've got a few reviews coming in '19, including one in the upcoming February issue. As some have stated here, we've taken a conservative approach in the mag as we tend to want most review bikes to be suitable for self-supported touring, which not a ton of eBikes have been — at least not without considerable compromises or logistical hurdles. That'll continue to change and we'll do our best to keep up. And we'll continue to watch threads like these with interest!

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General Discussion / Re: What to do: 15 years of Adventure Cyclist magazines?

« on: September 26, 2016, 01:08:59 pm »

Hey Pat,
  Light, real light! We cover a couple of bikes a year with low gears in that range, almost always bikes spec'd w/ Shimano road drivetrains, as that's about as low as they can go without some modifications.
  In those cases (I'm thinking of a bike like the Niner RLT https://www.adventurecycling.org/default/assets/resources/20160201_RoadTestNiner_Legan.pdf) some of the rationale is often that the bike could be a good touring platform, though perhaps not exactly as equipped from the manufacturer. Or, especially with the kinds of bikes we might cover in the February supported touring and events issue (keep an eye out for a GT in the 2017 issue), we're looking at sort of "quiver-killer" bikes that folks might ride unloaded in Ride the Rockies-type events or very lightly loaded on a credit card or supported tour.
  Coming out of Interbike we saw some intersting "micro-compact" cranksets that should be interesting to keep low gears low with road drivetrains and continue to see manufacturers dropping front rings bit by bit to gear bikes lower in the adventure category, a welcome change that saves consumers from having to immediately make changes.
  -Alex

5

General Discussion / Re: What to do: 15 years of Adventure Cyclist magazines?

« on: September 19, 2016, 09:48:10 pm »

Hey everyone, Alex Strickland, Editor-in-Chief of Adventure Cyclist here. A colleague let me know about the thread and I couldn't resist jumping in. A quick preface: I'm at the Interbike tradeshow in Las Vegas this week so my responses might be a little slow — thanks for you patience. Plus, you can always reach me at astrickland@adventurecycling.org. OK, on to a few things:

- First, digital archives can be found at adventurecycling.org/archive. It's not complete issues, but rather individual stories, columns, etc., dating back to 1983. They're pretty easily searchable by keyword or a number of other filters. I use it all the time, as it's much easier for me than digging through physical back issues. Plus, you can sort by author, so it's easy to pull up the older Brown/Schubert/etc. pieces.

- Second, the "normal" debate is really a fascinating one and something we try to strike a balance on. I don't want to sail around the world or climb K2, but I love reading about it. We hope that bringing stories of "capital A" Adventure are entertaining and inspiring, if not instructional. With that, though, we do try to capture some more manageable trips. One thing I personally find interesting is that I might receive a bunch of feedback about a specific issue leaning much too far in one direction, but by the time the reader has seen it and written the note, another issue is already off to the printer, which leans quite far in the opposite direction. Where I might see a balance with the benefit of knowing what's coming down the line, readers might sometimes only see the big swing off to one side.
Regardless, it's something we're always looking at and trying to figure out the best combination of submitted pieces, assigned stories, etc.

- Finally, regarding POG's reviews: this was also really interesting to hear (read?). In general, we subscribe to the idea that there's no sense wasting ink in the magazine on bad products, largely because SO many of the bikes out there are so very good. Long before a review makes it onto the page, at least a handful of folks have determined that the bike is worth investigating — in some cases despite taller gearing, a weird fork, etc. — and so odds are any negative commentary are more nits to pick rather that out and out warnings to avoid. Do we miss on occasion? Without a doubt. But hopefully O'Grady's reviews are entertaining as well as informative, I certainly find them to be.

With all that said, I hope you don't read this as defensive. I find the process — and how the editors and readers view it — completely fascinating and despite what you might think, we don't get a ton of feedback on the mag. I love a good conversation, so consider this my small contribution. Look forward to hearing people's thoughts and continuing the back and forth!
  -Alex