I hate mountain bike reviews. I hate them in magazines. I hate them on websites. And I double-dog hate them in podcasts.
But, but, but — I do love quality mountain bike gear. I’m the target audience for mountain bike gear reviews. Why do I hate them so” Let’s count the reasons:
Most mountain bike reviews are less about gear and more about the author. Gear reviewers plunge into JargonVille to convince readers that they know their stuff. They spend valuable space saying “hey, I can use all sorts of barely comprehensible language. So I’m worthy of this gig, and you should believe me!” And many vomit up a bunch of marketing language from the manufacturer. The result” I skip most of the middle.
Those who write mountain bike reviews have lost all sense of perspective. I recently saw a review of a $600+ wheelset that the reviewer considers “mid-priced.” And I’ve seen too many $3,000 bikes called “reasonably priced” lately. That’s a hefty bit of bucks, bones, clams or whatever you call them. But magazines and many websites are advertiser driven, so they have to do everything to convince advertisers that they can influence YOU, the reader, to spend spend spend. Part of the strategy” An ever-rising line of what’s considered a moderate price.
I haven’t run into a mountain bike review that tells me the bottom line: how Product X will make my ride better or make me better. Is this a product that a racer needs that just might make her edge that other person in the pro class, that one who’s just as good as she is” Or is this something that will make you sweat less about maintenance, and remove a barrier that might prevent you from squeezing in a ride each week” Or is this something that will make you able to ride in a new way that you haven’t been able to tap into yet” That’s what I want from the bottom line of mountain bike gear reviews.
Most of the better-known publications and sites play it safe with mountain bike reviews. They stick to the big, expensive items from the well-known manufacturers. I’ll give props to Mountain Flyer magazine here. Yes, it has many of the usual suspects. But I’ve also run into below-the-radar offerings like the Foundry Broadaxe and REEB Bicycles in its pages. I like that spirit of discovery, and more magazines and sites need to find those up-and-comers. (Hint: It’s no coincidence that some of those new players also spend less on advertising and have fewer products to send for review) But I’d also like to see more gear reviews from varied price points. And here’s a great example: Dirt Rag previewed a set of Clarks Skeletal disc brakes … and never delivered the full review (If you have evidence otherwise, send it my way – I never saw it). Why” Because magazines are afraid to publish bad mountain bike reviews – unlike me!
Here I am complaining about mountain bike reviews – and now here I am pitching in with my own solution: When I write reviews here, I will keep them free of ridiculous jargon. I will tell you whether it’s a luxury product or a true must-have. I will keep a sense of perspective. And I’ll try very hard to find products that everyone overlooks … and that offer a good value.
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Spend spend spend no kidding! Couldn’t agree with you more. I love looking through bike magazines as well as visiting cycling websites and read various reviews telling me that I need to spend 1200 dollars to get a decent wheelset when I feel like lesser of a mountain biker because I only spent 400 dollars on my new wheels. Major magazines and websites are ad revenue driven but they also seem to only review what is trendy or cool at the moment which in turn drives the desire for products that are maybe unnecessary for average riders.
Ah, it’s good to hear that others think about this the same way. Thanks for dropping by, Shelly!