Just Riding Along

Mountain biking is not an extreme sport

As part of their SuperStudy of Sports Participation, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) has ranked the most popular extreme sports in the USA.  Mountain biking ended up in 6th place (nearly missing the top 5 and losing out to "Artificial Wall Climbing"). 

Why does the SGMA call mountain biking an extreme sport?  I really wish they'd consider changing it to "Freeriding" or better yet "Downhill Mountain Biking" next time.  As you may remember from a previous post, I am very sensitive to mountain bikers being portrayed as "extreme" in any way.  Why?  Because I know this "extreme" label is what the hiking and equestrian groups try to use in order to get our trails shut down.  By including mountain biking in this list, the SGMA is perpetuating a negative stereotype.

But perhaps I shouldn't worry about this.  After all, any study that shows more people climbing "artificial walls" than mountain biking should not be taken too seriously.

The truth about bike reviews

Tim over at Blue Collar MTB has let the cat out of the bag about bike reviews in magazines...or has he?  What is the truth about bike reviews in magazines? 

Here's an excerpt from Tim's post.

...over the last couple of months...I’ve run across a couple of bike reviews where the reviewer admitted to only taking the bike on a couple rides. I’ve heard rumors of different magazines getting paid to review a product...and other publications only reviewing products once the company has purchased advertising with them...

This was made clear to me recently when we were talking to a certain bike manufacturer about reviewing a bike for them and they would only allow us, at most, a month to review their bike. Unless I lived on this bike for that month there is no way we could give an honest review. So we turned them down. We’ve already had people tell us they have bought bikes based on our recommendation and the last thing we are going to do is compromise that trust just because some company says “that’s not how other people do it.”

I don't have a ton of knowledge about this  because I've only worked with one bike brand and reviews weren't a part of the plan.  But, I have thought about this issue and I'd love to know more about how it all works.  Are bike magazines being paid to review bikes?  I know advertising plays a part, but to what extent?  Whose responsibility is it to ensure objectivity and honesty in the review process?  The magazine editors?  The manufacturers?  The PR/marketing people?  The readers?