Has Velonews Turned to Crap?

[BroDeal]

Since Velonews was acquired by Competitor.com the site seems to have spiraled downward in quality. They don't even use their own domain name any more. It's velonews.competitor.com. I get the feeling that the magazine and site's main purpose is to drive participation in Competitor's endurance racing events, and to do so as cheaply as possible.

They apparently killed their forum, which was sometimes a good source of scuttlebutt.

 

[TheDude]

format of the mag is changing too.
They say that they are moving news to the website and keeping human interest and pretty stuff for the mag. I probably won't renew this year.

 

[Race Radio]

They are re formating the forum, it will be up in a couple of days.

 

[turnkey303]

dang!

I just registered so I could make the same comment!

The VN forum was just the last piece of puzzle for them to update after the big redesign.

BroDeal: I'm curious why you think the domain redirect reflects quality? A lot of sites have a redirect you never see or use a redirect to a subdomain like vn does. It's just a minor bit of programming that makes it easier on the backend to cut down on redundant directories, code, etc.

 

[BroDeal]

BroDeal: I'm curious why you think the domain redirect reflects quality? A lot of sites have a redirect you never see or use a redirect to a subdomain like vn does. It's just a minor bit of programming that makes it easier on the backend to cut down on redundant directories, code, etc.

I see it as a matter of branding. You no longer go to Velonews. You go to one of the services of Competitor, and they make sure that you know that, right down to using a subdomain of competitor.com. They could have just as easily used the old domain name with the same back-end they are using now. I think it probably indicates the direction they intend to take with Velonews.

It also looks like they got rid of their old back-end and went with Wordpress, which is what their other publications use. This could be the first step in unifying the all their content. How long before each publication just becomes a different view of the same data?

 

[Anonymous]

It used to be one of the sites I visited several times a day for news, but in December for a week or two it turned to all Radio Shack all the time. A video of JB posted on Christmas Day wasn't on my Wish List, and they had more RS promotion that got buried a bit when they heard about the investigation by gendarmes. Right now I'm looking really hard at media to see who I can trust. Maybe I'll check back there in a couple of months.

 

[GilTeamS&M]

They still have Lennard Zinn and Charles Pelkey. Pelkey's "Explainer" column is almost always interesting, and Zinn will even email you personally with an answer if he doesn't include your question in his tech column.

The race coverage is fine. I mean, at least they don't go on and on about Taylor Phinney...

 

[Murray]

Bad for mobile too

Before, they had pretty good mobile site too. The new one is terrible.

Thumbs down for the new VN. Boo...

 

[tubularglue]

when they dropped the 2 mags a month during spring/summer/fall - made my decision

my subscription drops in Feb. - forever

their forum was marginal at best.

low article content/Ads

some good articles occasionally

dropped http://www.velonews.com off my bookmarks last week. goodbye marketing men/women

but as stated above, only perk was dually mags/month - gone

as the sport goes lots of flash/$$

they never should of gone beyond newspaper. jmo

http://www.roadmagazine.net/road_home/index.html is where my money goes

procycling this month went up to 99$ per year - WTF
Ride mag doesn't hit Borders anymore & at 15.00$ an issue - stretch
cyclesport all ads all the time

slim pickings for me:

 

[Lifeshape]

VN used to be my favorite source until I found CN last year. I had to change my bookmark page as well. My subscription to VN was up in DEC, so I thought, but I guess Competitor automatically renewed for me (not too happy about that). I do like their Live Updates, however, and Charles Pelkey has such a humerous writing style. I will still visit their site only to find balance with stories, but I've learned my lesson on renewals for 2011.

 

[Tangled Tango]

It used to be one of the sites I visited several times a day for news, but in December for a week or two it turned to all Radio Shack all the time. A video of JB posted on Christmas Day wasn't on my Wish List, and they had more RS promotion that got buried a bit when they heard about the investigation by gendarmes. Right now I'm looking really hard at media to see who I can trust. Maybe I'll check back there in a couple of months.

Same for me, the site seems to have become the RS, LA & JB outlet for whenever they need press or want to vent. Very little news anymore. Too bad as it´s the only cycling publication I subscribe to and I´m in Spain. Probably won´t renew.

 

[fatandfast]

Same for me, the site seems to have become the RS, LA & JB outlet for whenever they need press or want to vent. Very little news anymore. Too bad as it´s the only cycling publication I subscribe to and I´m in Spain. Probably won´t renew.

Road is good. Good photos and coverage of racing. Bob Babbitt is a great guy and did lots for triathlon in S,Cal.That said VN was better before CG took over.

 

[usedtobefast]

i still read VN but not as many times a day as here. this forum is very good.
VN are good on technical stuff and usa racing stuff. i hope they do well.
i stopped all my subscriptions to all magazines a couple of years ago.

 

[turnkey303]

Yea...

It also looks like they got rid of their old back-end and went with Wordpress, which is what their other publications use. This could be the first step in unifying the all their content. How long before each publication just becomes a different view of the same data?

...could be. The triathlon site is pretty thin in my opinion as I see more, timely and better coverage in a lot of other places.

 

[Deagol]

I thought their coverage of the Los Angeles road rage doc was good. I don't get the magazine but used to check the site everyday. Since they changed their layout, I don't go there anywhere near as much these days. Maybe I'm creature of habit, but I don't like the new website at all. I am also turned off by the Lance overload on Velonews.

 

[cotterpin]

VN crap?

VN is crap when they reprint RadioShack/LA/JB press releases/mis-informaton/lies.
But I think "The Explainer" is usually OK.
The Zinn article on sucking slime outta yer cx tyres was good for a chuckle.
I appreciated them outting the R-SYS wheels for the POS that they are;come on, what's up with wagon wheel technology in the 21st Century!?

 

[Anonymous]

Yes

...................

 

[toby@RIDECyclingReview]

Ride mag doesn't hit Borders anymore


:

Please note we are still at Borders... If you let me know what area I can let you know that closest stockist.

Unfortunately due to the fact that our magazine weighs 600 grams shipping is expensive, but then there is quite a bit to read as opposed to some other magazines.

 

[Cozy Beehive]

Since Velonews was acquired by Competitor.com the site seems to have spiraled downward in quality. They don't even use their own domain name any more. It's velonews.competitor.com. I get the feeling that the magazine and site's main purpose is to drive participation in Competitor's endurance racing events, and to do so as cheaply as possible.

They apparently killed their forum, which was sometimes a good source of scuttlebutt.

I don't know if Velonews is changing for the better. I won't jump into their biased articles...but a year back I remember their "forum" was a plain eyesore. After that experience, I seldom doubted VN didn't have a few scientists on their team who were researching on how humans navigate around online mazes.

Also, last year, I made the mistake of purchasing a few of their magazines from a store. It was a sprawl of male dominated homoerotica and there wasn't a single significant piece on women's racing in the country. Which prompted me to write a complaint to them on my blog http://bit.ly/4P33p0 but they didn't respond. Hopefully their magazines are more balanced these days. Or is it still the "Journal of Competitive Men" ?

 

[tubularglue]

Please note we are still at Borders... If you let me know what area I can let you know that closest stockist.

Unfortunately due to the fact that our magazine weighs 600 grams shipping is expensive, but then there is quite a bit to read as opposed to some other magazines.

thanks for the info. i regularly buy your magazine when available. Like buying a book. Cream of the Crop

 

[badboyberty]

NO. Always was crap unless you're an American and a fan of Leipheimer, Horner and Armstrong.

Zinn is the only worthwhile contributor.

 

[mr. tibbs]

NO. Always was crap unless you're an American and a fan of Leipheimer, Horner and Armstrong.

Zinn is the only worthwhile contributor.

All of the above is true.

I also can't stand John Wilcockson's hyperbolic race reports.

 

[BroDeal]

I don't know if Velonews is changing for the better. I won't jump into their biased articles...but a year back I remember their "forum" was a plain eyesore. After that experience, I seldom doubted VN didn't have a few scientists on their team who were researching on how humans navigate around online mazes.

Their forum was low tech. They allowed members to have giant graphical sigs. Very annoying. The new forum looks like it might be even lower tech--if you can imagine that. Despite that, I did occasionally get interesting, first hand info from there.

The magazine was a lot better when it was printed on newsprint in large format.

 

[movingtarget]

Velonews

I thought their coverage of the 09 Tour was good but since then they seem to have gone backwards again in content and style.

 

[flicker]

Velonews a sprawl of male dominated homoerotica and there wasn't a single significant piece on women's racing in the country.

But my dear Cozy Beehive my guess from riding around here in Monterey County California is that the majority of the male lycra wearing psuedo-cyclists are closeted.

By reading Velonews and "riding their bikes" they can experience two man pleasures at once.

Please tell your man Greg to start supporting junior and womens racing and get his **** out of court!