After just a few months of ownership, the giant publisher Hearst Magazines has sold off Cycle World to Bonnier Corp. Cycle World has the largest print circulation of any motorcycle magazine based in the United States (242,000 per month). Hearst had purchased a large number of magazines from Cycle World’s long-time owner Hachette Filipacchi Media in May of this year, and will be keeping magazines such as Car and Driver and Road & Track, also purchased from HF in a near $1 billion deal. We don’t know the price received from Bonnier. We understand that Bonnier is keeping Editor-in-Chief Mark Hoyer on board to run the magazine.
I don’t read Peter Egan much. He’s like a little old man that is always reaching “back to the day.” I don’t know, just boring.
I hope the new owners make Cycle World more fun, like the british motorcycle mags. Maybe even a little skin. Cycle World and Motorcyclist act like they’re terrified of women.
Peter Egan is the best. I even read his car stuff and I don’t even have any interest in cars. He is interesting and humorous. He just has a way with the written word.
Egan stays or I don’t renew
Well this is interesting.. this being that Cycleworld has been sold. I also have received mail asking me to re-order for more money, but I have not re-ordered to date. I am also one of those motorcycle riders that go back to when it was Cycle magazine.. before Cycleworld bought Cycle out etc. I also still believe that Cycle magazine was the best, because they showed the most mechanical photo’s of just how things were designed. I was sorry to see Cycle fold. I’m also sure there are other older bikers who feel the same way. Besides Cycleworld, I currently receive Motorcyclist and Rider magazine.
I would subscribe to Cycle, but not Cycleworld. It really was a better magazine than CW. The folks that run CW are only in it for the profit and will probably sell it off to someone else before the end of the year.
Hmmm…my issue came in the mail today and it’s 90 pages.I checked last months and it’s also 90 pages. Not sure what Digits is referring to.
I guess I like Egan because at 61 I can relate to him. Been through the same things, had as many motorcycles as he, (if not more), believe his philosophy about owning a single purpose bike for each purpose for riding, a touring bike for multi state travel riding two up, a sport bike for when I feel frisky (even if my knee never comes within a foot of the pavement), a street roadster for when I ride with my younger brother on his Triumph Bonneville, a Classic that gets wrenched on a lot, but only gets ridden a few miles on sunny Sunday mornings when it’s above 70 degrees, and a scooter for when I ride with my wife on her scooter. The only thing I’m lacking he would have in his garage is a dual sport and I always have my eye on the local Craigslist for the right one to pop up.
I like publications on paper and have no desire to read a magazine online or on a I-pad or Blackberry (even if I had either one, which I don’t). Apparently my phone isn’t so smart and neither am I. I know the publication business is headed that way, but if they can just hold off for another 15 years, statistically ,I should be gone and will no longer care.
HFM sold Flying (and some other niche titles) to Bonnier two years ago. The looong-time editor-in-chief did depart at the time (personal choice) but otherwise the move to Bonnier has been nothing but positive. Bonnier has invested in the magazine (returning to perfect binding, for example, after HFM switched to staple binding in a cost-cutting move).
Tiger800Guy: I don’t know about the Nook but Bonnier does publish a version of Flying for the iPad.
Hmmm…I read Mark Hoyer’s comments about the sale. All sounds pretty normal to me. I believe that most of CW’s content is pretty good. All the bike mags cover cruisers way to much for me. Zero would be perfect but that is just me.
What I do miss from CW, Motorcyclist and even MCN (ours, not the Euro-weenie version) is the long form road test complete with tear down (Yes, I still miss Cycle) AND in depth DIY articles. But then time has gone by and things have changed mostly for the better.
I read virtually everything available, hard copy and online( except for some of the expensive euro mags). With my limited time, Egan is the one contributor I don’t read. True, he has good writing skills but his stories are “slice of life”, “charming anecdotes” that to me are a waste of time and hugely boring. To me Cameron is the gem. He could be teaching engineering classes. In my mind Sport Rider magazine is the essential package: every issue has an article on improving rider skill; their road tests are the most scientific in the industry. I won’t consider buying a bike without reading about how it fared in a Sport Rider test. Their technology articles set the standard in my eyes too.
This guy I agree with.
Cameron is very entertaining, probably because I like working on my own stuff and am an engineer. While Egan is nothing but mindless drivel about what used to be or at least what he can possibly remember of it. Nostalgia is way overrated.
I’ll have to check out Sport Rider and get a subscription even. Cycle World this month (November) is as one person put it, thin as an advertisement that almost got thrown out. I still enjoy the writers though. Mainly Canet, Dudek and Burns.
I agree with everyone above…Egan is the man! I read his articles first, then go back to the front and work my way through the rest of the magazine. He has a way of writing that makes you feel like you’re there with him, exeperiencing his experiences. A very, very talented guy.
Sadly, this may prevent further deliveries of Cycle World on my Nook, as the new publisher probably doesn’t have the ability ready for e-zines. Pity, it was the best e-zine deal, only $1 a month.
I like to read print while using the “facility”. My preferred subject is motorycles, but I’ll read the toothpaste tube if nothing else is available. I can’t forsee the day that I drag my tablet or laptop in there, or that my family would appreciate it much. It might not be the most recent news in these print magazines but they do offer good content for the money (if you subscribe) and it’s readily available to enjoy should the guy at the powerplant trip over a plug.
That’s hilarious! And…. I do the exact same thing. They would definitely NOT accept one of my magazines for return at the bookstore (George Kastanza ala Seinfeld).
The latest issue of Cycle World was in Yesteday’s mail. I nearly threw it out, thinking it was a advertising flyer. I think the entire issue is four pages.. big (HUGE) change from years past. I’ve been a subscriber since the 70s, but if this is as good as it gets, their future is dim. Agree 100% about keeping Egan and Cameron. Maybe they’ll get a m/c related show on the new Velocity Channel.
The magazine industry is going the way of the newspaper business. Get used to it.
That’s the truth! Especially since most of the younger folks grew up with computer in their house. They are internet savvy and know the value of getting up to the minute information and not having to wait 2 months to read about the “latest” development in the motorcycling world. The rags are dying.
+1 on they had better keep Egan. I enjoy his column and usually read it first when I get the mag.
I agree with Mickey. If Egan leaves, so do I. He is the main reason I buy the magazine.
+1
Keep Egan and you keep my sub going .
Dump him I am out.
Amen to that. Egan is still the best motorsports writer, and he actually goes places on motorcycles rather than just confining his riding to the track. Cameron is usually the smartest guy in the room, but Egan has a great sense of humor and he doesn’t take himself too seriously. You can always tell that the truly loves bikes and cars. And Barb.
Cycle World used to be cheap. Right now it isn’t. Hearst has been hammering me for months to renew pre-maturely at their higher subscription price. I’ll now wait and see if the price changes. I mainly like CW for Cameron’s articles. Have grown tired if Egan. Also get Rider and Motorcycle Consumer News, which I get the most accurate information from. MCN is not cheap but is worth it’s price to me.
In term of print magazines, Roadracing World is my new favorite American motorcycle rag (and I don’t even follow racing very closely). It’s much more straightforward and informative than Cycle World, Motorcyclist and Sport Rider.
I like RoadRacing world but it is only “informative” on the soap opera that is motorcycle racing. True, they do road tests but they are track based only. They do virtually no articles on improving riding skill ( Sport Rider is the gold standard; check their online archive) and their technology articles can’t compete with Kevin Cameron or Andrew Trevitt, in my engineering opinion.
Well, it’s Cycle WORLD and Peter Egan also writes for Road & Track, not Car & Driver. I also like Kevin Cameron, and John Burns is witty and refreshingly self-deprecating regarding his riding skills. The fear was CW was going online and out of print, which I would regret. But the publishing industry is up in the air now, so who knows? Motorcycle Daily does an awfully nice job and has improved quite a bit since its new format.
My goof, Road and Track! I think that with site like this one, there’s no need to clutter up the house with 3 different subscriptions from moto mags each month. The world is changing and you have to change with it.
Egen is probably the only reason many people still subscribe to Cycle and Car and Driver. The rest of the writers seem to be drones just fulfilling a task in the most mundane manner possible. It’s no wonder the publications are being sold off like trash at a rummage sale.
I just hope they keep Egan. If he’s gone so is my subscription.
Cycle World bought Cycle only to shut it down. It sucks when magazines or companies buy other companies just to shut them down and eliminate the competition. It is always the dumber party that buys the smarter party, there is no need when it’s the other way around.