Our new online poll is great – it sits there and can answer lots of things for us about our readers – Do they like Marmite? Vimto or Irn Bru? Eastenders or Corrie?
Our previous question was about bike travel and it was interesting to see that 44% of our readers have a hardtail as their main mountain bike. Over here in magazine land, it’s easy to believe that all mountain bikes these days are full sussers – as a result of the bikes we get passing through our doors. This is partly due to manufacturers wanting us to see their new suspension systems, which have far more to talk about than simpler hardtails – and also because the rugged nature of Calderdale makes having a full suspension bike a viable machine. If the magazine were based in Brighton, we’d probably all ride super-light hardtails as the terrain there tends to punish bikes with extra weight and complexity.
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Whether readers would like more hardtail reviews in the magazine, though, I’m not sure. In the same way that you don’t really watch Top Gear to see Clarkson driving around in the new Fiesta – you’re there for the Ferrari shoot – I wonder if pages of rather similar hardtails would make such interesting review copy, despite them being what most rider end up buying…Â
We’ll see what turns up, eh? At least we have a hardtail review coming up next issue… That should keep some people happy.