[Closed] BIKE MAGIC, RCUK, DIRT, etc liquidated

Dirt mag was finished when they ended the printed magazine. Just being yet another bike web site is a tough market to exist in. Though I frequently visit it for this or that article and the videos, but where is the money made? Online ads probably don't make enough.

I used to like bikemagic back when I was young

Former workmate of mine used to run Factory until he sold it on. I reckon he predicted the end of print a bit too early. Like Boards tried to be just online but then had to put out two fat print issues a year to get the decent ad revenue in.

Shame, so that's the end end of Dirt. Anyone know what rose, jonesy and billy trailstar do now,?

I really liked Dirt mag. Catered more for the riding I do than the Singletrack mag does.

sad to see Whitelines going too

the reality is people can put out great content for little or no cost these days and it gets plenty of attention

Factory Media bought AdrenalinTrip, I think? Made a right mess of that.

Mike Rose is imvolved with the Black Mountain kids bike company.

Jonesy's at GMBN/EMBN

Jake 'Tea Boy' Ireland now runs Sprung Suspension

No idea about Billy

Sad to see Dirt and Bikemagic go. The BM forum was the place that helped start the addiction.

Factory Media bought AdrenalinTrip, I think? Made a right mess of that

Haha. Those were the days Pondo. What a disaster that turned out to be

Six cycling magazines just in that one group. The uk market is probably big enough for such diversification

The Dirt website was never up to much and Sender seems to fill that void of a physical mag, so sad to say, after I mourned the loss of the actual magazine, I'm not at all bothered by the website going.

At least they all moved onto something related, only just seen the GMBN it's like MBUK meets dirt.

Never heard of sender I'll have a look.

I remember comments at the time that Dirt was actually profitmaking but that the owners basically declared Print Is Dead and canned the whole lot, lossmakers and profitmakers alike regardless of actual market position. Course, it could be that shrinking the operation and shedding bad titles would have affected the overall economics or operation too much to continue.

Used to really enjoy Dirt Magazine, I still wear a Dirt Mag hoodie. Interesting articles, sometimes shonky typography which was almost unreadable, good photos. Stopped buying magazines some years back, I was spending stupid amounts each month on mags.

Something tells me this isn't just about the print mag though...

Dirt used to have some of the best online content;

If you think back, the Parkin Brothers (who now do the Red Bull DH coverage) and Wyn Masters used to be behind Dirt TV, but for whatever reason, they jumped ship.

Same goes with the likes of Sven Martin and Laurence CE, who used to handle much of the photography;

Question is, what was going on behind the scenes for that to happen...

Stopped buying magazines some years back, I was spending stupid amounts each month on mags.

This. The heyday of mags is long gone. I remember back at the time before the internet and everyone was buying mags. I used to get 3-4 a month and my sister must have bought 5 or so.

Then as the price went up the readership went down and the price went up... it ended up too expensive. At the time of peak lad culture I could never have imagined FHM and loaded closing and everyone buying (but never reading) men’s health

https://dirtmountainbike.com/racing-events/downhill/lenzerheide-women-s-world-championships-results/

No one told dirt...

Question is, what was going on behind the scenes for that to happen…

Something dark and sinister?

I’m waiting for a photo of Jerry dyer with prince Andrew.

Something dark and sinister?

Dot dot dot. Makes you think. Dot dot dot .

You can't overlook the fact that once, Gary Glitter was in a magazine. These were once magazines. Go and do your own research .

Billy's a trail builder @BPW

Ed is involved with ROBOT bikes

It's a shame in a way; because all told, Dirt was pivotal in growing the audience of DH, both in the days of print and as social media began to take off.

What I always used to love about Dirt was the down to earth honesty, with Billy writing from a caravan and chickens, farm animals and shonky old hardtails juxtaposing seamlessly with the latest and greatest kit that the keen minds of MTB design could muster.

But perhaps all things have their time and place and the glitz and glamour of Pinkbike will rule the waves until the next big thing comes along and taps into the collective consciousness.

Glad to hear Billy and Ed are still following their passion, they used their platform well to inspire many and help grow the scene from it's infancy.

Billy once gave me an Earthed box set for guessing he was eating a pear. Only thing I've ever won! Sort it out singletrack we need prizes.

Dirt was my favourite read and Billy Trailstar was a legend.

There was a genuine enthusiasm for riding bikes - and that's what I loved.

None of the self-absorbed look-at-me-being-worthy crap you get in the mags that I no longer subscribe to.

(For what it's worth I don't bother reading digital Singletrack either - I skim the reviews and subscribe to support the forum. I threw in the towel when they did an issue on the tedium of road trips).

I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be some sort of restructuring allowing them to write off Factory's debts and start again with a blank-ish slate. Whatever happens, I hope it works out for the grunts on the editorial frontline and the individual brands survive.

What content do Dirt actually create?  It's mostly rehashing news a day or so late.  And some videos but not a lot.  As soon as the print mag stopped and the writers moved away it was doomed.