I subscribed to triathlete magazine a few months ago cause it looked pretty good - the issues I have been recieving are like pamphlets from companies. There is like no material in the latest issue and like a ton of advertisements. The August issue that made me subscribe was packed full of good stuff - the last couple are just advertisements. Also some of the supplement articles are like infomercials - I dont even believe half the stuff they say anymore cause they are selling something - its not even healthy what they are recommending in some cases (that prolene article?). Anyone else think the magazine is starting to blow?
“What is happening to Triathlete Magazine?”
Easy…it is loosing me as a subscriber.
Starting look more and more like ‘Shape’ and ‘Men’s Health’… a real shame.
-Zo
Its turning in to Vanity Fair for triathletes. I get my information here at slowtwitch or at Insidetri.com. I get my inside view on road cycling from Cyclesport. This is what the tri rags should strive to be.
It is terrible…I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that…- former subscriber- Dan you need to have a slowtwich magazine…
Mr. Tibbs can do a year of editorials for his Cervelo
It is a real shame what is happening to this magazine. Are they desparate for advertising? One wouldn’t think so. Want a model of how to revamp things for the better…the new Runner’s World look. It is actually going the opposite direction. Great new look. Well organized content. Respectable contributions. What happened to American Triathlon or whatever it was called that started with the Debooms on the front.
I second a Slowtwitch magazine. How about it Dan?
Totally agree with all of you, especially about Cyclesport being the model tri mags should try to live up to. One thing though: triathlon really is dead during the off-season. All they can write about is training methods and supplements and this year’s new equipment. When the season starts, they can at least hide the ads and propaganda “articles” with some race coverage and pro stories. I’m not defending Triathlete Mag. I wouldn’t use it to wrap fish but even “ball sport” mags decrease frequency or stop altogether during the offseason. There just ain’t that much to say.
Yep…same here. The magazine is looking pretty darn stupid with nothing much to offer. It did seem promising last year. But now…yer right…sucks
March issue - there is an “article” for Bio something or other. I have not renewed. Besides, who wants to read Tinley, they don’t have Mr. Tibbs.
I agree. I had a subscription to Triathlete, and did not renew it as this magazine has gone downhill. I never read it anymore, and get far more information / stories from various forums (Gordo World; Xtri; Crucible Fitness; and of course, Slowtwitch).
Man, did Men’s Health go to Hell in a handbag! I used to love it, back when it did articles on what to do if you accidentally cut off your finger. Now’s it Cosmo for the metrosexual.
“Cosmo for the metrosexual”
You’d better register that. I could see them picking that up as a tagline.
Complete agreement here…the mag sucks lately. The b.s. of writing an article promoting a product, then having a 1/3 page ad at the end of the article is a joke. How can you take any of their product reviews seriously if you know they’re trading free publicity in the form of an article for ad dollars? My only regret is that I paid for a 2 year subscription and still have a year left on it. Has anyone had any luck cancelling and getting a refund?
Did anyone else notice that the last issue, with Jessi Stensland on the cover, is basically an ad for Xterra wetsuits and tri-apparel? I mean come on! Jessi in all her glory, with two XT logos showing, running out of the water. She’s followed by two shadowy figures also clad in XT wetsuits. No race number, no goggle, no cap, clearly not a real race photo, but a staged shoot for XT.
What really galls me is the caption reads “Jessi Stensland, Olympic Hopeful” or something like that. Great for Jessi, who’s a great athlete, but come on!
The Bio thingy supplement a couple of issues ago was bad enough, but this is just really blatent. Stage a cover photo if you want, but don’t make it an ad. Just really disappointing.
My 2c.
T
Here’s the deal folks,
Just like anywhere else, vote with your dollars. Triathlete Magazine seems to be soliciting any and all advertising dollars with very little/no discretion. They are trying to make more money.
You have a choice too! Don’t subscribe/renew your subscription! Without any readers, advertisers will not want to advertise in that publication. Write letters to the editor and complain. But remember, dollars speak louder than letters. Write and request that your subscription be cancelled and that the dollar amount for the remaining issues on your subscription be refunded. En masse, this wreaks havoc with publication budgets.
It could be circulation is sufficiently poor that this magazine is on its last legs and in an effort to stave off collapse, they have thrown away any and all obstacles to soliciting advertising dollars. This would not surprise me.
If we are lucky, readership will erode further, advertisers will be less interested in spending their dollars to feature their adds and there will eventually be a shakeup of the editorial make-up of the magazine in an effort to resurrect the readership. We would be winning. However, the readership of such a specialized publications is so small that it is more likely that as the readership collapses, the publisher will kill the publication rather than spend more money to try to turn it around.
Newstand sales are generally less than half of the total circulation of a magazine. Subscriptions, then are the real numbers that drive publications. But subscriptions are usually annual affairs. It can be upwards of a year for subscription numbers to significantly fall. Longer if you renew for more than a year (were you attracted by that modest savings?). Likewise, it can take many months for a magazine to demonstrate a change in direction and begin to gain new or renewed subscribers. This time is money, sometimes big money. Most publishers of such small readership/specialty publications don’t have the deep pockets to carry a losing publication for many years to see this process through. Especially an established publication that has a big downward trend.
It appears evident by the editorial philosophy of this magazine that the publisher is not a triathlete but is in it just for the money.
What, I think, we are witnessing is the demise of this publication. I’m sorry to see the direction it has gone. I won’t be renewing my subscription
I voted with my dollars - they lost my subscription a long time ago when they published “13 weeks to a 13 hour Ironman” for the third time - no new content = no money from me
mp
p.s. I agree with the comments about their editorial stance and their lack of any objectivity with respect to the products they “review”.
The magazines are funny. I’m an advertiser and a reader, and believe it or not I actually prefer the magazines who keep editorial and advertising separately. First of all because not doing so is offensive to the readers (of which I am one) since the advertorials are pretty easy to spot, and second of all because if there is a bias, I have to work to make sure the bias is in my favor or at least that I get a fair shake. If they are fair and unbiased, one less worry for me.
When I saw the Giant review, I wrote to Triathlete magazine that I thought they had gone insane, and that I did not want my dollars to go to a magazine like this. I’d rather see a magazine go under if that is their angle. I told them I would stop advertising if they didn’t change their tack. I got a response that they were pretty embarrassed about the whole review, they checked with Giant who said the bike had never even been in a windtunnel (let alone that it was proven to be the fastest). Of course it would have been better to check this before print, but we all make mistakes. Anyway, the guy who wrote that review is no longer there and Slowman is back in the reviewer seat (first up is the Cervelo Dual, so I guess I should have held off a month with my rant :-). We’ll see what happens, I am actually looking forward to pull my ads everywhere and save some money, but then again, I do enjoy making the ads.
Anyway, as a reader I have major issues with most magazines, and I agree they should take a look at CycleSport. In fact, this fall during our advertising negotiations I told IT, triathlete and AmericanTri they should drop race reports (and do them online - much more current) and put a big photo section in the front of the magazine. IT actually went ahead and did that, they extended the TriPod section (which is why we were the presenting sponsor of that section for a few months).
I hope the others will follow, but I think there is one key problem with any tri magazine: there isn’t enough going on to fill an issue every month. It can be done in cycling, but there is so much more going on in that sport. Six issues should be enough for a tri mag.
Anyway, as a reader I have major issues with most magazines, and I agree they should take a look at CycleSport. In fact, this fall during our advertising negotiations I told IT, triathlete and AmericanTri they should drop race reports (and do them online - much more current) and put a big photo section in the front of the magazine. IT actually went ahead and did that, they extended the TriPod section (which is why we were the presenting sponsor of that section for a few months).
I hope the others will follow, but I think there is one key problem with any tri magazine: there isn’t enough going on to fill an issue every month. It can be done in cycling, but there is so much more going on in that sport. Six issues should be enough for a tri mag.
Gerard, many good points. On some fronts I agree with you, but I believe that there is lots of news to report year round. As in Cyclesport, Triathlete could easily report on the pre season plans of pros, their training, their accomplishments, stuff going on in the industry, behind the scenes reports into race production and what it takes to put on big events like Hawaii or Ironman Lake Placid. The list is endless. There are tons of starving pros with great stories that we age groupers would like to hear of (and whose sponsors would love exposure). You are right that reporting on races is something for online media, since timeliness is key. Frankly, Triathlete’s reporting of ITU World Cups as well as Ironman events world wide is weak. If they cover them, I’d expect more behind the scenes stuff and 5 to 10 pages for a major race. Not a half page. I can put together that kind of coverage myself by just browsing splits and piecing together who passed whom at different legs in the race. Very lame.
As for the Giant review, when is 75 dgrees “leaning more to tri than road”. Last time I looked, tri was considred ~78, road ~73, so you’d say tha the Giant was more leaning to road than tris 
I think the word “happening” is not accurate. Triathlete magazine “has been” for MANY years been more of a glorified catalog… It’s just that it has become more obvious in recent times.
Triathlete Mag. could do a better job… and, there is no reason why it couldn’t do better. I read better on-line mags than is provided by Triathlete Magazine. In fact, I get better product information from NG’s than with ANY and ALL Triathlet Magazines.
FWIW Joe Moya