Joe Blow and Outside Magazine

The storyline goes like this: It's been years since Joe Blow thought about riding his bike. But now, with a tough economy and rising gas prices, Blow has decided to dust off his old bike and start bicycling more and driving less. He plans to join thousands of like-minded people on Bike To Work Day, which is this Friday, May 16.

This is the whole point of BTWD. And if all goes well, Joe Blow will make biking to work and other places part of his routine, and will probably get himself a new bike.

Enter the shill - Outside Magazine's Buyer's Guide.

You know how things will go down with Outside's bike recommendations from the get-go, when their expert advises Joe Blow and others to "get the best bike you can afford." Another way Outside could have phrased this: "Our advertisers want your money and we want theirs."

Let's say Joe Blow considers the seven road bikes featured and recommended by Outside Magazine. No, I'm not going to tell you which seven or post pictures of them. You might get distracted by the pretty bike porn and lose focus on my rant. For the sake of argument, just assume that all seven bikes look pretty, weigh less than 20 pounds each, and would go very fast if you had the excessive wealth necessary to purchase one. You see, the average price of these seven bikes is $3,918.57.

I would be fine with Outside Magazine's recommendations if they were promoted as bikes for people who have plenty of disposable income and an interest in racing bikes. But that's not the case. It's clearly directed at Joe Blow, the guy without much expertise but who has a new (or renewed) interest in cycling and wants to buy his first new bike.

I hope Joe Blow will think long and hard before parting with $4,000 or so for one of these bikes, and I sure hope he doesn't get turned off to bicycling.

None of the seven bikes are appropriate for hauling or carrying stuff, none come with fenders, chainguards, headlights, tail lights, clipless-less pedals, comfortable saddles, or bells. In sum, they are all pure racing bikes weighing under 20 pounds. They are not... hmmm, how to put this?... well, let's just say that the industry is focusing on a few people who have lots of disposable income at the expense of... um... some other people who have less money and just want a bike to ride.

OK, I'll say it: They're not Bikes For The Rest Of Us.

To be fair, squeezed in between the seven expensive but irrelevant (except for racers) road bikes and the seven expensive but irrelevant (except for mtbr's) mountain bikes, on page 48, is what Outside Magazine calls "Commuter Essentials." There is a bike for the rest of us pictured on that page, albeit a very expensive one - the Swobo Dixon. Outside could have chosen to highlight other Swobo models that are more reasonably priced and equally suited for everyday use: the Sanchez, Folsom, or Otis. But of course they didn't. And, the Outside Magazine gurus also think Joe Blow should spend $300 on Brooks leather panniers to go with the Dixon, along with a host of other "essentials."

If Joe Blow thinks bicycling might be for him, I hope he gets a decent used bike and tries it out. And if he ends up liking it and orders some bike stuff from Nashbar.com, and Nashbar in turn gives him a free subscription to Outside Magazine, I hope he tosses out the Buyer's Guide.

(But he should keep the June 2008 issue, which has glossy pics of Malia Jones in various skimpy bikinis).

Update: In light of the comment by KMAX left here, I've revised this rant so that it's clear that my derision is focused on Outside Magazine's Buyer's Guide, rather than Outside Magazine itself.