Stupid Things Found in Mountain Bike Action (January issue)

I've had the latest issue sitting on my desk for a few weeks, but it wasn't very inspiring to make this post--just not too much stupid stuff in this issue, I guess. Perhaps they've already run out of 27.5" stuff to test?

Still, I can't let my little series die off after just two installments, so let's take a look:



- Continuing on last month's monster 72 page KHS ad, this issue has a much leaner 28 page Pivot Cycles ad. I guess it says something about how ad rates are falling when a small company like Pivot can afford this kind of ad buy in one of the US's leading mountain bike mags, doesn't it?

- Speaking of magazine publishing realities, the January issue has their Interbike coverage--from back in September. It's been all over the web for months, but MBA can't get to it until now. This isn't really MBA's fault, just something all of the monthlies have to deal with.

- They tested a $3000 Raleigh Talus carbon 29er, which looks suspiciously close to the generic Chines frame IP-057 ($400 frame cost). Is buying a big name really worth that to you? Wait, it's a Raleigh, so you're not even paying for a big name.

This issue did have some useful stuff, such a detailed, step by step process on how to rebuild a Fox shock. You can decide if the 16 page photo special of crashes was cool or stupid--seems like filler to me, along with some very mediocre reader photos (as someone who take mediocre mountain bike photos myself, I know them when I see them).