Another good podcast from The Gravel Ride, this time talking to former CyclingTips Editor-in-Chief Caley Fretz. Interesting insights into the future of cycling journalism. As usual, Randall (Thesis Bikes, Logos Components) is extremely articulate and a great host.
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They sent an email to Veloclub members today telling us that they wonāt be sending the end of year VC annual that we usually get, and instead they will send you a TdF preview magazine, but only if youāre still subscribed in June 2023. This company is just plain shady at this point.
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I feel bad for doing it, because I want to support those who remain, but I officially cancelled last night and Andy sent me a refund. It was a beautiful website/experience for many years, and I remain hopeful that the gang will come up with a similar alternative in the near future.
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I get the sentiment, but I donāt think you should feel bad about itā¦.heck, even James has said subscribers should do what they think is best and the remaining staff totally understands.
Even before the recent moves, I had reached the point where I felT I was not getting the value for my subā¦this all just clinched it.
I just canāt believe what a colossal failure in management this has turned out to be.
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I certainly donāt understand the VC world but would imagine that even the worst management wouldāve stepped in at some point to protect their investment. Which makes me wonder if thereās a way in which outside are still extracting money from this thing whether thereās staff or not. Like maybe thereās a baseline point of all the people who forgot to cancel their subscriptions. And if they payout less than that - profit!
Yup, I did the same as well this morning (though my membership runs till July). And also, felt bad. I wanted to support them to the end. And certainly, I still read, share, etcā¦ the stories that are good. Read all of the Tern bike review this morning from James, great as always.
Iāve got last yearās Annual sitting over here on the shelf. Iāve skimmed through it a few times, and Iām not going to sit here and say that itās been critical to my membership - it hasnāt. But, itās clear that Outside management thinks it wonāt matter to people. I would have been fine if they said āHey, things have been a bit tough lately, weāre still getting that too you, might be an extra month or twoā. The point of the Annual was more historical anyway.
However, as one that has seen countless TdF Preview editions, theyāre almost always garbage. About the only thing they can really do is highlight the course, and maybe a couple of big names. The rest of the rider-specific elements arenāt decided till a week prior - far too late for global printing/distribution.
If somehow things turn around before next July, Iām happy to renew again.
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Two realities re: the Annualā¦
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much of the work should have been in the can already. You donāt pull off something like that in the last 2 months of the year.
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but there probably wasnāt enough staff left to push it over the goal line once they axed Casey et al.
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so in all likelihood, Outisde has known for weeks (if not months) that the Annual was not going to happen but didnāt tell the subscribers.
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I donāt even care about the annual (never got my digital copy in 2021 but I had read all the articles anyway), but I asked for a refund so I can use that money to support whatever rises from the ashes from whatever CT is now. It really sucks how it was gutted.
James just tweeted out asking if anyone knows a CO based employment lawyer.
Donāt like the sound of thatā¦.obviously.
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Tomās did the same.
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Honestly, Iām kind of surprised at the people who are surprised Outside screwed this up. They bought up all the big cycling publications at roughly the same time. They immediately killed a couple of them, but that still left multiple magazines that produced roughly āthe sameā content (I always felt the CT content was far superior, but for they lay person, Iām sure they were all just āmagazines about bikes and racingā. I asked early on what the plan was, and no one knew. Even the people at the top. I think you could have made it work by doing something like Velonews is racing, CT is reviews and long form stories, Peloton is photography and lifestyle, but instead, they seemed to assume everyone would be happy with nothing but the short form anonymous and generic stories across multiple publications.
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There isnāt anyone left, so I wouldnāt feel bad if I were you.
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Holy crap 
What a bloody disaster.
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Iām truly sorry James. Youāre the reason I paid for CT.
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Really sorry for this, James. I appreciate all the amazing work you guys have done over the years. Best of luck as you navigate through what is probably a stressful stretch. Iāll be waiting to see where you (and others) land so I can follow you there. Let us know if there is anything you think we can do to help
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Thanks for the support, Pbase! Much appreciated. Weāll see where things go from here.
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He clarified it was for Abbey. But who knows how much longer it will be for CT as a whole.
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Rupert Guinness was on last weeks The Placeholders podcast and Caley said more was planned with Rupert.
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Thereās definitely something good happening behind the scenes. He all but said ātheyā had hired him.
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JFCā¦you just canāt make this schitt up. @angryasian just tweeted this.
And good luck finding someone with those qualifications to take that job at that pay (especially given the current environment).
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