Isn’t it great when you discover a great piece of cycling kit that makes your life easier or more enjoyable?
Occasionally when a moment like that happens you want to tell everyone about it!
Well, hopefully that’s where London Cyclist comes in! I’m keen to get London Cyclist blog readers more involved with the blog. Right now the best way I can think of doing that is getting some good recommendations from you guys for products you’ve used that are worth mentioning.
If you can think of just the product then I’ve setup an online form on Wufoo where you can submit a review.
I’m looking for short reviews of around 500 words. I don’t mind if its a cycling accessory or a bike that has exceeded your expectations. Perhaps its even a bike shop that went out of its way to help you out. I want to hear about it and I’m sure so do others!
Submit your review here and I’ll publish the best ones:
http://londoncyclist.wufoo.com/forms/london-cyclist-product-review/
Please can we have more posts that are less about things you need to buy to cycle and more about actually cycling, This blog has become just about what products to buy and spending money all the time recently. Maybe that’s because there’s some commercial involvement going on with someone? Or maybe you’re just a cyclist who likes to spend money and buy new things? Either way, it’s getting a bit stale that almost every post that you make is about buying something or some sort of product that you must have to be able to cycle. I’m personally just about to remove it from my bookmarks and unsubscribe from the updates.
Hey Paddy,
Thats interesting feedback to me. A while back people said it was one of the things they really enjoyed about the blog was the gear coverage. Maybe I’ve been getting the balance wrong and should drop the number of posts about cycling gear. I’d be happy to talk more about cycling technique, what some of the cycling organisations are up to, great places to cycle and so forth. I’ll run a survey very soon to see what the sensus is.
Andreas
Most of the cycling blogs in my feed are pushing product. It’s winter, you need lights, a jacket, gloves! >> Affiliate marketing link >> Get 10% discount.
Not saying this blog is especially like that (because it has a better mix of editorial than many), but overall that’s about what makes it into the cycling blogs I follow.
Rodger that. I’d quite happily up my game on the editorial side and cut back on cycling product reviews. In-fact I’d say were probably pretty near the end of “gear roundups” that I can think of. At least relevant to a leisurely/commuting audience. Anyway, I’m setting up a survey now on Wufoo (love that site!) so I’ll happily respond to feedback to that and change what I’m covering on the blog.
Right, I’ve setup a big of a survey that I’ll be mentioning to everyone tomorrow but for anyone who spots this message and is keen to have their thoughts about the future of the blog out there the survey is online here:
http://londoncyclist.wufoo.com/forms/what-direction-should-we-take-london-cyclist-in/
I enjoy the reviews and stumbled across various ones when researching for things I have needed in the past such as the winter clothing.
It’s helpful to read an in-depth review (with real, non-studio pictures!) rather than relying on the manufacturer’s description and a handful of one-liner reviews at Wiggle.
The links may sometimes be affiliate links but there is nothing wrong with that, as long as you only recommend products which you would recommend anyway (which I know you do).
Your readers should realise that writing this content (reviews OR editorial) all takes precious time, so why shouldn’t you be compensated for it?
I think this blog is great in it’s current form and to me you have a good balance.
Jamie – thank you for the feedback and I’m very glad to read you often discover my articles when researching new cycling gear. It’s true some money is made from affiliate links and I’ve got a disclosure about that on the About page if anyone is interested. I’m gonna keep it up on the reviews as most people seem to enjoy these 🙂
I think there’s a good balance too, although I’d like to see some women’s gear reviewed, and properly, not in ‘advertorial’ form like other blogs I read. I like reading what others recommend, what they do and how they do it. And what you do Andreas, because you’re just an ordinary commuter like the rest of us (at least I think you are/were).
That’s all part of the fun. I like to know what’s out there and how people think it performs because I don’t have the time or the cash to shop and make expensive mistakes.
I really like it that your blog is constantly engaging it’s readership, asking for feedback, reviews, comments etc. It makes me feel part of a community, which is what we are, especially when we keep it going in sub-zero temperatures and have to face the general
wrath of pedestrians and drivers, the like of which I witnessed on Southwark Bridge last night. Some poor cyclist was smacked in the mouth for berating idiots jaywalking on the cycle superhighway!
For me, maybe a few more technique discussions, but otherwise, does the job very well.
Hey Nicole – I’d be keen to get more women’s gear on the blog too – could really do with a female writer… Think you’d like to volunteer yourself?
Whenever I put together a review I always like to give it a little bit more interest, humour and try to really answer the questions a potential buyer has in their mind (As I think with most of the products I review I am the target market so it seems to work). I think I’ve been doing this since the first review on the bike hut chain cleaner.
I was also very happy to read your comments about making this place a community! That’s definitely an aim of London Cyclist.
Noted the technique discussions could be upped and I’ll look into that.
The plugging thing is fair comment, but often some of the plugs if written in content can actually be very useful. I have discovered some fantastic products and found links to great sites for maintenance etc. via these “pushing” blogs. Cycle insurance and bike tagging came from one marketing type plug (about cycle security) led me to a way of tagging and locking my bikes. Then on the 15th December 2010 – I had my house broken into .. thanks to the blog the only things they left were my bikes because of all the security on them!!!