Bicycling (magazine)

Bicycling

May 2009 cover of Bicycling
Editor-in-Chief	Peter Flax
Frequency	11 issues annually
Total circulation (2013)	424,708
First issue	1961[1]
Company	Rodale
Country	USA
Language	English
Website	bicycling.com
ISSN	0006-2073

Bicycling is a cycling brand published by Rodale, Inc. in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. Bicycling magazine is the world’s largest cycling magazine and No. 1 source of information for cyclists. With an audience of approximately two million readers, passionate cyclists of all levels look to Bicycling to get more out of the sport they love, including authoritative reviews of the latest bikes and gear, smart, insightful tips on where to ride, what to eat and how to train, and award-winning features about cycling’s most engaging personalities and trends. Published 11 times a year, Bicycling offers several special issues, including a springtime Buyer’s Guide, a detailed Tour de France preview and biennial rankings of the country’s top 50 “Bike Friendly Cities.” At Bicycling’s Website, readers can access the latest cycling news, thousands of reviews, and interactive tools to inform and inspire. Bicycling is available on the iPad, and readers can follow the brand on Twitter and Facebook.

Origin

Bicycling started in 1961 as Northern California Cycling Association Newsletter, a 4 page mimeographed newsletter (8 ½ x 14) started by Peter Hoffman. It covered the local bicycle scene and grew quickly as Vol. 1 No. 6 took on a 5 ½ x8 ½ offset printing format in December, 1961. The name was changed to American Cycling Newsletter with Vol. 3 No. 1 in March, 1964 issue. The name was changed again with Vol. 5 No. 1 in March, 1965 to American Cycling. The size was changed to a larger format with Vol. 5 No. 1 in March, 1966 to 8 ½ x 11. Peter Hoffman sold the magazine to Leete publications in August 1968 but stayed on as an editor until late 1969. The last American Cycling titled magazine was the Nov. 1968 issue, Vol. 7 No. 8. The name was changed to Bicycling! with the Dec 1968 Issue Vol 7 No 9. For three months following the name change, "American Cycling" was included on the cover in small print under the Bicycling! masthead. NCCA Newsletter and American Cycling were published 10 times a year, March though December; however, in 1968 -the first year under Leete- there were only 9 issues. Leete skipped the October issue and called it November both to make it more current, and because they were behind in production as they worked on the design change to Bicycling!. After 1968 the magazine went to publishing 12 issues a year. In April 1973 the magazine was acquired by Capital Management Publications. In early December 1977, a team was sent from Rodale to California to meet with the owner and iron out a deal.^[2] Rodale acquired Bicycling! and published their first issue in February, 1978. In 1980, Rodale purchased a smaller magazine, Bike World, and merged it into Bicycling!. In 1982 Rodale bought American Cyclist and incorporated it into Bicycling. Pricing of the magazine changed over the years as follows July 62 to December 64, 25 cents, March 65 to June 67, 35 cents, July 67 to July 68, 45 cents, In August 1968 with the Leete purchase the price went up to 50 cents, and the covers were changed to full color, the previous covers had been in red and black.

Projects and compilations

BikeTown Africa is a project that started in 2006 as a partnership between Bicycling, Rodale Press, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Kona Bicycle Company. The project donates bicycles to healthcare workers in Africa, particularly those involved in HIV/AIDS related work.^[3] Bicycling then documents the impact these bicycles have on the personal and professional lives of the recipients, such as in the May 2010 issue, where Dr. Travis (of the daytime television talk show The Doctors) is interviewed about his involvement in BikeTown (among other things).^[4] In the same issue, Bicycling compiled a list of the 50 most bike-friendly cities in the United States, with Minneapolis, Minnesota as number one.^[5]

Publications

• David H Bryan, T L Gettings, Bicycling and photography, 1979, ISBN 978-0-87857-282-3
• David Lynn Smith, Eugene A Gaston, Get fit with bicycling, 1979, ISBN 978-0-87857-283-0
• Basic riding techniques, 1979, ISBN 978-0-87857-284-7
• Richard Jow, Reconditioning the bicycle, 1979, ISBN 978-0-87857-285-4
• Basic bicycle repair, 1980, ISBN 978-0-87857-315-8
• Marcia Holoman, John Schubert, et al., The Most frequently asked questions about bicycling, 1980, ISBN 978-0-87857-300-4
• Best bicycle tours, 1980, OCLC 381821071
• Bicycling's best tours, 1980, OCLC 7175346
• Norman Sheil, Pat Griffith, Grand Prix training manual II, 1982/1984, OCLC 41806979
• The bicycling users' magazine, 1982, OCLC 11347893
• Bicycle Repair, 1985^[6]
• Easy Bicycle Maintenance, 1985^[6]
• Complete Guide to Bicycle Maintenance and Repair, 1986^[6]
• Susan Weaver, Ride like a pro, 1988, ISBN 978-0-87857-754-5
• Cycling for Women, 1989^[6]
• New Bike Owner's Guide, 1990^[6]
• Long-Distance Cycling, 1993^[6]

References

External links

• Official website
• Bicycling on Rodale's corporate website
• Bicycling at Google Books
• Bicycling magazine reviews, MTBR.com (a mountain biking website, so reviews tend to be biased towards mountain bikes, despite Bicycling being geared towards on-road cycling—and Mountain Bike targeted towards mountain biking)