May 21, 2014, 5:34 p.m. -  Cam McRae

#!markdown I have never heard of Bicycle Quarterly before but it looks interesting. That article however is unabashedly self-serving. And it seems that Jan's blog advertises a line of components. Does he sell these components personally? Does he also review them or just recommend them? The address of Compass Components is the same as Bicycle Quarterly. They even have the same phone number. And they sell everything from tires and lights (two of the items they claim to have 'set trends' for) to handlebars and frame building equipment. So they are saying things like "hey we need wider tires" in print and then getting on the phone to order them so they'll be in stock by press time. If that doesn't expose a bias I don't know what does. I also find the writing (in this instance at least) about as fresh and interesting as a 70s history textbook . The criticisms Jan identifies can certainly be levelled at some publications but certainly not all. Many of us have been calling for wider bars, shorter stems and and light bikes that are capable downhillers for years (as a few examples). It took Enduro racing's surge in popularity for much of the industry to start paying attention, but that wasn't because we weren't calling for it. Thanks for engaging in this discussion. It's an interesting one.