sure hope mine comes soon !!!!!! 
Kickstand Magazine ???
- Thread starter Bullywerks
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GameBent said:
As do I. I'd also been beginning to think that they'd gone under. When I subscribed, I thought it was 6-8 issues a year. The last (only) issue I received was in May. So, 5 months later, it seems a bit hard to believe that I'm getting my money's worth.
I subscribe to a couple other bike magazines. Granted, Kickstand is the only cruiser-specific publication, but Bicycle Times is an excellent example of what a small staff can put together - very well formatted, not overly obnoxious advertisements, good content and editing, great artwork. I had really hoped Kickstand would aspire to be like that. But based on the one issue I have, the magazine is thin, and the content is fairly crude and there's relatively little of it that's actually useful compared a lot of advertisements. I can't help but be a little disappointed.
@ peatbog, we embrace the FREEWHEELING LIFE to it's fullest extent:
Definition of FREEWHEELING: free and loose in form or manner: as
a : heedless of social norms or niceties
b : not repressed or restrained
c : not bound by formal rules, procedures, or guidelines
d : loose and undisciplined
To your point, we'd love to be producing the magazine on a "regular" schedule, however, as such, Kickstand Magazine has, and will continue to be an independent publication. We are not owned by a corporate overlord that dictates when and what we publish, how many pages we produce or sell, and to .... out content in the name of advertising revenue. Just ask the Admin of this website how much of his time he contributes to supporting the Rat Rod forum... and he has done a spectacular job keeping it going, and much like Steve, we remain committed to the cause, no matter what the difficulties or the costs or the challenges we face on a daily basis keeping the project alive.
I imagine that my having two full-time jobs in order to support the magazine isn't enough, and were it to fund itself without an additional set of hours that are necessary to produce this publication, we absolutely would be doing more issues more frequently... that being said, we've managed to produce nine amazing issues of Kickstand Magazine.. all in the name of fun and a commitment to chronicling the "Freewheeling Life." We have succeeded in ways we never imagined, and have done so during the worst economic slump in nearly a century... so to all the forum members here (a metaphor to which you can all understand) producing a publication such as Kickstand Magazine is much like building a custom one-off bicycle:
1) It is never as easy as you first imagined;
2) It always takes longer that you would have ever guessed;
3) It ends up costing more than you would have ever been willing to spend had you known what it was gonna cost when you started.
So goes it for Kickstand Magazine. With a mostly volunteer staff, we have produced issue after issue without fail... while not on a "regular" timeline that all of us would have imagined when we first veered into this project... and this is a success that I am proud of. So as to all those who pessimistically call for our heads, or claim that we have "folded," nothing could be further from the truth.
As with anything in it's infancy, there are bound to be mistakes, mis-steps and bungles... it's par for the course... however, we remain committed to bringing you a quality publication. We have funded this project without a trust fund, without debt, and without corporate mandates. Our original vision remains intact: documenting and serving a community that up until our first issue in June of 2009, had no no voice or place in the bicycle industry. Fast forward three years, and in a very short period of time, we've managed to become the "known" entity speaking to an audience that had never been reached before.
Our first foray into the project was met with "you're gonna do what?" Take for example At the 2009 Interbike Show in Las Vegas, no one had ever heard of Kickstand Magazine, or for that matter cared... nor could imagine that it was possible to accomplish what we have managed to accomplish in a very short period of time. This past September, at the 2011 Interbike (our third year attending) we are a "known: entity... from Marketers to Product Designers to CEOs - all of the major players are familiar with our efforts... None of this came easy or without sweat... or without mistakes... for those that are dis-sastisfied with our efforts, please accept our apologies. We continue to do our best with the meager resources we have available to us, and we've managed to rise above the mediocre offerings that were mostly non-existent to this audience before we launched, and we continue to produce this magazine, even when it didn't seem prudent.
I ask you to consider this: Do you think that the first Electra Bicycle out the door of their bike shop was as good as their bikes are today? I have seen some of those bike and regularly converse with their maker, and even 18 years later, Electra is still perfecting their platform... But they just kept doing it, committed to a vision of making bicycles accessible to a wide audience. To that, we applaud those that tirelessly commit to seeing their vision to it's end. That being said, we'll continue to publish KSM as often as possible, with as many pages as we can afford and will continue to produce a publication that we work to improve upon, one isssue at a time. Long ago, we embraced the motto: "We will produce no magazine before its time." (yes taken from the Gallo Wine slogan of the 80s.)
Part of the Freewheeling Life is, and will continue to be featured on the pages of our magazine.
Best,
BKE
Definition of FREEWHEELING: free and loose in form or manner: as
a : heedless of social norms or niceties
b : not repressed or restrained
c : not bound by formal rules, procedures, or guidelines
d : loose and undisciplined
To your point, we'd love to be producing the magazine on a "regular" schedule, however, as such, Kickstand Magazine has, and will continue to be an independent publication. We are not owned by a corporate overlord that dictates when and what we publish, how many pages we produce or sell, and to .... out content in the name of advertising revenue. Just ask the Admin of this website how much of his time he contributes to supporting the Rat Rod forum... and he has done a spectacular job keeping it going, and much like Steve, we remain committed to the cause, no matter what the difficulties or the costs or the challenges we face on a daily basis keeping the project alive.
I imagine that my having two full-time jobs in order to support the magazine isn't enough, and were it to fund itself without an additional set of hours that are necessary to produce this publication, we absolutely would be doing more issues more frequently... that being said, we've managed to produce nine amazing issues of Kickstand Magazine.. all in the name of fun and a commitment to chronicling the "Freewheeling Life." We have succeeded in ways we never imagined, and have done so during the worst economic slump in nearly a century... so to all the forum members here (a metaphor to which you can all understand) producing a publication such as Kickstand Magazine is much like building a custom one-off bicycle:
1) It is never as easy as you first imagined;
2) It always takes longer that you would have ever guessed;
3) It ends up costing more than you would have ever been willing to spend had you known what it was gonna cost when you started.
So goes it for Kickstand Magazine. With a mostly volunteer staff, we have produced issue after issue without fail... while not on a "regular" timeline that all of us would have imagined when we first veered into this project... and this is a success that I am proud of. So as to all those who pessimistically call for our heads, or claim that we have "folded," nothing could be further from the truth.
As with anything in it's infancy, there are bound to be mistakes, mis-steps and bungles... it's par for the course... however, we remain committed to bringing you a quality publication. We have funded this project without a trust fund, without debt, and without corporate mandates. Our original vision remains intact: documenting and serving a community that up until our first issue in June of 2009, had no no voice or place in the bicycle industry. Fast forward three years, and in a very short period of time, we've managed to become the "known" entity speaking to an audience that had never been reached before.
Our first foray into the project was met with "you're gonna do what?" Take for example At the 2009 Interbike Show in Las Vegas, no one had ever heard of Kickstand Magazine, or for that matter cared... nor could imagine that it was possible to accomplish what we have managed to accomplish in a very short period of time. This past September, at the 2011 Interbike (our third year attending) we are a "known: entity... from Marketers to Product Designers to CEOs - all of the major players are familiar with our efforts... None of this came easy or without sweat... or without mistakes... for those that are dis-sastisfied with our efforts, please accept our apologies. We continue to do our best with the meager resources we have available to us, and we've managed to rise above the mediocre offerings that were mostly non-existent to this audience before we launched, and we continue to produce this magazine, even when it didn't seem prudent.
I ask you to consider this: Do you think that the first Electra Bicycle out the door of their bike shop was as good as their bikes are today? I have seen some of those bike and regularly converse with their maker, and even 18 years later, Electra is still perfecting their platform... But they just kept doing it, committed to a vision of making bicycles accessible to a wide audience. To that, we applaud those that tirelessly commit to seeing their vision to it's end. That being said, we'll continue to publish KSM as often as possible, with as many pages as we can afford and will continue to produce a publication that we work to improve upon, one isssue at a time. Long ago, we embraced the motto: "We will produce no magazine before its time." (yes taken from the Gallo Wine slogan of the 80s.)
Part of the Freewheeling Life is, and will continue to be featured on the pages of our magazine.
Best,
BKE
Thanks for the kind words. I always forget that some just want to rant on us for not doing it right, and I try to explain the brain behind the publication and the inner workings of how challenging a project like this is, with honest and real reasons, and get flamed for it... Next time I will just smile and lie... Thanks for your support, it is greatly appreciated!KOTA said:
Got mine TODAY.
It even has a bike on the cover that a Coaster BC rider built, Corey with Road Candy.
Oh yea, and there is a pic of RatRod as a kid, with lots of hair.
Enjoy.
It even has a bike on the cover that a Coaster BC rider built, Corey with Road Candy.
Oh yea, and there is a pic of RatRod as a kid, with lots of hair.
Enjoy.
American Vintage Bicycle Supply
Double Nickle
Got mine! Sweet 8)
Issue # 9 came in the mail today! I was shocked to see myself in there...gnarly.
Well, here it is! Keep up the good work Kickstand! My ugly mug in Kickstand Magazine...
man im glad in stayin up already 2 check the mail ./....i hope its there i hope its there .... :mrgreen:
looks like they used my old widowmaker IV bike in the readers rides! :shock: that oughta make the guy that stole it, from the guy i sold it to, really proud! :lol: :lol: :lol: hope they at least spelled my name right.
i must be psychic or something! :shock: finally got my copy of the magazine today, opened it to the readers rides,and lo and behold there was my old widowmaker bike. did they misspell my name? you betcha! :? i dont personally know anyone named "johnny b". when laura asked for my info, i told her she could use my real name or texasbigjon from this site. but its all cool, cause my favorite cruiser magazine will continue to be,and always be "Hickstand Magazine"! :wink:
Got mine today!!!
Great to see some guys ugly mug :wink:
And familiar bikes
and the centerfold is Killer!
Love the Mag! can't wait for the next issue! :mrgreen:
Great to see some guys ugly mug :wink:
And familiar bikes
and the centerfold is Killer!
Love the Mag! can't wait for the next issue! :mrgreen:
KICKSTAND IN THE HOUSE ...... yeah baby ...looks good so far !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
