In The Know Cycling

At the end of December, I asked six questions of In The Know Cycling readers who have signed up to get an email when we post something new on the site.

You shared feedback about what benefits you get from the site, what categories of gear and kit you want us to review in 2024, and others about the links and videos we put in our reviews and what we can do to make them more valuable.

Thank you for your responses. They’ve been a big help.

Here are the results, my reactions, and what my fellow testers and I plan to do based on your input.

QUESTION 1

It was great to see that 3 out of 4 respondents use our reviews in their buying process. This suggests we are delivering on our mission to help enthusiasts decide what cycling gear to get and where to get it.

We’ll continue to focus on doing this.

QUESTION 2

There’s a lot to take in here.

First, there’s confirmation that you want to see more of what we’ve historically done a lot of, most notably wheels, tires, and apparel. That suggests you are still looking for gear and kit in these categories. That’s good because we plan to stay on top of the best-performing products in these areas and cover more of the best-value ones.

I was pleasantly surprised to see nearly 40% of you wanting us to review bikes and frames, considering we’ve only ever done a couple before. With so many sites and YouTubers already writing and talking about bikes, I saw this as a massive endorsement of the credibility we’ve built and the insights we share with you in our reviews of other products. It’s a point I’ve been making in some of my initial requests of suppliers to demo some of their latest and upcoming models.

It was also good to see two other categories we’ve not covered before – nutrition and maintenance – in some of your requests. My fellow testers and I have talked about doing reviews in both of these before, and now, with your interest, we’ll move forward on those.

Drivetrain and electronics, two additional areas that about 40% of respondents checked, are ones we’ve done some reviews of before, but not as much as what your interest shows. So, expect more this year.

QUESTION 3

Your feedback here is a great reminder to keep me budget-conscious, something my wife will certainly appreciate you telling me. It’s always tough to balance choosing the gear and kit that costs more and delivers real performance improvement that costs less yet performs well enough for many. I’ll be more conscious of that in what we review this year.

QUESTION 4

To be blunt, I can’t afford to do anything I’ve written about above or any reviews at all without you and other readers buying gear after clicking on the store links in the reviews and at Know’s Shop, our price comparison shop.

So, I was encouraged to see that only about 30% of respondents said they don’t use them. The rest of you are helping me cover the costs of gear we review and the technology we use to publish them. This allows me to keep the site clear of ads and their influence and of the conflicts that can come from reviewers whose living depends on the industry and products they write about.

As a regular reader, you know that I include links to online stores I’ve vetted based on their competitive prices, high customer satisfaction ratings from independent sources, and wide, enthusiast-level product selection. As the saying (and FTC required statement) goes, we may earn a commission when you buy through some links.

While I try to include as many as possible, not all top-ranked stores carry each product I review. And not all of them provide up-to-date pricing information in a way I can easily display. Some third-party services try to do this, but the stores they display usually aren’t complete (and are selected using criteria different than ours), and the products they show aren’t always comparable.

That said, I will revisit how I might bring you more current pricing information and include as many stores as possible in the reviews. You can always enter the gear you’re looking for in the search box at the top of each page. That will take you to Know’s Shop, which checks the inventory of about 15 stores and shows you which have what you’re looking for. You can then compare the current prices and link straight to the product page of the store you want to buy it from.

QUESTION 5

Last year, I put my virtual video toes in the water by adding videos to some reviews and starting a YouTube channel.

I’m encouraged by your supportive responses to this question, especially since I’m learning on the fly. My fellow testers and I will work this year to level up our video game and bring you more value as a complement and option to the written reviews we do.

QUESTION 6

Nearly half of you who responded to the earlier questions also added some comments to this open-ended one. Again, I really appreciate you for doing that and found your answers very helpful.

The individual responses generally come under one of three headlines.

Please review this category

– All-road gravel bikes; high-end road bikes; bikes with steel, aluminum, and titanium frames; endurance road bikes; recumbent bikes

– training courses; tire sealant; more tire reviews; advice for riders over 50; how to deal with cramps; expand scope similar to DC Rainmaker; bike vacations; servicing e-bikes; more technical data; recreational-rider level gear; setting up tubeless tires; DIY bike and cleat fitting; rim brake wheels; chains, chain strippers, lubricants; mid-tier priced shoes; shoes for wide feet

– Top brands and products; compare mid-tier to top-tier products; things few know about but should; products for 3 budget levels;

– Add summaries at the top of long articles; more store links for readers who don’t live in the US

Stop doing this

– Shimano raving; feedback from riding buddies; ignoring shifting issues

Keep doing what you’re doing

– Product comparisons; focus on what matters; video reviews; gravel gear reviews

And to show my wife, mom, and mother-in-law that I haven’t gone totally to seed, I’ll also add these comments from you, which happened to be listed in succession. These will keep us motivated for a good long while. Thank you.

So there you have it, and we have a lot of good input from you to work on. Thanks again to those who participated, and I appreciate everyone’s continued support.

Feel free to leave any further comments below.