I realized why I hate dirt wheels :)

[LapTraffic]

I realized today why I dont like this magazine. I have to state right off that I buy this magazine every month so you might think Im a hypocrite, actually Im a Nihilistic Idealist, I see what's wrong, I'm just too jaded to want to fix it

At anyrate, back to my self discovery.

I used to ride mountain bikes, and I loved the sport. I REALLY liked a particular magazine, it stood above all others in it's genre. It's called 'bike'

I hadnt read 'bike' in many years because my interests went elswhere, but I bought February's edition because there is a photo shoot there that will blow your mind. It's worth buying just for that.

After I got done with the photo shoot I started reading a couple articles and was immediately taken.

I pulled out my Dirtwheels issue and read through a few articles for comparison, and there it was... the difference.

Dirtwheels is like listening to 2 or 3 8th graders talk about bikes. There's 'some' data, but it's so thinly put together that it could harldy be called interesting.

Plain and simple, it's just a boring read. Homogonized, no edge, banal???

and most importantly:
NO PASSION!

[MxDale71]

Very true... DW is just a one sided conversation of a very opinionative person. Sorry, but shootouts don't need opinions. A shootout should state facts, like: top speed, HP figures, power curves, faster average lap times, and faster average drag races, etc. When someone says something gets "points" for better looks, or because it feels better, thats just crap. That guy may think his wife looks great and I may think she looks like my dog... everyone has different opinions. And as far as the feel goes. I don't feel comfortable on a 400ex, and a Z400 feels like a pogo stick to me, but there are others that feel completely comfortable on their Z or EX and hate the feel of a C-dale.

The guys at DW seriously remind me of one of those random people that you meet that talk to you about your quad. They think they know what they are talking about, and their mojave's will out run any 400ex, Raptor, Banshee, or Z400.

[LapTraffic]

QUOTE

Originally posted by MxDale71
The guys at DW seriously remind me of one of those random people that you meet that talk to you about your quad. They think they know what they are talking about, and their mojave's will out run any 400ex, Raptor, Banshee, or Z400.

EXACTLY!

[CDaleRider]

HEARD THAT

The only reason I subsribe to DW is for the purdy pictures and the ads. Seriously though I am really fed up with all their "shoot outs" for example they state that the Cannibal is faster and handles, jumps, turns better than the competition, but somehow the z400 still "wins" (they never really say wich quad wins, just oppinions) because of "it's comfotable seat" and because "it's a fun ride"!!! fun=A fast, good handling quad and my Cannondale is comfortable enough for me.
NOTE: this is just one case in point and is in no way ment to offend any z400 riders.

[MxDale71]

And the DS 650 has better suspension than the Moto 440's high dollar Ohlin's ZPS style shocks.

See what I mean... DW is just a bunch of uneducated people that don't REALLY know what they're talking about. More suspension travel doesn't mean better suspension.

They also used a moto440 against the other sport quads, when they could have used a Cannibal or Speed, and then they attacked the Moto's price! WTF?

[Lippy91]

The winner is always the one with reverse. But when the Raptor and Z400 went at it they gave it to the Z 400. Its all about the dollar. Cannondale won every catagory but it has no reverse and to high of a price tag. I bet they wouldn't tell Harley they have to big of a price tag. You pay for what you get.

[Redman]

I do love all the atv magazines out there. I wish there were more. I look forward to getting everyone in the mail, and if it is not there, I go pick it up at the local store.
I do agree with you guys in the shootouts too. they do seem to be bias. Did any of you catch the latest issue of Dirtwheels. March 2003. They have another "high performance" shootout. The predator, the z400, the raptor, and the cannibal. I do like how they ended that shootout. Probably ticked off people too. And the winner is: If you want state of the art technology go for the predator, if you want an all out racer go for the cannibal, if you want all out horsepower go for the raptor, then again if you want ease of everything go for the Z.

I think they tried to calm down all the people who have been writing them and complaining.
They did not pick a clear cut winner. I think they finally did it right. Go by want people want, not what they want.

[4punksdad]

they should have said.............."if you want droopy fenders, buy a predator"

ps.............this IS meant to piss of the predator owners

[danyeo]

I just read that shootout today. They claim the Raptor has the edge in acceleration and the extra cc's gave it an advantage and it won most of the drag races. Doesn't a Cannibal weigh less than a Raptor and doesn't the Cannibal make more HP and doesn't the Cannibal have a faster top speed? A while back they compared the FX400,400ex, Raptor,Banshee, and DS, and said the FX was the fastest production quad you could buy and was in the lead most of the time during drags to the first turn at an MX track. Why do they seem to sway one way or another from issue to issue. They claim the Cannibal easily dusts the z-400 but a Raptor only beats by a quad length in 100yard drags. Well i know that drags and top speed are not everything but you know that the same Raptor owners who hate Dirt Wheels will read the new issue and see that a Raptor edged a Cannibal in a drag and they will be hailing Dirt Wheels and the Raptor as the best ever. Well, maybe just a few idiots, I'm sure there are plenty of Raptor owners who will know that DW isn't the Be all and End all of quads. But why such inconsistency from Dirt Wheels?

[haydug]

If any of the atv magazine editors were to pick up a "motocross action" or "racer x" and see the articles and coverage of the Pro racers, and then apply the same for our Pro atv racers, then sponsorship would be a WHOLE lot easier to come by for them. Right now they do not get anywhere near the coverage they need. One more queastion, which one would win DW's shootout between Kawasaki and Suzuki????