EMMAUS, PA (BRAIN) Mar 5 2012 MT—Bicycling magazine is making its most ambitious foray yet into digital publishing with the launch of its annual Buyer’s Guide.
The Buyer’s Guide, which is Bicycling’s April issue, is now available both in print and as a digital iPad edition on Apple’s Newsstand and available through the Apple app store.
“This is exciting for us, what we’re doing with this issue, and we’re going to make a big deal of it,” Bicycling publisher Chris Lambiase said.
Bicycling added dozens of pages of additional content and interactive features that don’t appear in the print version, including 65 bike reviews that are exclusive to the digital issue.
The iPad issue also adds such touches as 360-degree images of selected bikes that readers can rotate with the swipe of a finger.
“This year’s Buyer’s Guide offers cyclists the best of both worlds: more depth in print, with detailed reviews and beautiful photography, and more bikes — way more bikes — in the iPad version,” said Peter Flax, the magazine’s editor-in-chief.
Bicycling, published by Rodale, has produced digital versions of earlier issues. But Lambiase said the Buyer’s Guide will kick off a more intense focus on digital editions going forward.
“Every issue will be enhanced in some way,” Lambiase said. “Probably not to the extent of the Buyer’s Guide, but every issue will be enhanced with different visual technologies, enhanced content and enhanced advertising experience for advertisers.”
Print subscribers can download the iPad edition for free, while others can buy it on the Apple app store for $5.99.
Check out Bicycle Retailer’s March 15 issue for an in-depth look at how Apple Newsstand and other digital publishing platforms are changing the market for cycling magazines.
—Doug McClellan
