ATV Rider Magazine Subscription

ATV Magazine is a magazine devoted to, (surprise!) anything pertaining to all-terrain vehicles. It is published six times a year by the Elhert Publishing Group, which has a whole line of magazines pertaining to outdoor hobbies and such. The issue I have in hand for review is the May 2002 edition.

In a nutshell, ATV Magazine is a glorified product review/catalog type of magazine. In many ways, it is like a Consumer Reports periodical devoted solely to general use ATVs. In addition to their regular issues, they publish a buyer's guide edition once a year. The buyers guide is not much different from the regular issues, other than to provide more information on pricing and whatnot. But in each regular issue of ATV Magazine, the reader will get tons of information on models and manufacturers, which come from the product testing done by the magazine's writers.

In the May 2002 issue, the cover title is "Battle Of The Econo-Quads". The cover article compares four models of economy sized ATVs: the Artic Cat 250, the Honda Recon ES, the Polaris Trail Boss 325, and the Yamaha BearTracker. The test riders evaluate each machine's performance, such as how it handles; its power, speed and acceleration; its cargo-carrying ability; etc. Along with the article, there is a chart that lists many of the vehicles mechanical specifications. A panel of expert riders evaluated each model, and at the end of the article final judgments were pronounced.

The rest of the magazine carries on in much the same fashion. There are only a couple of main features in each issue (this one has only three). The departments are simply shortened versions of the main articles, often discussing new products. One interesting "department" is called Safe Side Riding School, which covers some of the aspects of responsible ATV riding. This department is really the stand out from the magazine because of its differentiation.

The magazine's layout is very exciting. There are lots of great photos, charts and graphs, and other elements that blend very well with the editorial portion. There is a medium amount of advertising, mostly of products of interest to ATV enthusiasts. The book generally runs in the neighborhood of 80 pages. A subscription costs about $20, with a single issue retailing at $4.50 ($5.50 Canadian).

Overall, ATV Magazine is an excellent magazine for general use product information. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to purchase an all-terrain vehicle, and especially to anyone who sells this type of equipment. I think the purchaser might be well served by buying an issue or two, while a subscription would be much better for the industry professional. I think this magazine could be improved by diversifying its content a little, adding a few columns that don't strictly pertain to product information but instead focus on the experience and enjoyment of riding. This magazine has a sister publication, ATV Sport which is geared more toward the racing/motocross/sporting aspect of riding. This publication, however, is focused more on general utility ATVs.

The website for this magazine can be found at www.atvnews.com


Read my review of ATV Sport at: http://www.epinions.com/content_68461497988