BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — Five years after changing its magazine's name from VeloNews to Velo Magazine, the magazine's publisher has changed the name back. The first issue with the restored name, the April issue, hit newsstands Tuesday. Besides the new, old, name, the magazine features an extensive redesign.
The VeloNews name dates back about 44 years, and editor in chief John Bradley said many folks continued to call it VeloNews even after the 2011 name change. The magazine's associated website had retained the name VeloNews.com.
"It's correcting a mistake," said Bradley, who joined the title last June. "If we were launching a new title from scratch, Velo might be better. But there was years of heritage there with the old name and everyone kept calling it that, anyway."
The magazine dates to 1972, when it was launched in Vermont as Northeast Cycling News. It later became Cycling News and then Velo-news. New owner Inside Communications moved it to Colorado in 1988 and dubbed it VeloNews. Competitor Group bought Inside Communications in 2008.
While the magazine's title now again contains the word "news," its content is less newsy than ever. Once the paper of record for domestic and international race reports and results, VeloNews is increasingly focused on forward-looking and "evergreen" articles, Bradley said. For example, the first issue with the new name features a profile of Taylor Phinney, written by Bradley, that includes the racer's thoughts on cosmology, metaphysics and art. The issue also looks forward with previews of the Spring Classics and a humorous feature on "vans" in cycling, from Tejay van Garderen to Van Halen.
"We have a lot of very funny staffers," Bradley explained. "One part of my job is figuring out how to polish up the conversations we have in the office and get them into print." The website continues to evolve, too. While it still contains race reports and results, it increasingly features analysis and opinion columns. The company is planning a website redesign, as well, Bradley said.
Bradley said the magazine's circulation had dipped in recent years, in part because Competitor Group's previous owner did not invest in circulation and marketing. He said the current owner, Calera Capital, has invested more and circulation numbers are on the way back up. He said buzz over the April issue has already increased calls to the magazine's subscription line from about two a day to 22 a day.
The magazine's 2016 media kit lists circulation as 30,000.
