Besides the progression of mountain biking as a sport, media has changed significantly since we launched our brand in 2009. As we celebrate 15 years of TREAD, we are excited to introduce TREAD Singletrack Society, a fresh community to add value to South African mountain bikers.
By Sean Badenhorst
When we launched the TREAD brand in 2009, we published a magazine. It was the best media platform at the time. We sold copies of the magazine in stores and had a subscriber option. In 2017, once market forces gave us no choice but to move away from print to digital media, we offered our content at no charge. It’s never been a great business model for us, but it has carried the brand for the past seven years.
We have reached the point now where we feel it’s time to adjust our business model and that is why we have introduced TREAD Singletrack Society – a membership community that charges a membership fee, which will ensure we can continue to provide original, relevant information and inspiration to South African mountain bikers and gravel bike riders. In fact, it will allow us to provide more of this content.
Our website and mailer will still offer free content, but certain original articles will be only accessible to members. Those who want to read the articles, but don’t want to become a long-term member can read them at a small fee on a one-week membership trial.
Several cycling media have gone this route. Not in South Africa, but abroad. It’s hard to convince people to pay for something they were getting for free, so that’s why we have added the event entry discounts and the brand partner discounts that are exclusively for TREAD Singletrack Society members. They are tiered and can be seen here. We are also launching a podcast soon that only TREAD Singletrack Society members will have access to.
So, for a membership fee, you get the following:
- Access to member-only articles (at least one fresh article per week)
- Discounts up to 20% off your race entry for high-profile mountain bike and gravel races.
- Discounts ranging from 15%-25% off online product purchases from leading brands.
- Access to the new TREAD Media podcast when that launches.
The membership mechanism is automated via a globally successful system called Paid Memberships Pro. It uses Payfast, which is an established, trusted South African online payment system. You can also cancel your subscription at any time.
We hope that you see the value and will consider investing in a TREAD Singletrack Society membership. We’re excited about this next chapter and look forward to sharing it with you.
To find out more about the TREAD Singletrack Society benefits, or to commence your membership, click here.
THE TREAD CREW
