Cycle

Cycle was an American motorcycling enthusiast magazine, published from the early 1950s through the early 1990s. During its heyday, in the 1970s and 1980s, it had a circulation of more than 500,000 and was headquartered in Westlake Village, California, near the canyon roads of the Santa Monica Mountains, where Cycle'''s editors frequently road tested and photographed test bikes. HistoryCycle was founded by Robert E. Petersen of Trend Inc. and Petersen Publishing, which also published Hot Rod and Motor Trend magazines. Petersen sold Cycle to Floyd Clymer in July 1953.Cycle magazine, July 1953 In an anniversary issue of Cycle, his editorial approach was summed up as, "[He] never met a motorcycle he didn't like. Clymer owned Cycle until 1966, when he sold the publication to the New York-based publishing company Ziff-Davis Publications, which owned it through the mid-1980s. CBS, which also owned Cycles main competitor, Cycle World, purchased Cycle in 1985; Diamandis Communications owned both magazines for a short time in 1988. In April of that year both were sold to Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. The company folded the magazine to focus on its other magazine, Cycle World. Ownership Editors and contributors During the Ziff-Davis years, Cycle was known for editorial integrity, technical expertise, and humor. Editors-in-chief were Gordon Jennings (1966-1969), Cook Neilson (1969-1979), and Phil Schilling (1979-1988). P. Thomas Sargent was publisher. Jennings, a self-educated engineer and journalist, worked on and off as a technical and contributing editor for two decades after his editorship. He was beloved among Cycle readers—known for his acerbic wit, his technical know-how, his easy-to-understand project and "basic" articles, and his 1973 Two-Stroke Tuner's Handbook, which is still highly sought after by tuners. He was also editor-in-chief of Car and Driver Magazine, another Ziff-Davis publication, from 1970-1971. Neilson, popular for his irreverent, entertaining, and insightful writing, was promoted to editor in 1969, at the age of 26. He is credited with making the magazine successful through the 1970s and popularizing the comparison test format.