From Bike Magazines to YouTube with Ben Delaney

It feels like now more than ever it is important to find sources of information and reporting that are trustworthy. It used to be fairly easy: subscribe to a credible outlet and trust that said newspaper or magazine would have guardrails in place to get it right and to exercise fairness. As the internet and social media became the predominant sources we rely on, a lot of those guardrails were knocked down. It could be argued that the system in place now is more democratic. More wide open. More voices. But along the way the trust factor has taken a blow.

That's why we wanted to talk to Ben Delaney. Ben came from the old school ways of cycling reporting. He got a degree in journalism. He got a job at a magazine. He did the work and made his way up. Like a lot of his colleagues, he also took his lumps as traditional outlets succumbed to the pressures of lower ad revenues and tighter budgets. After being let go more than once by Velo, Ben decided to go solo.

These days you can find Ben making videos for his gravel focused "The Ride" YouTube channel. It's one of Josh's favorites, so much so that Silca supports the channel. "The Ride" is a great place to check the latest in dropbar, offroad tech and trends. But this interview is less about gear and much more about the landscape of cycling media. How it got to where it is and what it needs to keep its credibility.