Hi there,
In 2021 in a muddy Scottish field at the final Enduro World Series race of the season, we launched Downtime EP, the Downtime Podcast and Misspent Summers print collaboration.
Lots of people signed up for a subscription, and we are incredibly grateful for the support; buying products helps us record the history of mountain biking and dig deep into the sport’s most interesting subjects.
We’ve now produced three issues of EP and we are proud of each one – they expand on the podcast and, we think, are beautiful things to own.
However, we’re in a spot of bother. Here’s why:
At the time of EP’s launch, the bike industry was doing well, and the world was slightly more stable than it is now.
We were excited that EP would be Misspent Summers’ first subscription offering – something people could sign up to and get into their postbox each time we made a new copy. Behind the scenes, subscriptions promised a way to easily look ahead and work out what features and photos we could afford to commission each issue. Simple.
We got some good industry support and plenty of people signing up. EP was off to a flying start.
But then, everything changed. And changed again. The price of print, packaging and shipping shot up by 40-50% and, with the bike industry struggling, advertising revenues dropped off.
With the goalposts constantly moving, running an annual print subscription product is now a risky business. We can only assume it was for this reason that MBR Magazine and Cranked recently stopped making print.
We’ve struggled to get another issue of EP produced and, while we’ve remained committed to EP4 until now, we’re having to pull the plug on subscriptions.
Subscribers have been waiting far, far too long for a new issue. Some of you have even recently had an automatic renewal when you’re still owed for the last one. We are sorry.
We love the Downtime and Misspent Summers collaboration and will continue working together, just without the subscriptions. That way we can adapt to the costs at the time we go to print and ensure we stay in business.
If you have an outstanding subscription, you will receive a voucher to your email inbox for the amount you are owed (outstanding EP issues and shipping fees you’ve pre-paid) plus an extra 20% to say thank you. You’ll get it in the next 24 hours.
You can spend the voucher on the Misspent Summers store and don’t need to spend it all at once. The voucher is valid for two years and covers products and shipping fees. If you are a regular on our store, you might want to save it for our end-of-season yearbooks or our next Downtime collaboration.
Alternatively, if you would like a refund, you will find a link in the voucher email to fill in a form and let us know you need reimbursing. We’d prefer to send you our products, but fully understand if you’d rather get your money back. This option will take considerably more admin time, so please bear with us while we process any requests.
Again, thank you very much for trusting us and supporting our work.
We are riders and fans who are passionate about mountain biking and racing, and we look forward to continuing our work together this year.
All the best,
James, Chris and Ben
Misspent Summers and Downtime Podcast
James, Chris and Ben at the Downtime EP launch in Scotland. Shortly after this photo, Ben went flying after slipping in the mud while carrying a box of books. The books survived but Ben came off a little worse for wear. It was quality entertainment for everyone else though.
