Very excited to announce that a project I’ve been working on for a long time has finally launched: 2r.
It’s a multi-media magazine about cycling, combining in-depth written articles with photo galleries and video. Available for the iPad right now (iOS6 required) and on some additional platforms shortly. I’m very excited that Paul Kimmage will have a “big piece” in 2r every month.
In issue 1, Paul interviews LeMond about his relationships with Hinault, Fignon and Armstrong. In the 44(!) page interview, they also cover races being sold, cocaine, and awkward dinners (with the chef of Renault and Lance). Boonen revisits his worst loss, Gesink draws his first bike and Nuyens contemplates retirement. To top it off, Cavendish thinks about what he would do as the UCI president. Plus the most beautiful photos from l’Équipe and Sirotti.
2r will appear monthly and best of all, it’s FREE. Download it for the iPad here. To follow 2r (and receive announcements when other formats are ready), choose from the following:
website: 2rmag.com
twitter: @2rHD
facebook: 2rmag
I really hope you like the magazine and if you do, please tell your friends about it! Thanks.
gerard.cc 
February 19, 2013 at 13:40
Congrats on this achievement Gerard! I’ll enjoy the reading.
February 19, 2013 at 13:42
Please release this for something other than the iPad too. More so if you’ll also be writing in it.
In the mean time could those of us without iPads get a copy of the interview…
February 19, 2013 at 13:42
I liked the Lemond-Kimmage teaser on the website. Got to download the app tonight. Congrats and thanks!
February 19, 2013 at 13:55
Android, please.
February 19, 2013 at 14:03
We’re working on Android. Of course, Android apps are an absolute disaster, but we’re trying.
February 19, 2013 at 16:03
Gerard, can you have the Android version ready by Thursday? :) I would love to read on my long haul to Hong Kong
February 19, 2013 at 13:56
Would be nice to be able to read this on ipad1 too
February 19, 2013 at 14:05
I know, I have an iPad 1 myself, but there are some issues with that. I know it’s ridiculous, but even Apple doesn’t really support it anymore. Three years old, ancient. Anyway, i think the iPhone version is up next, hopefully you have one of those.
February 21, 2013 at 02:55
It-s just a magazine, so i suggest to take it to a digital magazine platform, like issu or zinio, so you can release it when ever in wherever.
creating platforms for each system makes little sense i think. Make a website, and it will show up in any decent device. this platform wars is something better scaping. I don-t want to have just a diferent app for every information source, makes no sense.
make a .pdf.
content, not continent. separate it. like separating cycling promotion with doping testing… first things first.
and of course> fuck apple.
February 19, 2013 at 14:00
Superb! Congratulations!
February 19, 2013 at 14:14
congratulations. i guess the only burning question is when will kimmage vs mcquaid feature – or is pat holding out for oprah too….
February 19, 2013 at 14:20
You know, I am hoping for a McQuaid interview and I think it would be very positive for McQuaid. I know that sounds strange but I think if he is smart, he sits down with Kimmage for an interview. Same with Armstrong.
February 19, 2013 at 14:23
i couldn’t agree more. lets hope pat doesn’t turn up with a carpani 2.0 in tow riding interference, and that all questions are on the table
February 19, 2013 at 14:22
Hi Gerard,
Great idea and I’m always up for something free, especially with good quality writing and pictures. However how can you sustain this magazine in the long-term, or will this become a subscription magazine in the future? Perhaps I have to read the first issue to find that out.. Can’t wait to get home and download this.. I’m really excited about this, and your readership in Mozambique will increase many times over, I’ll make sure of that.
February 19, 2013 at 14:37
Why not just release a PDF? PDF can embed video…
February 19, 2013 at 14:46
That is true, but it can’t do other things. A lot of magazines in newsstand are (glorified) PDFs. Not a great experience to read though and I am not sure how one would sustain such a magazine for free.
February 19, 2013 at 15:15
So then why not release it as a website? The app decision is a bit strange, given the existence of the widely available, platform neutral, web…
I pay for access to a number of websites, if their content is high quality enough. I am highly unlikely to pay for an app though (if only for the simple reason I rarely use platforms with apps – but I am behind a computer with web access most of each day).
February 19, 2013 at 15:22
+1 I don’t own an Apple OS or Android device, but I too sit in front of a computer monitor all day… Accessibility please, and congratulations on your new venture.
February 19, 2013 at 16:33
I’m not asking you to pay for an app. I’m offering an app magazine for free. I’m not forcing anybody to take me up on the offer though. I actually agree with your assessment, apps aren’t necessarily a good thing. I prefer the web in general. But in this particular case I prefer the app. What I want to do on a website, I’ll do right here, on gerard.cc.
February 19, 2013 at 17:47
You mentioned “not sure how one would sustain such a magazine for free”, which led to think you’re considering to charge in the future, and led me to assume you’ve gone with the app model because app stores would make the payment-collection part easy, which led me to mention that I pay for websites. ;)
February 19, 2013 at 23:47
Nope, not intending to charge for 2r in the future.
February 20, 2013 at 07:33
So, if not you’re intending to charge, how about a web-site version? Why did you choose to restrict it to an app-based magazine? I’d love to read it – but it doesn’t sound like you have plans to make it available to non-Apple, non-Android users any time soon.
Just curious…
February 20, 2013 at 10:38
Hi Paul, I don’t know how to get the advertising revenue to offer the content for free web-based. For the app magazine, I think I do. So maybe at some point there is a free app version and a paid web version, I don’t know (would be a bit of a twist on normal set-ups, but hey)
February 19, 2013 at 15:17
Oh, and use of Flash would be another thing that’d rule me out of paying – for practical and principled reasons.
February 19, 2013 at 15:21
Well this is a great surprise. Can’t wait to read it.
February 19, 2013 at 16:17
Gerard-
I’ve really enjoyed what I read so far of 2r. I liked the Boonen video & UCI Overlords piece. I also like the functionality of magazine. Great work!
February 19, 2013 at 17:34
Aw, can’t afford a smart phone or smart pad, and now I miss out on this great app! Looks like I’ll be spending more time with my sister (and her ipad). Who says cycling doesn’t bring families together.
February 19, 2013 at 20:18
Can’t wait to see what you are doing, but will not own an iPad. Would you consider posting the initial content temporarily hosted on the website (HTML, pdf, anything)? Please? I would be happy to donate my time/ expertise posting the content if that would help. I just want the content (on the screen I sit in front of all day), not interested in the frills etc. Please? Thank you.
February 19, 2013 at 20:22
2r is the best surprise …
Gerard, who has been writing great articles about cycling’s ills and spills [plus Cervelo] …
The new 2r magazine [it’s a free app!] …
An article by Paul Kimmage [“A Rough Ride”, etc.] …
A long article by Kimmage about Greg Lemond …
Still more with videos …
Wonderful
February 19, 2013 at 21:16
yeah, i’ll just echo all the comments – i don’t own an ipad or other tablet and don’t intend to anytime soon. i have an android phone but wouldn’t want to use that as my main magazine reading device when i have computers all around with large screens.
i’m not going to criticise since you’re doing this for free you’re most entitled to do it however you see fit but i am disappointed and surprised that you have taken this path rather than a platform independant website. the only advantage on an i-app that i can see is the ability to easily charge subscriptions. since you’re not doing that i would be interested to know the reasons behind your decision.
February 19, 2013 at 23:24
Well done, good luck with it – looking forward to reading. I am surprised and disappointed that you didn’t come round to my house and read it to me in the bath at a time of my choosing, which is what I would expect for the astronomical $0.00 cover price.
February 20, 2013 at 00:21
Great work Gerard. Good luck to you and the team!
February 20, 2013 at 07:18
this is just ridiculous..so I can’t read it if i don’t have ipad!!
February 20, 2013 at 09:54
Excellent read. Congratulations.
February 20, 2013 at 15:24
Wonderful reading and the photos are great as well! Thanks Gerard!
February 20, 2013 at 19:28
Well, I’m a self professed Mac whore. Between me, my wife & son I’ve six apple products currently in use. But this gave is just the excuse I needed to get myself an iPad Mini. After reading excerpt from the LeMond interview, I couldn’t wait.
Thanks, Gerard & 2r.
February 21, 2013 at 15:20
Best wishes for the magazine. The ONLY magazine I pay for is Rouleur — happily in fact. I feel that by charging for the mag the quality journalists who contribute to it should make reasonable money from their efforts. Being an old fart, I save every issue and don’t really enjoy trying to read mags on anything other than paper…but maybe I’ll get over that when/if yours is available via something other than instantly obsolete I-shit products?
February 21, 2013 at 15:30
Hi Larry, Thanks for the feedback. You assume journalists get paid well if a magazine is expensive? Well, 2r is free yet it compensates the journalists better than any other cycling magazine I know of.
July 3, 2013 at 11:00
I have a Windows laptop, a Mac and a Windows 8 tablet and can’t read this… so frustrating!
I gave up reading Rouleur because the overwhelming atmosphere of fetishised suffering and smugness was crushing the life out of me.
But I’d happily pay to read 2r in printed format. Have you looked at how Jonathan Wilson funds his football magazine, The Blizzard? (Pay what you think it’s worth, with a minimum of £6…) Would that work for your setup?
July 3, 2013 at 15:11
Hi Wilson,
Not sure but I’ll check it out. Hope to announce some options next week or so.
Regards, Gerard.
February 22, 2013 at 23:19
Really want to read it but, ugh.. iPad.. I know Android is horrific in many respects. Wish there was another format because I’m excited to see the content!
February 23, 2013 at 02:59
I don’t think I want to spend several hundred dollars on an iPad to read a free magazine. Or any other device, for that matter.
I’m writing this into a web browser on a computer. How about a format that’s suitable for that?
March 2, 2013 at 03:54
Can’t wait till it’s available on the Nexus 7
May 8, 2013 at 17:06
As a Nexus 7 user can’t wait – looking forward to seeing it.
July 2, 2013 at 15:23
I’m dying to read this magazine but as with the above two commenters I am a Nexus 7 user. Looking forward to the android app being released. Please can you update us as to the progress?
July 13, 2013 at 14:14
Just read all the issues. Great content – the sort of content I haven’t seen in years. It’s so nice to read quality journalism in Kimmage’s long articles, content that takes a couple of hours not a couple of minutes.
I have to say I much prefer the issues with the Kimmage’s articles – Lemond, the Andreaus and Pinotti.
Keep it up!
July 13, 2013 at 16:17
Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it. It’s interesting on the content, everybody seems to have their favorites. There isn’t really a clear line in it though, so I think we’ll keep mixing it up. Thanks again, Gerard
October 9, 2019 at 02:39
Any chance the issues are archived? (app appears unavailable on the App Store).
October 17, 2019 at 14:19
They are not stored anywhere, sorry.
October 17, 2019 at 15:59
Appreciate your reply. Unfortunate that can no longer share in the experiences captured in the content (even if in a less lively form – e.g. a PDF print). As an aside, I am looking forward to reading To Make Riders Faster and innovations from 3T and Pon.