These shall be interesting times for the big glossy magazines. The edge having been taken off the economy has decreased ad-spending in colorful ex-tree products and at least one big publisher of motorcycle media has decided to get out.

Cycle World magazine, which has long claimed to be the largest motorcycle magazine in the world, is for sale, say numerous sources including Adweek. Update: The AdWeek story now says that they're keeping Cycle World, but Media Daily News still reports that CW is still for sale. Stay tuned.

Media Daily News: Hachette Puts Enthusiast Titles Up for Sale

Reportedly, ad page count at Cycle World is down over 30% since 2005 and "in the first four months of 2009, ad pages are down .. 18% at Cycle World".

As was shown with the sad death of Cycle magazine in the early 1990s, those same big subscription numbers which define "world's largest" are not exactly viewed as completely positive in a down market. Hachette, the same publishing company that currently owns Cycle World and killed off Cycle, viewed "servicing" Cycle's big subscription base an issue in the recession of the early 1990s.

Gigantic, glossy magazines once believed to be impenetrable are failing every single day, or moving to a web-only format in today's down market.

One news report on Cycle World wonders, given the current credit crunch, if they will be able to source a buyer.

MediaPost.com: It's an open question whether potential buyers of the Hachette titles will be able to secure funding for acquisitions, however. With global credit markets still frozen, money for the acquisition of distressed media properties like magazines and newspapers has grown scarce to the vanishing. In the enthusiast category specifically, Bonnier bought most of the Time4Media enthusiast titles from Time Inc. in January 2007, but this deal came in a credit environment that seems positively quaint today.

A non-sale would force Hachette into making some very difficult decisions at Cycle World, assuredly.