Oh man, I could go on about bike magazines all day.

Bicycle Times, as mentioned above, does sound like what you might be looking for; it's transportation oriented, and low key as far as their approach to cycling. My only complaint is that it can get a little preachy on the political stuff. Last month's article on hand built bikes was awesome, though.

A little more off the beaten path, I'm a fan of both Bike Monkey and Boneshaker. Boneshaker is 1/3 bike, 1/3 creative writing, 1/3 art. Bike Monkey has a little more bike, but still the emphasis on art. Bike Monkey occasionally touches on professional cycling, but not in a (ProCycling, Velo News, insert favorite magazine here) way.

I agree with you about Bicycling; I don't mind reading it now and then, but I'd never pay for it.