I’ve been a big fan of printed BMX magazines since I first discovered BMX back in the late 70’s. Actually it was seeing a magazine in a news agency that drew me to the sport, I was only 9 years old and highly impressionable. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen in my isolated little piece of the (pre-internet) world. There have been many great magazines come and go through the years. I used to buy as many as I could get my hands on and I still have nearly all of them stashed away. Amongst my favourites were BMX Action, Super BMX, BMX Plus, Snap, Transworld and, of course, all of the Aussie magazines.

There was a time in the Mid 90’s where BMX was at an all time low, it had basically been driven underground. There were no local magazines, and communications from the governing bodies left a lot to be desired. That’s when I started bmxultra.com, it made sense at the time, even though the internet was still yet to be in every household. When I started it, it was just a hobby, bmxultra.com was a tool to help others to get involved in the sport and keep people informed. Never did I expect that the internet would kill off printed media.

It’s sad to see that so many great BMX magazines have turned to the web exclusively over these past couple of years. Nothing beats opening a fresh new mag and checking out the latest in the scene, new products, emerging brands, emerging riders, and I have to say I’m a sucker for a good race action photo. I was having a discussion about it recently where the only two race related magazines left were BMX Plus and the Aussie BMX Press mag.

Sadly today I saw this today

BMXPRESS news.
BMXPRESS will no longer go to print.
BMXPRESS will be released in the coming weeks in a global digital format straight to your Mobile Phone, Tablet, Lap Tops, PC etc.
Official press release and more information coming soon.

“Another one bites the dust” as they say or a more positive approach in the words of one of my favourite bands, The Posies, “There’s an upside, there has to be an upside.” I believe there is, actually many upsides

• BMX Press and the other magazines that have turned to the web are still running
• they are instantly available on release, no more running around chasing the latest version because the local has sold out
• and you can still read them from just about anywhere on just about any internet enabled device

The physical aspect of holding a magazine is just about gone, but that’s been the way for a lot of major newspapers and other magazines for some time. I think we’ve been extremely lucky that magazines like BMXPress and BMX Plus have been able to hold out for so long.

The biggest concern for me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one, is the ability to go back through old magazines might become more difficult as times change. Technologies are ever evolving and newer file formats supersede existing ones. In 20 years time it’s likely to be more difficult to go back through old electronic archives than just pulling out a box and flicking through the pages. I’m all for progression, providing we don’t lose touch with our roots. Wait a minute I think I’ve heard that somewhere before.

A sad day? Well yes, but on a positive note, it will be better for our sport, better for us as participants and better for BMX Press magazine as distribution and readership are likely to increase, no longer bound by a finite number of printed magazines.

I wish the guys at BMX Press luck with the move to online content and will be happy to support it, as I am sure it’s loyal readers & followers will too.