[Closed] Issue 139/Jamie Hibbard story

Jamie Tomkins was racing bmx in Manchester last weekend, and so was his son. I'm assuming it was the same Jamie Tomkins, anyway!

I thought Hibbard was the bees knees in the mid 90s. I'd still rather have his Turner Burner than practically any other bike.

Yeah - he was cirtainly one of the UK 90's MTB icons - shame what also came with that. Doddy I guess, replaced him in MBUK in the 2000's I guess, but i'd stopped reading it then. Would be interesting to have Doddys take on the story and if/why he gets / got the same abuse.

What was behind the abuse? I haven't read the article. I remember Hibbard went to Metal Hammer magazine after MBUK.

What was behind the abuse?

Envy. People didn’t think he deserved to have the job he had or to be mates with the people he was mates with because he wasn’t a riding god.

🙁

Well that's a disappointing experience, I don't fully remember the lad but I thought he just looked a bit like a punk-pop band member and not particularly "out there".

But MTB's loss was metal's gain obviously, as he is a very good writer - judging by that feature.

Worked for Metal Hammer/Top Gear magazines, seemed like a good lad and he did alright for himself. There are plenty of journos out there that aren't "Gods in their field" - but surely if they were they wouldn't need to write about it, they'd just be pro's at whatever they were doing.

People can be such dicks

Thanks for sharing OP. Glad to hear he is back riding bike.

Grew up reading MBUK in the Hibbard era and I would still have his Turner over just about any bike since. Loved his stuff...

I was thinking about this, too. As a teenager pumped up on getting into MTBing at the time, I have to admit I had some negative feelings towards Jamie which I would have thought nothing more of without reading the article. They were nothing overt, maybe it was envy, but mostly I just remember thinking "he's trying a bit too hard with his image". I had no idea of the wider spread and more vicious sentiment towards him and that's a shame. Glad he's back on a bike anyway. And yeah, nice article.

Bit emotional to read that, welcome back Jamie

Ah yes, always liked Jamie, though I confess I was more of a Justin Loretz guy if I had to choose.
Jamie's Turner was nice, but Justin's LTS was nicer!

Might buy the mag just to give that article a read.

Can’t you just download it as you’re a member? (It’s what I’ve just done)

Justin's D.O.G.S B.O.L.X was even better!

I was thinking about this, too. As a teenager pumped up on getting into MTBing at the time, I have to admit I had some negative feelings towards Jamie which I would have thought nothing more of without reading the article. They were nothing overt, maybe it was envy, but mostly I just remember thinking “he’s trying a bit too hard with his image”. I had no idea of the wider spread and more vicious sentiment towards him and that’s a shame. Glad he’s back on a bike anyway. And yeah, nice article.

I can relate to that . Me and my bunch of mates were teenagers at that time and bike obsessed and MBUK was our bible . I seem to remember the magazine changing slightly at the time and we felt it was selling out in a way that seems really important when your 16 . Magazines were all you had then to keep up with what was going on and the writers were as well known as a lot of the pro riders in a way that they aren’t now , kind of like Instagram influencers of the day .

receiving letters like that when your a young man must be awful though .I’d imagine all that stuff happens online now although this shows that kind of abuse is not new .
I suppose I look back at that time as a bit of a golden era but certainly there are parts of it that make me cringe now .

Glad he’s back on a bike and enjoying it .

Most enjoyable article I've read in singletrack for years, it was a great wee piece. Hibbard opening up about leaving the sport was an eye opener, I'd always assumed (and you know what they say about that) that music and journalism were his real drivers, that mountain-biking could have been replaced with stamp collecting if there was a vacancy at Stanley Gibbons monthly.

With respect to casual attitudes in the sport and journalism, it's interesting to see how far we've come- at times my eyes might roll slightly at some of the inclusions in the journalism on here, but I think back, for example, to that shops magazine ads in the 90's, Kylie, more recently the Knog calendar (and the magazine's defence of it).

And Jamies last appearance on here makes for a rather painful retrospective given what he had to say
A Magazine More Stw Than Stw Itself/

I never remember harbouring any dislike of the guy - I just thought he was cool. He was peak MBUK (for me). I remember seeking him out at Bike 98 (or 99, perhaps) and he autographed my school bag 😀

I take it the article isn't anywhere online? I'd be interested in reading about him, for the sake of nostalgia.

This struck a chord on a number of levels. Had every issue of MBUK and re-read them countless times in the early to mid-nineties. Can also remember the slight shift in direction In the mag that caused me to drift away from it and eventually MTBing altogether for 10 years around 2000. At the time reading the mag felt very much like being part of a tribe so it's sad to hear the abuse that Jamie endured.

Anyway welcome back Jamie, article made a great read and I felt the exact same way the 1st time I got back on a MTB. Can recall hitting the 1st bit of downhill singletrack and saying to myself WTF did I ever stop doing this?!

And Jamies last appearance on here makes for a rather painful retrospective given what he had to say
A Magazine More Stw Than Stw Itself/

First thing I thought of, though couldn't find the thread, can't believe that was 7 years ago!

Enjoyed the article, was nice to see that Jamie reconnected with riding, and also that he reflects on himself as an average rider that just got to do what he loved to do.

So he was also Beardy McAxerson, well well well.

I suppose there is a strange kind of parallel between the awful homophobic abuse he was getting BITD and the lumbersexual abuse triggered by that proposed project.

Looks almost quaint now, doesn't it?

Hi guys!

I just wanted to say thanks for all of your kind words about mine and Chipps' feature in the latest issue.

It was a very cathartic experience all around, from actually going to BPW to then writing down a load of emotional stuff I'd never talked to anyone about.

And as such was then rather nerve-wracking putting it all out there!

So, thank you again.

All the best,
Jamie

I just wanted to say thanks for all of your kind words about mine and Chipps’ feature in the latest issue.

It was a very cathartic experience all around, from actually going to BPW to then writing down a load of emotional stuff I’d never talked to anyone about.

And as such was then rather nerve-wracking putting it all out there!

Not sure if it's something that you'd want to do, but I'd be fascinated to hear a podcast going deeper into those times at MBUK (more the experiences rather than the hate), I'm getting quite nostalgic for these things as I get older.  The Downtime podcast did some great ones with Nigel Page and Will Longden going right back to the 00s era.

I'd never really thought about that tbh, but it's a pretty cool idea!

(That said, my memory is shocking, and I'm not sure how much I'd get away with talking about from what I can remember 😂)

Read the article last night, (I'm not a quick reader of the mag, especially the longer articles) and I heartily agree with the above, a great article well written, and all the better for being a little different from the usual STW content. A good issue all-round actually.

I enjoyed it.

Was always well jealous of you at mbuk as your age is far closer to mine than the rest of the journos who seemed to be as old as my dad... when I was reading mbuk in the 90s!

Just also highlights some people are dicks

Also the BMX scene was very different back then - full of jealousy over MTB becoming the new 'thing' and BMX really was in decline. Used to get abuse from all the local bmxers just for riding around town. It's totally different now....

I was so young it was pretty ridiculous looking back at it! But because of that I very much fulfilled the brief of being the bridge between reader and rider.

it was so gnarly in those days!

And Jamies last appearance on here makes for a rather painful retrospective given what he had to say
A Magazine More Stw Than Stw Itself/

I'm just revisiting that thread. Took less than a page to swing from a discussion about a new mans magazine to massive argument about how often you should wash your jeans. 🤣

You're right about the name calling though vinnyeh. That's not cool.

Myabe Jamie could write some reviews, as a 'new-comer', based on wheelsize/suspension styles/and other 'standards'?
Maybe we can finally find out which wheel size is best???? 😉

Crikey don’t bring that up again - I’ve literally just taken my Nudies out of the freezer 😂

The wheel size thing freaks me out - esp mullets!

Some of us are still riding 26" - just with 4<5" tyres 😜

Ah-ha!