totalshell Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I grew up in the early and mid seventies with TMX having loads of evocative black and white photos of bikes in woods,up to the hubs in mud etc. the sort of stuff that to me was magic. the ads were always full of loads of bikes locally never mind nationally and there seemed to be local trials reports every week. with the advent of sites such as this, the arrival of eblag and other sales sites the content of the weekly paper has been ravaged and no doubt its sales. ( no reflection i'm sure of the efforts of a valiant very few in morecambe) i feel that a vibrant weekly trials newspaper/ magazine is a lifeblood of the sport. i believe that more photos and articles on bike prep/set up ( such as featured during foot and mouth) items on riding technique ( schriebers/smiths/leavitts/millers/kings/bournes many books cant all have been pulped interested riders did and still do buy them.. have you bournes, by the way?) after all the excellent tbm has grownen at exactly the time tmx has retreated. long may tmx continue but for how much longer in its presnt format.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_scorpa3 Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I've always bought T&MX News but in recent years I've noticed that any new bike reports seem to slate last years model whilst singling the praises of this years model. Rarely is a bad word written! Until next years bike comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 (edited) I've always bought T&MX News but in recent years I've noticed that any new bike reports seem to slate last years model whilst singling the praises of this years model. Rarely is a bad word written! Until next years bike comes out. Oh so true. Spoke to mike greenough back in the early eighties and candidly he was telling me he had had to change a less than gushing test of a new montesa by the request of the management. Don't think 30 years has changed much. Edited February 27, 2009 by Nigel Dabster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fivemeister Posted February 27, 2009 Report Share Posted February 27, 2009 I enjoy the immediacy of internet media but still love to pore through a magazine or newspaper. TMX has so much untapped potential and it needs an innovative makeover badly. More writing about bike maintenence / riding technique / technical articles - all the stuff we love to see - its not hard! I also agree about the bike reviews - lets have some independent no nonsense critique, regardless of manufacturer / sponsor pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomant Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 I enjoy the immediacy of internet media but still love to pore through a magazine or newspaper. TMX has so much untapped potential and it needs an innovative makeover badly. More writing about bike maintenence / riding technique / technical articles - all the stuff we love to see - its not hard! I also agree about the bike reviews - lets have some independent no nonsense critique, regardless of manufacturer / sponsor pressure. I agree. This is not that dissimilar to what I have said in the past and must be what most people want. Probably the reason TC has gained so much popularity in a relatively short time and is easily the biggest trials website in the world. Long may it continue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowellsyboy Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 what tmx need is a jeremy clarkson type character to do the bike reviews. No messing, just blatantly honest. And maybe some top gear type challenges with trial bikes!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 I doubt you'll ever get an honest test of a new trials bike - ever. TBM did an honest test of the Yamaha WR400 when it came out and they truthfully criticised the dreadful hot starting and the bulky ergonomics of the seat and tank which added size and weight compared to the YZ. The cardiac inducing hot starting was the biggest criticism however and having owned one, rightly so. Yamaha's response was to pull advertising and to withhold any further test bikes for a couple of years I believe. I remember someone I know well doing a test on one of the last twinshock trials bikes for a monthly dirt mag at the time and giving it a glowing report. When we next saw him we said you rate that bike highly then - it's a bag of ****e was his true opinion. But that wouldn't have pleased the importer, sponsor or dealer would it... Not sure I'd welcome a Clarkson type figure anywhere near off roading personally. For me, he has the ability to be a good journalist but just acts a juvenile pillock and does very little good for the motoring cause in the eyes of those above that watch our every move. I can just hear the comments about 'filling in ramblers' who venture into your path whilst out trail riding as a lesson that they should stay out of our way. It's true TMX has untapped potential but I guess they have no staff available to stretch or diversify from what they do now. With the increased interest in classic trials it would be nice to see them raid the archives and reprint some of the old twinshock tests that they did back then. The cost and manpower to do that would be minimal. Who cares if they aren't/weren't accurate, just nice to read about them and look at pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cota kid Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 What about some bike reviews on TC? Plenty of able bodied persons posting on here willing to provide an informed and impartial report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickymicky Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) Its hard to see how it can survive in the long term. My main purpose for buying it was to see the results of an event i'd ridden in. As often as not the results were either a week late or didnt appear at all. That was if you managed to get a copy in the first place. In my area it often arrived late at the newsagents, meaning a return visit usually on the Monday, by which time you had ridden another event anyway. Every club i ride with now post the results on the web and its getting commonplace for them to be posted on the same day. As Totalshell knows, Yorkshire Classic results are waiting for you before you get home. So they will never be able to provide a decent results service, which leaves the adverts and the bike tests. The bike tests are legendary, but for the wrong reasons. Its obvious they are so grateful to have a bike to test that they daren't say anything bad or they wont be getting one at all next year. My favourite was when the editor, i think, 'tested' a four stroke trials bike and actually managed to make light of the fact that it simply refused to start when hot- rendering it useless! Which leaves the adverts.. Edited February 28, 2009 by TRICKYMICKY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neonsurge Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 OK, so the tests are completely useless, the results are always late, it's 80% ads, there are lots of better classified resources on the web AND they employed what I personally considered to be underhand bullying tactics to crush what I'm convinced would've been an excellent, impartial UK-based YOU HAVE USED WORDS OR A PHRASE WHICH ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THIS WEBSITE. PLEASE DELETE YOUR POST/TOPIC. DO NOT TRY TO CIRCUMVENT THE FILTERS IN PLACE ON THIS WEBSITE before it really got off the ground. So why do people still buy TMX? Habit? Tradition?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete_scorpa3 Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 OK, so the tests are completely useless, the results are always late, it's 80% ads, there are lots of better classified resources on the web AND they employed what I personally considered to be underhand bullying tactics to crush what I'm convinced would've been an excellent, impartial UK-based YOU HAVE USED WORDS OR A PHRASE WHICH ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THIS WEBSITE. PLEASE DELETE YOUR POST/TOPIC. DO NOT TRY TO CIRCUMVENT THE FILTERS IN PLACE ON THIS WEBSITE before it really got off the ground. So why do people still buy TMX? Habit? Tradition?? Good point. When you put it like that I don't really know why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timp Posted February 28, 2009 Report Share Posted February 28, 2009 It still can't be beaten for the 'regs available' section. That is really the main reason I still buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slapshot 3 Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Good point. When you put it like that I don't really know why. I stopped buying it about 4 years or so ago. I don't want to waste a couple of quid every week on something thats predominantly motocross and mostly motocross based advertising, if that's what I was interested in then fair enough. I think the standard has fallen over the years to a situation now that I don't believe it's worth the money. The whole ethos of news media has changed, information is available rapidly these days through TC and they myriad of club websites you can get your scores and maybe good selection of images fairly quickly after the event, in those terms I don't see TMX still being on the shelves in a couple of years time. If it's got to go through a wholesale change to survive, I don't see where it can go. I don't think the owners would contemplate the suggestions already made,valuable as they are because there would be little need for a weekly publication of this sort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andat Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 When TMX came out in the late 70's I bought the first copy (and I think its still in my mum's loft). At the time it was a revelation! But things move on and its catering for such a limited market that it can't possibly compete with the internet. I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to regurgitate some of the decent articles from the 70's, 80's and 90's. And there must be someone out there who can help with some basic bike prep/re-build tips (lots of photo's & few words always works for me). If TMX is to survive it has to provide what a lap-top can't... Several hours of half decent reading material to take to the loo.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 When TMX came out in the late 70's I bought the first copy (and I think its still in my mum's loft). At the time it was a revelation! But things move on and its catering for such a limited market that it can't possibly compete with the internet. I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to regurgitate some of the decent articles from the 70's, 80's and 90's. And there must be someone out there who can help with some basic bike prep/re-build tips (lots of photo's & few words always works for me). If TMX is to survive it has to provide what a lap-top can't... Several hours of half decent reading material to take to the loo.... How much of a tie up is there between motocross digital and TMX?????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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