Alex Hiam

Alex Hiam is an Australian BMX rider from Brisbane, Queensland, known for creative, fast park and transition riding. He rode for the Australian brand Colony for about 15 years, from his early teens until 2022, and is a Vans team rider whose 2022 video Magic Powers is his best-known work. He is part of the generation of Queensland riders that grew up on the region's concrete skateparks and took that riding to an international audience.

Early life and background

Hiam was born in Brisbane around 1995 (he was reported as 13 in January 2009). He started riding young at local skateparks. Colony, an Australian BMX brand based in Queensland, first saw him ride at Kuraby when he was about 12, and soon brought him onto the team.

He developed quickly. At 13 he competed in the junior and expert park and street qualifiers at the 2009 Rockstar Energy Drink BMX Games at Docklands in Melbourne, a large demonstration and contest event, and he was already getting attention in the Australian BMX media. He is also listed as featuring in a 2009 episode of the US youth action sports series New Pollution, alongside a surfer and a skateboarder.

Queensland has some of the best public concrete parks in the country, and riders from the region have a reputation for speed and big transition riding. See Australian BMX skateparks and BMX in Australia for the wider context.

Career

Colony

Hiam's career is closely tied to Colony. He stayed with the brand for about 15 years, and Colony produced his signature Sweet Tooth frame, which Colony said made him the youngest pro to have his own signature frame, and a Sweet Tooth Pro complete bike. Through the late 2010s and early 2020s Colony released a steady stream of his riding, from park sessions at Brisbane spots such as Hibiscus and Paddington to backyard sessions and phone clip compilations. In 2021 Colony also released a tuck no-hander tutorial with him, filmed at Hibiscus park in Brisbane.

In July 2022 Colony announced that Hiam was leaving the team after around 15 years, describing him as a rider who blows minds.

Vans and Magic Powers

Hiam is a Vans BMX team rider. In July 2022 Vans released Magic Powers, a full video part built around him. Filmed during a period when travel restrictions kept him at home in Australia, the video was presented as a new creative direction for his riding. Most of the footage is park, but it also includes some heavy street clips. A B-sides edit of leftover footage from the project was released in late 2025.

In early 2023 DIG BMX released an edit of his Australian riding titled Aim High.

Contests and team events

Hiam has entered contests and team events but is better known for video and park riding than for results. Notable appearances include:

• The 2009 Rockstar Energy Drink BMX Games in Melbourne, as a young teenager.
• The Vans BMX Pro Cup. At the series' first Australian stop, at Five Dock in Sydney in April 2018, he finished third behind Larry Edgar and Sergio Layos and won the Vans Best Line award. He also rode later Pro Cup finals.
• The 2018 Battle of Hastings, where he captained his own team in the ramp-focused team contest.

Riding style

Hiam's riding is fast, inventive and built around transition. Features include:

• Creative lines. He finds unusual ways around a park, using hips, extensions, corners and walls that other riders skip.
• Big airs with style. His airs are high and relaxed, and he mixes classic tricks such as tuck no-handers with less common variations.
• Range of terrain. As well as skateparks, he rides bowls, backyard ramps, abandoned pools and the occasional street spot.

His approach is closer to the core park and video tradition than to the structured contest style that dominates Olympic park riding. That contrast makes him a useful counterpoint to contest riders from the same state, such as Logan Martin and Kyle Baldock.

Legacy and influence

Hiam is one of the most recognisable Australian video and park riders of his generation. His long stint with Colony made him a fixture of the Brisbane scene, and Magic Powers brought his riding to a large international audience through Vans.

For Australian riders, he shows another path through the sport. Rather than chasing contest points, he built a career on footage, creativity and the kind of riding that makes people want to go to the park.

Sponsors

Notable sponsors across his career (not a list of current sponsors):

Sponsor	Type	Period
Colony	Bikes and parts	Around 2007 to 2022
Vans	Shoes and apparel	2010s to 2020s