Dirtscrolls

The market is awash with a huge assortment of very well-made bikepacking bags to fit in every nook and cranny of your bike. One of the simplest, and often over-complicated methods of transport is strapping a load to your bicycle’s handlebars. If it’s a small, light load you can get away with very little: I’ve ...

Canfield Brothers released a new pedal in their thinner-than-thin Crampon line, the Mountain. The Mountain pedals are a melding of the Classic, which appeared in 2011, and the newer Ultimate pedals. The Mountains have the same 6 mm leading edge as seen on the Ultimates, but feature a full-length axle that is 4 mm wider than the ...

Words: Rebecca Rusch Illustration: Stephen Haynes Originally published in Issue #192 I was wet, cold and fucking miserable. Riding 500 miles through Italy sounded much more pastoral and heavenly than it was turning out to be. At home when I looked at the squiggly lined course map for Italy Divide weaving through the hills from ...

The DBCoil [IL] is a high performance, non-piggyback, coil shock aimed squarely at the trail bike market. Cane Creek describes its features thusly: • Twin-Tube Design. -Setting the DBcoil[IL] apart, oil circulates continuously through externally adjustable shock valves. On the trail, this routing of oil translates into less fade, more control, and greater consistency making it ...

I’ve been riding with a set of Face GX cycling glasses from Ryders Eyewear for a while and felt it was about time I shared my experiences with them, with you. Besides fitting great (fit is always subjective) these unique glasses have several features that are worth discussing in detail. First, and most importantly, the lenses. The ...

The new Pivot Firebird features some of the longest reach measurements on a bike in this category, combined with super-short 16.95-inch chainstays, 65-degree head angle, 170 mm of suspension, Boost spacing, and clearance for 27.5 wheels with tires up to 2.5 inches wide. The carbon frame can reportedly be built up with a weight of less than 28 pounds. ...

The 15L Dakine Seeker pack is built for the aggressive trail rider. The roll-top and side-zip layout uses a heavy-duty coated 200D ripstop nylon for both durability and weather resistance. The bag includes a ventilated, CE-certified DK impact spine protector made of flexible foam to protect against hard hits with its thin profile. The Seeker ...

Editor’s note: this story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #111, published in November 2004. Words by Marie Thomas. Art by Mike Pfaltzgraff. I woke up at 2 a.m., like every other night this week, and lay there waiting to fall back asleep. But the worries and sadness that I outpace by day—job, money and ...

The market expansion of plus-size trail hardtails with don’t-need-to-mortgage-the-house prices continues with the new Rocky Mountain Growler, a 120 mm, 27 plus hardtail. All models feature an aluminum frame, 1×11 gearing and 3-inch WTB Ranger tires. None of the models get a dropper post, womp womp, even though the top-end price point of this bike is comparable ...

Intense added a new all-mountain bike to its fold, the Recluse. It has everything you would expect of a modern trail ripper: 150 mm front / 140 mm rear travel; 27.5 wheels with Boost dropouts; internal cable routing on a high-modulus carbon frame; fancy titanium hardware. It has the ability to run a front derailleur and ...

Tester: Zach White Sizes Small, Medium, Large, XL(tested) MSRP: $9499 Factory build, $6999 Pro build, $5899 Expert build Weight 25.9lbs, as tested The Bike Intense’s all new Primer will be quite familiar to Spider 29 fans, as it’s essentially a nicely updated version of the already well-sorted Intense Spider of last year. Sticking with a VPP ...

Tester: Jon Pratt Age: 45; Height: 5’10”; Weight: 190 pounds; Inseam: 31” Salsa Cycles is not one to shy away from big tires, so it is only natural to see another one of its bikes with a bit of extra rubber show up at our door for review. This time around it’s the Pony Rustler, ...

For the Canfield Brothers cultists, there’s a new steel hardtail on the block. Canfield updated one of its staples: the steel, get-rowdy 29er Nimble 9 to be Boost compatible, slacker and more sparkly. The Nimble 9 combines the revered ride quality of a steel frame with a slack 66.5-degree head angle and stubby chainstays adjustable ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #123, published in July 2006, but it was rather prescient and still is worthwhile food for thought. Photos courtesy of contributors, except as indicated. Note that a lot of these people have probably moved on from the positions they’re listed in. In every industry, a ...

California and Colorado take all the credit for being the tried and true pioneers of mountain biking, but the culture was also flourishing in the United Kingdom during those early years. Check out two trailers of “Mountain Biking—The Untold British Story,” a new documentary. It chronicles the under-appreciated contributions made to mountain bike history by our brethren ...

Three people will win a 50th Anniversary Rennkompressor Floor Pump from SKS worth $100. SKS is only creating a limited run of 5,000 pieces. Each unit is numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity. The floor pump reaches 230 psi, features a presta valve connection and includes a special edition leather hanger. Made in Germany. ...

Those who live in the western Rockies (like our web editor) often hear whispers about Boise, Idaho, about how awesome it actually is despite not that many people thinking of it. Well, sorry for outing you, Boise, but take one look at MTB Project and it’s clear there are tons of trails in and near ...

Words and photos: Leslie Kehmeier Originally published in Issue #192 There’s a lot cooking these days in the world of mountain biking. And contrary to what you might think, it’s not necessarily about the construction of progressive trails or constantly improving bicycle technology. At the core, it’s about the communities that have embraced this type ...

This year is Marin Bikes’ 30th anniversary, and it marks the introduction of an all-new “utilitour” model, the Four Corners. The neutral gray steel frame gives the bike a timeless look, while disc brakes, wide tire clearance and an upright riding position keep pace with cyclists’ expectations for adventure touring and bikepacking.

What it was like to help start Independent Fabrication Words: Steve Elmes Photos: Jasen Stickler Originally published in Issue #192 “What the proverbial fuck?” That’s pretty much what I thought the moment I was told that Fat City Cycles would be shuttering its Somerville, Massachusetts, doors and, in the process, laying everyone off. I had ...

Originally published in Issue #192 “Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.” — Leo Tolstoy, “Anna Karenina” Repairing bikes isn’t a great way to make a living. On average, bike mechanics are paid less than the average high school dropout. Pretty sad state of affairs for an industry that seems ...

If you follow this stuff at all, you knew this one was coming from Trek Bikes: a carbon Stache 29plus. And you won’t have to wait long, with aluminum models available now and carbon models hitting your local bike shop in September. The newly expanded Stache lineup includes two OCLV mountain carbon models—Stache 9.8 and 9.6—plus ...

Ed note: This is part of our initial bike test of three new hardtails introduced at QBP Saddle Drive 2016, each shod with 27plus tires: the aluminum Salsa Timberjack, carbon Salsa Woodsmoke and steel Surly Karate Monkey. Despite their obvious differences, we will draw some comparisons and distinctions among the three, so make sure to ...

The Maah Daah Hey is one of the jewels of North Dakota open space and a designated IMBA Epic. This ride is a serious adventure and a serious commitment. It is 93 miles of singletrack through painted buttes and tall grass prairies that will both test and awe you. As it follows the Little Missouri River, ...

Win a Fabric prize pack including a Scoop saddle, cageless water bottle, silicon lock-on grips, chamber tool and C02 kit. The Scoop saddle is versatile—available in a wide range of profiles and colors to suit the needs and budget of every kind of rider. The silicone push-on grip is discreetly ovalised to provide high comfort and an ergonomic ...

Ed note: This is part of our initial bike test of three new hardtails introduced at QBP Saddle Drive 2016, each shod with 27plus tires: the aluminum Salsa Timberjack, carbon Salsa Woodsmoke and steel Surly Karate Monkey. Despite their obvious differences, we will draw some comparisons and distinctions among the three, so make sure to ...

The Marin Museum of Bicycling announced the 2016 inductees into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. More votes than ever were cast this year. Here are the winners, with introductions provided by the museum. To learn more about this group, the museum, the hall of fame and the upcoming ceremony, visit the museum’s website. Hank ...

Kona is pretty well known as a mountain bike brand, but it also has plenty of road-going products with finger-in-your-eye mountain bike attitude. While many companies start with road racing bikes and then branch out into adventure, travel and commuting, Kona focuses solely on the kind of bikes you’d expect to see in Bicycle Times.

Riding photos by Caleb Smith/Kona Kona is the kind of brand that when it wants to f*ck around, it doesn’t f*ck around. It makes solid product backed by solid people who are genuinely more interested in having a great time—on and off the bike—than raking in the dough. I was lucky enough to score an ...

Words and photos by Devon Balet I came up with this great bad idea over beers at my favorite bike shop in my hometown of Grand Junction, Colorado. Shop mechanic Alex and I were discussing ideas of how to spend the first two weeks of February when the shop was closed and he was left with ...

The Millstone Hill trail system near Barre, Vermont, is not long but it is unique. The trails wind above water-filled abandoned quarries, through northern hardwood and coniferous forests and along exposed granite spines. The ride featured here is located on the west side and totals about 7 miles that is 75-percent singletrack and includes a couple of ...

The plus tire juggernaut of 2016/2017 continues its roll now on a titanium Moots hardtail, the Farwell. You can run this bike 27.5 x 2.8 (that is max tire clearance) or up to a 29 x 2.25. The Farwell was designed around a 120 mm fork, 17.1-inch (434 mm) chainstay length, 68.5-degree headtube angle (68 ...

Ed note: This is part of our initial bike test of three new hardtails introduced at QBP Saddle Drive 2016, each shod with 27plus tires: the aluminum Salsa Timberjack, carbon Salsa Woodsmoke and steel Surly Karate Monkey. Despite their obvious differences, we will draw some comparisons and distinctions among the three, so make sure to ...

Green Guru is giving away a collection of its best-selling bike bags to help you carry your gear around town or on the road and trails. The Hauler bike pack/seat bag attaches to your saddle and tightens down to prevent swinging and carries a substantial amount of gear. The Upshift connects to your frame and ...

The Salsa Mukluk is all-new for 2017. We admittedly almost overlooked this beast. One does not really think about five-inch fatties when it’s 80 degrees and sunny on the site of a mountain bike park. Well, maybe you do. The all-new Mukluk is available in both carbon (pictured) and aluminum. The stiffness of the carbon ...

Boost spacing and plus-sized tires burst into our collective consciousness so quickly and so definitively that a bike like the Foundry Firetower looks slightly odd in the current, trend-soaked world of mountain biking. But here it is, a brand-new cross-country race machine that lacks Boost, takes only a 29×2.25 tire and runs a 100 mm ...

Salsa’s all-road/touring line received minor tweaks and updates for 2017. The most recent big news in this cycling realm was the previous launch of the Marrakesh flat/drop bar steel road touring bike, which became available this year. So while Salsa had no new drop-bar bikes to show the Bicycle Times audience at this year’s Saddle Drive, three staple models ...

We’re at Saddle Drive near Lake Tahoe this week checking out new bikes from Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), the parent company of Surly, All-City, Foundry, Heller and Salsa. Salsa went all in, releasing all of the brand’s new-for-2017 bikes and updating most models across the range. Here’s a look at the two new 29plus bikes, ...

We’re at Saddle Drive near Lake Tahoe this week checking out new bikes from Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), the parent company of Surly, All-City, Foundry, Heller and Salsa. Because of the proliferation of cycling events across the country, these companies aren’t launching all of their new stuff right away, but we did get a look ...

We’re at Saddle Drive near Lake Tahoe this week checking out new bikes from Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), the parent company of Surly, All-City, Foundry, Heller and Salsa. Because of the proliferation of cycling events across the country, these companies aren’t launching all of their new stuff right away, but we did get a look ...

Jeff Archer, 52, owner of First Flight Bicycles was hit by a drunk driver and killed while crossing a road on July 20. Archer was a longtime contributor to Dirt Rag with his Specialty Files column and also penned a similar column in our sister publication Bicycle Times.  Dirt Rag magazine’s founder and publisher, Maurice Tierney, ...

Cover photo: Ryan Creary showcases the spirit of adventure. This issue is all about searching for adventures, and we think we dug up some pretty good ones for you. Read on for the preview and make sure to snag your own copy today! Columns and Readings This month we go to church with Stevil Kinevil and ...

According to a Moorseville, North Carolina, police press release Jeff Archer, 52, owner of First Flight Bicycles was hit by a car and killed while crossing a road last night around 7 p.m. The press release states the driver was arrested at the scene and charged with felony death by motor vehicle and DWI. Jeff ...

A fast, intermediate ride through beautiful hardwood forests, Chicopee Woods links together almost all of the trails and loops in this system adjacent the city of Gainesville (northeast of Atlanta) for an 18-mile zig-zagging, roller-coaster ride. Expect flow, berms, bridges, a few climbs up a gravel road and a somewhat technical descent down White Tail ...

Win the ultimate bike care package! Finish Line is giving away everything you need to keep your drivetrain running smooth and looking like new for a year. Enter now for your chance to win the following: 12, 4oz bottles of DRY Lube 12, 4oz bottles of WET Lube 12 each Speed Degreaser Aerosol 12 each ...

The 29/27plus platform has another option, this time in the form of a aluminum frame made in Colorado. Guerrilla Gravity looks to take a slice of the shorter-travel market with this 120 mm travel frame, the Trail Pistol. Eagle-eyed readers will notice the change to a Horst link/chainstay pivot. Why? Guerilla Gravity says: “Marketing, mostly. ...

Tester: Justin Steiner Price: $620 (frameset) Weight: 7.1 pounds (frameset) Sizes: 50, 52 (tested), 54, 56, 58, 60, 62 cm I’ve always been a sucker for bicycles that offer heaps of versatility. Sure, some folks will argue that aiming for versatility results in a “jack-of-all-trades, master of none” scenario, but in reality most of us ...

Words and photos: James Murren Originally published in Issue #191 Shakedown in the Storm The evening light wanes, but we ride on into it. Carlos’ German shepherds weave and dart between our bikes, never dragging tail. I am on a shake-down ride in preparation for the big one coming up two days from now. Singletrack ...

There was a general sense of “WTF” when Trek killed off the Remedy 29 for 2017. Yes the new Fuel EX 29 had the same geometry and a stiffer frame, but 130 mm of travel is still only 130 mm of travel. How is the semi-retired Tracey Mosely supposed to take on the EWS without ...

Words and photos: Brice Shirbach Originally published in Issue #191 For most of us, the UCI World Cup downhill series is a somewhat nebulous arrangement, largely unfolding by means of online media, live video streams and an assortment of social-media posts from the athletes themselves. While fans of the sport are well aware of what ...