Blast From The Past

Editor’s note: I dragged out this post from our old forums about our founder and publisher’s legendary singlespeed, the Stutterin’ Prick. Note, this was written a decade ago, in 2002.

By Maurice Tierney

The real story of my one speed, named after a Joe Peshi line in what movie?

Here’s the deal: The story from 24 hours of Canaan this year (2002) is the story of a ten-year-old bike that has not passed its prime: Stutterin’ Prick.

By Karl Rosengarth

Over the years, “reader contributions” have had a major influence on Dirt Rag‘s unique flavor. I thought it would be fun to fire up the Dirt Rag Time Machine and make a trip back to the days when black-and-white reader art graced the pages of The Rag. Jump in and fasten your seat belts. If you have a spare flux capacitor, it wouldn’t hurt to pack it.

Forgive the less-than-pristine quality of some of the following items. Time travel is notoriously rough on paper.

By Karl Rosengarth

In my previous post, I shared some cool reader art from the Dirt Rag Time Machine. It turns out that Uncle Karl was holding out on you. I also have a sweet stash of vintage advertisements.

As I’ve said before, time travel is notoriously rough on paper, so forgive the less-than-pristine quality of some of the following images.

By Karl Rosengarth

If a rider hucks the gnar and nobody is there to film it, did it really happen? Thanks to folks like Bjørn Enga, that question is pretty much a moot point.

After striking a deal in 1996 with Surfer Publications to produce a show called "Bike TV" for the Outdoor Life Network, Enga formed Radical Films with business partner Christian Begin, and sallied forth in a purple bus to make history.

"Missy said she wanted a picture of me with one of the MANY Schwinn cruisers that were parked everywhere. I struck a Missy pose for the photo without thinking about it on account of being such a fangirl. She said ‘Oh, I see what you’re doing there.’ I was actually so insanely embarrassed for being called on it that I aggressively feigned ignorance."

Photos by A. E. Landes, Matt Kasprzyk and Maurice Tierney.

Then and now. On the left she is showing off Gonzo, the pirahna she wore around her neck during races. 

The cover story in Issue #171 is Anna Schwinn’s interview with Missy Giove. Here’s an extended take on some of the questions that didn’t make it into print. 

Schwinn: First question: Who was your favorite mechanic, Gravy or Monkey?

Issue #171 isn’t the first time Missy Giove has graced our pages. Check out these two interviews we pulled from the archives.

Issue #33 – October 1, 1993

Issue #105 – February 15, 2004

By Karl Rosengarth

As I dove deep into the stack of archives from my most recent excursion in the Dirt Rag Time Machine, a thought occurred to me. Wouldn’t it be fun to play a little trivia quiz game?

Sure it would!

I even came up with a name for my game: Hüsker Dü? Rag. (I hope the makers of the original game have a sense of humor.)

By Karl Rosengarth Fire up the trusty Dirt Rag time machine, Sherman. This time we’re going back for a peek at the origins of the Subscription Guy. Back in the late ‘90s I was in charge of Dirt Rag subscriptions, and was given the opportunity to create a house advertising campaign. I’ll have to admit that ...

Crested Butte in 1980 still echoed with the hammers of miners, not the rumble of knobby tires on singletrack. But that was about to change as a young blue-eyed man named Mike Rust wrenched madly, transforming old Schwinn cruiser bikes into some of Colorado’s first mountain bikes. When the Californians like Gary Fisher and Joe ...

I just stumbled across this amazing documentary originally shot for the Discovery Channel about the second-ever Iditabike race across Alaska—210 miles of frozen toes and ruddy cheeks. Produced by Mark Forman, it won the Interbike Film Festival in 1994. The technology (and fashion!) sure has changed over the last 25 years. I can’t wait to ...

In its present format, The Specialty Files is a recurring print column in Dirt Rag that is written by Jeff Archer, and features a vintage bike from his collection at the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology in Statesville, N.C. However, the earliest installments of The Specialty Files featured serendipitous discoveries that Maurice spied ...

Over the course of an amazing 19-year run, Bill Boles stepped into a nearby phone booth seven times per year, and emerged toting yet another installment of The Old Coot. Starting with Dirt Rag #15 and running through issue #153, The Old Coot dispensed a potent blend of riding tips, mechanical tricks, and practical New ...

This year is a major milestone for Dirt Rag. We’re celebrating 25 years of printing the magazine. The ‘Rag has gone from being hand-stapled in Maurice and Elaine Tierney’s basement for East Coast consumption in 1989 to where we are today in 2014: enjoying rapid circulation growth and distribution across the globe. As part of ...

The first edition of Dirt Rag’s Dirt Fest took place in 1991 at Camp Soles, a YMCA youth camp located in the Laurel Highlands, just east of Pittsburgh. For me, that era represents a magical time, marked by glorious tribal gatherings known as mountain bike festivals. In fact, I’d learned about Dirt Fest from some ...

Canine co-habitation has long been a part of the casual atmosphere that prevails at Dirt Rag headquarters. From rides to relaxation, they are a constant companion. Some are gone, some are still with us, but they all warm our heart – and our toes under our desk. With the assistance of the respective poochies’ partners, ...

Thirty years after its debut, the famed race is scheduled to return this fall with racing of all types.

With acres upon acres of cool bikes and gadgets on display at the annual Interbike trade show, it’s tough to get noticed. Exhibitors battle to attract the roving hordes to their booths. Most employ tried and true tactics: booze, booth babes and boatloads of booty (as in pirates’ booty, a.k.a. swag). Dirt Rag has always ...

Since the very beginning, Dirt Rag has offered artistic types a welcoming space to showcase their creative talents. In addition to professional artists, whose works have graced magazine covers and illustrated feature stories, a number of regular readers have scored 15 minutes of fame via art appearing within the pages of Dirt Rag. For a ...

Our previous “Blast” dipped into Dirt Rag’s black/white reader art archives and featured a selection of monochrome masterpieces. This edition is a horse of a different color. We’ve put together a slide show of reader art that’s subtitled: In Living Color. Thanks again to all of the talented readers who’ve sent us their artwork over ...

Vintage product review shot from Dirt Rag #39. One of the star attractions at Dirt Rag’s Dirt Fest is the fleet of Franken-bikes built by long-time Dirt Rag contributor Lee Klevens. One such contraption is a “mini-tall-bike” that the mad doctor built by welding a high-rise extension onto a 12-inch wheeled Mongoose Minigoose. This particular ...

In the current issue of Dirt Rag (on sale now) you’ll find a ground-breaking interview with Reverend Bob Seals of CoolTool, Kleen Kanteen and Retrotec fame. This multi-faceted artist, activist, frame builder, race promoter and team owner, if not agitator, ran his whole operation out of his ranch just outside of Chico, California. Seals was first ...

In the current issue of Dirt Rag (#178, on sale now) you’ll find a ground-breaking interview with Reverend Bob Seals of CoolTool, Kleen Kanteen and Retrotec fame. This multi-faceted artist, activist, frame builder, race promoter and team owner, if not agitator, ran his whole operation out of his ranch just outside of Chico, California. Seals was ...

  Few brands conjure the reverence in hallowed mountain bike circles as Fat City. Born in the early 1980s from the mind of framebuilder Chris Chance, the Fat Chance bikes were the gold standard in the early days of mountain biking. In this middle of this week word began to spread around Interbike that Chance ...

In the early years of Dirt Rag, I got a package from some guy out west, a guy by the name of Charlie Kelly. In the package were some magazines. Fat Tire Flyer it was called. It was the first MTB magazine, published from 1980 to 87. Charlie had come across a copy of Dirt ...

Cannondale has a rich legacy of pushing the boundaries of mountain bike design. In 1991 sharp-eyed readers spied Gunnar Shogren riding a prototype Delta V full-suspension bike in a Cannondale advertisement that appeared in Dirt Rag #20. Our favorite lab rat spilled the story behind this vintage photo. That was a prototype bike with the ...

Editor’s note: This Pacenti 650B bike review first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #131 in 2007, the same year that Kirk Pacenti showed the first production 650b mountain bike at the North American Handmade Bike Show. By Andy Bruno If you’ve been asking yourself, “How can I rationalize buying yet another bike?”, along comes Kirk ...

Editor’s note: This edition of the Speciality Files first appeared in Dirt Rag issue #168 in February of 2013. By Jeff Archer Back in the earliest days of off-road cycling, there were two different sources for bikes: klunkers and cruisers. Klunkers were typically based on prewar balloon-tire machines that were modified for off-road use with ...

Editor’s note: This bike review first appeared in Dirt Rag issue #102, published in August of 2003. By Philip Keyes Kona is one cool company. Case in point: these guys are offering the first-ever production, dual-suspension singlespeed. They had to know that they weren’t going to sell millions of these things, but they had the ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag issue #173, published in October 2013. By Paul de Valera Mountain biking is a province of firsts. Repurposing cruisers for dirt duty: a first. Bikes with suspension on the front and back (that work): a first. Hucking huge gaps: a first. Using your coaster brake to ...

Editor’s note: The following reader letter appeared in Dirt Rag issue #116, published in February 2003. Hey Dirt Rag, Not too long ago, I decided that my perfectly good paint job of stock primer gray on my 2003 Bianchi S.I.S.S. was just too familiar. So in a quick decision, it was stripped, primed and painted ...

Ahhhh Surly’s Karate Monkey. Released at the Interbike trade show in 2002, it was the first 29er to come through the doors of Dirt Rag. I reviewed it for issue #103 and later purchased it for my own use and abuse. I’ve had many life-changing experiences on this bike, and some near-death ones as well. ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #8, published in April 1990. Words and drawings by Mark Tierney One of the most notorious of mountain biking maneuvers is a feat referred to as the faceplant. This action is one in which a bicycle rider is thrown forward over his or her handlebars, ...

Editor’s note:The Tao of Singlespeeding first appeared in Dirt Rag #110, published in October 2004. Adapted by Corvus Corvax from The Tao Te Ching, translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, Random House, Inc., New York (1972), with apologies to Lao Tzu. Illustrations by Michael Pfaltzgraff. The ride that can be finished is not the perfect ...

Editor’s note: The poem “Pain” by Philip Walter—with art by Jim Harris—originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #121, published in May 2006.   I’m racing down through unknown track and, I’ll admit, a bit too fast. The air is dry, the soil loose. Naught on my mind but rocks and roots. When suddenly the turn gets ...

Editor’s note: This “Beer Me” column, which was written by our good friend Max Kellogg, first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #107 in May 2004.   Perhaps the best perk about moonlighting in a hot dog/beer bar, besides all the bacon you can eat, is sooner or later you’ll have to sample some of the ...

Editor’s Note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #131, published in October 2007. By Steinar Smith, with photos courtesy of the author. There was a New Mexico Off Road Series (NMORS) race down in Silver City called the Signal Peak Challenge on Aug. 19. When Barin Beard of Mimbres Man (a Silver City ...

Editor’s note: Machine Soul first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #21, published in February 1992. Words by John Gurklis. Dirt Rag #21 cover art by Mark Tierney. This is defined as the ethereal component of the machine, in this context a bike. Machine soul is acquired as the rider’s mental energy becomes infused into the ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #158, published in August 2011. Words by Landon and Mary Monholland. Illustrations by Ashely Swidowski. I give two excited dogs a whistle. I mimic the whistle of The General Lee from the “Dukes of Hazard”—ya know, the first 12 notes of “Dixie.” That’s the whistle ...

Words and photos by Jeff Archer In the world of vintage mountain bikes, the 2014 Interbike show was an exciting event. The annual Mountain Bike Hall of Fame induction ceremony had some company this year with the debut of the Fat Tire Flyer book, written by Charlie Kelly, which chronicles his take on the birth of ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #122, published in July 2006. Words by Bill Ketzer. Art by Kevin Nierman. “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” – Darth Vader This year sucked for riding. It wasn’t the weather. In fact, the pestilent, blistering hellfires of July and August the gods bequeathed ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #101, published in July 2003. Words by flexiflyer. Art by Rudi Nadler. … I always lose my hours in the driver’s seat … —Radar Bros. “Distant Mine” The old-school guys were tough as hell. There were Flandrian diesels that rode 200 km a day, every ...

Editor’s note: This story by Jason Hyatt first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #108, published in July 2004. This photo shows one of two brothers who run a pedal-powered blade sharpening business in Rome, Italy. According to my mother-in-law, they visit a certain part of the city each week and have done so for many ...

Editor’s note: This “Last Chance for Gas” story by Amy Szczepanik first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #116, published in August 2005. Art by Olivia Edith. My athletic life is divided into two eras: before him and after him. Before him, I was an all-around athlete participating in mainly team sports: basketball, softball and volleyball. ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #119, published in February 2006. Words by Nick Verstain. Art by Philip Newsom. Socially awkward. That’s what Mom used to say about me. She was only partly right. I was awkward socially, physically, romantically and spiritually. There were only 334 kids at Massasauga High, but ...

Editor’s note: “Zap” Espinoza is a Mountain Bike Hall of Famer who got his start with Hi-Torque Publications’ Mountain Bike Action magazine in 1987. He moved on to Mountain Bike magazine in 1993, where he filled the editor’s chair until taking the reigns as Trek’s mountain bike brand manager in 2004. In 2006 Zap returned ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #120, published in April 2006. Words by James Flynn. Photography by Ian Merritt. Let me tell you about the time I made my tallbike. Shortly after I moved to Chicago, my friend Mike showed up to my place to sit on the stoop. He rolled ...

Editor’s note: This story by Karl Rosengarth first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #76, published in December 1999. It’s all about fun. I ride my mountain bike in search of maximum smiles per hour, and I’m not shy about spreading this philosophy. Occasionally, my riding crew loses their perspective, and I feel like I’m riding ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag #111, published in November 2004. Words by Karen Brooks. Photos by Brad Quartuccio. If you’re reading this, chances are you know the joys of gliding through the woods, the satisfaction of making it up that hill, and the release of elevating your heart rate. It makes ...

I come from a long line of pack rats. Nothing gets thrown away, and family attics look like scenes from “American Pickers.” This genetic predisposition, combined with my long tenure at Dirt Rag, landed me the role of de-facto staff archivist and historian. Each week, I rummage through the magazine’s archives in search of “Blast ...

  Editor’s note: In this letter from Dirt Rag Issue #85 (April 2001), serial art contributor “Captain Black” explains how he eschewed proper engineering principles and created a magical machine for sharing the joy of cycling with his son. Keep reading We’ve published a lot of stuff in 25 years of Dirt Rag. Find all ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #48, published in November 1995. Words by Chip Baker. Art by Craig Foster. It starts out innocently enough: Your chain starts skipping manically over your gears for no apparent reason—as you’ve worn out your welcome at Sid’s Bike and Tackle Shop, you think “why not ...

Editor’s note: This vintage trio of reader letters reminds us that mountain bikers were adept at ranting long before the Internet made it all too easy to blow off some steam. Here’s some favorites we found in the archives. Rear suspension sucks! One thing in your last issue annoyed me. It was your claim that ...

Editor’s note: Paul Angiolillo contributed the words and John Hinderliter inked the drawings in this illustrated piece from Dirt Rag Issue #42, published in February 1994.                       Keep reading We’ve published a lot of stuff in 26 years of Dirt Rag. Find all our Blast ...

Editor’s note: In the Readings section of Issue # 38, published in August 1994, Mark Tierney curated the following selection of music reviews under the headline: “Recomm Endo (Worthy Recordings).” While there was no long-range plan at the time, Mark’s idea would eventually morph into our semi-regular music/movie/book/etc. review column now known as Recommendo. Frank Zappa ...

  Editor’s note: As we enter the 30th year of Dirt Rag we look back on what a long strange trip it has been. This interview of Grateful Dead founding member & Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bob Weir—conducted by Mountain Bike Hall-of-Famer Charles Kelly—was first published in Dirt Rag Issue #23 in April 1992. ...

The cover of Issue #1 featured the catchy name “Dirt Rag,” a liberal use of clip art and the immortal slogan “It’s A Big World—Ride on it!” But no official logo.   By Issue #2 we’d adopted the above logo that featured a unique, scrawling font (created by Steve Chaszeyka of wizardairbrushgraphics.com).   In October ...

Editor’s note: This “shootout” style product review first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #66, published in July 1998—back when 100 mm of travel was considered “freeride” territory. This look back offers perspective on how far mountain biking, and suspension technology, has evolved since then. These five so-called double-triple clamp forks are good for something besides paperweights. ...

Editor’s note: Libra, written by Kevin MacGregor Scott, won the 2009 Dirt Rag literature contest and first appeared in Issue #145, published in October 2009. Original illustrations by John Hinderliter. I returned to my hometown a year from the date the last letter came from my brother Frank. The dispatches arrived in three week intervals ...

Editor’s note: Maurice Tierney was one of the first journalists to get his grubby mitts on the original RockShox suspension fork. Here is his product review from Dirt Rag Issue #13, published in November 1990.  Photo by Maurice Tierney who had this to say: “I used to shoot the photos on black and white film ...

Editor’s note: In Issue #137, Jonathan Logan of Rochester, New York, wrote in and asked if we could publish a section of reader’s tattoos. We challenged our readers show us the ink. The response was impressive, and in Dirt Rag Issue #139 we ran a two-page spread that included the reader-submitted photos proudly displayed below. ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #61, published in October 1997. Words and art by John Hinderliter. Sit right back and hear a tale, A tale of a fateful slip. It started with a hacksaw blade, and almost made me flip. Almost made me flip. Like most guys who are the ...

Editors’ note: One of our most moving and beloved stories, “Naked” by Katrine-Mari first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #62, published in November 1997. I want to walk naked in the snow I danced naked in the rain I lie naked in the sun I want to cry naked in a thunder storm I scream ...

Editor’s note: This story by Bob Ward first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #74, published in August 1999. I journeyed to the bike industry’s annual trade show extravaganza last year expecting to be underwhelmed with the latest and greatest that the bike industry could assemble. I figured if freeriding was the best that the marketing ...

Editor’s note: This product review by Adam Lipinski first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #56, published in February 1997, back when V-brakes were all the rage. Welcome to the Dirt Rag V-Brake Clone Linear Pull Plus Shoo Tout. This test consists of the Curve Jaws II FS, Hershey Longneck Billet, Paul Motolite, Shimano XTR V-Brake, ...

With hundreds of exhibitors at the Interbike trade show vying to attract attention, it’s no easy chore getting noticed. Back in 2000 and 2001 Dirt Rag managed to create a buzz by publishing a zine titled the “Dirtier Daily” that we distributed on the show floor. Each evening, after the show closed, our staff and ...

Editor’s note: This article by John “Bones” Branum first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #60, published in August 1997. V-brakes will stop you! As a tall rider, this impressive promise scares me. A high center of gravity is a playground for stiff stoppers. A while back, I was standing on a trail. While looking for ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #63, published in February 1998. Words and photos by Jeff Lockwood. This story was inspired by our conversation with Frank “The Welder” Wadelton, head welder at Spooky Cycles, at the Interbike show back in August. And, let’s just say that he is an interesting fellow. ...

Editor’s note: This story by Silja J.A. Talvi first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #67, Published in August 1998. Art by Mark Tierney. As a young girl living in a cold, rather depressing Scandinavian town, I remember relishing the freedom afforded me by my three-speed bicycle, which had been graduated from training-wheel infancy to two-wheeled ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #69, published in November 1998. We met Uncle Ed in a parking Lot in Brian Head, Utah. In fact, what happened was, our kindhearted shuttle driver had seen the “Need Ride” sign strapped to the back of a pile of crap hanging off the back ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #77, published in February 2000. Words by Matt Artz. Art by Robert Rose. The first time I heard the term B.O.B., Clem and I were discussing a planned five-day bike extravaganza across Santa Catalina Island. He explained how a “Beast Of Burden”—a one-wheeled mountain bike ...

Editor’s note:  It’s been over 50 years since the Wilderness Act was enacted, 30 years since mountain bikers were banned from Wilderness, and over 10 years since Ted Stroll wrote his article in the Penn State Environmental Law Review showing that the original congressional act had no intention to kick bikes out. Last year Stroll ...

Editor’s note: In 2005, Philip Keyes interviewed Theodore Stroll for an article on the legal issues surrounding Wilderness access that ran in Dirt Rag Issue #112. Stroll is the author of the law review article: “Congress’s Intent in Banning Mechanical Transport in the Wilderness Act of 1964.” Theodore J. Stroll; Penn State Environmental Law Review (Volume ...

Editor’s note: Incidente originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #85, published in April 2001. Words by John Freeman. Art by Rudi Nadler. They have brought in the young American from very high up in the mountains —dark and Italian— one of them speeding dangerously down its spiraling curves the other waving a frantic handkerchief in ...

Editor’s note: This article by Lee McCormack first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #123, published in August 2006. These days you don’t have to reel in 20 miles of singletrack to feel like a mountain biker. You can blitz a downhill run, mess around at a skatepark, session some jumps or make a playground out ...

Editor’s note: This contribution from GorillaNet first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #72, published in May 1999. Problem: Bike makes klunking noise. Fix: Sat bike in corner, listened for two hours. No clunking noise noted. Problem: Frame shimmies at high speed. Fix: Tightened brakes, packed hubs & bottom bracket with sand. High speeds now much ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #157, published in July 2011. Words by Guitar Ted. Photos by Steve Fuller and Jeremy Kershaw. Not beholden to any sanctioning body, having devised their own rules, and in a lot of cases with no entry fees, these events are carving out a sub-culture of ...

Editor’s note: Then-editor Michael Browne interviewed blind mountain bike racer Bobby McMullen for Dirt Rag Issue #122, published in July 2006. We’re happy to report that McMullen is still shredding. You can follow him via Facebook or rideblindracing.com. The act of riding a mountain bike requires amounts of athleticism, coordination, balance and attention that most ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #176, published in April 2014. It’s technically a “Blast from the Past” story, but is still (and probably always will be) relevant. Words by Jeff Lockwood. Photos courtesy of Dogfish Head, New Belgium Brewing, Oskar Blues, Trek and Tröegs Brewing. As someone interested in mountain ...

Editor’s note: This report by Dirt Rag’s special operations team, known only as “The Committee,” appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #78, published in April 2000. Status: For your eyes only. Target: Mono Trac (ski bike) Source: Koski Snow Sports, Mill Valley, California Creator: Don Koski Suggested Retail: $1,500 Description: Dual-suspension ski bike, with 8 inches ...

Editor’s note: This Colleen Corcoran interview of Jacquie Phelan first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #127, published in April 2007. Illustration by Damara Kaminecki. Founder of WOMBATS—Women’s Mountain Bike and Tea Society—Jacquie Phelan (alter ego: Alice B. Toeclips) sleeps beneath an electric blanket in a treehouse named Offhand Manor at the foot of Mount Tam. ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #161, published in February 2012. Words and photos by Maurice Tierney. Ventana, Spanish for window, is a 240,000 acre Wilderness Area near Big Sur, California. That special place was the inspiration for the naming of Ventana Mountain Bikes in 1988. Today, the Spanish naming convention ...

Editor’s note: This interview originally appeared in Gunnar Shogren’s regular “Wuzzupdiddat?” column in Dirt Rag Issue #39, published in August 1994. Photo by Tom Moran. Summit Near the Summit, or “Clowns at the Round Table” When: July 17,1994, the day following NCS #5. Where: Spokane, Washington. Who: Floyd Landis riding for GT Bicycles, Willy Goeghegan ...

Editor’s note: This story by Kenny Prather first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #134, published in April 2008. Photos courtesy of the author. Like countless singletracks before it, our trail was doomed to “progress.” When we finally lost our trail of eight years to yet another strip mall, the local riders went in different directions—some ...

Editor’s note: This story by Elizabeth Boyle first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #97, published in November 2002. When I was a sophomore in college I lived with my older brother Joey and three other guys. There was also a five-foot blacksnake named Slobbers that lived beneath the porch, a family of wolf spiders that ...

Editor’s note: Mark Tierney takes readers on a Minneapolis trip, deep into the underbelly of the 2000 Single Speed World Championships. This story originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #80, published in July 2000. Photos by Maurice Tierney and Karl Rosengarth. Ha! Of course I reserve my young ass a seat on the magic Dirt ...

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #85, published in April 2001. Words by Cynthia Carbone Ward. Art by Sherri Dobay. I arrived in California on Groundhog Day of 1982, a refugee from New York in high-heeled shoes and too much makeup. My home was a 1973 Buick, avocado green, of course, ...

Editor’s note: This haunting letter from Tomas Drew-Bear first appeared in the “Last Chance for Gas” column in Dirt Rag Issue #172, published in August 2013. Illustration by Ana Benaroya. Dear Dirt Rag, I guess I’m writing this ‘cause I need some therapy, need to find some way to close these demons … Haven’t slept ...

Editor’s Note: This letter from Sky Boyer appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #121, published in May 2006. Photo of Don Whitehead (no relation to Cindy) racing on a 1985 custom Ibis bearing serial number 102 by Chris Poese. Dear Dirt Rag, About a year ago some friends and I decided that we wanted to take ...

Editor’s note: This “Recommendo” column by Jeff Lockwood appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #113, published in April 2005. All of the books reviewed are still available. We don’t watch much television in our house. In fact, by the time you read this, our daughter Kaya will be 2 years old, and I can say with confidence ...

Photos by Justin Steiner, Adam Newman and Kyle Heddy In the new issue of Dirt Rag, #190, you’ll find our side-by-side-by-side comparison of the latest and greatest Specialized Stumpjumper FSR models. Now available in three wheel sizes, it’s likely the longest-tenured mountain bike model in existence, after company founder Mike Sinyard introduced it to the ...

Editor’s note: This article by Truls Johnsen first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #101, published in July 2003. Mountain biking eats some serious dough, and after I acquired the perfect dirt bag mountain bike road trip vehicle (an ‘84 Vanagon camper) I realized that I could use a cheap roof rack to carry bikes in ...

Editor’s note: This edition of “The Speciality Files” first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #111, published in November 2004. Words and photos by Maurice Tierney. Lucien Lewis bought this bike new in 1995 for around $750. The French Canadian suspension design consists of rubber bands adjustable by switching between hard, medium and soft bands. “If ...

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #135, published in May 2008. Words by David Alden-St.Pierre, MS, PA-C. Medical illustrations by Kerry Nicholson. As a mountain biker, at some point in your life, you’re going to have some knee pain. In fact, mountain biking and grinding, creaking, cracking, crunching knees almost go ...

Editor’s note: If you think that lumbar waterpacks are a recent innovation, you’d be wrong. Back in 1998 Adam Lipinski reviewed the way-ahead-of-its-time Camelbak Bandido for Dirt Rag Issue #69. The Bandido is a lumbar pack that doubles as a water pack. The Bandido has two pockets on the sides for popular tools, money, power ...

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #138, published in October 2008. Words by David Alden-St. Pierre, MS, PA-C. Medical illustrations by Kerry Nicholson. Crash illustration by David Biber. You know the drill. Any number of things can send you flying through the air like Superman. Of course, Superman flies with his ...

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #142, published in May 2009. Words by David Alden-St. Pierre, MS, PA-C. Medical illustrations by Molly Thompson of Thompson Medical Illustrations. There’s nothing like an epic day in the saddle: a few hours of riding, burning lungs, tired muscles, and for some riders, an aching ...

Words and photos: Jeff Archer Pick up any early 1990s mountain-bike publication and odds are good you’ll see Greg “H-Ball” Herbold gracing its pages. It may be in the racing-results section, since he won the first UCI Downhill World Championship in 1990. He also won the NORBA Downhill National Championship in 1988, 1989 and 1993, ...

Editor’s note: This edition of “The Speciality Files” first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #148, published in April 2010. Word and photos by Jeff Archer. A short trip through the early history of the bicycle shows that there are very few new ideas in the world of two-wheeled human travel. Each evolutionary step brings with ...

Editor’s note: We published the following letter from Serbian mountain biker Daniel Ulijan in February 2004 in Dirt Rag issue #105. Along with the simple footnote: “Anyone want to help out Daniel?” Dear Dirt Rag, My name is Daniel Ulijan and I am mountain biker. I am 18 years old and I live in Serbia. ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue # 112, published in February 2005. Words by Michael Browne. Photos by Brad Quartuccio. Ever seen the movie “Field of Dreams”? Of course you have. If you haven’t heard of it, you’ve been holed up in a closet somewhere in Iowa. No, wait; Iowa is ...

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 ...

Words and photos: Jeff Archer Originally published in Issue #190 Most cyclists have, at one time or another, thought about building their own frame. Some, such as myself, have taken the next step and taken a general welding class, while others ramp it up a notch and attend one of the many frame-building schools. The ...

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 ...

Editor’s note: Reprinted from Dirt Rag issue #102, published in August 2003 (a condensed version also appeared in issue #100). Interview conducted by Joel Kennedy. Photos courtesy of Ross Shafer. In the mid-’70s, Ross Shafer acquired a serious taste for the bicycle. After building his first frame from the famed Proteus kit, people began asking, ...

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #164, published in July 2012. Written by Jenn Childress and Jennie Date, with photos by Hilary Hess. Yoga is everywhere: packed studios, tropical vacations and huge music festivals. Why is it so popular? And why should you, a dyed-in-the-wool mountain biker, care? Mountain biking and ...

Words: Robert Ives Photos: Courtesy of Amigos’ Archive Originally published in Issue #192 My name is Robert Ives, and to the best of my knowledge what you are about to read is a true story about making something from nothing and perhaps also about why that might be important to some, and most likely not ...

Words and photos: Jeff Archer By 1994 it was becoming evident that full suspension was here to stay. Most major manufacturers had full-suspension bikes on the market, and the smaller makers were trying to keep up, with quite a few different designs coming out and varying degrees of success. Additionally, many suspension-fork makers were releasing ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #162, published in April 2012. Words by Steve Whitaker. Illustrations by Michael Byers. “There are three types of mud here,” says Luigi, enumerating first with his thumb upward, as Italians do. “Primo, the vegetable type you can spray off right after a ride.” He grabs ...

Editor’s note: This essay by Sarah Hansing first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue 131, published in October 2007. Illustration by Melissa Dehner. “The Devil is in the Potato Salad.” Somehow, I was looking for a little more profundity from a beer named Blind Faith. But no—this cap offered no more insight than the one that ...

Editor’s note: This product review appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #66, published in July 1998. Words by Chris Cosby. Photo by Maurice Tierney. Imagine this scenario. You pull into the trailhead parking lot in your Land Rover, unload your BowTi, start to strap on your Kevlar Sidi’s when Chad pulls up. Always the one-upmanship master, ...

Editor’s note: This story about the formative years of high school MTB racing, including the trend-setting NorCal High School Mountain Bike League, which spawned the current-day National Interscholastic Cycling Association, first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #106, published in April, 2004. Words by Jim Wallace. Photos by Matthew Fritzinger. Interest in mountain biking programs for ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #154, published in February 2011. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. Recently, I was asked by a local high school student to be his mentor for his senior project. Jordan needed 15 project hours, which included activities such as building bikes, attending our IMBA Trail ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #153, published in November 2010. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. Many riders are familiar with the current carbon fiber offerings from Ibis Cycles but may not realize the company has deep mountain biking roots that can be traced back to Scot Nicol’s garage circa ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #157, published in July 2011. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. Much of the early mountain bike action was taking place in and around Marin County, California, but there were pockets of activity around the country. One such place was Steamboat Springs, Colorado, home of ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #188, published in November 2015. Words and Photos by Jeff Archer. Occasionally we get an orphan bike that can make researching very difficult. A “garage” builder may have made only five bikes for his friends, it could be a sample that never entered production or ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #184, published in May 2015. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. Early “klunker” mountain bikes were based on balloon-tired cruisers from the ’30s through the ’50s. Because of this, many of the parts used on these bikes were not really suited to the task. Cruiser ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #181, published in November 2014. Words by Jeff Archer. Photos by Seth Archer. For every component that makes it to the bike shop, there are hundreds that never see the market. Some of these come from undercapitalized garage tinkerers, while others are from big-name companies ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #159, published in October 2011. Words by Jeff Archer. Photos by Wes Stearns. One of the best things about being involved with the Museum of Mountain Bike Art & Technology (MOMBAT) is getting to talk to folks who were instrumental in popularizing mountain biking. Some ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag issue #145, published in October 2009. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. Back in the early days of mountain biking, many aspects of bike design were hotly debated. One of the most contentious issues was the head angle. This dimension was one of the most important ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag issue #146, published in November 2009. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. The name Peter Weigle is probably unfamiliar to most mountain bikers unless they ride a steel frame. In the mid 1990s, he concocted J.P. Weigle Frame Saver, which is used to coat the inside ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag issue #147, published in February 2010. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. In the early 1970s, Gary Fisher was a member of the Grateful Dead Party Krew and spent time with the band. Later in that same decade, Fisher became better know for MountainBikes, a company ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag issue #150, published in July 2010. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. If you were to put mountain bike companies on a map in the mid-1980s, it would look like they had washed up on the California coast like debris from the wreck of a framebuilders’ ...

Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Dirt Rag issue #162, published in April 2012. Words and photos by Jeff Archer. As Ralph Waldo Emerson put it, “Only an inventor knows how to borrow, and every man is or should be an inventor.” Arguments about who invented what date back to the very beginning of ...

Words and photos by Jeff Archer. One of the best things about collecting mountain bikes is the relative newness of the sport. Since mountain biking is only about three decades old, and many of the founding fathers started in their twenties, most of the pioneers are still available to answer questions. Keeping in mind it ...

Words and photos by Jeff Archer. Every rider who has thrown a leg over a top tube has probably spent some saddle time mentally designing their “ultimate” bike. For some, it might be a 14 pound, electronically shifted carbon fiber wonder, while for others it might be a fully loaded touring bike created for that ...

Words by Maurice Tierney. Photos courtesy of www.firstflightbikes.com. Richard Cunningham founded Mantis Bicycles in 1981. Ever the innovator, Mantis made a variety of bikes, including the fillet brazed Sherpa, Pro Floater suspension bike and Flying V monocoque frame. Here we have an early Valkyrie X frame bike, made just before elevated chainstays came into vogue. ...

Words and photo by Christopher Klibowitz It was my first “real” bike, bought not too long after I started working at the shop. It was between this and the Trek 6000. I really wanted the Homegrown, with the bass boat paintjob, but couldn’t afford it. The second day I had it, I fell over in ...

Words and photos by Rob Korotky It’s Oct. 21, 2016, and a beautiful autumn morning in Marin County, California. A group of 12 guys with their bikes mill around under a canopy of trees at the end of a dirt fire road in the hills above Fairfax. A few minutes ago, the last rider skidded ...

Words and photos by Jeff Archer These days, it’s tough to go on a group ride without at least one rider on a Trek mountain bike. Let’s take a quick look back to see how we got to this point. Trek was founded in 1976 and produced high-quality road bikes in Wisconsin. By 1980, the ...

Ed. Note: The following takes place between stage 7 and stage 10 of the Punk Bike Enduro in 2004. This story originally appeared in Dirt Rag 105.  Words by Joe Whitehair We leave the beer van behind and begin the uphill slog on a rough and gritty road, wet with snow dissolved from sparse traffic and salt, ...

Ed. Note: This review of the Kona A, the first ever production full-suspension singlespeed, was originally published in Dirt Rag 102 in August 2003.  Rider: Philip Keyes Height: 6’2” Weight: 196lbs. Inseam: 34” Kona is one cool company. Case in point: these guys are offering the first-ever production dual suspension singlespeed. They had to know ...

Ed. Note: This piece was originally published in Dirt Rag 106 in March 2004.  For the uninitiated, a fixed gear bicycle is a singlespeed without a freewheel—if the wheels are rolling, the cranks are turning. Rudy Nadler is one of the many people who have learned the joy of off-road fixed gear cycling, and when ...

By Nick Lubecki, photos by Brad Quartuccio  Anyone can ride 1,000 miles. Anyone. -Nick Lubecki Nick Lubecki isn’t someone you know, but his attitude towards long distance riding is one you should know. He’s pedaled around the United States and Canada using equipment most enthusiasts would balk at. He finds his food in dumpsters and ...

In the early days of mountain biking, quick-release seatpost binders were on the bikes even when the wheels were nutted. The trails in those days were usually pretty primitive and bore little semblance to the IMBA-spec’d trails being built today. Many steep descents required the saddle to be lowered out of the way so you ...

Friend of Dirt Rag Michael Hermann of Purple Lizard Maps was also one of the original mountain bikers in Central Pennsylvania. In this installment of Blast from the Past, we go back to 1990 in State College, PA. Mike Hermann and Randy Moore tell the story of the Bombers.  This piece was originally published in Dirt ...

This story first appeared in December 2016. We are gearing up for Dirt Fest PA 2019 as we speak and it always nice to look back and remember how this all got started, Planning on attending Dirt Fest? Be sure to register here and we will see you at the Lake! The first edition of ...

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #142, published in May 2009. Words by David Alden-St. Pierre, MS, PA-C. Medical illustrations by Molly Thompson of Thompson Medical Illustrations. There’s nothing like an epic day in the saddle: a few hours of riding, burning lungs, tired muscles, and for some riders, an aching ...

Editor’s note: This story originally ran in issue 206 of Dirt Rag Magazine. Like what you see? Issue 207 is out now on newsstands. Click here to subscribe today to ensure you never miss a story. By Martin I love a good barn find. I mean, who doesn’t love a story about an old relic ...

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in issue 208 of Dirt Rag Magazine. Like what you see? Subscribe now at dirtragmag.com/subscribe to catch issue 210, coming real soon.  By Martin Kozaczek A consummate tinkerer, Charlie Cunningham started making magnesium stems and aluminum seatposts for road bikes in the mid-1970s. By the end of the decade ...

The oldest continuously operating mountain bike race series in America (or at least on the East Coast) is a low-budget, unsanctioned, volunteer-run event that you’ve probably never heard of. Sure, Leadville 100 has been running longer, but that’s just one race. Pearl Pass Tour and Downieville also predate this Pittsburgh-area institution, but they aren’t series ...