Dirtscrolls

Words and photos by Jeffrey Stern Hoo-Koo-E-Koo. The first time I read that Miwok Indian named fire road on my Tamalpais trails map I fell in love. With the letters, how they flowed like the purest of singletrack sections into one beautiful word – and a beautiful trail at that. Cutting across the mid-section of ...

Trail Boss is a video series produced by Jeff Lenosky and documents his attempts to ride some of the most technical trails he can find. A veteran rider with a 20-year professional career and three Observed Trials U.S. National Championships to his name, Lenosky uses his skills to ride the unrideable. In Jeff’s latest episode ...

Our current issue of Dirt Rag Magazine is all about the van life. Inside the covers, four different van-dwellers tell their tales and tell us about their experiences with the nomadic lifestyle. This lifestyle comes in many forms. Some people straight up live in a vehicle, on the road. For others, it’s a distraction for a few ...

Words by Jeffrey Stern, photos courtesy of Eroica California Passing over rolling hill after rolling hill, surrounded by lush vineyards and old barns with signing birds, wispy clouds and blue skies you’d think you were in the famed Tuscan region of Italy. But no, you’re actually right here in the lower 48, the Central Coast ...

Words by Russ Risdon When I think of Valdez, I visualize steep, backcountry lines accessed by Heli drop for snowboarders and skiers. It is on the top of every adrenaline junkie’s tick list. When I received an email inviting me to come to a festival and ride those same infamous passes on a fat bike, ...

Look! A new bike release without mention of plus tires! Or even 29ers. Just good-old 27.5 Minion tires in the ever popular 2.35 width on all models. While the Lefty is gone, along with the weird pull-shock from previous Trigger and Jekyll models, don’t let the conservative take on wheels and tires and missing propriety ...

Tester: Mike Cushionbury Lezyne has been touting its entrance into the GPS market for quite some time and with good reason. The avant-garde pump, tool and accessory maker has released a smart looking, useful and easy to use 76 gram GPS. All the important features are here starting with a chip that combines GPS and ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Brandy Smith of Guymon, OK! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended.   Thule has partnered with us to give one winner a Thule DoubleTrack Pro 2-bike hitch rack! Enter to win below. Lightweight, platform hitch bike rack that is perfect for a variety of bikes, keeping them ...

By Jordan Villella This morning I awoke to my social feed flooded with posts and remembrances of Steve Tilford, shock and sadness filled my mind. It’s hard comprehend giving kudos to someone for a ride and the next day hear of their passing. Tilford was 59 and just starting to race again after a serious ...

Ed. Note: Mountain Bike Trailer Park is a regular column written by Uncle Dan that appears monthly on the Dirt Rag Interwebs. If you missed his previous columns, check them out here.  My wife grumbles as the alarm sounds. It’s Saturday and she wants to sleep a little longer. She rolls away on her side ...

Words by Jeffrey Stern. Photos via blackriver.  On a brisk spring morning we navigated our rental van from Chicago to Madison in search of the best charcuterie we could find, rolling country farm roads and more information on the mythical blackriver—the ultimate place to create, find and share cycling experiences, or so we’d heard. We ...

Tester: Mike Cushionbury × Age: 47 × Height: 5’10” × Weight: 155 lbs. × Inseam: 32” One thing is for certain, the new Viral Skeptic is not your ordinary hardtail. And before you get huffy about that weird looking black box nestled in the bottom bracket junction, it’s not an electric motor but a 12-speed ...

CycloFemme is a grassroots organization of women on bikes, created in 2012 by Sarai Snyder of Girl Bike Love, and Tanya Quick and Jenn Cash of Language Dept. The socially-driven, volunteer-based community works to empower women and girls through cycling in order to create social change. CycloFemme hosts an annual ride, which takes place on Mother’s ...

Eric Porter has spent 15 years traveling the world in search of beautiful trails. But his favorite spot is Alaska, and he’s returned to ride a ridgeline that has been on his mind since his last visit. After waiting for storms to pass for days, a break in the weather finally allowed Porter to hike-a-bike ...

Funk Cycles was born in 1988 as the brainchild of Darryl Funk, whose passion lies in rethinking the status quo and creating bikes that are outside of the box. Starting out in aluminum when most of the industry was still using exclusively steel, and then moving on to titanium, Funk’s flagship design deviates from the norm ...

Words by Mike Cushionbury. Photos by Sterling Lorence. As I trudged up a 45-minute hike-a-bike, less than 1 mile into the “ride” I looked back at Giant Factory racer Adam Craig and sarcastically said, “This is awesome.” Shortly after that I pulled to the left and let him pass. We were less than an hour ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Christopher Worrell of Yellow Springs, OH! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Win a pair of Five Ten Hellcat shoes! Enter to win below. The 2017 Hellcat is a lighter and lower-profile version of our classic Hellcat. Its upper is a combination of leather and synthetic for durability and breathability. ...

Recently NPR came up with a social media campaign with the hashtag #trypod in an attempt to make people curious enough to give podcasts a try. We want to help combat “podcast unawareness” (even amongst our own staff!) so I asked the Dirt Rag team to send me their favorite podcasts. I hope this list inspires ...

The National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series is dedicated to 100 mile and 100 kilometer mountain bike racing. With over a dozen races across the United States and a newly added race in Costa Rica, both professional and amateur athletes alike have been chasing the series title since its birth in 2006. For 2017, the NUE ...

It’s spring! Maybe you’re getting back out there after being on the trainer all winter, or maybe you’re pulling the bike out of the shed after a period of dormancy. Maybe you’ve been riding all winter long and your bike has collected salt and grit from sloppy, slushy roads and trails. Whatever your situation is, ...

Tester: Eric McKeegan × Age: 42 × Height: 5’11” × Weight: 165 lbs. × Inseam: 32” This bike seems to speak to a lot of riders on an almost genetic level. Perhaps it is because BMX bikes are buried deep in the DNA of every mountain bike and every mountain biker. How do I know ...

For more than a decade, the Ride Centers and Epics designated through the Model Trails program have become iconic mountain bike destinations that influence communities across the country and the world to raise the bar on great places to ride. “It was time for IMBA to evolve its Model Trails program to mirror the evolution ...

Get your copy now! Cover Illustration: #vanlife by John Ritter Columns and Readings Our columnist Rebecca Rusch muses on cycling storytelling with former Secretary of State John Kerry and his unwavering love of riding his bike beginning as a kid and continuing to this day. In Dog’s Bollix new columnist Simon Stewart tells a tale ...

Words by Jeffrey Stern No longer a fad, but a full blown discipline covering a wide range of mixed surfaces such as dirt, sand, pothole-littered pavement, grass and of course, gravel. Events are springing up across the country featuring long courses, winding through relatively untraveled roads in the most remote corners of states. Gravel grinding, ...

The 56-year-old Frenchman reached 141.498 mph on a speed snow track in Vars, France, smashing his own previous record of 138.75 mph.

The series kicks off July 15-16 at Angel Fire Resort in Angel Fire, NM; travels to Powderhorn Mountain Resort outside of Grand Junction, Colo. August 5-6; features new, never-raced trails in Steamboat Springs (Enduro-X) September 9-10; and wraps up the season with the two biggest backcountry enduros of the year—The Whole Enchilada in Moab, Utah ...

Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Get-A-Way lies in the Chattahoochee National Forest within northwest Georgia. It was initially built as a family retreat, but when the current owners stumbled upon the property they had to take a closer look. Once the tour was given, there was no turning back. They purchased the land in fall of ...

Liv Cycling is inviting female riders to enjoy an exclusive trail session alongside their athletes and ambassadors as they take over one of Skyline Rotorua’s most-exciting trails during Crankworx. Following the success of the A-Line Women’s Only Session held annually at Crankworx Whistler, Liv is expanding the Women’s Only Session across the globe. From 9:00am ...

Ed. Note: MTBTP (Mountain Bike Trailer Park) is a regular column written by Uncle Dan that appears monthly on the Dirt Rag Interwebs. If you missed his previous columns, check them out here.    A three dollar pen. Three dollars for chrissakes! For a cheap, red plastic clicky-top pen at the airport newsstand. The four ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Neil Aiello of South Plainfield, NJ ! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. SR Suntour has partnered with us to give one lucky winner a Auron 34 or Auron 35 RC2 PCS  suspension fork! Enter to win below.       Auron 34 or Auron 35 RC2 PCS– ...

Words by Zach White, photos by Gary Perkin MSRP $2,000 (R Kit) Sizes S, M, L(tested), XL Available Now As the name suggests, Santa Cruz’s Chameleon has historically been a frame that’s adapted to various riding styles quite well. Over the years, I’ve seen them built up as dirt jumpers, singlespeed trail bikes, freeride hardtails, ...

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame was started in 1988 as a way of chronicling the history of mountain biking and recognizing those individuals who have made a significant impact on the sport. Each year, an average of three to seven people are inducted. The Hall of Fame was formerly housed in Crested Butte, Colorado, but in 2014 it ...

Words and photos by Zach White Michelin’s mountain bike program has been busy in the last few years creating and fine-tuning four new tire models that multiply to a total model count of sixteen new products when the various wheel sizes and widths are thrown into the count. While the Jet XCR, Force XC, Force ...

I think today more than ever, it’s easy to get caught up in the belief that our own lives are mundane. The internet constantly throws articles about traveling to far-off lands in our faces. Instagram makes it easier than ever to see a lot of beautiful people doing amazing things. Every single day, our news feeds are ...

There was no shortage of cool bikes to be seen at NAHBS this year. While it’s impossible for me to pick my absolute favorite, there are definitely a number that I noticed and appreciated for one reason or another. Here are just a few of them, with more to come. Oddity Cycles I really liked all ...

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 ...

Hello from Salt Lake City! We’re here at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, checking out some highly unique and interesting bikes and bike-related things from builders around the country and world. This is personally my first time at the show, but it’s been one that I’ve been hearing about for the past several years. ...

Wheel sizes, tire sizes, suspension travel, frame material, suspension design, so many damn choices. And that is just from a single company. Add in everyone else making kick-ass bikes these days and it gets hard to think. How did we end up here? I’ve been thinking it is a case of deferred maintenance. Let me ...

Words and photos by Jeff Archer Industry 9 has a place in the history of cycling because of the wheels and hubs it has produced for the past decade, but it goes deeper than that through its parent company, Turnamics Inc. in Asheville, North Carolina. Turnamics produced some of the parts for the original RockShox ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Dan Chen of Santa Cruz, CA ! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Make your bike glow and enter to win a Ergon GA2 Laser Lemon Grips and SMA3 Laser Lemon Saddle. Glow with the Flow! The times when black and white defined your life were yesterday. If ...

Words and photos by Zach White There’s a big part of me that wants to give REEB a huge middle finger of a review due to the simple fact that there was no Oskar Blues beer offered while picking up or dropping off our REEBdonkadonk loaner at their bike-and-taco shop, CyleHops CANtina (Editor’s Note: This ...

Words by Trey Richardson. Photos by Mike Cushionbury and David Wiltshire. A former mountain bike pro for the Giant Mid-Atlantic Pro Cycling Team turned mad scientist, Matt Miller took his hands-on racing experience and conjured up an idea that, quite honestly, both he and I couldn’t believe hadn’t been done before … and not just ...

New Stuff for your approval, early March edition. The springtime release of new products has begun and things got hot and heavy the last few weeks. Here is a digest of a few noteworthy new product releases. Shimano Deore group and SLX 11-46 cassette In a somewhat surprising move, Shimano released a new Deore group. ...

Trail Boss is a video series produced by Jeff Lenosky and documents his attempts to ride some of the most technical trails he can find. A veteran rider with a 20-year professional career and three Observed Trials U.S. National Championships to his name, Lenosky uses his skills to ride the unrideable. In his latest episode, ...

Two new organizations, Trips for Kids and Little Bellas, have joined the program for 2017 while the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) and the Amy D. Foundation both return as beneficiaries. BikeFlights.com has also increased its fundraising commitment for 2017 to $10,000. “Giving back has always been important to us at BikeFlights.com,” said William Alcorn, ...

Wisconsin is not the sort of place from which you’d expect to receive a package of riding apparel that also included warm and sunny February weather to facilite testing. But, lucky me, that’s exactly what happened when UPS delivered a selection of Bontrager’s 2017 spring/summer mountain bike apparel. Magically, Pittsburgh experienced a series of sunny(ish) days that ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Ryan Ivie of Phoenix, AZ ! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Pearl Izumi has partnered with us to give one winner a pair of X-Project ELITE mountain bike shoes. Enter to win below. Riding your mountain bike occasionally involves something none of us love talking ...

Words and photos by Zach White Ask anyone who’s ridden a fat bike in snow, and if they’re the honest type, they’ll tell you how finicky the bikes are about conditions. Specifically, if the snow isn’t hardpacked, riding will be difficult, if not impossible. On soft, ungroomed trail, front tires don’t offer much float or ...

Created for all women who love mountain biking, the Bell Joy Ride program continues its mission with the addition of six new ambassadors and four new regions. “In only the first year of the program, everyone involved at Bell has been amazed by the dedication, growth and enthusiasm of the Joy Ride ambassadors,” said Heather ...

The Trek Fuel EX 7 exceeds the price limit of our $2,500 Trail Bike round up by a measly hundred bucks, but we decided it was so well spec’d that we couldn’t pass it up. For the current generation, Trek increased the Fuel EX to 130 mm of travel, giving it more aggressive trail geometry. ...