Dirtscrolls

Tester: Eric McKeegan Price: $90 (120 TPI version) Plus size tires have mostly stuck to the “buncha small knobs” design brief. While this has been surprisingly effective, sometimes terrain and riding styles call for some big, sturdy knobs. The Surly Dirt Wizard answers that call with a mean-looking tread pattern and aggressive cornering knobs. Looks ...

Trail information courtesy of MTB Project. Photos by Dirt Rag and courtesy of MTB Project. The Catskill Forest Preserve is home to over 40 miles of mountain bike trails. The Elm Ridge Loop, located just outside of Windham, New York, features over 14 miles of the Castskills’ finest singletrack. Elm Ridge Loop starts on the ...

Tester: Jon Pratt Age: 46 | Height: 5’10” | Weight: 190 lbs. | Inseam: 32” Price: $6,500 Sizes: S, M, L (tested), XL, XXL More info: Santa Cruz Bicycles  The Tallboy from Santa Cruz Bicycles has always been a class favorite 29er. It was just getting a little long in the tooth. So with knowledge ...

Words: Trey Richardson Photo: J. Barety Anne-Caroline Chausson—who has won 19 World Championships, more than any other cyclist in history—suddenly fell ill in 2015 during round four of the Enduro World Series and disappeared from the scene. Recently, she revealed she had ovarian cancer. Anne-Caro took some time to chat with me from her home ...

Contest ended. Congrats to David Pratt from Glendale, NY! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. For serious road and trail riders, the Blinder ARC 640 is the top of the range Knog light. Chock full of 640 lumens of light, the Arc 640 lets riders see and be seen, all ...

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 ...

“Put your head down, wipe the spit out your eye Ain’t nobody coming to your poor-me parade When trouble comes to your door, what you ignoring it for You’ll be standing there helpless when it comes on in” — Shovels and Rope, “Coping Mechanism” I really wanted to make this column about the problems facing ...

To further the success and growth of Dirt Rag Dirt Fest and Bicycle Times Adventure Fest, Rotating Mass Media (RMM)—the parent company of Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times magazines—has hired Evan Gross to be a full-time events coordinator. Gross has long been RMM’s man on the ground in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, successfully leading the organization of ...

Press release from QBP The Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) Women’s Bike Mechanic Scholarship Program is back for its fourth year. QBP and its sponsors are pleased to offer 16 scholarships for an all-women’s class of Professional Repair and Shop Operations at UBI. The scholarship was created with the recognition that the bike industry needs to ...

Photos and information from MTB Project. Rocky Knob Park (RKP) is a 185-acre county park located just east of the town of Boone, North Carolina. With over nine miles of singletrack trail (including four skills areas), Rocky Knob contains some of the most beautiful, unique, destination-quality mountain biking terrain in the area. RKP lives up to ...

At Interbike 2016, 30 representatives from 11 U.S. cycling organizations joined together to launch the Youth Cycling Alliance. They discussed how to work more cooperatively to enhance and expand youth cycling programming across the country, including identifying opportunities for strengthening partnerships and aligning programming efforts. Engaging women, kids, minorities, physically challenged individuals and underserved populations were ...

Ed Note — MTBTP (Mountain Bike Trailer Park) is a new Dirt Rag column written by Uncle Dan that will appear about about twice/month. We scraped him off the walls of the interwebs after he attended Dirt Rag Dirt Fest in 2016 and wrote a funny story about it. If you missed his introductory column, read ...

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 ...

Folklore describes the Krampus as a half-goat, half-demon Christmas wrecker that punishes children who are bad and will not be getting a visit from Saint Nick. If misbehaving is wrong, I don’t want to be right. The new Surly Krampus is too much fun for that nonsense. The Krampus roared to life five years ago as one of ...

Information and photos from MTB Project. There are some longer, more well-known river trails in neighboring Oregon, namely the McKenzie River Trail and the epic North Umpqua. But this all-singletrack trail along the clear waters of the Lewis River in southwest Washington holds its own and is a great, all-around ride, especially if you want to ...

The old Surly Karate Monkey got a few small changes over the years but, for the most part, it was the same bike that helped 29ers gain mainstream acceptance starting in 2002. It was launched that year at the very event we’re now detoxing from (Interbike). We covered the new Karate Monkey earlier this year and brought ...

Interbike’s indoor show is truly overwhelming; getting lost and being late and forgetting to eat are par for the course, as is the feeling that you can’t possibly cover everything. Here we bring you the most interesting things our editors saw from each day of the indoor show. Feedback Sports Tools These tools have been ...

      Contest ended. Congrats to John Mallow, from Grand Junction, CO and John Kovach from Willoughby, OH! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. CatEye is giving away two (2) complete lighting packages to illuminate your after-hours singletrack sessions. Each package features a Volt 1600 to use on your handlebars ...

Interbike’s indoor show is truly overwhelming; getting lost and being late and forgetting to eat are par for the course, as is the feeling that you can’t possibly cover everything. Here we bring you the most interesting things our editors saw from each day of the indoor show. Crank Brothers pump and pedals Crank Brothers ...

Devinci Marshall We reviewed the aluminum version of this bike a while back, when it was still called the Hendrix. Due to some international issues with that name, Devinci moved to Jimi’s middle name, Marshall, and added a full carbon version and a few more build kits. This is the top of the line Marshall Carbon ...

Whereas Interbike was once the king of American bicycle industry trade shows, it now signals that the season of new product launches is winding down. The first two days of the event take place in Boulder City, Nevada, (Outdoor Demo) and are a little quieter this year than in years past. That said, we still found ...

If you want your next trail bike to be made in the USA but don’t want to wait a year or so for a custom project, check out this list of companies crafting stock frames in the states. Alchemy Alchemey makes the rarest of the rare, a carbon fi ber, full-suspension trail bike, the Arktos. ...

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 ...

Ed Note — MTBTP (Mountain Bike Trailer Park) is a new Dirt Rag column written by Uncle Dan that will appear about about twice/month. We scraped him off the walls of the interwebs after he attended Dirt Rag Dirt Fest in 2016 and wrote a funny story about it. Seems like a good guy. Hope you ...

Words: Clayton Wangbichler Photo: Ken Viale Semper Fidelis, meaning “always faithful.” This is the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps. To many, presence of the motto in our lives is likely limited to the stickers proudly and neatly displayed on the vehicles of our nation’s veterans. To a Marine, it’s a guiding principle and reminder ...

A few months ago, WTB teamed up with the Semper Fi Fund to bring a group of service members out to a private ranch in Novato, California, for a weekend of railing berms, drifting corners and heckling with Mark Weir and Jason Moeschler. [Don’t miss our interview with two of the Marines who attended.] WTB’s ...

Trail information and photos courtesy of MTB Project. Autumn colors are beginning to show in the Colorado high country. The Doctor Park trail is beloved by locals, especially in the fall when the aspens are turning and the landscape is covered in bright yellows and oranges. The Doctor Park singletrack trail is just under 7 miles ...

Our annual Personality Issue is now available in print! Flip through its pages to find out what Floyd Landis (yeah, that one), a leopard print-clad Sue Haywood and Ray Petro of Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park are up to these days. Our editors also tested a bunch of new bikes and bike racks, and picked ...

Tester: Eric McKeegan Age: 42, Height: 5’11, Weight: 155, Inseam: 32 inches Price: $5,300 Sizes: 15.5, 17.5, 18.5, 19.5 (tested), 21.5 More info: Trek Fuel EX The previous generation Fuel EX was Trek’s best selling full-suspension bike. With Trek’s move to a more race-focused Top Fuel last year, it came as a surprise to see ...

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 ...

This ride and accompany photos come to us from MTB Project. Many people out west were left scratching their heads when the International Mountain Bicycling Association bestowed “Epic” status on Brown County State Park in southern Indiana. But folks who ride these trails on a regular basis had their own question: “What took so long?” This ...

Words and photos: Adam Newman and Jon Pratt Having one of these lightweight, packable layers handy can make the difference between a miserable experience and getting home comfortably. If you’re going to put in long rides in the rain with a pack on, we recommend grabbing a jacket with tougher materials (and none of these are super-duper ...

Twenty-five dollars is, what, one week of fancy-pants lattes? We’re not going to hate on coffee but we think that cash can go a lot farther. Snag a one-year/7-issue subscription to Dirt Rag magazine in print (great for bathrooms and sharing with riding buddies!) and you’ll get our limited-edition Fink 89 T-shirt. And, yeah, we ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Jacob Aeschliman from Traverse City, MI ! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. This is a professional, race mechanic-level toolkit and it could be yours. Fully revamped for 2017, the new Pedro’s Master Tool Kit 3.1 is a must have for the pro and at home mechanic ...

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 ...

Stans NoTubes is launching a new series of wheelsets called S1, designed to offer a more cost-conscious offering in its lineup that already includes carbon and high-end alloy rims. All S1 wheelsets will retail for $455. The focus of the S1 series is strength and durability. The deeper profile and thicker walls of the new S1 ...

Pivot’s full-suspension “race” bike, the Mach 429SL carbon, has been updated for 2017. It’s not plus (but it does have a Boost rear); it’s not even 27.5. This carbon bike has 100 mm of suspension front and rear and—gasp—29-inch wheels.   The Mach 429SL is spec’d with the Fox Float Dual Piston System (DPS) shock custom ...

Press Release from IMBA: The board of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) announced [August 30] that it has accepted the resignation of Mike Van Abel as the Executive Director of IMBA, effective September 2, 2016. IMBA’s board is working to select a permanent replacement for the position. “Mike has been an outstanding steward for IMBA ...

Weighing in at 520g (including remote and cable) and available in 30.9 or 31.6 mm diameter options, the Koryak adjustable alloy seat post offers 120 mm of smooth non-indexed travel for on-the-fly adjustability. Cable routing is internal and set up using Shimano’s OPTISLICK cables for optimum performance in dirt and mud. Two lever options are available, a regular up/down lever which ...

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, ...

Annadel State Park This 16-mile “big loop” hits the highlights of Annadel State Park just east of Santa Rosa, California. The big loop features technical singletrack up the black diamond-rated Cobblestone trail and a fast, fun descent—with opportunities to catch air—along the swooping North and South Burma Trail. Side loops provide options for lengthening or ...

Tester: Stephen Haynes Paul Components has always struck me as a company born in the wrong era. They are the stuff of old school fabrication like Fender Stratocasters, Zippo lighters and straight six engines. Simple, well-designed products made to last a lifetime that have the added benefit of being easily serviced, providing you had the ...

Rocky Mountain has brought back the Slayer, this time as an all-carbon machine with 170 mm front / 165 mm rear suspension and 27.5 wheels designed for enduro racing, bike parks and big mountains. It’s another entry in the almost-a-downhill-bike-but-can-still-climb category. Rocky Mountain’s four-bar Smoothlink suspension has been tuned to eat up rough terrain and ...

Jamis has expanded its lineup of hardtail plus bikes in both unisex and women’s-specific models. The new Dragon, Komodo and Eden Series bikes are designed for trail riding with 120 mm forks, slackened geometry, short rear ends and 3-inch tires. The Dragon Series is made of Reynolds 520 steel and has been expanded to six models (four unisex ...

As told to Stevil Kinevil Illustrations: Greta Mudflap Originally published in Issue #192 I’m Greta Mudflap. You may or may not have heard of me. What you are about to read is 100 percent true, except for the parts that aren’t, and even those are. MUDFLAP WAS PUBLISHED FROM 1990 TO 1995, SEVEN ISSUES IN ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Glen Gordon from Hermiston, OR! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Win a Kuat Sherpa 2.0 hitch rack worth $489! The all-new aluminum Sherpa 2.0 resets the standard for user-friendly adventure. Folding tire cradles create an abundance of clearance while the foot-actuated pivot lever lets you bask ...

Words and photo: Chris “Bama” Milucky From “On the Road With Bama,” originally published in Issue #191 Moab. Orange waves of sand, frozen in time, almost like me. I’ve been here six weeks—which is about five too long. Moab’s a great place to live, but I’m getting stir crazy. I’m beginning to feel like I’ve ...

Commencal has released an updated Meta, a downhill-oriented all-mountain/enduro bike designed around 160/170 mm forks and Boost spacing. The top tube length, seat tube angle and reach are the same as version 4, but the head angle is half a degree slacker (65.5 degrees) and the wheelbase a tad longer. A new, two-piece top tube is compatible ...

Tester: Justin Steiner Age: 33, Height: 5’7″, Weight: 165 lbs., Inseam: 31” Bike price: $5,000 Sizes: M, (tested) L, XL Kona first launched the Process lineup in 2013 for the 2014 model year. Since then, we’ve reviewed and revered both the 29 inch Process 111 (issue #178) and the 27.5 inch Process 134 (issue #184). Based on those ...