Dirtscrolls

When Cane Creek first invited us to a media event to unveil a new product, it was going to take place out in California, during the crazy time that is the Sea Otter Classic. I was relieved when it was postponed and moved to Cane Creek’s home-turf in North Carolina. Not only would it be ...

A press camp like Magura’s annual retreat in Sedona, Arizona, is always a treat for us werd-slingers. But being a bit older and a bit more jaded about the latest new products, I go to hang out with old industry friends and ride bikes, while watching the young crop of new bike journalists work their ...

With 13,896 votes being accumulated in the last two weeks, the Richmond Regional Ride Center in Richmond, Virginia, will take home the final slot as the winner of the East region.

Amongst the European paparazzi we arrived in the French Riviera. The Nice-Côte-d’Azur airport was aflutter with the excited activity leading to the annual Cannes Film Festival. As I exited baggage claim there was one sign within a crowd of limousine drivers and chauffeurs that I was looking for: the yellow Mavic logo. We didn’t come ...

In “Bike Town USA”, it’s time to switch out ski racks for bike racks, tune up the two-wheeled ride and head for the hills. The Champagne Powder has melted, revealing pristine trails, winding pavement and scenic gravel roads. A summer playground for cyclists of all kinds has emerged, and a celebration is in order to ...

Some say a great day is just a state of mind. For Smith Optics, great days are what reinvigorate personal passion for life outside walls. To celebrate Smith’s 50th anniversary of outdoor adventure in 2015, the brand is hosting a year-long web series, “Great Days”. Viewers get a behind the scenes look into what makes a ...

Single chainring drivetrains have taken the mountain bike world by storm over the past few years. For many riders in many types of terrain, it just works. There are fewer gizmos on the handlebar, fewer moving pieces to maintain, and thanks to new products like Wolf Tooth Components‘, nearly all of the range of gearing—nearly ...

A year or so ago I got my hands on one of Bionicon’s smart and simple chainguides, which works something like a chain tensioner to keep rattling at bay and create a larger chain wrap around a chainring. Now the German brand has simplified the design making it lighter, cheaper and easier to install. What’s ...

Big Mountain Enduro is throwing down the largest-scale enduro this side of the pond September 3-7, 2014 in Crested Butte, Colorado. The inaugural Crested Butte Ultra Enduro will blend high altitude backcountry adventures mixed with most of the biggest descents in the area over five days. Expect to ride some of the most challenging and ...

Downhill mountain bike enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting the opening of the Whistler Mountain Bike Park and this week the anticipation comes to an end. On Friday the Whistler Mountain Bike Park will open for the season thanks to the hard work of an army of trail crew. The trail crew battled snow, weather, drainage, ...

You don’t see bikes like this for sale often. Dreamed and designed by endurance cycling legend Mike Curiak and built by Brad Bingham at Moots, this titanium fat bike – dubbed Snoots – was created to carry Curiak unsupported to the South Pole. Now it could be yours.

The NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Epic presented by Dirt Rag is drawing a top notch field to its seven-day mountain bike stage race from May 25-31, 2014.  Some of the fastest endurance mountain bike racers will converge near State College, Pennsylvania for a race many affectionately call “Singletrack Summer Camp” where $60,000 in cash and prizes is ...

The mad mountain men and women at Pivot Cycles know dirt, and to show they’re not just chubby tire and suspension snobs, they now offer the Vault, a carbon fiber cyclocross and gravel bike designed for exploration on any surface.

“He’s one of the best at what he does, so why change him?” Over the course of Peaty’s career, winters spent with Adella Carter and the Sheffield Hallam team have proved vital in his long and illustrious career. Getting time of the DH bike is always tough with such a busy schedule and other commitments, ...

With voting live for the past two weeks in the Central region, Bell Helmets has announced that the Cottage Grove Bike Park in Cottage Grove, Minnesota pulled in the most votes out of the four Central region finalists to earn a share of the 2014 Bell Built Grants. The project, headed up by the Minnesota ...

I’ll admit, when I first saw the magazine ad for the Specialized Enduro 29 featuring Matt Hunter getting completely horizontal, I too wondered if there was some trickery involved. “No way he rode that out,” I thought. Well I sure was wrong. Check out Hunter’s mastery on the trail and photographer Sterling Lorence’s mastery behind ...

By Karl Rosengarth and Eric McKeegan. Photos by Justin Steiner and Jon Pratt. For all of Pittsburgh’s endearing qualities, its wet, pre-spring weather sucks. There are weeks on end when the trails are just too wet and muddy for responsible riding. The optimal solution is to load Dirt Rag’s “trusty” Ford E-Series van with test ...

By Joh Rathbun. Photos by Clay Ryon. I’m usually the only woman at the pump track, so I’ve decided that if I have to be the only woman to get more women out there, I will be that woman. I also lead rides in Santa Cruz for my team, Shine Riders. The Shine Santa Cruz rides ...

Peaty turns 40 this year, but it isn’t slowing him down one bit. Expect nothing less than the usual carnage with #allthelads and the rest of the Santa Cruz Syndicate as they travel the globe taking in the full UCI World Cup and World Champs, whilst hooking up with some famous friends along the way. ...

There is little argument that SRAM’s 1×11 drivetrains work and work well, at least no argument among those who have ridden them And therein lies the problem, as both the XX1 and X01 groups are very expensive. But now the new X1 group trickles the 1×11 tech down to a lower price point, allowing it to be ...

The Sierra Buttes Trail Stewardship in Northern California, along with partners Santa Cruz Bicycles has announced another “5 Bucks A Foot” campaign. Up for grabs this time is the eventual winner’s choice of any complete Santa Cruz bicycle with a value up to $10,000. Every purchased foot of singletrack for $5 is an opportunity to win, ...

Take a peek inside what’s in the latest issue…

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 ...

The Marin Museum of Bicycling recently announced it would begin construction on the Mt. Tamalpais Legacy Wall in Fairfax, California, that will be fitted with brick titles funded by museum donors. The public can purchase bricks and help fund the museum, the future home of the Igler Collection and the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Niner continues to expand its lineup with a new line of carbon mountain and cyclocross wheels—available, naturally, in 29-inch only. They will be available on Niner’s Star builds soon and will hit the aftermarket later this summer.

Our next issue is on its way, and our cover story is the search for adventure. Gerhard Czerner and Martin Bissig went searching for it in the mountains of Morocco—not known as a mountain bike destination, the “Chamonix of the High Atlas” towers more than 13,000 feet above north Africa. Watch as they reach the ...

As you might have heard, we’re celebrating our 25th Anniversary this year. As a bit of a thank you gift to the head honcho around here, Publisher Maurice Tierney, we partnered with BaileyWorks to produce this custom, one-of-a-kind Citi Pack backpack.

$100,000 in prize money? Split between three winning trail networks? That’s what’s at stake in the annual Bell Built Grants. Bell Helmets and IMBA have teamed up to build three dream trail projects and after whittling the contenders down to 12 finalists in three regions, the West Coast winner has been decided by popular vote.

By Rebecca Rusch Photos courtesy of Salsa Cycles Why does riding and pushing a heavily laden fat bike up and over the Continental Divide in February through the dead of night appeal to anyone at all? I’m not sure I have the answer, but I went searching for it when I lined up for Jay ...

Felt In the Felt booth we got a look at the 2015 Compulsion, the first 27.5 bike from Felt. While it shares many traits with previous 26-inch bike, the new one is completely new and built around 160mm of travel through Felt’s Equilink suspension.

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), the governing body for interscholastic mountain biking, announced recently that Alabama and Virginia will be the newest states in its growing nationwide school cycling program, bringing the number of leagues in NICA network to 13. One of the key features of NICA is its structural ability to work in ...

I’m not much of a mountain bike historian but I have run into Don Koski many times over the years at bicycle trade shows and such. Nice guy. I knew he was around back in the day and was currently making ski bikes. He had called me a few times recently, asking to show me ...

Photos by Justin Steiner and Gary Perkin/Santa Cruz Bicycles The April 1 announcement of Santa Cruz’s new Nomad brought with it much anticipation. Many of us were wondering; how will this retooled icon would translate to the real world? Fortunately, Santa Cruz invited us to Santiago, Chile, to sample what this aqua and magenta bomber has ...

Rocky Mountain The big news in the Rocky Mountain booth was the new Blizzard fat bike, but they were also attracting a lot of attention for this one-off prototype Sherpa. When Rocky Mountain got wind of a prototype 27.5×2.8 tire that WTB had produced, they built this bike based on a customized 29er.

Even if you don’t live in Colorado or might never have the chance to sample its sweet singletrack, it’s hard to pass up an opportunity like this. The Routt Country Riders – a local IMBA chapter – is raising funds to purchase some new trail building equipment, and Moots is pitching in to help. For ...

Marin continues to impress, releasing info about three 2015 models that continue the refined look of brand, including new Rift Zone and Indian Fire Trail 29ers and the all-purpose disc-brake Lombard.

Don’t think you can shred on carbon wheels? Think again. Read more about the new M-series wheels here.   BUY NOW Disclosure: When you purchase a product or service from a link in our stories, we earn an affiliate commission that helps pay for our work and support Dirt Rag content creation

The White Brothers name has been retired, with forks being rolled into the very successful MRP brand. The Stage fork, which has been floating around for over a year in various prototype forms is finally ready for sale.

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 ...

Winter is over, springtime is here, and the riding season is just around the corner. Fan favorite Fab Barel can feel it too, so he’s dusting off the bike for a new season of Fab Barel Presents. Spanning 4 episodes, 3 continents, and discovering endless trails, look for continuing enduro adventures on film, starting soon!

Last year Magura released the E-Select fork, with electronics controlling the damping and a wireless handlebar remote. Now that some technology controls the rear shock as well.

We got to see the new 11-speed XTR group in the flesh metal at Sea Otter.

As one might guess from the name, Cavalerie Bikes is a French company developing gearbox mountain bikes. This is the Falcon downhill bike with 200mm of travel. There is also a Squirrel freeride bike at 185mm, and a soon to be released trail bike in the 150mm travel range.

A sample of the scene from SSCXWC13 in Philadelphia. The 2014 Raleigh Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships will be held at Eva Bandman Park in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday, October 25, 2014. This year’s event will continue the great tradition of prior Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships, with a full weekend of qualifiers, racing and ...

It was something we all somehow knew was coming, but no one quite believed: a full-suspension fat bike. Now it’s a reality.

Not what you expect to see from mountain bikers, huh? Photographer Leo Volz III captured the action at the International Intergalactic Global Open Mountain Bike Team Relay Championship of the Multi-Friggin-Verse (yes, that’s the official name) in Marysville, Penn. It was the first race of the Mid-Atlantic Super Series and afterwards there was a special bonus ...

Zumbi is a Polish company, in business for about a decade, building stock and fully custom bicycles. At Sea Otter we were able to check out this F-11 model, a 160mm travel 27.5 all mountain bike.

The race to improve technical clothing for dirt munchers is in full force and Specialized has poured its mighty resources into its Spring 2014 apparel line, specifically targeted at trail, all-mountain and gravity categories.

Plenty of brands bring their new production items to show off at Sea Otter, but Brent Foes of Foes Racing decided he wanted his latest experiment to see the light of day. This prototype downhill frame has yet to be ridden, let alone proven, but its interesting suspension design is worth checking out.

Shifters, suspension, handlebars and bikes.