Dirtscrolls

The Durango Bike Company might be a fairly new venture, but the brains behind the brand are long-time industry veterans who know a thing or two about building bikes. We stopped by the booth at Sea Otter to see what has been cooking down in Southwest Colorado.

“Most compelling bikes of 2014.” Those are big shoes to fill. How, then, did we arrive with these two bikes?

The One is the next evolution of handcrafted carbon frames from Open, incorporating new shapes, layups and in-house production (in Germany) to create a remarkably light mountain bike frame weighing in a less than 850 grams. If you’re metric adverse, that’s well under two pounds.

Replacing both the Mission 26 and the Scapegoat, the new Mission 27.5 is aimed right at the heart of the enduro/all-mountain market with 160mm of travel front and rear and a next-generation Knucklebox suspension.

It was time for a new XTR, and with the introduction of single chainring groups from SRAM knocking at the door of the premier mountain bike component group, Shimano was facing a serious challenger. When the press gathered a few weeks ago at Shimano’s U.S. headquarters in Irvine, Calif., we were aware of the basics, now ...

Since the first Mag brake design brought hydraulic braking to the masses in 1997, Hayes has been continuously improving its products to perform better and be more user friendly. The new Radar brakes build on more than 25 years of experience with better performance, easier maintenance and improved reliability.

There’s no denying the superior warmth of natural goose down, but it doesn’t exactly play nice with moisture. A synthetic insulation handles perspiration and precipitation, but doesn’t compress as easily and doesn’t offer the warmth to weight. Enter DriDown, a down treatment process that treats the fibers with a hydrophobic polymer at the molecular level ...

Rocky Mountain joins the ranks of the fat bike crowd with its own trademark style.

It’s two big announcements in one: First up, Borealis, the Colorado-based company that blew everyone away with a 21-pound fat bike last year, is set to release its new model, the Echo this weekend at Sea Otter. And as Steve Jobs would say, “there’s one more thing”—it will be available with the brand new RockShox ...

Since 2006, Pivot Cycleshas been well known for its full suspension creations, and we’ve had several successfully run through the Dirt Rag testing process. A few have even made it into the personal stables of a couple Rag staffers. So, it was of interest when Pivot Cycles designer/founder Chris Cocalis decided to throw his hat ...

The new line consists of four models, each targeted at a specific type of rider’s needs.

We don’t know much beyond what we can see in this promo video, but we’ll get the full scoop this weekend at Sea Otter. Expect more travel than the 150mm Force and an appearance by the new Fox 36 fork. Wheels? Expect nothing else than 27.5, and we’re likely to see a 27.5 Fury model ...

After weeks of teasing, RockShox today announced details of its inverted RS-1 cross-country race fork and a line of Rise XX carbon tubular wheels to accompany it to the podium.

Fox is celebrating its 40th year of suspension technology, and for 2015 it has made changes large and small to each model in its lineup, highlighted by new 36 enduro forks.

A spinoff of Santa Cruz bikes, Juliana‘s line of women’s-specific models is growing by one with the introduction of the 150mm travel, 27.5 Roubion. The brand is celebrating by offering one lucky lady a free bike and a trip to its namesake—Roubion, France.

Bell Bike Helmets and the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) have announced the 12 finalists for the 2014 Bell Built Grants: $100,000 in technical assistance money put up by Bell for three bike projects to be built in 2014 by IMBA Trail Solutions. Public voting to choose the winners is open now and ends May ...

File this in the “we didn’t see that coming” folder. We received word today that Ibis Cycles would launch a new line of carbon fiber wheels to compliment its line of carbon mountain and cyclocross bikes.

Two modern, full suspension trail bikes that can handle a little of everything.

The international cycling community lost two of its own recently, Steve Worland and Fabio Rattazzi, and our staff mourns their passing.

Rand McNally certainly knows how to make maps, but when it comes to using them in the outdoors, why let the tech companies take over? The Foris is a handheld GPS unit designed for general purpose outdoor use by hikers, cyclists, geocachers and others.

Mountain bikes have been reaping the benefits of hydraulic disc brakes for years now, and while they were finicky at first, the products available now are virtually maintenance-free. When they first began appearing on road bikes, mechanical discs were the obvious stop-gap—a brake cable is a brake cable, after all. But now that discs are ...

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

The new Bend H-bar from Jeff Jones builds on a legacy of creative tinkering started over a decade ago by the man himself. The idea behind the new $85 Bend H-bar was to create a svelte version of his signature Loop H-bar without. Less material means less places to mount things like GPS, lights, bell ...

Our reviews of the (L-R) Specialized Butcher Control, Michelin Wild Mud and Specialized Purgatory Control.

According to Yeti, “SB” stands for “super bike.” Normally this type of marketing claim makes me skeptical, but I was mightily impressed with the SB-66 and its Switch suspension. Given that, I was itching to see if the 66’s settled chassis, snappy pedaling performance and ready-to-rally spirit translated to Yeti’s big-wheeled trail bike.

Let’s get this out of the way first: SLM stands for Super Light Mountain. They ain’t lyin’. The $5,799 SLM 1.1 is the flagship of the Fuji SLM fleet and its frame is made from C15, Fuji’s highest grade of carbon fiber. The end result is a 29er frame weighing less than 1,000 grams (nearly ...

When you’re camping out in winter, your sleeping bag is one item you do not want to skimp on. The Ignite Dridown 0 bag makes use of Kelty‘s new DriDown coated down, which helps retains the fluffy features’ loft and warmth. While I certainly didn’t sleep out directly under the rain, I did get it ...

The 2014 World Cup downhill season starts in two weeks just where it left off at the World Championships in 2013 – Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Will 2014 be the season 27.5 wheels sweep the circuit? Will Steve Smith and Gee Atherton continue their dominating battle for the overall title? Will rising stars like Richie Rude and ...

Hot on the heels of the still somewhat mysterious new RS1 fork, RockShox drops a solid batch of other new suspension goodies for its gravity riders. The biggest news is the new 27.5 BoXXer fork, the new defacto wheel size standard, and a new air shock dubbed DebonAir.

Those of you who have been paying attention know Santa Cruz treats April Fool’s Day very seriously, with new or updated bikes released every year on this date. And the best part of a Santa Cruz new bike launch? They are for bikes that are actually in the warehouse and ready to ship! This year ...

Two big-tire heavyweights go head to head.

Breezer Bikes surprised us all last year with the introduction of the Repack, a 160mm, 27.5 trail/enduro bike aimed right at the heart of the full suspension market. Now it’s following up with a 29er version, with 120mm of travel and the same unique M-Link suspension system. Back in February I was lucky enough to ...

Words and Photos by Ryan Thibault I smile at the customs agent. She’s scrutinizing my passport—one glance down at my mug shot, one up at me…and again. The photo is dated, and my Afro has long since been quaffed. “An’ why are you tra-ve-ling to Ca-na-da?” she asks in a French accent as cute as ...

This morning we brought you news that Specialized was readying the release of the new 27.5 version of the Stumpjumper FSR and now the brand has posted photos and details of the two models on its website. There are two models, both of the EVO persuasion, which get extra travel and a more enduro focused ...

Guerrilla Gravity is a small, consumer-direct brand that launched last year with its made-in-Colorado GG/DH downhill bike. Now it’s taking pre-orders for its next machine, the Megatrail. While the Megatrail looks to be a fully capable bike in standard mode, a 30-second shock mount swap turns it into a much more dynamic descender. The standard ...

Details are still scarce about the new RockShox RS-1 inverted fork, but today SRAM released this teaser video with Kate Courtney and Russell Finsterwald. They’re the future of XC mountain biking—in more ways than one. Courtney and Finsterwald are classic overachievers: She’s a NICA alumnus gone World Cup hopeful (and is a Stanford undergrad in her ...

Cannondale unveiled its new 2015 OverMountain line this week, and while we couldn’t be there (for reasons explained below), we still got the scoop on the new 27.5 Jekyll and Trigger bikes. Both models make use of Cannondale‘s new Lefty SuperMax fork and travel-adjust Fox DYAD pull shocks.

Earlier in the week we brought you news that the Cannondale OverMountain team would be riding a new Lefty SuperMax fork for 2014, and here is what it will be bolted to: an all-new 27.5 wheeled Jekyll. The 26-inch wheeled Jekyll was enough to get Clementz to the top of the podium in 2013, so ...

By Anka Martin. Photos by Sven Martin. Our trip went down in early February in beautiful Nelson, New Zealand and the surrounding areas of the Nelson Tasman district. We planned a little backcountry adventure with a few of my friends on our Juliana bikes.

We had heard that the fastest man on dirt had parted ways with his longtime ride at Ibis, and now it’s been confirmed he will be on Intense for 2014. Will he be shredding on the new Tracer 275 Carbon? Sounds likely.

While much of the internet speculation as of late centered on SRAM‘s upcoming RS-1 inverted fork (more on that later), the brand unveiled it’s new line of completely redesigned brakes today, dubbed Guide. There are three new models, a new four-piston caliper and new rotors, as well as a host of new design elements. Most ...

Join us on a ride through Kona’s 27-year long history making trail ripping mountain bikes. Together again, for the first time (crazy, right?), an original 1988 Kona Cinder Cone shares the trail with its 2014 off-spring. Hop on a true mountain bike original and Kona’s longest bike model and blast through a quarter century of ...

Whether you are a racer, freerider, coach, photographer, writer, film-maker, weekend warrior, newbie, or just checkin’ out nature, Shine Riders Co. has you covered this weekend with a low-risk, co-ed instruction day at the Chanticleer Pump Track in Santa Cruz. The event is one of many monthly meet-ups of the Shine Riders Co., a group ...

Cannondale has announced that its North American OverMountain team will, for the first time, be racing and adventuring on the all-new Lefty SuperMax suspension fork this season. A 26-inch, 160mm travel fork has been seen under team riders and the 29er version is currently 130mm. This is a particularly interesting announcement on the eve of ...

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, ...

Way back in issue #151, I reviewed Shimano’s MP66W shoes. Since then, Shimano has introduced the AM45 model to replace the MP66. I really liked the MP66, so I’m happy to see their spirit carried on in the AM45, with a few improvements. While the MP66 came to us from the BMX world, the AM45’s ...

It’s been a rough winter near Dirt Rag HQ, and after our last trip to Virginia was such a success, when another offer of lodging and guide service came out way, I didn’t hesitate long to make plans to head south to Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing. Willderness Adventure is about 45 minutes outside Roanoke, ...

REEB cycles was started a few years ago by Colorado craft beer brewery, Oskar Blues. Rather than copy an existing design and slap on the REEB logo, Oskar Blues went against the grain with slacker geometry to tackle the rough descents near its Colorado brewery. REEB bikes are aimed at the rider wanting a capable trail rig without twitchy, ...

You know, if Transition decides to ever get out of the bike business it would probably do pretty well in the film biz. This video for the new TR500 downhill bike is a good example. The new aluminum frame is stronger, lighter and is now available in an XL size. Plus you can build it out ...

Author and journalist Molly Hurford rides a lot—and knows countless women who ride a lot—and inevitably all that riding can lead to a little… discomfort. It’s a subject that she found nearly all the women she knows, from beginners to pros, were reluctant to discuss at the their local bike shop or with their male peers. ...