Dirtscrolls

Can you believe it’s been 25 years? Who would have thought Maurice’s photocopied and black and white zine would lead to this? Things sure have changed, but a lot of things have stayed pretty much the same since Day One. We’ve compiled a lot of those things into a very special issue to celebrate our ...

This year marks drastic changes for Intense Cycles. With a new CEO, CFO and COO in place, company founder and owner Jeff Steber along with his original business partner Marv Strand both agreed, “This is a very exciting time, a reinvention of our brand.” Steber added, “I designed a guitar before I could play one ...

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 POC Eastern States Cup is offering a full plate of Gravity Racing in its fifth season. With the growth of the series it has become apparent that East Coast mountain bike racers want more racing. The POC ESC is stepping up to supply the demand with two Downhill Series, an Enduro Series and a ...

We’re big fans of Knolly Bikes, and had nothing but good things to say about the 140mm Endorphin we reviewed last year. Now the British Columbia-based brand is taking things up a notch with the new 150mm travel, 27.5 wheel Warden. Check it out:  

I made an attempt at a Colorado Trail tour last summer, only to be thwarted by rain (and I’m glad I was, seeing how it turned out to be the week of the disastrous Boulder floods). This summer I know what’s at the top of my to-do list: Hermosa Tours‘ new 10-day self-guided adventure along ...

If 10 or 11 gears are just too much for you, don’t fear, Shimano’s eight and nine speed drivetrains keep getting better and better, receiving many of the trickle-down technologies from higher priced units. For 2015 Shimano has updated the Tourney and Alivio groups, plus made tweaks to Alfine and Nexus. 

Kitsbow’s mantra is “Impeccable mountain bike wear for obsessives”. This is expensive sounding language, but it captures much about what makes Kitsbow stand out from the rest of the mountain bike apparel crowd while remaining tastefully understated. There are no garish colors to be found in the Kitsbow catalog, mostly grays and blacks and blues, ...

  Flat pedals are something of a rare sight around the Dirt Rag office. From full-lycra to full-face rides, chances are we’re clipping in. Case in point, see the Tech Editor column in Issue #175. All this cleat-lovin’ makes it even more interesting that when the Spank Spike pedals showed up at the office there ...

As trail helmets continue to evolve, they seem to get more expensive. Not so with this new helmet from Bell, which hits a great price point while only losing a few features from its more expensive big brother, the Super.

For more than a decade, Spank Industries has strived to create reasonably priced performance bits. Spank’s Subrosa line (rims, handlebars, grips and saddles) is said to be all mountain light, but freeride and downhill strong. We put this marketing to the test on the Intense 951 EVO downhill bike featured in the upcoming Issue #176.

Suspension designs are a complicated thing. As Kona says, it’s a game of millimeters. From its first full-suspension model in 1995 to its coming 2015 models, Kona has refined its single-pivot, linkage driven suspension designs for their ultimate application. There are three variations in the current lineup, and this cool video walks you through the ...

I’ve always held an affinity for full suspension trail bikes because they facilitate a great deal of the flow I thrive on when trail riding. But since I spent many days riding and racing a fully rigid fixed gear on these same trails when I was young and foolish, I can certainly appreciate the connectedness, ...

Jamis, continuing on even after steel road bikes seem to have fallen out of favor. In fact, this 2013 model marks the 25th anniversary of the Quest name. Built with an oversize Reynolds 631 tubeset paired with a full carbon fork, this is a thoroughly modern take on the classic steel road bike. Jamis makes ...

Shimano’s redesigned Saint group has garnered much attention this year from those looking for the crème de la crème of Shimano’s gravity line. Fortunately for budget-minded shredders, Shimano trickled many of Saint’s technologies down to a new, mid-priced rival called Zee. As with many of Shimano’s budget-friendly component offerings, Zee utilizes similar high-end technologies and ...

With the drive forward to stuff ever more gears onto rear hubs, it is nice to see SRAM take a step back and create a group with less gears simply because that is what makes the most sense for the application. The real key to this system is the new 7-speed X-Dome mini-block cassette in ...

We sample the latest in hydration packs that are not too big, not too small, with a 10-15 liter capacity.

In the varied and ever-changing garden of bicycles, it seems that the fat bike corner is the latest area of flourishing growth, producing new ideas and iterations at a rapid pace. Two longtime mountain bike innovators—Aaron Joppe, former owner of Slingshot, and John Muenzenmeyer, former owner of Nukeproof—have been drawn into this bloom and are ...

USA Cycling on Friday announced the addition of Enduro races to the Cross-Country Mountain Bike National Championships beginning in 2015 in Bend, Oregon. USA Cycling cited feedback from competitors and the mountain bike advisory committee for making the change. Enduro races will replace the Super D competition at these events. Additionally, feedback from USA Cycling’s ...

SRAM, in partnership with Troy Lee Designs, announced today the formation of its own mountain-bike team for the 2014 season. SRAM has had a longstanding tradition of supporting racing, from grass-roots contests through the World Cup level, and now, the company will also fly its own colors in local, national and World Cup competition. The ...

The Adventure Cycling Association has release a new two-map set that guides cyclists through the breathtaking landscape of central Idaho. Idaho Hot Springs Mountain Bike Route (IHSMBR) offers a spectacular 518-mile off-pavement route, offering four substantial singletrack options, and featuring access to more than 50 hot springs in the Gem State. The route is the ...

On Friday, March 21 you can bid farewell to the offseason and say hello to the 3rd annual Tuscarora Offroad Weekend. Fast Forward Racing Productions is offering up a weekend full of fun starting Friday afternoon with course inspection and group camping. Saturday will be jam packed with single track goodness, starting with a fundraiser ...

WTB released a new, gravel-specific tire named the Nano 40c today at Quality Bicycle Products’ Frostbike product expo. The tire employs a high volume 40mm casing, rounded profile, and centerline tread pattern designed for speed, consistency, and ample cushioning aimed at the rapidly emerging gravel market. WTB says they were inundated with requests for a ...

45NRTH’s Dillinger tires have been a big hit with anyone looking for more traction than what the big rubber can give on its own. Now available in a 5-inch size, the new Dillinger 5 has a 120dpi bead and 45NRTH‘s new two-piece concave stud design that actually sharpens as it wears. The tread pattern is ...

News today from Frostbike and our friends over at Fat-bike.com: Surly is introducing a new fat bike dubbed the Ice Cream Truck. The steel frame (‘natch) is built around a symmetric 190mm rear hub spacing to clear the largest of tires. The rear dropout is the same convertible unit seen on the Instigator 2.0 that ...

Trail stats Average Singletracks.com rating: (4.68) 33 trail reviews Difficulty: Intermediate Length: 10 miles Description Start out with a nice warm up climb up a paved road, followed by nice sigletrack climb through some narrow switch-backs and some rock gardens. Levels out for some rolling singletrack. From here on, it is climb a little, enjoy ...

Last weekend while doing trail work Cannondale-WTB OverMountain rider Mark Weir was crushed by a 300-pound tree limb, breaking his pelvis in three places. We talked to him by phone from his home in Novato, California, where he’s recuperating for the next six to eight weeks. Mark was especially disappointed about the accident because he ...

There was no fanfare and no press release, but a handful of 27.5 versions of Specialized’s tires have become available on the brand’s website. There are versions of the S-Works Fast Track (2.0), Ground Control (2.1) and Butcher (2.3) listed. The new tires are notable in that Specialized doesn’t make a 27.5 bike to fit these ...

  Steve Domahidy left Niner a few years ago and has been working with a few other industry brand to launch bikes, but always in the back of his mind was a titanium hardtail that was prototyped in 2007 but never produced at Niner. That is about to change with the launch of Domahidy Designs. ...

Sometimes this job is pretty ok. When I inquired with Pivot about a new Mach 6 to review in the Rag, Chris Cocalis, head honcho at Pivot, invited me out to enjoy a few days in sunny Arizona. He knew the riding around here in Pittsburgh can be dicy this time of year, making to ...

By Heidi Shilling My journey to Costa Rica started in early July when I realized I had a chance to win a free entry to La Ruta de los Conquistadores, a three-day mountain bike stage race considered to be one the toughest in the world. I had been texting with my good friend Annie about ...

By Joh Rathbun. Photos by Jason Van Horn. Most ladies I know wouldn’t be too happy if you told them they “ride like a girl” — unless you’re one of the ladies from the Bicycle Trails Council of the East Bay, that is. On February 1, I joined up with ladies from the BTCEB for ...

It was certainly not the first, but no bike typifies this new genre of “trail” or “all-mountain” 29ers quite like the Honzo. The brainchild of some serious gravity-addicted minds at Kona, this ain’t no old-school big wheeler. How so, you ask? Well, up front the 68-degree head tube angle is mated to a 120mm RockShox ...

It’s a warm morning. The sun’s out and spring has sprung. I’m stepping out of my back door with Cannondale’s Quick CX 3 ready to start the 11-mile commute to the office. My neighbor waves “good morning,” and it promises to be a great day for a ride. My commute isn’t difficult. There aren’t many ...

I recently got back from my first ride in Marin County, California, and I was blown away by how nice the trails were – especially in February! Access4Bikes is working hard to turn the tide in Marin and open up even more riding opportunities for our vibrant mountain bike community. They are selling raffle tickets to ...

Can you believe it’s been 25 years? We have a massive special issue coming up to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. You are not going to want to miss this one. Subscribe by Friday to make sure it arrives in your mailbox.

Last year we got a preview of the first full-suspension bike from Redline. Now the D880 29er with its new Binary Link suspension design is closer than ever to the trail.

The NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Epic presented by Dirt Rag is now offering a three-day stage race alternative called TS3 during the Epic targeted towards racers who can’t be away for an entire week. TS3 racers get the same benefits as the 7-day Epic competitors (since they will be riding the same courses) including fully stocked aid stations, ...

Some spy shots floating across the web today: Kiwi Brook MacDonald posted this pic on Instagram of his 27.5 Trek Session that he’ll be racing at the New Zealand National Championships tomorrow: Meanwhile, Kevin Aiello was spotted in Bootleg Canyon, Nevada, with this 29er KHS prototype at the Mob ‘N’ Mojave race. Aiello raced a ...

British brand Empire Cycles has partnered with a Belgian firm to create what they are calling the world’s first 3D printed mountain bike frame. Renishaw, a first that specializes in advanced 3D printing techniques, builds the frame layer by tiny layer from titanium. The finished product is said to be one third lighter than a ...

One bike to do it all—that’s the idea behind Pivot’s Mach 5.7. While the definition of “all” depends to a large extent on the rider, with its 145mm of rear travel and 26-inch wheels, the versatile Mach 5.7 is exactly the style of bike that would top my shopping list. Chris Cocalis of Pivot Cycles ...

Last week Dirt Rag’s Publisher Maurice Tierney and Karen Brooks, the former editor of Dirt Rag and the founding editor of our sister magazine Bicycle Times, mutually decided to part ways. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done with both Bicycle Times and Dirt Rag, and am excited to go off in new directions,” Brooks said. “We ...

The majority of trail and XC riders have embraced tubeless tires for the increased traction and reduced weight and punctures. But hard charging riders in rough terrain have always had issue with burping tires on hard landings or even under high cornering loads. I’ve talked to more than a few enduro racers that have gone ...

Trails are useless to mountain bikers when they’re off limits. But that access also needs to be balanced with the needs of other user groups and especially the environment. “Crossing the Divide, Protecting the Places We Ride”, produced by Grit and Thistle Film Company, documents how IMBA and its chapters work with the conservation and ...

Borealis is making waves with its super light carbon fiber fat bikes. I’m guessing this video is going to make some waves too.

For gravity riders and racers, Cane Creek’s Double Barrel coil shock has long been the be-all-end-all, the place you arrive at when you’ve reached enlightenment. This sentiment explains why there’s been so much buzz surrounding the Double Barrel Air, which utilizes the same Twin Tube damper technology licensed from Öhlins.

From our neighbors to the north comes the Mutant, a hardtail 29+ monster hell bent on global domination! Hailing from Toronto, RSD Bikes (Rubber Side Down) is showing promise with its new line-up of hardtail trail bikes and the Mutant shows the company is willing to be among the first to put a 29+ bike ...

Recently we introduced you to the basics of how the basics of photography work. In the second half our our Trail Shooter guide to mountain bike photography, we look at the art beyond the skills. So how do you go about creating more engaging photos? There are hundreds, possibly thousands, of different answers to that ...

Mavic is all about component systems, and as such, the Crossmax XL line includes everything from wheels and tires to shoes and pedals. The Crossmax XL pedals are essentially rebranded Time ATAC pedals, which is a good thing to me since I’ve been a huge fan of the ATAC system for years and have several ...

Southwest Airlines has always been the most bike-friendly of the bunch. Now it’s added New Belgium to its list of in-flight beverages. Now you can reminisce on your favorite ride with a tasty Fat Tire Amber or Shift Pale Lager at 35,000 feet when flying Southwest or AirTran.