Dirtscrolls

By Eric McKeegan

By Adam Newman

Foes is getting into 29ers this year as well, with this prototype of the 2013 Shaver 29. The 68.5 degree headtube is slightly steeper than the 26-inch Shaver’s and travel is slightly reduced to 5 to 5.5 inches. Slight geometery tweaks are expected from the version you see here, including incorporation of an inset ZeroStack headtube. Look for it in fall of 2012.

Continental’s new Revo sealant uses four different sizes of fibrous particles to help seal punctures. A 250ml bottle of sealant will retail for $10 and should seal about three high-volume tires.

Conti is also offering a new tubeless-ready tire construction that features an additional rubber-coated nylon ply that aides in sealing and improves durability.

By Josh Patterson

SRAM unveiled a 650b version of their Rise 40 wheelset. The aluminum wheelset shares the same rim profile of the 26 and 29-inch Rise 40 wheelsets: 19mm inner width; 24 bladed spokes laced two-cross, front and rear; and compatibility with quick-releases or thru-axles.

By Justin Steiner

The Electra Bicycle Company believes a bike should be more than just a tool for transportation; it should be a fun and functional extension of your personal style. As a result, they’ve carved out a niche for themselves as purveyors of posh and pleasurable cycles.

By Adam Newman

ENVE has been leading the way in carbon rim development from its headquarters in Ogden, Utah, and still manufactures all its products there. There are essentially two mountain bike model lines: the XC and the AM, with internal rim widths of 18 and 24mm respectively. For 2012, both models will be available in 26-inch, 650b (pictured), and 29-inch sizes with updated graphics from previous years.

By Adam Newman

Now that industry veteran Jim Wannamaker is designing treads for this rapidly-expanding brand, they’re making a huge push into the U.S. market. Almost all of their treads are available in a huge range of sizes and nearly all retail for just $40. The brand is not without some pedigree, as they manufacture Pacenti’s new 650b tires.

By Karl Rosengarth

The all new FSA Orbit Option adjustable headsets offer three sets of angle adjustment cups to allow plus/minus 0.5 or 1.0 or 1.5 degrees of head angle adjustability. The Option S fits 1.5" standard headtubes. The Option T fits 50mm/1.5-inch tapered headtubes and 1 1/8" steerers. The option T1 fits tapered 50mm/1.5-inch zero stack tapered headtubes and 1-1/8” steerers.

By Adam Newman

Set to debut last year with the redesign of its 26-inch wheel CrossMax line, the prototype 29er CrossMax wheels from Mavic weren’t performing up to the brand’s and its racers’ standards, and they went back to the drawing board to make them right.

Offered in three versions, the CrossMax SLR is the lightweight race/cross-country wheelset, the CrossMax ST is the trail or general use set, while the CrossRide is a wallet-friendly, entry-level option.

By Eric McKeegan

First off, X-Fusion has quite a history with suspension manufacturing dating back more than 20 years, although the brand name X-Fusion has only been around since 1999. Fast forward to 2012 and the company will bring three new technologies to market: the Uni-Crown, a new stanchion coating “Gold Slick Ano” and a cartridge damper with a “Mid-Valve”.

Introducing Zee

Zee is a new line of gravity components that are an ideal starting point for aggressive riders and racers. Zee is the gateway gravity component line that allows riders to get on board with Shimano’s gravity program and experience premium new component technologies at a price they can afford. Highlights in the Zee line include a 10-speed system that comes standard with new ICE Tech and Shadow Plus technologies.

We set up our photo studio in the back room of the Sacramento Convention Center during the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show and sat down with the builders to get the behind-the-scenes story of their creations.

This is our interview with Daryl Roberts of Form Cycles from Arizona.

See more coverage from NAHBS 2012.

By Justin Steiner

Spring is springing and we’re getting closer to one of my most anticipated yearly landmark; Massanutten Resort’s Yee-Ha! downhill race. This will be my third year in a row kicking off the race season at this long-standing event, thanks to its early placement on the calendar and the wonderful folks you’ve made this event happen continuously for the last 16 years.

Registration for the Big Mountain Enduro Series presented by Yeti Cycles opened today for all three events. Entries for the first two events is capped at 200 participants and registration for The Whole Enchilada is limited to 150 participants, with half open at 7 a.m. and the remainder at 8 p.m. to give riders equal opportunity to register regardless of their schedule.

By Adam Lipinski

Many companies have products from their pasts that are icons of their brand. One of GT’s is the mid 80’s Performer BMX bicycle. If you rode BMX bikes in the 80’s chances are you desired a Performer. GT has decided to make a retro induced 26-inch wheeled version of their classic ride, as part of their Adult BMX line. They intend you to use this bike as a simple town cruiser, or take it to your local dirt jumps and track.

Rebecca Rusch, the three-time Leadville Trail 100 Women’s Champion and three-time 24 Hour Solo Mountain Biking World Champion, is pleased to announce that after a successful first tour in 2011, the SRAM Gold Rusch Tour is back with more dates and locations for 2012, including Dirt Rag’s Dirt Fest. The tour is designed to get women of all ages outdoors and on their bicycles.

For the third year in a row, the world’s best professional mountain bikers will converge on Windham Mountain as the town hosts the eighth in a series of 10 World Cup events held all over the world. The 2012 edition of the RockyRoads.net UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano makes 10 stops worldwide with the Windham event taking place from June 30 through July 1.

What if you could take an already epic seven-day mountain bike tour from Durango to Moab and turn it into a mountain bike stage race, complete with meals, timing, racer swag, support, and memories of epic proportions? Well now you can. Introducing the San Juan Huts 200!

Intense first got into carbon fiber construction with the introduction of the Carbine SL back in January, and now the company has released its first hardtail 29er, the Hard Eddie.

By Adam Newman

Foundry Cycles was cool enough to stop by our office last fall and let us take the first spin on its upcoming carbon-fiber hardtail, the Router. It was expected to be available by now, but some manufacturing issues have led Foundry to cancel the model outright, citing a commitment to quality and a replacement model that is ahead of schedule.

We set up our photo studio in the back room of the Sacramento Convention Center during the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show and sat down with the builders to get the behind-the-scenes story of their creations.

See more coverage from NAHBS 2012.

Editor’s note: Got a race report or story you’d like to share with Dirt Rag readers? Send it to [email protected].

By Devon Dyreson

By Justin Steiner

Editor’s note: I dragged out this post from our old forums about our founder and publisher’s legendary singlespeed, the Stutterin’ Prick. Note, this was written a decade ago, in 2002.

By Maurice Tierney

The real story of my one speed, named after a Joe Peshi line in what movie?

Here’s the deal: The story from 24 hours of Canaan this year (2002) is the story of a ten-year-old bike that has not passed its prime: Stutterin’ Prick.

By Josh Patterson, photos by Justin Steiner and Adam Newman

By Josh Patterson, photos by Sterling Lorence

By Adam Newman

Lynskey is one of the largest titanium framebuilding companies in the U.S., if not THE largest. The Lynskey family put titanium on the map with Litespeed Cycles back in 1986 and after that brand was eventually sold, a new company was born in 2006 as Lynskey Performance. They build frames under their own name as well as for several other brands.

We set up our photo studio in the back room of the Sacramento Convention Center during the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show and sat down with the builders to get the behind-the-scenes story of their creations.

See more coverage from NAHBS 2012.

Now I hope it don’t be too long

Waiting on a train come to take me home

So I’ll sing another funky song

Just until another one comes along

— The DFLO Shuffle, by Digital Underground

by Karl Rosengarth

By Karl Rosengarth

When 29ers first burst onto the scene, "hardtail" was the only flavor on the menu. Nowadays, riders can choose from a veritable feast of big-wheeled delicacies, including a growing number of longer-travel bikes. The Ellsworth Evolution SST.2, with its 120mm of front/rear travel, is one such offering.

If you’ve missed the craze lately about ft bikes, then it’s time to crawl out from under your rock. While the term fatbike has been around since the sport of mountain biking was developed in the 70’s, the more recent reference to the all‐terrain fat bike refers to a unique animal all on its own.

Taking it to the next level, Rolf Prima is releasing the first ever aero, carbon fatbike wheel.

Mike Ferrentino of Santa Cruz Bicycles walks us through the new Tallboy LT carbon from Dirt Rag Magazine on Vimeo.

By Josh Patterson

By Josh Patterson

To be fair, this isn’t really a “first impressions” blog. More like a second and third impressions blog really, since I first rode the Jet 9 RDO at a press camp last summer. Click here to read my actual first impressions, and here for our first take when we built our test bike up.

We might be a bit bias since our founder and publisher, Maurice Tierney is an inductee (Class of 2002), but the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame is an important collection of the history and personalities of our sport.

Now they’re accepting nominations for the Class of 2012. Below you’ll find the instructions for nominating someone you know. The deadline is April 15, so get to it. Know of anyone you think deserves to be inducted? Let us know in the comments below.

By Justin Steiner

We set up our photo studio in the back room of the Sacramento Convention Center during the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show and sat down with the builders to get the behind-the-scenes story of their creations.

See more coverage from NAHBS 2012.

Editor’s note: Got a race report or journal from your latest adventure that you’d like to share with Dirt Rag readers? Send it to our online edtior at [email protected].

By Zachary Adams, photos by A. E. Landes

Words by Josh Patterson, photos by the Dirt Rag staff

You can blame MTV for cultivating the notion that spring break is all about binge drinking and making as many bad decisions as one can cram into a week. Rather than squander a week blacking-out in a tacky, overcrowded resort, and waking up next to someone you’d rather not see again, why not spend a week doing something you will actually remember, with people whose company you actually enjoy?

By Adam Newman, action photo by Justin Steiner, still photos by Sterling Lorence

Kona is going big on the big wheels for 2012. This year its offering no less than a baker’s dozen of 29ers in the lineup, from the burly all-mountain hardtail Honzo to the race-ready Hei Hei full-suspension cross-country platform.

The EVO bikes in Specialized line up are much like an AMG Mercedes or SVO Ford: straight-from-the-factory high performance vehicles. These two Stumpjumper FSRs get additional travel, a chain guide, beefier tires and dropper posts, and designed to push these bikes into the all-mountain category.

Stumpjumper FSR Expert EVO 29

By Matt Kasprzyk

All-City was primarily focused on urban riding until they decided to get muddy with the Nature Boy. This black beauty, named in honor of Minnesota professional wrestling legend Ric Flair, is meant to get down and dirty as a singlespeed cyclocross race bike. The handmade movement heavily inspired the frame’s classic look, enough so that you almost forget that a guy with a neck-beard didn’t weld this in his garage.

We set up our photo studio in the back room of the Sacramento Convention Center during the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show and sat down with the builders to get the behind-the-scenes story of their creations.

This is the first in a series of videos we’ll be rolling out in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

See more coverage from NAHBS 2012.

By Josh Patterson, photo by Robert Ligon

By Justin Steiner

SRAM has long touted the breadth and diversity of their XO group, given it’s ability to span the performance spectrum from XC race to DH race. For 2013, Avid will further broaden their offerings with two unique models of the XO brake to better meet the needs of riders across these diverse disciplines. The XO Trail brake will cater to those on the trail/all mountain/gravity end of the spectrum, while the lighter XO brake shaves grams for the weight-saving crowd.

By Lee Klevens

The Gravity G29 is one of a slew of single speeds currently under review at Dirt Rag. Gravity is a small, price-conscious company that is trying to compete with the big players in the market. They figure that since the majority of bicycles sold in the world are produced by only a handful of factories in Asia, sourcing their bikes from the same factories and selling them direct to the consumer can save people a decent amount of cash.

By Josh Patterson

Canfield Brother’s Nimble 9 is one of a growing number of 29er hardtails featuring short chainstays and slack—by traditional 29er standards—headtube angles. (Banshee, Chromag, Chumba, Kona and Transition are some of the other companies producing aggressive 29er hardtails of a similar ilk.)

By Karl Rosengarth, photos by Justin Steiner

By John Herron

By Justin Steiner

With riders constantly pushing the limits of bike and body, manufacturers are seeking ways to stabilize our drivetrains to minimize dropped chains without resorting to chain retention systems. Last year, Shimano introduced the XTR Shadow plus rear derailleur, creating the stabilized rear derailleur market as we know it. Now, SRAM has introduced their stabilized rear derailleur, called the Type 2.

Our third installment of photos by Justin Steiner at the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show. You can see parts one and two online, as well as a full gallery by "liking" us on our Facebook page.

Enjoy!

Steve Rex