Dirtscrolls

Dirt Rag has been around a long time—22 years and counting, all in the same office. As you can imagine, we have acquired quite a collection of Stuff. Since 1989, we’ve been writing about some of the best and not-so-best mountain bike products ever brought to the market.

During some recent cleaning we came across a box of wonders tucked away in the basement. Some of the items pictured here we can’t even identify. Recognize any of this stuff? Let us know in the comments below! 

Words and photos by Eric McKeegan

Commencal Meta Am

Hot on the heels of last year’s redesigned Supreme DH, the Megavalanche-winning Meta 6 gets a makeover too. The result is the Meta AM. Taking lessons learned from the Supreme’s new linkage, the Meta gets longer, lower and slacker. The pivots have been moved to work in harmony with double cranksets.

By Josh Patterson. Photos by Justin Steiner, Adam Newman and Jon Pratt

By Adam Newman

I know, I know. You’re thinking: Where’s the cable? Well not everyone wants to ride the kind of cable-sprung bike that Slingshot is famous for, so the Michigan-based brand created the DD-M (Double Diamond Mountain, get it?) and built it right there in the Wolverine State.

By Justin Steiner

By Shannon Mominee

The Uvex Supersonic LX helmet features double in-mold technology with twenty-three vents and insect webbing across the front three. The shell looks subtle with no pointy edges. At 285g it’s perfect for everyday trail riding and racing.

By Justin Steiner

A conversation with Warsaw, Missouri’s Mac Vorce

By Peter Hoecker

By Karen Brooks

Marla Streb is a legend. If you don’t know this, you’ve been riding recumbents, or not riding at all. Seriously, she was a dominant force in the downhill scene in the ‘00s (with a couple of Single Speed World Championship titles thrown in), and has a captivating personality. Now, Streb is focusing on family and managing her former race team.

How did you transition from racer to team management?

By Eric McKeegan

Hometown?

Born in Oceanside, Long Island, New York. Lived in Valley Stream, Elmont, Smithtown, Coram, Hauppauge and back to Smithtown – all on Long Island. Then lived in Pickerington, Ohio for the past 14 years.

Current location?

Beautiful Peachtree City, Georgia. It has over 98 miles of paved bike/golf cart/running paths in the community. Nice!

What do you do for/with/to bicycles?

Hometown?

Born in Oceanside, Long Island, New York. Lived in Valley Stream, Elmont, Smithtown, Coram, Hauppauge and back to Smithtown – all on Long Island. Then lived in Pickerington, Ohio for the past 14 years.

Current location?

Beautiful Peachtree City, Georgia. It has over 98 miles of paved bike/golf cart/running paths in the community. Nice!

What do you do for/with/to bicycles?

By Matt Kasprzyk

If your adventures by bike take you to endurance races, or on all-day epic rides, Salsa has designed a bike with you in mind. At first glance, the Spearfish has a very minimalist appearance, but Salsa has some very specific goals for this bike—it’s a well-mannered endurance rig you may actually be able to afford.

Pivot has taken the carbon fiber expertise of their sister road brand BH Bikes and applied it to their popular Mach 5.7 trail bike to create an all-new, full-carbon steed. The hollow box internal molding method allows them to fine tune not just the external but the internal shaping to make the frame both lighter and stronger. The frame weighs in at a claimed 5lbs.

By Eric McKeegan

We first brought you some details a few weeks ago, but between runs in the bike park and XC loops at Lost Lake at Crankworx, I had time to see the 2012 bikes from Rocky Mountian in person, namely their 2012 Element line up in both 26" and 29".

Not quite ready for the house of Elrond, but as ready as I’ll ever be for this particular outing.

By Stephen Haynes

A few weeks ago I set out in the spirit of Bilbo Baggins for a grand adventure of the solo variety. Many wouldn’t see this as a warm up to some greater adventure, let alone an “adventure” in itself, but an adventure it was for me.

As full suspension bikes get more and more complex, getting the proper suspension setup can be tricky. Now Trek is trying to take away some of the strain with an online suspension setup calculator. Just pick the year and model of your bike (Fisher Collection is represented too), type in how much you weigh and it tells you the ideal pressure and rebound settings.

Intense Carbine

By Eric McKeegan

I was in such a hurry to get on this bike and get riding I neglected to get a first impression post written and published. Now that the review is wrapped up and printed, seems like it would proper to write a follow up post about it.

By Maurice Tierney

Felt Bicycles held their 2012 model year press outing in their parking lot in Irvine, CA the other day. I flew down to see what was up. Good to meet the principle people behind the brand, and get a handle on what the company is all about. One thing is for sure, the Felt line is growing. There really is something for everyone, a broad range of bikes at a broad range of pricing. Let’s get started.

By Eric McKeegan

After finishing up at the Norco press camp I stuck around Whistler until the end of Crankworx. I made sure to make a few phone calls beforehand to connect with industry connections that might be showing new product at the show. One of the first to respond was Kona.

By Josh Patterson

The Avita is Kali’s take on an XC/all-mountain helmet. Despite its burly appearance, the Avita is quite breezy—15 forward-facing vents and nine exhaust vents move air through the helmet. A removable, but not adjustable, visor keeps late afternoon glare to a minimum. The shell is constructed from four pieces of in-molded fiberglass.

Bicycle Retailer and Industry News recently put together this map of bike companies’ US headquarters and where their products are made. Obviously not every bike brand has made it onto the map, but it gives you a sense just how much foreign manufacturing is dominating the industry and just how global our economy has become.

By Eric McKeegan

With much anticipation I packed my bags for my flights to Whistler, site of Norco’s 2012 press launch. Riding brand new models on some of the best trails on earth? No need to twist my arm. A full XC and DH kit made for a very full suitcase, but I made it on just under the 50 pound limit.