Eric McKeegan has been promoted to Editorial Commander of Dirt Rag Magazine. McKeegan moves to the top editorial role after five years as Tech Editor for Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times. McKeegan has worked at Rotating Mass Media for 10 years and has a perspective on almost every position on staff. “With his long-standing tenure ...

The Beargrease is Salsa’s trail-oriented fatbike and in 2015, became the brand’s first carbon fatbike. It was designed to be agile, fast and totally singletrack-capable, dispelling the myth that “fatbikes are slow” (yes, they are slower than an XC race bike but quicker than you think if you’ve never ridden one). As the happy owner of ...

This month, the International Mountain Bicycling Association is challenging riders everywhere to get out and ride their local IMBA Epic or nominate their favorite backcountry singletrack ride for this designation. An IMBA Epic is a demanding, mostly-singletrack experience in a relatively-backcountry setting that is at least 20 miles in length. Currently, 37 IMBA Epics can ...

After seven years of annual Dirt Fests at the Allegrippis Trails in Pennsylvania, we hosted our first Dirt Fest West Virginia at Big Bear Trail Center this past July 14-16, and we’re happy to report that it was a rousing success! Big Bear Lake Trail Center proved to be the perfect venue for the event, with ...

Arriving at Paul Camp in Chico, California (Back in May), I was immediately drawn to one particular bike-to-rule-them-all, Travis T’s “Krusty Diamond,” built by Cameron Falconer over in Quincy, California, painted by Russ Picket of Mountain Goat fame, and built with as many California and U.S. made parts as humanly possible. I thought I should find out ...

Welcome to Dirt Rag #200. Two hundred issues: It’s a significant milestone for all of us here at the Rag, and we have you, the reader, to thank. As we flipped through issue after issue looking back at all we’ve done and everywhere we’ve been, it became clear that mountain biking is a joyous community ...

To be honest, when Trek told me, somewhat cryptically, that there were shock updates coming this summer, I was a bit baffled. The regressive valve RE:Aktiv shock, combined with the rest of Trek’s suspension tech, makes for a stellar trail-bike suspension package. I didn’t see a lot of room (or need) for improvement. And also ...

Did Santa Cruz ever expect the Hightower, with its 135 mm of rear travel to become the darling of  hard-charging EWS riders? Did it expect consumers to start experimenting with longer-stroke shocks to bump up travel? Did anyone really expect 2017 to be the summer of 29 inch wheels in gravity events? I can’t really ...

By Zach White  Monster truck. If Dirt Rag would allow for a two-word review, that’d be the summary of Intense’s new 29-inch, 160 mm/155 mm front/rear travel Carbine. From the flashy, neon paint job to the ability to roll right over anything it was pointed at in Sedona, Arizona, last month for the Magura/Intense press ...

A new fork from Otso Cycles boasts the largest tire clearance of any cross/gravel fork and is the next product in the component brand Lithic. Lithic is a project of Otso, with the aim of bringing very specific components to market.  The new Hiili full carbon fiber fork joins the Corundrum drop handlebar and Beryl wheels ...

The hardtail renaissance continues with Niner’s all new SIR 9. Niner bills it as a “do it most” bike, and that sums it up pretty well if you ask me. And if you are reading this, it is easy to assume you are asking me. Some highlights from Niner: Reynolds 853 steel provides the supple, comfortable ...

The Float X was feeling a bit off the back these days. With the DH-worthy Float X2 holding down the gravity racing side of the spectrum, and the newish Float DPS supporting the XC side, the Float X was never a terrible shock, but it felt and looked outdated. It’s large size and barely-accessible rebound ...

Words by Jordan Villella, photos courtesy of Red Bull Media House  Sure, pick the office vegan to go see a flick that involves the words “meat sweats.” Joking aside, I had a great time at Bierport, sharing beers with old friends and catching the premiere of the new Red Bull Media House film, The Cure-All. The ...

The 2018 Marin Wolf Ridge launched at the Sea Otter Classic this past April with the Wolf Ridge Pro at the top of the line and the Wolf Ridge 9 as the less expensive build. Marin just released the details on the last bike in this group, the Wolf Ridge 8, which offers a more ...

The appeal of a 500% gear range with a single derailleur is undeniable for most riders. It was also undeniable that affording either XO1 or XX1 Eagle was out of reach for a large swath of riders. At a complete group cost of approximately $525 (crank, chain, cassette, shifter, derailleur) GX Eagle flys much closer to earth ...

Epic Rides is hosting a fundraiser called Hail the Trails to benefit the trail systems on which the Epic Rides Off Road Series events take place. The public can purchase as many raffle tickets as they’d like at $4 apiece. Each ticket purchased equals an entry into a raffle for one of three bikes, a ...

    NOMAD! Those who pay attention to such things had figured the Nomad was next up for a revamp, as it was looking a little dated in the very competitive all-mountain/enduro category. Drawing from the V10 downhill bike, the new Nomad actuates the shock with the lower link. The rest of the Santa Cruz ...

Ed. Note: Mountain Bike Trailer Park is a regular column written by Uncle Dan that appears monthly on the Dirt Rag Interwebs. If you missed his previous columns, check them out here. Have you had those breaded cauliflower “Buffalo wings” yet?  I first saw them a few months ago at a restaurant. They’re kind of a chicken ...

Two wheel size choices, and stiffer, stronger, lighter. The Session is all new and ready to continue winning World Cups.   The new Session gets longer, lower, stiffer and more adjustable, which is what all updated bikes seem to do these days. The real news is a frameset option for 29 inch wheels. When you ...

We had a blast at Dirt Rag Dirt Fest this year, and we hope you did too! As you go through your photos from the event, don’t forget to submit some to the Stan’s NoTubes Dirt Fest Instagram Contest for your chance to win a wheelset! How does it work? Follow @stansnotubes on Instagram Post ...

Pivot Cycles was launched in 2007 with the aluminum Mach 4 and 5. According to founder and chief engineer Chris Cocalis this new trail bike builds on that original legacy, one of constantly innovating. The brand’s first carbon bike was the Mach 5.7. “In 2011 we launched Mach 5.7 Carbon as a 2012 product and ...

Terrene Tires, a new rider-owned company that launched last fall, just released their fifth tire model, the McFly. The McFly is a versatile all terrain tire with a 2.8 width platform. Continuing with its goal of bringing to market a complete line of bike tires, Terrene is expanding on its current lineup of mountain, gravel ...

The Sacred Rides Getaways Program was launched last fall as a way for mountain bikers who are passionate about guiding rides and showing people their home trails to lead trips under the Sacred Rides umbrella. For an annual membership fee, guides have access to Sacred Rides resources, including leadership training, marketing tools and a booking ...

Liv Cycling launched the “How We Liv” campaign for 2017, inviting women to become part of a rapidly-growing global community by sharing moments and experiences from their cycling lives. “How We Liv” represents an everyday mantra for a lifestyle where bikes bring people closer to one another, nature and themselves.  Launched in 2014, Liv is a cycling brand completely dedicated to ...

Dirt Rag 198 is all about backyard adventure and urban singletrack, riding from your back door, whether it’s for an hour or a few days. Get a sneak peek at what’s inside, and order your copy now! For this issue, we’ve also launched our new Dirt Rag Magazine app for an improved digital magazine experience. Cover ...

For 2017, Bontrager has added new Trail and XC wheelset options at an affordable price point. Line Pro 30 TLR Line Elite 30 TLR Line Comp 30 TLR Kovee Elite 23 TLR $1,200 $600 $300 $700 27.5” – 1539g 29” – 1608g 27.5” – 1708g 29” – 1794g 27.5” – 1978g 29” – 2080g 27.5” ...

The number of companies making kid-specific bikes is continuously growing. Rather than simply seeing smaller (yet heavy) versions of adult bikes with cheap components, we are starting to notice a movement towards high quality rigs for kids. There were several new brands and models at Sea Otter this year. Prevelo Prevelo launched just two weeks before ...

It’s no secret that drop bar gravel riding and racing is hitting its stride and that’s even more apparent by the influx of custom bikes popping up within the bike industry. While most if not all production versions resemble cyclocross bikes rather than mountain bikes, clever insiders are pushing the concept of making custom, more ...

Marin promised something truly new when the invite went out to attend a pre-Sea Otter media camp. The Wolf Ridge delivers on that. Using the NAILED R3ACT-2 PLAY suspension design, Marin claims to have created a 160 mm-travel 29er that pedals and handles well enough to be the “one bike” to ride anywhere and everywhere. ...

The Sea Otter Classic is more than just a mecca for bikes. Going out and finding those non-bike items is one of my personal goals. DRINKTANKS offers two sizes of growlers; a 64oz and a 128oz. They are double wall insulated, come in multiple color choices and they offer a Keg Cap Accessory Kit. The kit comes with a ...

Issue 198 of Dirt Rag is now available in the NEW Dirt Rag Magazine app in the Apple iTunes store! We released Issue 198 early to celebrate the Sea Otter Classic. So head on over to the app store and download the all new Dirt Rag Magazine app onto your phone to read on the ...

Wolf Tooth’s B-RAD, aka Be-Rad or Bottle Relocation and Accessory Device, is a versatile system for organizing your water bottles and other essentials using bottle cage mounts. The system is built on three different mounting bases of varying sizes. The B-RAD 2 simply allows you to move a bottle cage to an optimal position on ...

When you’re lost in the rain in Juarez And it’s Easter time, too And your gravity fails And negativity don’t pull you through —Bob Dylan, “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” I like getting lost. Maybe that statement needs some clarification. Not lost like “starve to death in an old school bus” lost. More like I ...

Kona knocked it out of the park with the Honzo CR Trail DL. Featuring a stealth matte black finish, aggressive all-mountain geometry and a reasonably lightweight package, this Honzo is a grand slam. It took all but five minutes on my initial ride to develop an attachment, which quickly led to confirming with our Tech Editor ...

  The Pike sits up there with the original RS-1 and Marzocchi Z1 as a fork the changed the way we ride bikes. But even great things can get better and it was time for some updates and RockShox doesn’t seem to disappoint here. Pike With the Lyrik taking over the longer travel duties, the ...

Access4Bikes and Specialized are giving away a 2017 S-Works Stumpjumper to support trail access in the birthplace of mountain biking, Marin County, California. A $10 donation gets you a chance to win a top-of-the-line Stumpjumper in your choice of 29” or 27.5” wheels, valued at $8500. The S-Works build comes with a Sram Eagle drivetrain ...

This year marks three decades in the bike-building business for Devinci. And as they throttle it into their dirty thirties, they’re partying like it’s 1987 with a limited-edition rollout of an extra-retro experiment: The YYZ. “One of our long-lost designers came up with the original XYZ mountain bike design,” says Steve Mitchell, renowned bike collector ...

We know the bike and the rider aren’t the only components for an exhilarating ride – it takes some great trails, too – and that’s why the work of trail builders is so important. The spectacular and rugged trails in Northwest Arkansas are among the best in the world because of the skilled riders who ...

Words and photos by Zach White Age:42 x Height: 6’2″ x Weight: 200 lbs. x Inseam: 32” “Hey man, sweet bike!” As a bike whore, er, “product reviewer,” I get an interesting perspective on brands and their reputation. There are times when I’ll ride a completely dialed and worthy bike for months on trails shotgunned ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Jim Iannazzi of Indiana, PA! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Win a Zoic Empire Jersey, Gloves and Water Bottle. Enter to win below. Dominate spring riding with The Empire Prize Package from ZOIC! Stake your claim as the master of your domain in the Empire Jersey ($65 ...

Dirt Rag is headed to the West Virginia Mountain Bike Association (WVMBA) cross-country and enduro events at Big Bear Lake Trail Center on April 29-30, 2017. The Big Bear trails are staff favorites, and we can’t wait to kick off Big Bear’s 2017 season in style. We’ll be sending our fast kids out to race cross-country ...

Words and photos by Jeffrey Stern Hoo-Koo-E-Koo. The first time I read that Miwok Indian named fire road on my Tamalpais trails map I fell in love. With the letters, how they flowed like the purest of singletrack sections into one beautiful word – and a beautiful trail at that. Cutting across the mid-section of ...

Trail Boss is a video series produced by Jeff Lenosky and documents his attempts to ride some of the most technical trails he can find. A veteran rider with a 20-year professional career and three Observed Trials U.S. National Championships to his name, Lenosky uses his skills to ride the unrideable. In Jeff’s latest episode ...

Our current issue of Dirt Rag Magazine is all about the van life. Inside the covers, four different van-dwellers tell their tales and tell us about their experiences with the nomadic lifestyle. This lifestyle comes in many forms. Some people straight up live in a vehicle, on the road. For others, it’s a distraction for a few ...

Words by Russ Risdon When I think of Valdez, I visualize steep, backcountry lines accessed by Heli drop for snowboarders and skiers. It is on the top of every adrenaline junkie’s tick list. When I received an email inviting me to come to a festival and ride those same infamous passes on a fat bike, ...

Look! A new bike release without mention of plus tires! Or even 29ers. Just good-old 27.5 Minion tires in the ever popular 2.35 width on all models. While the Lefty is gone, along with the weird pull-shock from previous Trigger and Jekyll models, don’t let the conservative take on wheels and tires and missing propriety ...

Tester: Mike Cushionbury Lezyne has been touting its entrance into the GPS market for quite some time and with good reason. The avant-garde pump, tool and accessory maker has released a smart looking, useful and easy to use 76 gram GPS. All the important features are here starting with a chip that combines GPS and ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Brandy Smith of Guymon, OK! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended.   Thule has partnered with us to give one winner a Thule DoubleTrack Pro 2-bike hitch rack! Enter to win below. Lightweight, platform hitch bike rack that is perfect for a variety of bikes, keeping them ...

By Jordan Villella This morning I awoke to my social feed flooded with posts and remembrances of Steve Tilford, shock and sadness filled my mind. It’s hard comprehend giving kudos to someone for a ride and the next day hear of their passing. Tilford was 59 and just starting to race again after a serious ...

Ed. Note: Mountain Bike Trailer Park is a regular column written by Uncle Dan that appears monthly on the Dirt Rag Interwebs. If you missed his previous columns, check them out here.  My wife grumbles as the alarm sounds. It’s Saturday and she wants to sleep a little longer. She rolls away on her side ...

Words by Jeffrey Stern. Photos via blackriver.  On a brisk spring morning we navigated our rental van from Chicago to Madison in search of the best charcuterie we could find, rolling country farm roads and more information on the mythical blackriver—the ultimate place to create, find and share cycling experiences, or so we’d heard. We ...

Tester: Mike Cushionbury × Age: 47 × Height: 5’10” × Weight: 155 lbs. × Inseam: 32” One thing is for certain, the new Viral Skeptic is not your ordinary hardtail. And before you get huffy about that weird looking black box nestled in the bottom bracket junction, it’s not an electric motor but a 12-speed ...

CycloFemme is a grassroots organization of women on bikes, created in 2012 by Sarai Snyder of Girl Bike Love, and Tanya Quick and Jenn Cash of Language Dept. The socially-driven, volunteer-based community works to empower women and girls through cycling in order to create social change. CycloFemme hosts an annual ride, which takes place on Mother’s ...

Eric Porter has spent 15 years traveling the world in search of beautiful trails. But his favorite spot is Alaska, and he’s returned to ride a ridgeline that has been on his mind since his last visit. After waiting for storms to pass for days, a break in the weather finally allowed Porter to hike-a-bike ...

Funk Cycles was born in 1988 as the brainchild of Darryl Funk, whose passion lies in rethinking the status quo and creating bikes that are outside of the box. Starting out in aluminum when most of the industry was still using exclusively steel, and then moving on to titanium, Funk’s flagship design deviates from the norm ...

Words by Mike Cushionbury. Photos by Sterling Lorence. As I trudged up a 45-minute hike-a-bike, less than 1 mile into the “ride” I looked back at Giant Factory racer Adam Craig and sarcastically said, “This is awesome.” Shortly after that I pulled to the left and let him pass. We were less than an hour ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Christopher Worrell of Yellow Springs, OH! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Win a pair of Five Ten Hellcat shoes! Enter to win below. The 2017 Hellcat is a lighter and lower-profile version of our classic Hellcat. Its upper is a combination of leather and synthetic for durability and breathability. ...

Recently NPR came up with a social media campaign with the hashtag #trypod in an attempt to make people curious enough to give podcasts a try. We want to help combat “podcast unawareness” (even amongst our own staff!) so I asked the Dirt Rag team to send me their favorite podcasts. I hope this list inspires ...

The National Ultra Endurance (NUE) series is dedicated to 100 mile and 100 kilometer mountain bike racing. With over a dozen races across the United States and a newly added race in Costa Rica, both professional and amateur athletes alike have been chasing the series title since its birth in 2006. For 2017, the NUE ...

It’s spring! Maybe you’re getting back out there after being on the trainer all winter, or maybe you’re pulling the bike out of the shed after a period of dormancy. Maybe you’ve been riding all winter long and your bike has collected salt and grit from sloppy, slushy roads and trails. Whatever your situation is, ...

Tester: Eric McKeegan × Age: 42 × Height: 5’11” × Weight: 165 lbs. × Inseam: 32” This bike seems to speak to a lot of riders on an almost genetic level. Perhaps it is because BMX bikes are buried deep in the DNA of every mountain bike and every mountain biker. How do I know ...

For more than a decade, the Ride Centers and Epics designated through the Model Trails program have become iconic mountain bike destinations that influence communities across the country and the world to raise the bar on great places to ride. “It was time for IMBA to evolve its Model Trails program to mirror the evolution ...

Get your copy now! Cover Illustration: #vanlife by John Ritter Columns and Readings Our columnist Rebecca Rusch muses on cycling storytelling with former Secretary of State John Kerry and his unwavering love of riding his bike beginning as a kid and continuing to this day. In Dog’s Bollix new columnist Simon Stewart tells a tale ...

Words by Jeffrey Stern No longer a fad, but a full blown discipline covering a wide range of mixed surfaces such as dirt, sand, pothole-littered pavement, grass and of course, gravel. Events are springing up across the country featuring long courses, winding through relatively untraveled roads in the most remote corners of states. Gravel grinding, ...

The 56-year-old Frenchman reached 141.498 mph on a speed snow track in Vars, France, smashing his own previous record of 138.75 mph.

The series kicks off July 15-16 at Angel Fire Resort in Angel Fire, NM; travels to Powderhorn Mountain Resort outside of Grand Junction, Colo. August 5-6; features new, never-raced trails in Steamboat Springs (Enduro-X) September 9-10; and wraps up the season with the two biggest backcountry enduros of the year—The Whole Enchilada in Moab, Utah ...

Mulberry Gap Mountain Bike Get-A-Way lies in the Chattahoochee National Forest within northwest Georgia. It was initially built as a family retreat, but when the current owners stumbled upon the property they had to take a closer look. Once the tour was given, there was no turning back. They purchased the land in fall of ...

Liv Cycling is inviting female riders to enjoy an exclusive trail session alongside their athletes and ambassadors as they take over one of Skyline Rotorua’s most-exciting trails during Crankworx. Following the success of the A-Line Women’s Only Session held annually at Crankworx Whistler, Liv is expanding the Women’s Only Session across the globe. From 9:00am ...

Ed. Note: MTBTP (Mountain Bike Trailer Park) is a regular column written by Uncle Dan that appears monthly on the Dirt Rag Interwebs. If you missed his previous columns, check them out here.    A three dollar pen. Three dollars for chrissakes! For a cheap, red plastic clicky-top pen at the airport newsstand. The four ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Neil Aiello of South Plainfield, NJ ! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. SR Suntour has partnered with us to give one lucky winner a Auron 34 or Auron 35 RC2 PCS  suspension fork! Enter to win below.       Auron 34 or Auron 35 RC2 PCS– ...

Words by Zach White, photos by Gary Perkin MSRP $2,000 (R Kit) Sizes S, M, L(tested), XL Available Now As the name suggests, Santa Cruz’s Chameleon has historically been a frame that’s adapted to various riding styles quite well. Over the years, I’ve seen them built up as dirt jumpers, singlespeed trail bikes, freeride hardtails, ...

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame was started in 1988 as a way of chronicling the history of mountain biking and recognizing those individuals who have made a significant impact on the sport. Each year, an average of three to seven people are inducted. The Hall of Fame was formerly housed in Crested Butte, Colorado, but in 2014 it ...

Words and photos by Zach White Michelin’s mountain bike program has been busy in the last few years creating and fine-tuning four new tire models that multiply to a total model count of sixteen new products when the various wheel sizes and widths are thrown into the count. While the Jet XCR, Force XC, Force ...

I think today more than ever, it’s easy to get caught up in the belief that our own lives are mundane. The internet constantly throws articles about traveling to far-off lands in our faces. Instagram makes it easier than ever to see a lot of beautiful people doing amazing things. Every single day, our news feeds are ...

There was no shortage of cool bikes to be seen at NAHBS this year. While it’s impossible for me to pick my absolute favorite, there are definitely a number that I noticed and appreciated for one reason or another. Here are just a few of them, with more to come. Oddity Cycles I really liked all ...

Words and photo by Christopher Klibowitz It was my first “real” bike, bought not too long after I started working at the shop. It was between this and the Trek 6000. I really wanted the Homegrown, with the bass boat paintjob, but couldn’t afford it. The second day I had it, I fell over in ...

Hello from Salt Lake City! We’re here at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, checking out some highly unique and interesting bikes and bike-related things from builders around the country and world. This is personally my first time at the show, but it’s been one that I’ve been hearing about for the past several years. ...

Wheel sizes, tire sizes, suspension travel, frame material, suspension design, so many damn choices. And that is just from a single company. Add in everyone else making kick-ass bikes these days and it gets hard to think. How did we end up here? I’ve been thinking it is a case of deferred maintenance. Let me ...

Words and photos by Jeff Archer Industry 9 has a place in the history of cycling because of the wheels and hubs it has produced for the past decade, but it goes deeper than that through its parent company, Turnamics Inc. in Asheville, North Carolina. Turnamics produced some of the parts for the original RockShox ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Dan Chen of Santa Cruz, CA ! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Make your bike glow and enter to win a Ergon GA2 Laser Lemon Grips and SMA3 Laser Lemon Saddle. Glow with the Flow! The times when black and white defined your life were yesterday. If ...

Words and photos by Zach White There’s a big part of me that wants to give REEB a huge middle finger of a review due to the simple fact that there was no Oskar Blues beer offered while picking up or dropping off our REEBdonkadonk loaner at their bike-and-taco shop, CyleHops CANtina (Editor’s Note: This ...

Words by Trey Richardson. Photos by Mike Cushionbury and David Wiltshire. A former mountain bike pro for the Giant Mid-Atlantic Pro Cycling Team turned mad scientist, Matt Miller took his hands-on racing experience and conjured up an idea that, quite honestly, both he and I couldn’t believe hadn’t been done before … and not just ...

New Stuff for your approval, early March edition. The springtime release of new products has begun and things got hot and heavy the last few weeks. Here is a digest of a few noteworthy new product releases. Shimano Deore group and SLX 11-46 cassette In a somewhat surprising move, Shimano released a new Deore group. ...

Trail Boss is a video series produced by Jeff Lenosky and documents his attempts to ride some of the most technical trails he can find. A veteran rider with a 20-year professional career and three Observed Trials U.S. National Championships to his name, Lenosky uses his skills to ride the unrideable. In his latest episode, ...

Two new organizations, Trips for Kids and Little Bellas, have joined the program for 2017 while the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) and the Amy D. Foundation both return as beneficiaries. BikeFlights.com has also increased its fundraising commitment for 2017 to $10,000. “Giving back has always been important to us at BikeFlights.com,” said William Alcorn, ...

Wisconsin is not the sort of place from which you’d expect to receive a package of riding apparel that also included warm and sunny February weather to facilite testing. But, lucky me, that’s exactly what happened when UPS delivered a selection of Bontrager’s 2017 spring/summer mountain bike apparel. Magically, Pittsburgh experienced a series of sunny(ish) days that ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Ryan Ivie of Phoenix, AZ ! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Pearl Izumi has partnered with us to give one winner a pair of X-Project ELITE mountain bike shoes. Enter to win below. Riding your mountain bike occasionally involves something none of us love talking ...

Words and photos by Zach White Ask anyone who’s ridden a fat bike in snow, and if they’re the honest type, they’ll tell you how finicky the bikes are about conditions. Specifically, if the snow isn’t hardpacked, riding will be difficult, if not impossible. On soft, ungroomed trail, front tires don’t offer much float or ...

Created for all women who love mountain biking, the Bell Joy Ride program continues its mission with the addition of six new ambassadors and four new regions. “In only the first year of the program, everyone involved at Bell has been amazed by the dedication, growth and enthusiasm of the Joy Ride ambassadors,” said Heather ...

The Trek Fuel EX 7 exceeds the price limit of our $2,500 Trail Bike round up by a measly hundred bucks, but we decided it was so well spec’d that we couldn’t pass it up. For the current generation, Trek increased the Fuel EX to 130 mm of travel, giving it more aggressive trail geometry. ...

Words by Scott Williams Frozen Fat is a fat-bike-only weekend held in Huntingdon, PA, or more simply, Central Pennsylvania. As evident as it may appear from the event title, I would be willing to bet there are quite a few individuals who ask, “Do I need a fat bike?” The short answer is no, but ...

Wolf Tooth Components is always coming out with interesting products designed to make the experience of riding a bike better and more fun, and that focus on reliability, functionality, and performance. Here are some of their latest product releases: GCX46 This is a 46-tooth cog that replaces the 42-tooth on SRAM’s XX1 and X01 cassettes with ...

I came really close to bailing on the ride. I felt overwhelmed with stuff to get done. It was a dreary day. I was tired. Maybe I’d just take a nap and then spend the evening at home packing for my upcoming trip, getting ahead with work, and cleaning my mess of a house. But ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Greg Jablonski of Grand Blanc, MI ! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Who wants to start their spring off with a new wheelset?! Stans No Tubes has partnered with us to give one winner a Crest MK3 wheelset. Enter to win below.   Wider and even lower profile, ...

Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) is an overarching parent company behind brands such as Salsa, Surly, All City, Foundry, and Civia. They also work as distributors for a host of other companies, acting as the middleman between brands and bike shops. Every February, QBP hosts Frostbike, an industry trade show in their headquarters in Bloomington, Minnesota (just ...

At $1,499 the 27.5 Hawk Hill may be the lowest-priced bike in our upcoming group test of under-$2,500 full-suspension trail bikes, but it’s far from overmatched. Judicious use of house-branded components keeps the budget tight, without cutting corners on important bits such as the Shimano Deore Shadow Plus derailleur, Shimano hydraulic disc brakes and high-quality ...

As stated in the Trek blog, “There’s something undeniably cool about a high school mountain bike team, something that separates it from more traditional sports teams like football, wrestling, and soccer. The great distinguisher, perhaps, is that mountain biking doesn’t end with graduation. It knows no age limit. At Corner Canyon, the team has more ...

Harlan Price has been contributing to DirtRag for over a decade through articles and has coordinated the skills area and MTB clinics at Dirt Fest for the past five. A former professional photographer turned professional racer, Harlan owns and runs TakeAim Cycling, a MTB skills company putting on camps and clinics throughout the east coast. ...

Check out this preview of Danny MacAskill‘s summit attempt of 19,000’ Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Stay tuned for the conclusion and the full video this May! Find more from Danny MacAskill here.

Words by Adam Hunt, photos courtesy of Stan Cohen “The bicycle has a number of advantages over the horse, it does not require as much care, it needs no forage, it moves much faster over fair roads…it is noiseless and raises but little dust, and it is impossible to determine its direction from its tracks… ...

Words and photos by Zach White It seemed fitting to have a budget-oriented fat bike show up at the doorstep the day after getting back from riding a handful of various all-carbon, high-end fat bikes in Crested Butte during Fat Bike World Championships. Pedaling $5000+ fat bikes around in big, mellow, snowy loops at a ...

A couple years ago, Salsa introduced the Deadwood, a steel 29plus drop bar touring bike. It was produced in limited numbers, we heard about it for a little while, and then it disappeared. Now, it looks like Deadwood is back, but in a much different form. The drop bars are gone, steel has been replaced ...

Words and photo by Burt Hoovis  For those of us who enjoy beer, there very well could be no better time to be alive than right now. It seems like every town with more than one traffic control device has a brewpub, and most are putting out very respectable products. While there are plenty of microbreweries, few can ...

The International Mountain Bicycling Association has just announced that Dave Wiens will be taking the position of Executive Director. Leslie Kehmeier caught up with Dave during his previous role as Chairman of the organization’s Board of Directors, a role to which he was elected this past November. This interview was also published in our latest issue, ...

I don’t often post videos. I don’t think I’ve ever posted a teaser vid. I’m making an exception here. Why? I’ve been on top of Texas Peak. I’ve stayed at Retallack. I may have ridden some of the trails in the upcoming video. I know the guy who wrote and directed this. And Graham Agassiz ...

“Our mission has always been to advance women’s cycling while also racing at the highest level,” said Stan’s/Kenda Women’s Elite Team Co-Manager Jennifer Smith. “We are rider owned and operated and represent a powerful combination of professionalism and passion for cycling.” Fellow Co-Manager Sarah Kaufmann said, “We are proud of the longevity of our team ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Aaron Timman of McCordsville, IN! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Win a ZOIC Empire Jersey and Beta Shorts with Liner for men or Jerra Jersey and Navaeh Shorts with Liner for women. Score yourself a new men’s or women’s mountain biking outfit from the ZOIC 2017 Collection, ...

The collection includes a new Phoenix Team Carbon Handlebar, Phoenix Team Enduro/Trail Stem, Phoenix Team XC/Trail Stem, Phoenix Team PadLoc Grips, and a Phoenix Team Carbon Seatpost. The system is meant to augment the company’s industry-leading standard of frame stiffness and ride quality, and allow riders to further upgrade their cycling experience by eliminating the problems ...

Words by William O’Connor, photos by Michal Dzikowski This story begins at my house, in a small village in the west of Ireland where bank holiday weekend biking plans are being made. My usual plan involves packing a van, a motorway dash, service station food and a late night drive home. Our rule of thumb ...

Ed. Note: MTBTP (Mountain Bike Trailer Park, not Toilet Paper) is a regular column written by Uncle Dan that appears monthly on the Dirt Rag Interwebs. If you missed his previous columns, check them out here.  I have eSAD. That is, end-of season-affective disorder. Okay, maybe that’s not an actual disorder. Maybe I made it ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Vladimir Capka of Arlington, MA! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended. Win a Sunrace CSMX8 11-46 11 speed cassette and a DLMX30 11 speed rear trigger shifter. Shift it like you mean it, enter to win below.   The Sunrace CSMX8 11-46 11 speed cassette will fit on a ...

“I’ve crisscrossed the globe as a competitor for many years, but I rarely ventured beyond the mountain resorts that the contests were held in,” says Geoff. He decided to make it a point to escape the industry bubble and get out in the world more, and he wanted to motivate others to step out of their ...

Words & photo by Burt Hoovis Being the good wife she is, Mrs. Hoovis recently came home with several new and interesting varieties from her trip to the local beer monger. Among them was Contact High from 4 Hands Brewing in St. Louis, Missouri. Right off the bat, there were several reasons that I didn’t ...

The Bicycle Academy is a frame-building school in Somerset, England. Recently, they have started a series of events called Old Skool x New Skool, a collaboration between frame-building veterans and a new wave of builders shaping the future of bicycle making. This video documents Tom Ritchey’s visit to the Academy in September 2016 to spend ...

This new event will take place at Big Bear Lake Trail Center, near Bruceton Mills, WV, July 14-16, 2017. Pivot Cycles is very excited to be such a big part of yet another big east-coast event. Carla McCord, Marketing Manager of Pivot, says it’s great to see more and more events like this pop up in the east, ...

Davison has been on the upswing lately, earning a silver medal at the 2016 world championships in Czech Republic, and competing in the Olympics for the United States a second time. She is also an eight-time U.S. National Champion and has been a Clif Bar sponsored athlete – albeit on another trade team – for the ...

Dirt Rag Dirt Fest Pennsylvania has a renewed focus on getting new riders into the sport of mountain biking, and we are very happy to once again partner with SRAM, who have been a huge supporter of women’s events in previous years. Leigh Donovan and her team at ichoosebikes will also be returning to teach women’s-specific skills ...

Thank you to everyone who participated in the year-end survey this past December! We figured maybe some of our readers would be curious about who some of our other readers are, and lots of people like to geek out over stats (myself included), so here are the results to a few of the questions we ...

The Sun Valley Bike Festival will be taking place June 29-July 2 in Sun Valley, Idaho. It’s a celebration of life on two wheels, including races, group rides, clinics, and demos. There will also be live music and plenty to do in town during the festival. Sun Valley boasts over 400 miles of singletrack, including some ...

For its eighth year, the event will be returning to its original location, Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, Colorado. The main highlight of the weekend is a women’s-only race that caters to every skill and experience level, from pro racers to those who have never tried a race before. But this weekend is not only ...

This May, Dirt Rag Dirt Fest will be celebrating its eighth year, and Pivot Cycles will be returning for its third year as presenting sponsor. “Dirt Fest is an amazing weekend that truly offers the best in good vibes and great trails. It’s a can’t-miss event!” says Carla McCord, Marketing Manager of Pivot. “We are ...

She’ll still be riding, but as she puts it, now she “just wants to have fun and share her passion with as many people as possible.” Anne-Caroline Chausson, aka Anne-Caro, or simply ACC, has been racing mountain bikes, and winning, since the early-90s. Amongst her list of awards are 19 World Championship wins, several World ...

She will oversee the online platforms for both Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times magazines and their growing portfolio of events.  Kotala has a degree in Geography, but as a senior in college, she decided to pursue her passion for writing. Around the same time, she rekindled her love for cycling, adding yet another activity to ...

“As our first carbon fiber frame, the EPO continues our tradition of making bikes that we want to ride,” said Lance Canfield, co-owner and designer. “And that includes hardtail 29ers that are as much fun pointed downhill and in the air as the are efficient on the way up. And with the EPO’s carbon frame, ...

The mission of the LadiesAllRide program is to grow the presence of women in mountain bike communities across the nation (and world) through fun, educational skills camps. Bringing ladies together to enhance their mountain bike skills also helps them use riding as a tool to enhance their lives. As Director of Inspiration for LadiesAllRide, Lindsey ...

Those year-end best-of and retrospective top-10 lists have become as much a part of the week between Christmas and the New Year as returning unwanted girts and trying to look productive while sitting at work. We figure you deserve some Dirt Rag in your year-end reading lists, so behold 2016’s ten most popular stories on ...

Our friends from up north, Rocky Mountain, recently let us know they’ve added a new fat bike weapon to the company’s arsenal. The Suzi Q, as it’s called, is a fat bike with…as the name hints…a narrower Q-factor and other notable features in an effort to deliver a more comfortable and efficient fat bike than ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Jason Yowell of Frostburg, MD! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended.   Our annual reader survey offers you the chance to win a 2017 Scott Spark 930. Welcome to the Dirt Rag year-end survey sweepstakes! This information will help us better serve you with great content. Your answers ...

Originally launched in 2013, the VIDA MTB Series has evolved into, “a full-fledged movement of women who are shifting the paradigm of what it means to be a female rider.” Taking place in and around the Rockies, the VIDA MTB Series provides clinics that focus on just about every aspect of mountain biking, from skills ...

photos by the author and 45NRTH It is December. In some parts of the U.S. that means a relief from the heat. In other parts, such as Crosby, Minnesota, it can be dangerously cold. That doesn’t stop a lot of us from riding, and 45NRTH is working to make everyone more comfortable when out in ...

All of the handmade, drool-worthy bicycles are back for another year when the North American Handmade Bicycle Show drops the curtain at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City March 10th through the 12th. In its 13th year, NAHBS is the show to attend if you want to look at (and maybe even ...

Editor’s note: This story by Elizabeth & Lee Klevens first appeared in Dirt Rag Issue #156, published in May 2011. Like many fellow mountain bikers, we enjoy a good post-ride beer. While old favorites and standbys are fine, discovering a new gem to share is always good. Throughout the years, we have discovered some great ...

The Dirty Kanza 200 is known as one of the first endurance gravel races in the world. It’s also known as one of the most challenging. Sending competitors out on the rugged, remote and soul-crushing dirt and gravel roads through the Flint Hills region of Kansas, the Dirty Kanza sells out all of its racer ...

Like any good event, TSEpic is evolving, and for the better. Last year the event moved from seven days to five, making it much more manageable for those with limited vacation days. In 2017 the race will run over the Memorial Day weekend. TSEpic says: “You should be the first to know we’re shaking things up ...

By Watts Dixon Illustration by Stephen Haynes He’d been walking around the shop for 15 minutes or so, silently taking everything in. Occasionally he’d stop and examine a particular bike … squeezing a brake or running a hand across the tread of a tire … staring fixedly at a fork crown … or absently at ...

Advocacy work isn’t often fun or compelling reading. But it is important. Vitally important. Which is why we went to the IMBA World Summit. There is much to talk about from the summit, but since we all know most of us riders won’t want to read about the nitty-gritty, I’m going to hit you with a ...

Words by Trey Richardson Photos by Mike Cushionbury and David Wltshire A former mountain bike pro for the Giant Mid-Atlantic Pro Cycling Team turned mad scientist, Matt Miller took his hands-on racing experience and conjured up an idea that, quite honestly, both he and I couldn’t believe hadn’t been done before … and not just ...

Contest ended. Congrats to Lee Lewis of Livermore, CA! We’re sorry The promotion you are trying to access has ended.   This Syncros kit will get you dialed for the days ahead. The Syncros XR 1.0 carbon saddle is super light and super comfortable for miles on the trail. There’s also a Matchbox Tailor cage, ...

To further the success and growth of Dirt Rag Dirt Fest and Bicycle Times Adventure Fest, Rotating Mass Media (RMM)—the parent company of Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times magazines—has hired Evan Gross to be a full-time events coordinator. Gross has long been RMM’s man on the ground in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, successfully leading the organization of ...

Press release from QBP The Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) Women’s Bike Mechanic Scholarship Program is back for its fourth year. QBP and its sponsors are pleased to offer 16 scholarships for an all-women’s class of Professional Repair and Shop Operations at UBI. The scholarship was created with the recognition that the bike industry needs to ...

At Interbike 2016, 30 representatives from 11 U.S. cycling organizations joined together to launch the Youth Cycling Alliance. They discussed how to work more cooperatively to enhance and expand youth cycling programming across the country, including identifying opportunities for strengthening partnerships and aligning programming efforts. Engaging women, kids, minorities, physically challenged individuals and underserved populations were ...

A few months ago, WTB teamed up with the Semper Fi Fund to bring a group of service members out to a private ranch in Novato, California, for a weekend of railing berms, drifting corners and heckling with Mark Weir and Jason Moeschler. [Don’t miss our interview with two of the Marines who attended.] WTB’s ...

Our annual Personality Issue is now available in print! Flip through its pages to find out what Floyd Landis (yeah, that one), a leopard print-clad Sue Haywood and Ray Petro of Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park are up to these days. Our editors also tested a bunch of new bikes and bike racks, and picked ...

Twenty-five dollars is, what, one week of fancy-pants lattes? We’re not going to hate on coffee but we think that cash can go a lot farther. Snag a one-year/7-issue subscription to Dirt Rag magazine in print (great for bathrooms and sharing with riding buddies!) and you’ll get our limited-edition Fink 89 T-shirt. And, yeah, we ...

Stans NoTubes is launching a new series of wheelsets called S1, designed to offer a more cost-conscious offering in its lineup that already includes carbon and high-end alloy rims. All S1 wheelsets will retail for $455. The focus of the S1 series is strength and durability. The deeper profile and thicker walls of the new S1 ...

Pivot’s full-suspension “race” bike, the Mach 429SL carbon, has been updated for 2017. It’s not plus (but it does have a Boost rear); it’s not even 27.5. This carbon bike has 100 mm of suspension front and rear and—gasp—29-inch wheels.   The Mach 429SL is spec’d with the Fox Float Dual Piston System (DPS) shock custom ...

Press Release from IMBA: The board of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) announced [August 30] that it has accepted the resignation of Mike Van Abel as the Executive Director of IMBA, effective September 2, 2016. IMBA’s board is working to select a permanent replacement for the position. “Mike has been an outstanding steward for IMBA ...

Weighing in at 520g (including remote and cable) and available in 30.9 or 31.6 mm diameter options, the Koryak adjustable alloy seat post offers 120 mm of smooth non-indexed travel for on-the-fly adjustability. Cable routing is internal and set up using Shimano’s OPTISLICK cables for optimum performance in dirt and mud. Two lever options are available, a regular up/down lever which ...

Rocky Mountain has brought back the Slayer, this time as an all-carbon machine with 170 mm front / 165 mm rear suspension and 27.5 wheels designed for enduro racing, bike parks and big mountains. It’s another entry in the almost-a-downhill-bike-but-can-still-climb category. Rocky Mountain’s four-bar Smoothlink suspension has been tuned to eat up rough terrain and ...

Jamis has expanded its lineup of hardtail plus bikes in both unisex and women’s-specific models. The new Dragon, Komodo and Eden Series bikes are designed for trail riding with 120 mm forks, slackened geometry, short rear ends and 3-inch tires. The Dragon Series is made of Reynolds 520 steel and has been expanded to six models (four unisex ...

Canfield Brothers released a new pedal in their thinner-than-thin Crampon line, the Mountain. The Mountain pedals are a melding of the Classic, which appeared in 2011, and the newer Ultimate pedals. The Mountains have the same 6 mm leading edge as seen on the Ultimates, but feature a full-length axle that is 4 mm wider than the ...

The DBCoil [IL] is a high performance, non-piggyback, coil shock aimed squarely at the trail bike market. Cane Creek describes its features thusly: • Twin-Tube Design. -Setting the DBcoil[IL] apart, oil circulates continuously through externally adjustable shock valves. On the trail, this routing of oil translates into less fade, more control, and greater consistency making it ...

I’ve been riding with a set of Face GX cycling glasses from Ryders Eyewear for a while and felt it was about time I shared my experiences with them, with you. Besides fitting great (fit is always subjective) these unique glasses have several features that are worth discussing in detail. First, and most importantly, the lenses. The ...

The new Pivot Firebird features some of the longest reach measurements on a bike in this category, combined with super-short 16.95-inch chainstays, 65-degree head angle, 170 mm of suspension, Boost spacing, and clearance for 27.5 wheels with tires up to 2.5 inches wide. The carbon frame can reportedly be built up with a weight of less than 28 pounds. ...

The market expansion of plus-size trail hardtails with don’t-need-to-mortgage-the-house prices continues with the new Rocky Mountain Growler, a 120 mm, 27 plus hardtail. All models feature an aluminum frame, 1×11 gearing and 3-inch WTB Ranger tires. None of the models get a dropper post, womp womp, even though the top-end price point of this bike is comparable ...

Ed note: This is part of our initial bike test of three new hardtails introduced at QBP Saddle Drive 2016, each shod with 27plus tires: the aluminum Salsa Timberjack, carbon Salsa Woodsmoke and steel Surly Karate Monkey. Despite their obvious differences, we will draw some comparisons and distinctions among the three, so make sure to ...

Ed note: This is part of our initial bike test of three new hardtails introduced at QBP Saddle Drive 2016, each shod with 27plus tires: the aluminum Salsa Timberjack, carbon Salsa Woodsmoke and steel Surly Karate Monkey. Despite their obvious differences, we will draw some comparisons and distinctions among the three, so make sure to ...

The Marin Museum of Bicycling announced the 2016 inductees into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. More votes than ever were cast this year. Here are the winners, with introductions provided by the museum. To learn more about this group, the museum, the hall of fame and the upcoming ceremony, visit the museum’s website. Hank ...

The plus tire juggernaut of 2016/2017 continues its roll now on a titanium Moots hardtail, the Farwell. You can run this bike 27.5 x 2.8 (that is max tire clearance) or up to a 29 x 2.25. The Farwell was designed around a 120 mm fork, 17.1-inch (434 mm) chainstay length, 68.5-degree headtube angle (68 ...

Ed note: This is part of our initial bike test of three new hardtails introduced at QBP Saddle Drive 2016, each shod with 27plus tires: the aluminum Salsa Timberjack, carbon Salsa Woodsmoke and steel Surly Karate Monkey. Despite their obvious differences, we will draw some comparisons and distinctions among the three, so make sure to ...

The Salsa Mukluk is all-new for 2017. We admittedly almost overlooked this beast. One does not really think about five-inch fatties when it’s 80 degrees and sunny on the site of a mountain bike park. Well, maybe you do. The all-new Mukluk is available in both carbon (pictured) and aluminum. The stiffness of the carbon ...

Boost spacing and plus-sized tires burst into our collective consciousness so quickly and so definitively that a bike like the Foundry Firetower looks slightly odd in the current, trend-soaked world of mountain biking. But here it is, a brand-new cross-country race machine that lacks Boost, takes only a 29×2.25 tire and runs a 100 mm ...

Salsa’s all-road/touring line received minor tweaks and updates for 2017. The most recent big news in this cycling realm was the previous launch of the Marrakesh flat/drop bar steel road touring bike, which became available this year. So while Salsa had no new drop-bar bikes to show the Bicycle Times audience at this year’s Saddle Drive, three staple models ...

We’re at Saddle Drive near Lake Tahoe this week checking out new bikes from Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), the parent company of Surly, All-City, Foundry, Heller and Salsa. Salsa went all in, releasing all of the brand’s new-for-2017 bikes and updating most models across the range. Here’s a look at the two new 29plus bikes, ...

We’re at Saddle Drive near Lake Tahoe this week checking out new bikes from Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), the parent company of Surly, All-City, Foundry, Heller and Salsa. Because of the proliferation of cycling events across the country, these companies aren’t launching all of their new stuff right away, but we did get a look ...

We’re at Saddle Drive near Lake Tahoe this week checking out new bikes from Quality Bicycle Products (QBP), the parent company of Surly, All-City, Foundry, Heller and Salsa. Because of the proliferation of cycling events across the country, these companies aren’t launching all of their new stuff right away, but we did get a look ...

Jeff Archer, 52, owner of First Flight Bicycles was hit by a drunk driver and killed while crossing a road on July 20. Archer was a longtime contributor to Dirt Rag with his Specialty Files column and also penned a similar column in our sister publication Bicycle Times.  Dirt Rag magazine’s founder and publisher, Maurice Tierney, ...

Cover photo: Ryan Creary showcases the spirit of adventure. This issue is all about searching for adventures, and we think we dug up some pretty good ones for you. Read on for the preview and make sure to snag your own copy today! Columns and Readings This month we go to church with Stevil Kinevil and ...

According to a Moorseville, North Carolina, police press release Jeff Archer, 52, owner of First Flight Bicycles was hit by a car and killed while crossing a road last night around 7 p.m. The press release states the driver was arrested at the scene and charged with felony death by motor vehicle and DWI. Jeff ...

There was a general sense of “WTF” when Trek killed off the Remedy 29 for 2017. Yes the new Fuel EX 29 had the same geometry and a stiffer frame, but 130 mm of travel is still only 130 mm of travel. How is the semi-retired Tracey Mosely supposed to take on the EWS without ...

With a handful of high-end bike companies going full-carbon-only in their popular lineups, its refreshing to see Santa Cruz embracing aluminum for 2017. Highlights include aluminum versions of the Bronson, Tallboy and 5010 (pictured above), with complete builds starting at $2,600; SRAM Eagle 1×12 build kits; and various new colors across the line, including a black ...

Words and photos: Montana Miller Originally published in Issue #191 My back just went numb, right between the shoulder blades. Which actually feels a lot better than the shooting pain I had a few minutes ago. I hike slowly next to my bike; hopefully I can make the top of this pass before sunset. I’m ...

A preview of Shimano’s 2017 soft goods has arrived … in our inboxes. Here’s a peek at the shoes, sunglasses and hydration packs coming soon to your local bike shop (shop local!). The new Mountain Enduro (ME) shoe series uses Shimano’s “torsional balance” technology which allows some lateral movement in the heel while focusing on pedaling power at the ...

The first Sequoia bikes were designed by Tim Neenan as a road bike with an adventure attitude. The second generation, designed by Jim Merz, evolved into a full-blown touring rig to take you around the world. The name appeared on a series of, let’s say, “less-than-exciting” hybrids and city bikes through the years, but has ...

It has happened and we’re not particularly surprised: Niner Bikes is now offering 27plus models in addition to its steadfast dedication to 29ers. The new JET 9 RDO and RIP 9 RDO were also treated to suspension bump-ups. The JET frame is now 120 mm and will be paired with a 130 mm fork if set up ...

At this year’s Press Camp, Ellsworth previewed its newest bike, the Rogue Sixty. This carbon enduro/all-mountain rig will feature 160 mm of travel front and rear, 27.5 wheels, internal cable routing, aluminum chainstays, a 1x-only design, threaded bottom bracket, Boost spacing front and rear and Di2 compatibility. Ellsworth added a house-designed shock bolt called the “Hex ...

Liv, the women’s bike brand produced by Giant, is offering three new full-suspension models designed and tested by women: the 160 mm Hail enduro bike, 120 mm Pique race bike and 120 mm Embolden trail/XC bike. Liv’s design process includes analyzing global body dimension studies and testing by female professional mountain bikers. Liv is now ...

The Element has always been a cross-country bike that can handle more than it far share of rowdy trails. Rocky Mountain is making it even more capable with the newest version of its cross-country “race” bike. From Rocky Mountain: This is the result of over two decades at the front of the pack. The new ...

We just returned from a week at Press Camp in Park City, Utah, where several companies announced new stuff for model year 2017. Cannondale, GT, Blue, Ridley and component maker 3T all trotted out fresh bikes at the event for industry journalists to check out. Full disclosure, Press Camp is not a standard bike industry event, which ...

By Stephen Haynes, Dirt Rag Art Director While the wicked winds of winter were still whipping through west Pennsylvania (bringing with them a bounty of alliteration apparently), Dirt Rag editor-in-chief Mike Cushionbury and I were hatching plans for our latest issue. Mike floated the idea of having blogger, artist and cycling personality Stevil Kinevil sit ...

For some insane reason, we decided to hand the reigns of Issue #192 over to Stevil Kinevil of All Hail the Black Market (AHTBM) infamy. Then we let our designer, Stephen Haynes, loose to make this thing look like an old-school zine, complete with several skull drawings done by all of our staff. (You can win ...

Marin Mountain Bikes just announced a new 2017 full-suspension model, the Hawk Hill. Set to retail for $1,500, the bike is built around 27.5 wheels, 120 mm of travel front and rear and thru-axles. The bike uses’s Marin’s new MultiTrac suspension system, similar to the company’s existing IsoTrac system. Up front is a RockShox Recon Silver ...

  Pivot has just announced the release of its new long-travel 29er trail bike called the Switchblade. If the name sounds familiar that’s because about 10 years ago Pivot’s founder and owner Chris Cocalis created the original Switchblade with his first bike brand, the now defunct Titus Cycles. The Switchblade fills an open gap in Pivot’s ...

Via Devinci Cycles: Canadian Downhill Legend Steve Smith Dies at 26 Rider’s drive, determination and love for living will be remembered by all those whose paths he crossed World Cup sensation Steve Smith passed away Tuesday afternoon after suffering a massive brain injury resulting from an enduro motorcycle accident in his hometown of Nanaimo, British ...

The SID fork has been around for a long time now, and has always been RockShox’s premiere cross-country fork. It even dabbled in the early trail bike fork arena with a double-crown model that had a whopping (for the time) four inches of travel and more recently with 120 mm models for lightweight trail bikes. ...

Niner Bikes has refreshed its ultimate carbon hardtail, the AIR 9 RDO (Race Day Optimized). The frame is now 10 percent ligher and the geometry was updated specifically for racers and riders who want a “snappy whip.” Changes include a 435 mm chainstay (4 mm shorter than the previous version) that allows the wheel to tuck ...

Since this is a “first impression” write up, I will give you my unvarnished first impression of Kona’s new carbon Hei Hei Race DL: “Woo hoo!” The Hei Hei Race DL marks Kona’s return to using carbon fiber frames on its (non-DH) mountain bikes, after a few years spent refining the process and finding the right ...

Fuji’s Bighorn 27plus trail hardtail will recieve an update for 2017 that was showcased at Sea Otter. The bike is ready for whatever with 27.5 x 3.0 Schwalbe Nobby Nics, SRAM GX components, a KS Lev dropper post, internal cable routing, three sets of bottle cage mounts, rack and fender mounts and 120 mm of ...

Bets around the Dirt Rag virtual water cooler (which is located in the virtual Dirt Rag HQ) put money on Trek releasing a 27plus full-suspension trail bike or a Stache 29plus full-suspension ripper. Neither guess was accurate, obviously. Instead, Trek dropped a 27.5 x 3.8 Farley EX trail bike with full suspension at the Sea Otter Classic. Actually Trek ...

For 2016, the Pivot Cycles LES carbon cross-country hardtail received a few notable updates that were announced today at Sea Otter. The frame dropped more than 50 grams, with complete geared bikes available under 20 pounds. The frame features Boost 110 mm front and 148 mm rear spacing, full Di2 integration via the Pivot Cable Port system and ...

RockyMounts announced the introduction of four new products that expand bike transport and storage options for both mountain bikers and road cyclists. The SwitchHitter and HotRod feature thru-axle mounts. The StreetRod is a thru-axle adapter for existing racks. The SwitchHitter arrives ready for standard 9 mm quick release forks and includes three interchangeable axle mounts ...

For more than a decade, IMBA has hosted Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day in October. This year, for the first time, it has added a spring event on June 11. You’re invited to register a ride, sign up for an existing one, or simply spend the day enjoying dirt on two wheels with the kid(s) ...

Mavic’s Crossmax MTB Wheel-Tire System line got a little wider. Mavic unveiled its first two wheelsets with Boost compatibility: Crossmax Pro and Crossmax Elite. Both are available now, in 27.5 and 29, and at a new low price point for the Crossmax line. Each is Shimano/SRAM compatible and can be converted to the XD driver. ...

Domahidy Designs, the Colorado-based bicycle company launched two years ago by Niner Bikes co-founder Steve Domahidy, has been re-branded as Viral Bikes. “The realization came hard and fast that Domahidy Designs was not working as a brand name. Of course, I believed in Domahidy Designs, but I was also obviously too close to really get that the ...

We received a somewhat strange press release today (March 31) from SRAM and are just going to let it do the talking. Below it is our attempt at an explanation. “Six of the bicycle industry’s main suspension manufacturers announced today that, beginning with model year 2017 bicycles, consumers will see several new shock lengths and fitment ...

Disclaimer: When an invite simply entitled “Back to the Future” came in from Specialized to go to Moab, Utah, for a few days to test out a new bike that it dubbed “the latest technological breakthrough in mountain biking,” it was the worst kept secret in the industry. This was the U.S. launch of the brand’s ...

Urge is a company that has long focused on the enduro market, and the Archi Enduro RR (Race Ready) helmet was specifically designed for the world’s toughest enduro events and the riders who race them. The design is intended to provide the lightest weight and best ventilation possible for long enduro stages with plenty of ...

Charlie Kelly visited Charlie Cunningham recently and sent us this report on how the mountain bike icon is recovering from the devastating injuries he sustained following a serious bicycle accident in August. In addition to multiple fractures (ribs, clavicle), Cunningham sustained a life-threatening head injury. Cunningham has recovered from most of the structural damage. There are residual effects ...

OneUp was one of the first, if not the first, to market wide range adapters for 10 speed drivetrains. It is not surprising to see the same thing for 11 speed. The Shark is a 10-50 “system,” as it requires a range of components to make it work: OneUp 50 tooth cog OneUp 18 tooth ...

SRAM has debuted a new line of Truvativ components for all-mountain and downhill applications under the Descendant name. The goods were designed in conjunction with pro enduro and DH riders to “thrive on the world’s rowdiest trails.” Descendant Cranksets Features direct-mount rings and SRAM’s X-SYNC 1x chainring teeth. Compatible with all 1x drivetrains in 10 and ...

On the Cover Photo: Ryan Creary “On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow.” — Friedrich Nietzsche Columns and Readings Watts Dixon writes about learning to ...

It’s that time of year, SRAM is dropping the new product news on the regular. The latest out of Chicago is a Reverb with all new internals and more travel options. The changes aim to improve reliability, and offer longer travel options for modern trail bikes. Bushing overlap is increased, which should increase longevity. SKF, ...

Ibis is updating its Mojo HD3 to Boost 148 spacing, with new bikes in stock right now. Much like the newly released Mojo 3, this will make the HD3 compatible with standard and plus-size 27.5 tires up to 2.8 inches wide. This turns the HD3 into a very versatile bike for almost any condition, handling ...

Photos: Josh Sawyer and Emily Walley A community is a village, a town or a city, but a sense of community is not defined by proximity. It’s the nurse and the lawyer, the photographer, designer and the park ranger; it’s the social media specialist, the bike shop salesperson and the mom all pursuing a common goal. ...

Lezyne launched two new pumps of interest to mountain bikers at the Taipei International Cycle Show last week. The Micro Floor Drive XL (above, silver) is friendly to fat bike tires. It is simply an “XL” version of Lezyne’s popular Micro Floor Drive portable floor pump. They gave it a huge barrel to be efficient ...

Round 2! More bikes that impressed me at NAHBS 2016 Collin Schaafsma – Matter Cycles “Single pivot 4 life” award I’ve spent a lot of miles on good old single-pivot mountain bikes, including the most recent incarnation of the Santa Cruz Heckler. In my opinion the single-pivot is still a viable option in a world of ...

Over the last three years Diamondback has been quietly working on a new trail bike platform called Release. The design is based on dual, counter-rotating short links in the same vein as the famous VPP suspension. Diamondback calls its version Level Link because the lower link stays parallel to the chain (or level to the ...

At this point most everyone knows the who, what, where and why of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. I haven’t been since 2009, and the increase in quality for both bikes and booths was easy to notice. Here is a selection of some of my favorite bikes from the show. Rick Hunter – Hunter Cycles ...

This newest Mojo has almost nothing in common with the steel hardtail that first wore that nameplate. But like the original Mojo, the Mojo 3 is a pretty lust-worthy trail bike. This bike doesn’t break any new ground for Ibis. It continues with Ibis’ successful combination of the industrial design ascetic of Roxy Lo, the smarts ...

I had lots of plans to ride fat bikes this winter. But January seemed to have more days in the 50s than the 30s, and I missed the only real snow storm due to a trip to Chile to ride the new Santa Cruz Hightower. Winter is paying us back with some cold weather, and ...

SRAM has been slowly trickling down 1×11 tech to lower and lower price points over the last few years, but with the release of this newest 1x group, even those with a less-than-sizeable bike budget can get in on the 1x evolution that is taking over mountain biking. Read on for full details and our ...

The Pro 1400 Race is NiteRider’s lowest priced 1,000+ lumens LED mountain bike light. It has a bunch of modes to choose from, but the three light levels you’ll find most useful when riding your favorite trails are the steady modes with outputs of 400, 850 and 1400 lumens. You’ll get about 9 hours and ...

Tester: Jon Pratt | Age: 45 | Height: 5’11” | Weight: 195 lbs. | Inseam: 31” The Canfield EPO is a sexy carbon 29er hardtail born from the gravity-loving minds at Canfield Brothers. Its very name is meant to take a jab at the carbon hardtail 29er racing crowd. This is by no means a ...

Tester: William Kirk Age: 32 | Height: 5’ 9″ | Weight: 185 lbs. | Inseam: 31” Overview Like many riders, I fell victim to the enduro bike bug. After almost 15 years of owning various downhill bikes, this was finally the year I said goodbye to owning a gravity-specific rig. Despite my admiration for long, slack, one-trick ponies, ...

The Wheel Mill in Pittsburgh and Ray’s MTB Indoor Park in both Cleveland and Milwaukee are hosting women-only weekend clinics this winter and spring. Boost your mountain bike and BMX skills in a supportive, no-pressure environment even as the snow flies. The Wheel Mill, Pittsburgh Ride Like a Girl Weekend Date: January 9-10, 2016 The weekend ...

This is Dirt Rag’s second year doing an official “Editor’s Choice.” With editorial staff of all shapes and sizes, spread out all over the country, we can’t just pick one product per category and call it the best. Also notice our timing. While we could do this in the early spring, how much ride time ...

This is Dirt Rag’s second year doing an official “Editor’s Choice.” With editorial staff of all shapes and sizes, spread out all over the country, we can’t just pick one product per category and call it the best. Also notice our timing. While we could do this in the early spring, how much ride time ...

One of the more interesting features of Ibis’ Tranny 29 hardtail is its two-piece frame. Not only can it be taken apart to fit in a airline-legal bag, it can also be used to tension a chain for singlespeeding. Now you can take your Tranny fat-biking by replacing one piece of that two-piece frame with a ...

Bellingham, Washington-based Canfield Brothers has launched its redesigned 2016 Balance, a 165-millimeter all-mountain bike drawing heavily from the company’s downhill heritage. Now in its third generation, the Balance combines gravity oriented geometry with the patented Canfield Balance Formula™ suspension. “Long before the enduro craze, we had our own idea of what an all-mountain bike should be—just as capable of ...

PRESS RELEASE — Bell Helmets today announced an important extension to its new Joy Ride women’s program – the launch of six Joy Ride grassroots program cities, each with a dedicated female mountain bike ambassador. These ambassadors will help inspire and enable female mountain bikers with regular, structured, fun and social rides that appeal to all levels of riders where they ...

Dirt Rag is pleased to announce that Pivot Cycles is returning as the Presenting sponsor for the seventh-annual Dirt Rag Dirt Fest, taking place May 20-22, 2016, at Raystown Lake in central Pennsylvania. “We are bringing a big fleet of bikes with all the newest models in every size for riders to try, including our ...

Every year for the last few years, Dirt Rag has gathered up a half-dozen or so full-suspension trail bikes for complete testing that fall into the entry-level/affordable/budget category. Yes, three grand is still a lot of money, but good bikes aren’t cheap and this price point is much more reasonable for the average enthusiast rider willing to ...

Looking for the ultimate cycling adventure? This might be it. From the tour company that created the 120-day Tour d’Afrique from Cairo to Cape Town, as well as a handful of other continent-spanning journeys, the expedition planned for December 2016 should put them all to shame. TDA Global Cycling is hosting an 18-day ride it ...

By Rebecca Rusch From Issue #188 As a kid, being able to ride no-handed was a rite of passage and the pinnacle of bike-handling coolness. It’s a killer move I never mastered until well into my 30s. I’d started bike racing and I’d won a few events, including three 24-Hour World Championships, but all I ...

Years ago, in search of more stiffness, cranks with 30 mm aluminum spindles were introduced. Unlike the steel 24 mm spindles already on the market, those new oversized spindles didn’t work with the established threaded BSA bottom bracket. This led to a new standard: BB30. The BB30 standard involved bearings installed directly into frames and snap rings ...

Kick off spring next year with a trip to the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival in Arizona the weekend of March 4-6, 2016. Last year, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip to the inaugural edition of the festival and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a dose of sunshine and slickrock to jump-start their riding season. The 2016 event will build ...

Female mountain bikers, take note: There is only one week left to apply to be a Bell Helmets Joy Ride ambassador! If you are excited about welcoming more women into mountain biking and wouldn’t mind doing it with significant support from one of the sport’s most recognizable brands, get your application in by November 1. ...

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) announced that its 2016 World Summit will be held November 10-12, 2016, in Bentonville, Arkansas. “Bentonville, specifically, and Northwest Arkansas, regionally, have shown a commitment to developing world-class mountain biking trails,” said IMBA President and USA Executive Director Mike Van Abel. “I look forward to introducing mountain bikers from around ...

Jessica Martin arrived at the top of Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs after hiking and riding a 13-mile, 8000-foot vertical trail. She was wearing a multi-colored tutu because “bikes are about fun; this is supposed to be fun.” Alongside two friends she popped champagne, ate donuts and took a few photographs, but otherwise there was ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – October 2, 2015 – After seven years of service as Dirt Rag Art Director, Matt Kasprzyk is moving on to a new career at SCOTT Sports. Issue #188 will be his last with Dirt Rag. “I’ve been challenged and inspired during my tenure at Rotating Mass Media and Dirt Rag Magazine. I’ve ...

The RFX has been out of the Turner lineup since 2007 but returns with a vengeance as a fully modern carbon fiber all-mountain bike. The Turner website is already loaded up with prices and build kits, with complete bikes starting at $4,573 for SRAM GX, up to $8,718 with XTR and Enve wheels. Frames are ...

With the capabilities of modern trail bikes increasing every year, it makes sense to up the level of protection for the rider. This new helmet from Lazer allows the rider to choose just how much coverage is wanted or needed. This isn’t an entirely new concept (see Bell’s excellent Super 2R), but the Revolution adds ...

I might be speaking prematurely here, but in a few years this new bike from Devinci might just be what most trail bikes look like. Boost spacing, 120 mm front travel, 110 mm rear travel, 27plus tires, single-ring drivetrain, aggressive geometry, and an affordable price put the new Hendrix in a good position for 2016. Like ...

Morpheus is proudly displaying an all-new downhill bike here at Crankworx and we caught up with company founder Michael Schwartz to get the lowdown. This full carbon fiber rig is the first project where Morpheus sought expertise from outside the company to assist in frame design and suspension kinematics, “to make [the Conspiracy] a bike that goes against ...

The cover story in Issue #171 is Anna Schwinn’s interview with Missy Giove. Here’s an extended take on some of the questions that didn’t make it into print. 

Schwinn: First question: Who was your favorite mechanic, Gravy or Monkey?

There are a lot of bad bike videos out there. This is not one of them. Good music, not too much slow-mo, good job capturing the feel of just how fast this bike is movings, and Vanderham isn’t dressed like a toddler who didn’t get out of his PJs. Bravo. Below is the bike in the ...

On the cover Rolling Stones Trail at Blanket Creek, Revelstoke, British Columbia. Photo by Ryan Creary.   The Dirt and Readings It was one of the muddiest and hardest Dirty Kanza 200’s in the event’s history, we have proof in The Dirt and Readings. We also show you why Pennsylvania’s Trans-Sylvania Epic is one of ...

We got a sneak peak at some for the new Kona’s for 2016. The website should be going live soon, but here are the highlights that stood out to me. Honzo The Honzo has been successful enough for Kona to spur development of two new aluminum models, although it seems the steel bike is now ...

The World Cup’s first trip to Lenzerheide, Switzerland, was a smashing success. Making it look easy on the Steve Peat-designed track, Greg Minnaar stepped to the top of the box once again, taking his record-setting 18th World Cup win! Greg’s won two of the four World Cups so far this season, and sits in third ...

Today, RockShox announced significant updates to the Lyrik as well as as a completely new model based on the Lyrik chassis called Yari. Lyrik The Lyrik was well liked among the hard-charging set, but was stuck in 26-inch wheel purgatory, a sad place to be for such a well made fork. No longer. The new ...

We’ve already covered the new Top Fuel and Fuel EX 29, so when Trek invited us to a big press launch of the new bikes in Ziest, Netherlands, I decided to concentrate on riding the hardtail Procaliber. The hardtail has long been the cross-country race bike of choice. Even as the pro ranks have reluctantly embraced full-suspension, ...

Over the weekend American downhill racer Aaron Gwin (Specialized Racing) did the unbelievable: he won the Leogang, Austria, World Cup downhill without a chain. The two-time World Cup overall champ snapped his chain right out of the gate and literally “coasted” to his second World Cup win of the year. How awesome is that?! Believe ...

It’s no secret that my love of all things metal rivals that of my love for all things mountain biking so when this video of Jean-Michel Labadie from French metalers Gojira ripping through Vallorie Bike Park in the French Alps surfaced last week it was pretty awesome. It’s a high quality, pro-shot video that shows ...

The original Yelli Screamy helped to redefine what a production hardtail 29er could be, with short chainstays, a slack head angle and a playful nature. “The original Yelli was the 29er that we wanted to ride,” said Lance Canfield, owner and designer. “It didn’t exist, so we built it. It’s fun up, down, in the air, ...

Ruckus Composites is working hard to diminish the idea that carbon fiber frames are disposable. While steel is always touted as easily repairable, the crew at Rukus can do the same for just about any broken carbon fiber frame. Working with a new motto, Remade in the U.S.A., check out the new website for more ...

When an email from 9point8 landed in my inbox this morning, I was hoping it was shipping confirmation for our sample of its new Fall Line dropper. We are big fans of the Pulse dropper, and have high hopes for the Fall Line, which has internal routing, infinite adjustment and very simple internals. It’s also ...

Joe Breeze has been a busy guy. In addition to popularizing the very concept of mountain biking back in the early 1970s, he also steers the ship at his own brand, Breezer Bikes, and has taken stewardship of the original Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. Breeze has brought the collection to his home—and mountain biking ...

Salsa Cycles has just released updated build specs and colorways to their Warbird models. While the frame specs will remain the same as the 2019 models there are lots of great builds to get the gravel fanatics wound up for the springtime. The Warbird is the perfect machine for tackling epic gravel events like the ...

As terrain and riding styles have gotten rowdier and rowdier, and bikes have gotten more and more capable, the need for bomber suspension that feels buttery and bottomless has never been greater. The industry has fondly embraced recent trends towards coil-sprung rear shocks yet none of the major players have stepped forth with a complete ...

YT Industries is kicking the new year off with all new builds and colors. Each bike category will be available in Titan Silver, Ghostship Green, Dune Grey, Twotone Blue, and Black Magic depending on the spec. On top of the new skins, the 27 and 29 builds have been updated with the latest gear. Both ...

In 1989, Camelbak founder Michael Eidson was competing in a 100-mile road race in the summer heat of Texas. Eidson, an emergency medical technician, decided to fill an IV bag with water and slip it into a tube sock. Then he stuffed it into the back of his jersey and secured it with a clothespin. ...

DJ Brandt brings his freeriding wizardry to this latest Commencal edit. Filmed by Tory Powers, DJ Brandt is back in the desert living his best life in Freedom 35.

It’s been a wild and fast-paced year here at Dirt Rag, and we have put in some serious miles and have experienced a lot of changes. New website, new editors, new events, new trails, new contributors, and most importantly new friends. As we close out the year we’d like to take a look back at ...

It was the summer of 2000, and I had yet to discover the magic of bicycles. It was the same summer that I met my friend Darren, who was an obsessed mountain biker. We worked together at a greenhouse and nursery, planting and mulching our way through the heat of the summer. On most days, ...

Earlier this year when Pivot Cycles revamped the company’s flagship cross-country race bike, the LES SL was no longer sporting the company’s signature Swinger II dropout system. Many A select few (including myself) speculated where to turn for a high-end carbon singlespeed that offered sliding-dropouts, modern hardtail geometry and the ability to run a proper ...

Arkansas barbecue varies from place to place, but my Gramps taught me to love pig. (He grew up in Piggott, Arkansas.) Most Arkansans love pig. I mean, the state’s football team is the Razorbacks. But residents now have a love/hate relationship with these animals. Free-roaming wild hogs cause nearly $1 billion in crop damage across ...

Jones has made titanium versions of his Plus SWB Spaceframe and Diamond Frame as well as titanium Truss forks. Geometry on both frames will remain the same as their steel counterparts so if you have been waiting for that Spaceframe that will carry you through a post-apocalyptic landscape, fear not dear two-wheeled warriors your time ...

Renthal was founded in 1969, with 50 years associated with the World’s fastest riders. To celebrate this anniversary, we have made a short film, taking a look back at the company, from the early days, through to the present day. Jeremy McGrath, Mitch Payton, and Rachel and Dan Atherton all feature, to give their experience ...

Commencal is at it again with another well-done video edit. “Breath” takes us to France on Elliot Laporte’s home track. Sit back enjoy the seamless shredding on these flowing trails within the French forest.

Did you know you can place an order with Taco Bell using the restaurant chains’ mobile app? Simply choose the items you desire via push-button selection, whether it’s a Party Pack of tacos, or a six-pack of Burrito Supremes (hold the guac), select your local franchise, pay using the register built right into the app, ...

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, or at least that is what I have heard. Does that mean the machine that is mountain biking world at large takes a break from all the technological advances of tire compounds and mullet bikes? Do shralpers stop shralping to hang up stockings by the fire? Most ...

Music is good. Mountain biking is good. Listening to music while mountain biking? Good, good, good. Yes, one should monitor the level at which the music is played so as to be aware of one’s surroundings and to be respectful of other trail users. Outside of that, have fun starring in your own fantasy video ...

‘Tis the season for giving, and for guidance for that matter, and we have done both. Fresh out of the factory just in time for finding gifts for that special mountain biker in your life we present our Holiday Gift Guide! The best part about it is that it is free! That’s right, absolutely free ...

So many sales! Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Taco Tuesday, the list goes on and on. Rather than pick one day or another we are going for the whole block! From now until December 2 you can get 20% off all in-stock merchandise by using the code “MEOW” at check out. Head to ...

Like us, a lot of you probably noticed a distinct gathering of Red Bull’s female athletes in the Utah desert in the weeks running up to the annual Red Bull Rampage event. At the site of one of the original Rampage courses, some of the top women of freeride got a chance to showcase their ...

It may come as a surprise to hear that SR Suntour is the largest bicycle suspension fork manufacturer in the world. Even though this recognition is primarily due to targeting the OEM of entry-level and budget mountain bikes, SR Suntour has been quietly refining the company’s high-end suspension forks for the past decade. SR Suntour ...

Fergus Liam is a former San Fransico bike messenger turned marketing manager for Ritchey Design and self-proclaimed mediocre elite bike racer, lover of burritos, bikes, and his cat.  Big thanks to Fergus for taking time out of his day to answer the very crucial question, “What is your favorite mountain bike accessory?”:  Years ago, my ...

Today, Pivot Cycles introduces the new limited edition Trail 429 Enduro build – a spec that replicates the custom builds of hard-charging customers and Pivot employees, unleashing the bike’s limitless potential. Build highlights include a 140mm travel, 44mm offset Fox Factory 36 with GRIP2 damper in Team Orange, a new Factory DPX2 Shock with a custom Pivot ...

Santa Cruz Bicycles commits to giving away $1 million to projects that increase access to trails Santa Cruz Bicycles is making a commitment to increasing access to quality trails. They are pledging to give $1 million over the next three years to trail development projects, local and national advocacy organizations, events, and programs geared toward ...

Dropper posts are typically a tough item to review; they work, or they don’t. In the case of the OneUp Dropper, the company not only delivers a lightweight post that is reliable, but OneUp Components has also managed to provide riders even more travel from their dropper. First, OneUp shaved every millimeter the company could ...

The United Kingdom’s mountains lie mostly on its western flank and bear the marks of the Ice Age several thousand years past. Our tallest peaks are modest when compared to even our continental neighbors and certainly to the likes of the Himalayas, Atlas Mountains, Andes and Rockies. Altitude sickness is something you cannot experience here, ...

Here at Dirt Rag World Headquarters we’ve got a whole rack of magazines in the kitchen / conference room, and love flipping through them while we put off doing any real work around the office. But when we’re out on assignments, playing at Dirt Fest, or just away from home – the Dirt Rag mobile ...

If you sit down and talk with Stephen Fitzgerald about how and why he created Rodeo Labs, his nonchalant delivery leads one to believe it was kind of a goof. Make no mistake that Fitzgerald completely intended for both the Flaanimal the Trail Donkey to exist, but more for himself and friends to enjoy in ...

The Pivot Vault has been positioned as a versatile drop-bar bike since its debut in 2013. Built for gravel, dirt, and road, its geometry has always leaned in favor of the cyclocross world more than the endurance scene. Now, with the latest geometry tweaks on the fourth-generation Vault, Pivot maintains the focus on high performance ...

I first met Kristofer Henry of 44 Bikes at the 2017 Philly Bike Expo. The immediate impact of a clean looking titanium hardtail will always grab my attention so like a moth to a flame I drifted into the 44 Bikes booth. Based out of New Hampshire, Kris knows a thing or two about riding ...

As the Reeb Sqeeb V2 rolled up to my art studio, the aptly-named “Illusion Blue” paint job and sparkling silver accents made me nostalgic for my childhood days playing with Hot Wheels race cars in the driveway. As a craftsman myself, it’s heartening to know that I can roll into Longmont, Colorado, and shoot the ...

Megan Dean has been welding bike frames together for quite some time now. A transient of sorts Dean spent a good chunk of time cutting her teeth on the streets of Los Angeles as a bike messenger before starting a career as a frame builder. Her work speaks for itself, beautifully designed and finished bikes ...

If you were trying to find Eric Estlund in a crowd it may not be as easy as you think for a guy sporting a head covered in tattoos and piercings. The soft-spoken Estlund is the sole driving force behind Winter Bicycles and on Saturday I combed the floor looking for his booth during the ...

With storms in the mid-west and high winds up and down the east coast on Halloween,  Peter Olivetti sat deep into the night in a Chicago airport wondering if he would make it to this year’s Philly Bike Expo. Eventually, Olivetti made it to Philadelphia but his bikes were still in limbo, victims of the ...

Philly Bike Expo is easily one of our favorite events of the year. Despite our cross-state hockey rivalry, we love to visit Philadelphia. As noted by many of the attendees, the vibe at the Philly Bike Expo is always so positive, warm and welcoming and each year there are new vendors, new builders, and always ...

Bzhiort! I can still hear the buzzing sound in my ear, like the Great Gazoo appearing out of nowhere. But this time the sound came with a tingling sensation. I was hanging with my crew at the 24 Hours of Allamuchy #eastcoastrocks XC race in the summer of … 2000, maybe? It was the year ...

Revel Bikes is raffling off a very special edition pink Rail to help fund the LoveYourBrain Foundation. Founded in 2014, the LoveYourBrain Foundation (LYB) was established by brothers, Adam and Kevin Pearce, following Kevin’s severe TBI from a snowboarding accident before the 2010 Olympics. They are a non-profit organization on a mission to improve the ...

It feels like only yesterday that we were breaking down the big top tents but here we are preparing for the Dirt Fest 2020 events. Registration is officially open for both events and we have some great things planned for 2020. We hope to see you all on the trails of Allegrippis and Big Bear ...

If you are the type that likes the finer things in limited quantities to show your friends just how fancy you are, well then feast your eyes on the Rocky Mountain Instinct Carbon 99. The Instinct 99 will only be available in the US and Canada and there will only be 20 made available in ...

Editors Note This the third installment of an ongoing series where we ask the mountain biking community what their go-to accessories are for tackling the trails, enhancing the ride, or saving the day. Check out the first installment here and the second installment here. I had emailed Bina, asking her directly what her favorite bike ...

“Any One of Us” is the story of Paul Basagoitia, a professional mountain biker who suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed. The film debuts tonight October 29th on HBO at 9m est. The feature-length presentation of “Any One of Us” marks the first-ever partnership between HBO Sports and Red Bull Films, telling ...

photo by Garth Milan courtesy of Red Bull Style, class, and ice in his veins, Brandon Semenuk showed up to win Red Bull Rampage and did just that. After strong winds delayed the start of the competition Semenuk wasted no time showing everyone he meant business in a field of 20 of the best riders ...

It’s been a busy week in the world of bikes. First and foremost it is Red Bull Rampage week and with that comes all the excitement of the big day which you can watch live on Friday Oct. 25th on Red Bull TV. Outside of the cliffs of Virgin, Utah, there has been a bunch ...

The time has come! Issue 213 is peeling out of the parking lot and burning up the highway on its way to your door! It’s been a wild year, and 213 is the final chapter of Dirt Rag 2019. Part Gumball Rally, part Smokey and the Bandit, and all Mad Max, we have left a ...

Today the World Enduro Series announced that they will be visiting Burke Mountain in East Burke, VT for stop #6 of the 2020 season. Hot on the heels of the mountain biking World Cup event in Snowshoe, WV, east coast fans will once again have the opportunity to see some of the best riders in ...

We don’t usually review Kickstarter products, but the Follow Hollow Alpaca Socks are a well-deserved exception. Brian Davis, the founder behind Fix It Sticks (reviewed here), is back at it with his newest creation, socks. INFO Follow Hollow socks are constructed from 80% baby Alpaca fiber, 15% nylon, and 5% spandex. The Alpaca fiber is ...

A thru-hike or mountain bike trip along the legendary Arizona Trail is high on the bucket list of many would-be adventurers. But while exploring the diverse terrain along its route is a lot of fun, making sure you have transportation to and from the trailhead plus food and camping supplies isn’t always an expedition highlight. Hermosa Tours ...

WTB was one of the first out of the gate with products in the new 27.5+ category, specifically rims and tires for a 27.5×3.0 (or so) wheel and tire combo. The new Bridger 3.0 27.5+ is aimed squarely at the aggressive trail and enduro market, and should pair up nicely with the Fox 34 released ...

Editor’s note: We will be updating this post at the bottom as news develops. Photos by Adam Newman Portland, Oregon, has a reputation as a progressive and welcoming city for cyclists. It has one of the highest rates of bicycle commuting in the country and it supports a huge road and cyclocross race scene. In ...

By Jeremiah Bishop This winter, I have been training like a blacksmith making armor for an epic battle looming on the horizon. So I was eager when it was finally time to travel to the first race in mid-February. I was headed for the Andalucía Bike Race in southern Spain. With so many weeks spent ...

Fox kicks off the 2016 product news with an announcement that may signal widespread industry acceptance of the plus size tire as something more than an oddity: A Fox Factory 34 fork for 27.5+ tires. Fox claims plenty of clearance for tires up to 27.5 x 3.25, travel from 110 mm to 150 mm, 51 ...

Being around the industry as long as I have I know a lot of people, many of whom congregate once a year in a different location to look at the fashionshow we call The North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Where artisan framebuilders show off their latest and greatest creations, which are judged and given giant ...

Mountain Bikers Of Santa Cruz (MBOSC) is proud to announce the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival returns for its sixth annual event on April 11-12, 2015. The Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival (SCMBF) is the premier mountain biking event for Santa Cruz County. Featuring an impressive array of cycling inspired events and resources, the festival ...

Balance bikes are a great introduction to learning to ride. They teach balance, gliding, and how to start the initial forward movement on a bike, unlike training wheels that teach children to start with both feet on the pedals. If you’ve got a little tyke at home, or know of one who needs a ride, ...

This is Part 2 of my first real shakedown rides with the new Shimano XTR Di2 group. Read Part 1 here. In the span of just a few days since receiving the goods I was able to put almost 150 off-road miles on Shimano’s exciting new XTR Di2 electronic components. Here’s a rundown of how it ...

Shimano unveiled its fleet of long-term test bikes for its revolutionary electronic XTR mountain bike shifting in sunny Palm Springs, California. My bike is the potent Pivot Mach 429 Carbon, which is one of the first available to be designed specifically for all internal Di2 wire routing as well as battery storage. After a few ...

With much of the country blanketed in snow and cold temperatures, it’s only natural our collective cabin fever has us dreaming of sunshine, warm temps and dry singletrack. Fortunately for all of us, the Sedona MTB Festival looks to be just the excuse to make the journey to the southwest for a long weekend of ...

We often hear the usual complaint about always testing bikes that are well out of the price range of riders who don’t have a substantial disposable income. But Dirt Rag has always covered (or at least attempted to cover) a wide variety of price points in the bike world. We gathered six bikes to review that represent the ...

We’re excited to announce Pivot Cycles will join us at Dirt Fest 2015 as our Presenting Sponsor. Pivot Cycles will be on-hand with a demo truck packed full of the latest Mach 4 Carbon, Mach 429SL and Mach 6 models. Registration to Dirt Fest 2015 is open now at BikeReg. If you don’t already know, ...

Fox Factory Holding Corp. (otherwise known as Fox Racing Shox) announced today it has agreed to acquire nearly all the assets of Race Face Components and Easton Cycling. The acquisition comes at a price tag of approximately $30.2 million, financed with debt, and the deal should be finalized by the end of the year. It is ...

This just in from Cane Creek: To our customers, At Cane Creek, we strive to make best-in-class products that provide exceptional performance and rider experience. During the initial production of the DBinline rear shock, we did not live up to this promise. We have determined that certain DBinline shocks manufactured from May 23, 2014 through ...

Winter has barely made its presence known but we’re already looking forward to the Sedona Mountain Bike Festival in March. Scheduled from March 6-8 at the Talaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village, it promises a great way to enjoy the sunshine, red-rock trails and power of the Vortex. Hosted by Over the Edge Sports, the event will feature ...

Courtesy of Red Bull It’s finally time to put some shovels in Utah’s red dirt, so Kyle, Tom and Andreu make the pilgrimage to Rampage. With a new venue comes a lot of new unknowns and our 3 riders must battle and collaborate with the other 35 athletes to find the perfect line. You can ...

In this issue On the cover: Steve Storey rails a turn deep in Columbia. Photo by Justa Jeskova   The Dirt World Cup racing came back to the U.S. in Windham, New York; our tech editor rants about the merits of carbon fiber and we catch up with legendary mechanic Steve “Gravy” Gravenites.   Readings ...

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Speedplay is one of the best-known players in the road bike pedal scene, but it hasn’t had nearly as much success with riders in the dirt. The Frog series has some loyal fans, but they are few and far between. Speedplay hopes to change the game with the long-awaited Syzr pedal system. Just like its ...

While it’s certainly true that most of this year’s Interbike hype will be focused on buzzing categories like 130mm to 150mm travel all-mountain and trail bikes as well as the fat bike phenomenon, you can rest assured that manufactures haven’t forgotten hardtails. Walking through the outdoor Dirt Demo most makers had the classic frame style ...

In the information age, it is rare to be surprised by a new product release. But this is one of those rare cases. Transition redesigned all of its trail bikes for 2015, with new model names as well: Smuggler, Scout and Patrol. For right now, all bikes are aluminum, with carbon frames in the works, ...

Intense has announced they have hired a new Brand Ambassador, Talent Scout and R&D Guy.

Editor’s note: At the end of last month Jeremiah Bishop got an email from his Sho-Air sponsored team titled, “Sponsorship/Opportunity.” The content was to let him know he was laid off, sighting a small section in the contract that rendered 2015, which he was signed through, as meaningful as a wooden nickel, in his own ...

Who says freeride is dead? Red Bull Rampage is back this year with an all-new location with all-new lines. From big moves to big crashes, this competition is unlike any other. Get a glimpse at how the riders prepare in the first episode of the 2014 Road to Rampage.  

Mountain biking is all about overcoming challenges—climbing mountains, fear of falling, or making that jump for the first time. But some challenges are infinity more difficult. Filmmaker Leo Zuckerman created this short profile of a young man who quite literally battled for his life.

The story of the year at Crankworx was #LetFinnIn, the hashtag petition to let 14-year-old Finn Iles compete in the Whip-Off World Championships. It paid off too, as Iles didn’t just prove himself worthy, he proved anything is possible.

The stuff. All the things that I’m carrying. When it’s all laid out, it doesn’t look like much for a few weeks of living off the bike. But when I’m pushing it up a mountain road, it feels like a ton. I’ve never cared about how much my race bike weighed. I’ve always felt that ...

Editor’s note: We love hearing from readers. This is, of course, The Mountain Bike Forum. Gary sent us this great story of how he saved his hide from a looooong walk with a little bit of MacGyver ingenuity. Have a story you’d like to share? Send it to [email protected]. By Gary Bolton Last Sunday we ...

From RockShox: Whether it’s pulling off your first bunny hop, or winning a World Championship title, we all have a “can’t” we’re chasing. People once said “suspension can’t make up for the added weight.” That didn’t stop RockShox from changing the face of mountain biking in ’89. And it hasn’t stopped riders from doing what ...

I haven’t been able to sleep. Every night I wake up, thinking that I still have more miles to ride to the border. “No, Colleen already picked you up, it’s over,” I tell myself. Then the sun comes up and my legs are rubbery. Tour Divide was monstrously hard. I thought that I understood how ...

Specialized will update its women’s specific line to include a redesigned Era 29 to go along with the Fate hardtail. The Era is essentially an Epic with women’s specific geometry. Previously, the Era was only available as a 26-inch bike. At the top S-Works level, it, as well as an updated men’s Epic will feature ...

The event that has launched viral video stars and dropped thousands of jaws returns to Utah this fall, a freeride mountain biking spectacle known the world over as a proving ground for the best, bravest and most well-rounded rider on two wheels. Red Bull Rampage, a marquee event in the NBC Signature Series, will take ...

Oakley’s newest retail store, located in the King of Prussia Mall is the first in the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia area. Besides carrying an assortment of products—apparel, luggage, watches and backpacks, it’s eyewear selection (as you’d expect) is amazing. It features Oakley’s new in-store optical center, one of only 20 in the country, enabling customers to ...

Oskar Blues Brewery hails from Colorado but has made western North Carolina its second home, first building a brewery there in 2012, and now it will open a 145-acre farm as a beer and bike vacation destination. Located about eight miles from the Brevard-based Oskar Blues brewery, the former Shoal Falls Farm soon will be ...

The fourth annual Smith Optics Ride Sun Valley Bike Festival has returned to the stunning scenery and world-class singletrack of Sun Valley, Idaho, through July 5. Smith Optics joins this year as the title sponsor of the festival which is a rowdy and homegrown celebration geared for anyone who enjoys life on two wheels. Expect to ...

Recently the Tahoe Area Mountain Biking Association (TAMBA) finished construction for the year on the Lower Corral Trail Enhancement Project and held a big grand reopening party and volunteer workday. The project in South Lake Tahoe, California includes purpose built features for mountain bikes including high wall berms, rock jumps, tabletop jumps and log rides. TAMBA partnered with ...

The good old Fox 36 was getting a bit outdated, and with new wheelsizes taking hold, it was high time for a new fork. We recently brought you the news that it has been completely redeveloped for 2015, and now we have one in the office for testing and we’ve got more details to share.

The NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Epic mountain bike stage race presented by Dirt Rag Magazine has partnered with event tracking provider Trackleaders.com and device maker SPOT LLC to become the first stage race in North America to equip top racers with tracking devices. The 2014 edition of the race will May 25-31. The NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Epic (TSEpic) ...

We got our first ride on Magura’s new four-piston brakes in Sedona, Arizona. The design is based on motorcycle technology, with four independent pistons and brake pads. Read more about them here.

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 ...

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.

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. ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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, ...

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. ...

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 ...

  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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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.

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 ...

It’s hard to imagine a more unassuming guy than Joe Breeze. Unlike his contemporaries Gary Fisher or Tom Ritchey, who are easy to spot in a crowd, Breeze could be the guy standing in line in front of you at the grocery store, or your friendly neighbor who always greets you with a wave and ...

Though it isn’t sporting a 29×3.0 rear tire in the photos, this is a prototype of Singular Cycles‘ new 29+ platform, dubbed the Rooster. It will feature a steel frame and fork, eccentric bottom bracket and tapered head tube. Stay tuned for more details on price and availability.  

The first issue of 2014 has shipped to subscribers and should be showing up on newsstands any day now. Want to make sure you never miss an issue? Pick up a subscription. Inside

What began as a 50th birthday ride for one of the event founders has become an annual tradition for the Orange County cycling community. The 8th Annual 50 Mile Ride for Rwanda will be held on Saturday April 26, 2014 in Orange County, Calif. Event organizers expect over 1,000 mountain bikers to join this year’s event. The ...

You may have noticed from the recent batch of bike First Impressions that have been popping up on this site, the staff recently embarked on a little trip to focus solely on a $2,500, six-bike test for the upcoming February issue (Dirt Rag #175). Our chosen location was the Stokesville Lodge in Virginia, just outside ...

Think those videos you see of amazing mountain adventures just come easy? Think again. Some aspiring filmmakers from Slovakia got in touch with their story of their adventure in the West Tatras mountains and how their new film “Get High” came to be. By Zuzana Triebusnikova One and a half year ago I did not ...

Sub-9 Events puts on some of the best events in the midwest, including the Sub-9 Death March, the Gravel Grovel and the Brown County Breakdown.

Those of us dirt bags reading this magazine have a common interest, for better or worse: riding mountain bikes. Additionally, most of us like looking at engaging photographs, as well as documenting our own adventures. It’s high time we write about making better photographs of our adventures, so you can share them with your friends, ...

We have a limited supply of our favorite T-shirt designs on sale in our Online Store. Grab one for you and your riding friends at up to 50 percent off! There are jerseys and gloves on sale as well!

If you were lucky, you might have found a few of these in your stocking on Christmas morning—the Clif Bar seasonal editions. Iced Gingerbread and Spiced Pumpkin Pie have been joined by Pecan Pie as three flavors to look forward to all year. Like all Clif Bars, they’re made with 70 percent organic ingredients, have ...

What a season it’s been… It’s been a jam packed year full of laughs and good times with Peaty and co, but unfortunately this season has come to an end. With the up-coming release of Steve Peat’s life story ‘Won’t Back Down’, produced by Clay Porter and John Lawlor. We take a look into what went ...

There’s little doubt the mountain bike industry is heavily focused on the West Coast, but what about the rest of us back east? There is no shortage of amazing trails and beautiful scenery, so why don’t we see it represented in elite-level mountain bike filmmaking? FatTireFests is here with a response: a new series highlighting ...

There are some new locations and twists thrown into the mix for the 2014 Big Mountain Enduro Series. More details will be released early 2014, but for now mark your calendars. Online registration will open on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 8 a.m.  

This is it. The main event. After Friday’s party, Saturday’s qualifying rides and Junkyard ‘Cross, then Saturday’s party, it was time get some racing on for the Golden Speedo and tattoos. The first SSCXWC to be held on the East Coast, Philly was an amazing host for the weekend. Despite some horrible weather for driving to ...

A long-standing Pennsylvania tradition, Bilenky Cycle Works has hosted a… unique cyclocross race each winter through a salvage yard. There are no UCI officials measuring tire widths, the barriers are not to spec, and #handupsarenotacrime. This Saturday the annual event was pushed to new levels with the influx of humanity (and inhumanity) in town for ...

Well, I’ve got a case of the Mondays, but I hope you had as good as weekend as this: Jamis Account Rep and Rider Doug Krauze takes his Jamis Dakar AMT on a road trip for the weekend at four of the best trails in NY and NJ.

The sounds that a bike makes are music to any riders’ ears, but watch as freeride legend Wade Simmons and the crew from Rocky Mountain Bikes take it to a whole new level.

From his humble beginnings in his hometown of Sheffield, England, Steve Peat has established himself as one of the worlds most iconic cyclists. Peaty has been competing at the top level in his chosen sport of downhill mountain bike racing for the past 23 years, longer than the lifetime of many of his current competitors. ...

We’ve made some changes around here, and we asked Beardo the Weirdo to stop by and show you around the website. Crack a cold one and enjoy!

Tuner bikes have a cult-like following among some riders, often referred to as “Homers”. I’ve never been a follower of any particular brand myself, more of a gigolo when it comes to bikes. But after a few rides on the new 27.5-inch Burner, I can see why some people swear undying devotion to the Turner ...

I woke to the sound of rhythmic scratching, my mouth a hollow, dry cavity that tasted like stale IPA. Subtle chanting in an unrecognizable dialect reverberated as if in confined quarters, putting an exclamation mark on the headache forming behind my eyes. As the world around me came into focus, my attention fell to a ...

Editor’s note: Here at Dirt Rag we don’t really do “comparison tests” or “shootouts” or declare “winners”. Every bike we review has a story to tell, and they’re all interesting. That said, we rounded up six full-suspension trail bikes in the $2,500-ish range to see what’s really out there in the heart of the mountain ...

On a gusty day in Southern Utah, a group of 25 daring mountain bikers blew the doors off what is possible on two wheels, unleashing some of the biggest moments the sport has ever seen. While mother nature only allowed for one full run before the conditions made it impossible to ride, that was all ...

[portfolio_slideshow id=14925146] Photos by Adam Newman. Video by Justin Steiner. About a month a go we got wind of a new opening up at one of the premiere bike parks on the East Coast, Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia. A couple of the Dirt Rag crew put in a tough day at the office rolling laps ...

Via The Endless Groove  

By Jeff Lockwood

It’s the end of August and we’re in Germany. That means it’s Eurobike time. Here’s a selection of some interesting mountain bike bits we’ve seen over the first day and a half of the show.

Breezer Repack

Joe Breeze was part of the Repack gang racing down Mt. Tam back in the 1970’s. Around the same time, he was also building some of the first mountain bikes before they were known as mountain bikes. In fact, the first fat tire bike built by Joe Breeze, the Breezer #1, is now in the Smithsonian Institute of American History.

Is it an XC bike? A trail bike? Rocky Mountain would say yes to both. The Thunderbolt’s 120mm of travel and 27.5 wheels bridge the gap.

When compared to the Element, Instinct and Altitude, the Thunderbolt’s Rocky Mountain heritage is evident, with a strong family resemblance. But unlike the brand’s dedicated XC offerings, the Thunderbolt is meant to be a more playful and aggressive bike for a wide variety of riding styles. Absent, however, is the Ride-9 chip found on its siblings, so the suspension is not as adjustable.

Joe Breeze knows a thing or two about mountain bikes. He was an early pioneer in California with the likes of Gary Fisher, Charlie Kelly and Tom Ritchey and his eponymous bike company has built everything from commuter bikes to carbon mountain bikes.

Aaron Gwin isn’t just one of the premiere downhill riders on the planet, he’s also a coach. He recently welcomed riders and racers to a two-day skills camp at Mammoth Mountain Bike Park for three days of in-person instruction. Joining him were members of the ODI Development Team and Mammoth Bike Park guides.

Check out this quick edit as they shred on Mammoth’s new Pipeline trail.

By Eric McKeegan

Two summers ago, I got to fondle and photograph a Gambler at a Scott press camp. I didn’t get to ride it as the press camp’s local terrain was much better suited to the Genius bikes released at the same time.

By Eric McKeegan, photos by Adam Newman.

SRAM has been exemplary with trickling down technology from high-end groups to more affordable price points. Starting at $1,274 for the aftermarket kit, this isn’t the hoped-for X9 or X7 1×11 group many are hoping for, but it is a step in the right direction.

By Adam Newman

We’re still recovering from a week of madness at Whistler Mountain, but if you couldn’t join us, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at what you missed.  

The mountains beckon on the bus ride from Vancouver along the stunning Sea To Sky Highway.

Closer… closer…

Aaaahhh… here we are.

In just three days time BikePark Wales will open its doors to the public after five years of planning and construction. Today see’s the release of the final episode in the making of BikePark Wales triology “Go for launch” featuring guest riders Tracy Mosely, Joe Smith, Al Bond and Joel Moore.

This episode gives a great insight as to what the riding at BikePark Wales will be like. To find out for yourself, you’ll have to go check it out on Saturday, August 24.

By Adam Newman

RaceFace

Returning strong from bankruptcy in 2011, for next year RaceFace will get into the saddle game with the Affect, a mountain bike specific saddle weighing in at about 220 grams with Ti alloy rails and an approximately $100 price tag. Look for it in late fall 2013.

By Adam Newman

A few weeks ago we brought you news that Giant’s 2014 lineup would be almost entirely devoid of 26-inch bikes and a scaled-back selection of 29ers. The company firmly believes the 27.5 wheels are a future of trail riding and have equipped most of their mountain bikes, from the price point hardtails to the enduro-ready Trance SX, as such.

By Eric McKeegan, photos by Adam Newman

Last year Marin was sold to a private European investment group. From the outside, this move didn’t change very much, but it allowed Marin to invest in more design manpower, and these bikes are the first of what Marin promises to be many new designs. All models below share 27.5 wheels, and Marin will not make any 26-inch full suspension models for 2014.

Words and photos by Adam Newman.

The week-long celebration that is Crankworx climaxes each year with the Canadian Open Downhill, a three-minute blast down some of the most technical riding on the mountain.

The highlight, of course, is Heckler’s Rock, where beer-soaked fans were pre-gaming as early as 10:30 a.m. for the 3 p.m. finals. 

An ominous sign when walking down to the Rock. 

By Adam Newman

For nearly a decade Trek has been building dirt jump and slopestyle bikes for its sponsored athletes and mostly leaving consumers out of the equation. The Ticket Signature was briefly available as a complete bike, but with most riders preferring to build up their own ride depending on how they would use it, sales were sluggish.

By Eric McKeegan, photos by Adam Newman

Let’s get the basic stuff out of the way about this company first. One: Ghost is a German brand, part of the Accell group (parent company of many brands, including Raleigh, Diamondback, Redline and others). Two: Starting soon, Ghost will be available, via a dealer network, across Canada. Three: No current plans for U.S. distribution.

By Adam Newman

Norco went big last fall with its 2013 line and the introduction of bigger, 27.5 wheels. Now for 2014, it’s expanding the new wheels to more models and refining the popular Range and Sight models.

The highlight is the carbon fiber version of the Sight, with its 140mm of travel and FSR-derived suspension. The frame retains the geometry of the alloy version, but beefs up the bottom bracket to the BB92 standard. In fact, there are actually two versions of the carbon frame—one with a front derailleur direct mount and one without.

There is no lack of bad blood between Sho-Air owner and team founder Scott Tedro and USA Cycling. Earlier this year his US Cup series broke ties with USAC over its mandate that riders follow UCI rules banning them from participating in non-USAC races like the Leadville Trail 100 and the BC Bike Race.

QBP surprised us over the weekend without the announcement of a new brand aimed at sportsmen. Cogburn Outdoors is the latest brand from the parent company of Surly, Salsa, Foundry and more.

Looks like we’ll get our first glimpse of them at Crankworx next week, but today Norco sent out some details of its forthcoming lineup: 

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame announced its 2013 inductees today, and said it is moving from its longtime home in Crested Butte, Colo., to Marin County, Calif., long-considered the "birthplace" of mountain biking. 

The 2013 inductees are: 

Advocacy

By Neil Browne,

In the heart of Orange County, California, tucked between the 405 freeway and the Santa Ana Mountains, Felt Bicycles has quietly been producing some amazing rigs.

Just a few miles away, Trabuco Canyon is Felt’s testing grounds, and with those trails in mind produced the Virtue Nine models—a 29er only trail bike designed for all conditions. The previous Virtue models were 26ers, but Felt went back to the drawing board to completely redesign the 2014 line.

By Stephen Haynes

Twice a year, in the tiny town of Oakridge, Oregon, Randy Dreiling and Oregon Adventures host Mountain Bike Oregon with the help of trail maintenance and advocacy groups the Disciples of Dirt and Greater Oakridge Area Trail Stewards, as well as many local businesses and volunteers.

By Karl Rosengarth

As I dove deep into the stack of archives from my most recent excursion in the Dirt Rag Time Machine, a thought occurred to me. Wouldn’t it be fun to play a little trivia quiz game?

Sure it would!

I even came up with a name for my game: Hüsker Dü? Rag. (I hope the makers of the original game have a sense of humor.)

By Eric McKeegan, photos by Wil Matthews.

I’ll admit to being a bit surprised when we were invited to attend a media camp for a power meter company.Dirt Rag isn’t well known for our embrace of electronics, although all of us certainly make use of our smartphones…

Get your copy here.

On the Cover

Our own Adam Newman was at the Fort William World Cup downhill in Scotland where he caught GT Bicycles’ Gee Atherton with deadly focus in his eyes as he rode to victory.

It was one of the worst kept secrets of the summer as several brands had already been showing it off on 2014 bikes, but SRAM’s X01 11-speed group became official today.

By Eric McKeegan

While waiting in line to start stage 5 of the Trestle Bike Park stop of the Big Mountain Enduro, I noticed two Niner WFOs that looked a little different that what I was used to.

I got a sneak peek at the new WFO at an earlier media event, but after checking out the raw prototypes, I was vowed to keep this info secret. Those vows were lifted this past weekend, and I talked a bit with Niner’s Brad Cole about where the WFO is headed.

By Karen Brooks

Lapierre is a storied French brand that has been making bicycles since 1946. Last year it debuted an electronically controlled suspension system in Europe, for 2014 that system, called Ei, will be available in the States on a trio of bikes: the Spicy and Zesty 27.5-wheeled trail bikes, and the XR 29er for cross country.

This is it folks. If you still had any notion that 27.5 was just a fad, forget it. Giant is going all-in with the middle wheelsize and 26 and 29-inch wheels are being pushed to the margins.

By Karl Rosengarth. Illustration by Stephen Haynes.

By Karen Brooks and Adam Newman

Mach 6

Pivot showed off three new bikes at their DealerCamp oasis. First off: the highly anticipated Mach 6.

We’re at a point in mountain bike history when factors are converging to create a fresh bloom of creativity—namely, the enduro racing scene and the 27.5 wheel size. Pivot’s been working on a bike that takes advantage of “Goldilocks” wheels to dominate this new form of racing.

By Karen Brooks

Between their excursions to “adventure by bike,” the folks at Salsa have been busy making improvements to their stable. We recently covered the 2014 Horsethief and Spearfish, which both got the Split Pivot treatment. At SaddleDrive in Snowbasin, Utah, they also unveiled a host of other changes to the 2014 model lineup.

By Trina Haynes

The $1,100 Eva Comp is one of three women specific 29ers from Raleigh for 2013. While it’s true that women don’t necessarily need a “women specific” bike, they do have a few known benefits: shorter top tubes, to accommodate a shorter torso and longer legs as well as a lower stand-over height than any of the men’s frames I’ve ridden. As someone who has knocked her pelvic bone off the top tube once… ok, maybe twice. I am pretty jazzed about the vag-drop.

By Justin Steiner

By Karen Brooks

The first day of Saddledrive—a dealer and media-only event put on by distributor Quality Bicycle Producuts—the whistle sounded (yes, really) and eager attendees stampeded toward the line of waiting demo bikes in a grassy area at Snowbasin Resort in Utah. Among those were some surprise new models from Surly.

Straggler

First off, the Surly bikes. (drumroll please…) They’ve finally put disc brake mounts on a Cross Check-style steel cyclocross bike! Cleverly enough, it’s called the Straggler.

By Karl Rosengarth

Don’t call it a comeback. Titanium bikes never went away. However, that whooshing sound that titanium heard in the 1990s was carbon fiber ascending to the top of the frame material food chain.

Back in the day, titanium mountain bikes graced the catalogs of a number of big brands. Who can forget the Tomac signature Raleighs of the early ’90s?

Remedy 9.9 27.5

By Eric McKeegan

Hot on the heels of the new 29er Fuel EX and Remedy, Trek just released info on two 27.5 models, the Slash and Remedy. I first caught wind of these changes a few months ago from some insider info passed along at Dirt Fest, but didn’t have anything else to report until news broke from Trek’s European dealer event, and a recently arrived press release.

We spent the weekend in Oakridge Oregon, attending this years Mountain Bike Oregon Festival—three days on some of the finest single track the state has to offer. The trails are great! A little dry perhaps, but hardly worth complaining. The scenery here is breathtaking and I’m already in line for another run! Check back for more updates and photos as well as a wrap up in a future issue!

Quality Bicycle Products’ annual SaddleDrive dealer and media show begins today, and news is quickly leaking out about some new bikes from Surly.

These are the only photos we’ve seen so far, gathered from across the interwebs. Stay tuned for more detailed reports from our editor on the scene. 

By Mike Cushionbury 

S-Works Enduro 29

Look for our long-term review of the $3,500 Enduro Comp 29 SE in Issue #172. In it, test rider Justin Steiner writes: “Specialized singlehandedly breathed new life into the long-travel 29er category by proving these bikes can be as fun and maneuverable as they are fast and stable.”

Dave Watson tried it back in 2002 but this year the gang from Encho Rage made it stick.

After 6 months of reflection, 1 month shape, a storm the night before that drenched runway and reception, and that forced us down emergency Annecy we got there.

There are so many variables in the preparation of such a jump that 2 hours before we had a lot of doubts about its implementation.

The BC Bike Race, the top ‘Bucket List’ event for mountain bikers around the world, maintained the highest standards for courses, food, safety and fun over seven days as nearly 1,000 people (staff, participants and support) travelled through six communities before finishing in Whistler.  

By Adam Newman

Scott unveiled its 2014 mountain bike lineup this week at Deer Valley, Utah, and as notable for what was there was what wasn’t: 26-inch wheels. Aside from some entry-level hardtails and the gravity bikes, the bigger 27.5 and 29-inch wheels have steamrolled over the range and secured their stay.

By Eric McKeegan

Recently Specialized herded a selection of journalists from all over the globe to France for a chance to see the new, 2014 Stumpjumper FSR and Camber models. These bikes are the “trail” models, sitting between the cross country Epic we wrote about earlier and the all mountain Enduro we reviewed in Issue #171.

By Adam Newman

Few trends have steamrolled the mountain bike industry as quickly as enduro racing. Well, maybe 27.5 wheels, but the two seem to go hand in hand.

The also go together with the 2014 Rocky Mountain Altitude Rally Edition. Offered in both 770 MSL and 750 spec, it features the same adjustable suspension as the standard Altitude, but comes decked out in a parts kit that is ready for the enduro starting line straight out of the box.

By Mike Cushionbury

Imaginate, Episode 5

After the release of Danny MacAskill’s most anticipated film to date, the final episode of MacAskill’s Imaginate looks at some of the challenges around the project and finally lifts the lid on aspects that up until now, have been a guarded secret!

By Eric McKeegan,

Kona continues to keep moving and shaking for 2014. With additional manpower in the bike design department, we’ve seen a ton of new bikes out of the Kona camp the last few years, and 2014 looks to be no different.

Most interesting is the Process enduro line up, which replaces the 26-inch, 150mm 2013 bike with three platforms, utlilizing two wheelsizes and three travel lengths.

The Santa Cruz Super Enduro is back for a second year at the Soquel Demonstration State Forest October 11-13, with the race itself running Saturday October 12.

The Santa Cruz Super Enduro will offer a larger, more inclusive field than last year’s inaugural event. However, spots are still limited and expected to fill fast — so would-be participants are encouraged to note the registration dates on their calendars and sign up as soon as registration is open.

By Adam Newman.

Ventana has been building mountain bikes in California since 1988, one year longer than we’ve been publishing Dirt Rag. It’s no surprise that the two would go well together, and we’ve written about several models over the years, and even took a tour of the factory in Issue #161.

By Harlan Price. Photos by Margus Riga, Todd Weselake, Dave Silver, Erik Peterson

By Harlan Price. Photos by Margus Riga, Dave Silver, Erik Peterson

Day Four of the BC Bike Race Presented by Ryders Eyewear woke early for breakfast and a transition to the Saltery Bay BC Ferries Terminal where most riders jumped on a ferry to Earl’s Cove. The ferry that runs from Saltery Bay is too small to move the entire race so some riders split off to take water taxis or the seaplane provided by Harbour Air.

By Harlan Price. Photos by Margus Riga, Dave Silver, Todd Weselake, and Erik Peterson

By Eric McKeegan

Niner has been on a steady schedule of redesigning its entire line of bikes. Earlier this year it was the RIP9 and SIR9, and now the JET9 gets modernized with changes to geometry, materials and suspension travel.

By Harlan Price. Photos: Margus Riga, Dave Silver, Erik Peterson, Todd Weselake.

Check out this amazing stop-motion video by Binary: 

"Take three parts equal love for shooting photos, editing video, and riding bikes. Next toss in that nagging impulse to do something different, even if it requires hours of torturous work, and this video is what you get.

By Harlan Price. Photos: Margus Riga, Dave Silver, Erik Peterson, Todd Weselake.

Tropical hot weather has smothered the racers on the opening day of the 2013 BC Bike Race Presented by Harbour Air, BC Ferries and Shimano. With temperatures pushing 90 degrees and the humidity soaring, race co-founder Dean Payne describes day one of the BCBR as the hottest and most humid on record.

By Rich Dillen. Photos by Brendon Purdy and Margus Riga.

With Rocky Mountain Bicycle’s recent relocation of their headquarters to North Vancouver, BC, what better place to get an introduction to the all new 2014 Instinct MSL? After the official ribbon (log) cutting ceremony, we got to find out what was up their plaid sleeves.

By Jon Pratt. Photos by Adam Newman.

By Geebeebeemedia

Walking into the workshop at BTR Fabrications, you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in an ironmongers, a car repair shop or a man-shed of epic proportions. Surrounded by both familiar and ‘what on earth does that do’ engineering machinery, you quickly realise you’re at the heart of where something special happens. This is where bikes are born.

By Karl Rosengarth

Team Dirt Rag will be throwin’ down at the Cheat Mountain Ultra and Ultra Lite Sunday in Beverly, W.V. The fourth race on the WVMBA Ultra Series calendar sends Ultra riders on a 40+ mile romp through the rugged Cheat Mountain Wilderness, including a 12 mile gravel road climb that should sort out the starting field in fine fashion and avoid any singletrack logjams.

By Eric McKeegan

By Gary J Boulanger. Photos by Maurice Tierney.

Yes, there were winners and prizes in multiple categories at the 19th annual Skyline Park Mountain Bike Race June 23 in Napa, Calif. Yes, there was awesome wood-fired pizza served under the big oak tree afterward. And yes, local rider Levi Leipheimer won the Pro/Expert category at the site of the 2008 Singlespeed World Championships and the 1999 Grundig UCI World Cup cross country race.

Photos by Margus Riga and Dave Silver.

The BC Bike Race is ready to roll with a stacked roster of riders ready to race the "Ultimate Singletrack Experience". Day one begins June 30 in Cumberland and finishes in Whistler on July 6.

Coldwater Mountain in Anniston, Alabama, is a signature project and the "southeast trails laboratory" of IMBA Trail Solutions, which is leading the design and construction of up to 75 miles of bike-optimized trails over the next three to five years. As of June 2013, there were already 25 miles of trail on the ground, including the Southeast’s longest continuous descent.

By Mike Cushionbury

Tom Ritchey built his first 27.5-inch wheeled off-road frameset in 1977 (which he called a 650b) as a personal bike. It never caught on at that time but now, 36 years later, the industry and many riders have begun to create demand for the in-between wheel size. Though most brands are looking towards longer travel, a few companies with roots in cross-country racing are utilizing the wheel size for that application as well.

By Justin Steiner,

With the launch of the 2014 Spearfish and Horsethief, Salsa Cycles has become the first US-based brand to license Dave Weagle’s Split Pivot suspension design. For Salsa, this partnership with Weagle is their first collaboration with an outside designer. They considered redesigning their current single-pivot platform, but ultimately decided licensing an existing design would achieve better results and mitigate potential patent infringement concerns.

Today the UCI published the calendar for the 2014 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup presented by Shimano.

Approved by the UCI Mountain Bike Commission but subject to approval by the UCI Management Committee, the 2014 calendar will comprise nine rounds in nine different countries.

On the cover

The one and only Missy Giove was caught in action at a secret location by Abram Eric Landies.

The Dirt

Issue #171 isn’t the first time Missy Giove has graced our pages. Check out these two interviews we pulled from the archives.

Issue #33 – October 1, 1993

Issue #105 – February 15, 2004

"Missy said she wanted a picture of me with one of the MANY Schwinn cruisers that were parked everywhere. I struck a Missy pose for the photo without thinking about it on account of being such a fangirl. She said ‘Oh, I see what you’re doing there.’ I was actually so insanely embarrassed for being called on it that I aggressively feigned ignorance."

Photos by A. E. Landes, Matt Kasprzyk and Maurice Tierney.

Then and now. On the left she is showing off Gonzo, the pirahna she wore around her neck during races. 

By Eric McKeegan

Fresh of the introduction of the redesigned Fury downhill bike, GT Bikes invited journalists from all over the world to sunny Park City, Utah, to ride the new Force and Sensor trail bikes. Both bikes are fresh designs, based on a new suspension system and 27.5 wheels.

Enduro racing is riding a tidal wave of popularity right now and as any sport matures, the products and technology are getting more and more specialized.

Mavic has been investing heavily in the enduro scene with riders like Jerome Clementz, Anne-Caroline Chausson, and Fabien Barel. Today it released two new products designed specifically for enduro racing.

ROS 9

Niner pulled the wraps off its newest model today, the ROS 9, a slack, all-mountain or trail hardtail designed around a 120-140mm fork. The name—Ride Over Shit—was chosen from hundreds of suggestions from Niner fans.

By Karen Brooks

After exploding into internet stardom with his short riding films "Inspired" and "Way Back Home", Scottish trials rider Danny MacAskill’s latest work needed to top them all. Partnering again with Red Bull and Inspired Bicycles, MacAskill opened his sketchbook to revive all the ideas that had been bouncing around inside his head for years. 

By David Nolletti

By Eric McKeegan

Years ago, I lusted after a Kona Hei Hei titanium hardtail. This was towards the end of the long reign of the hardtail as king of the NORBA series. I never got that Hei Hei, and years later, even after almost six years of reviewing bikes for Dirt Rag, I haven’t spent any real time on a Ti bike.

Steve Jobs was famous for introducing new Apple products at the end of his presentations with “one more thing”, and after we got a look at the all-new Santa Cruz Solo and the revised Tallboy2 last week, there was one other trick up the company’s sleeve.

By Molly Hurford

Justin Lindine, men’s overall winner

Where you’re from: New Salem, Mass.

Is there anything special or different about your bike? Well, we just got these sweet new Novatec Dragon 29 wheels, so those are the newest/most different thing right now. I got them just before TS Epic and they have been awesome!  Nice and light, but holding up well to the PA rough stuff.

By Vicki Barclay

Ah, the Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic. For being a local race, you challenge me in so many ways! I laugh out loud when I read about all the signs of “overtraining” and think about how they relate to one’s general well-being during stage racing: Lack of appetite, yep; low heart rate when racing, uh huh; difficulty sleeping, you betcha; emotionally unstable, oh boy!!

By Karl Rosengarth. Illustration by Stephen Haynes.

Dirt Rag is headed to the 2013 Big Bear Lake 2×12 Relay Race and Mountain Festival in Bruceton Mills, W.V., on Saturday, June 15 where the trails rock, the vibe is chill, there’s free beer and a live bluegrass concert after the race—it’s all good!

There was no doubt who the crowd favorite was as Gee drops in towards the finish.

By Adam Newman

By Adam Newman. Photos by Gary Perkin and Adam Newman.

By Mike Cushionbury

Photos by Eric Benjamin/Adventure Monkey

Justin Lindine, above, overturned his past years’ misfortunes to win the 2013 Trans-Sylvania Epic, while Amanda Carey takes her second overall win in the week-long stage race. After close racing all week, riders battled over an intense, 26-mile course in Stage 7 to confirm the final standings.

As a respected downhill and cross-country racer in the bike industry, Fox Global Marketing Communications Manager Mark Jordan practices what he preaches.

By Mike Cushionbury. Photos by Colin Meagher.

By Adam Newman

We stopped by the third round of the British Downhill Series in Innerleithen today, the final big tune-up before the opening round of the UCI World Cup season in Fort William next weekend. Adam Brayton (Team Hope Factory Racing) took home the Elite Men’s win while local favorite Rachel Atherton (GT Factory Team) won the Elite Women’s race. 

By Adam Newman

The folks at Santa Cruz Bicycles know how to throw a party. Partnering with TweedLove, the UK’s largest cycling festival, they gathered in Peebles, in the Scottish Borders, to unveil the new 27.5 Solo with some limited edition whisky and local legend Steve Peat. 

In Stage 6 of the Trans-Sylvania Epic, Justin Lindine (Redline) continued to build his lead in the Open Mens competition, while Amanda Carey and her NoTubes teammates regained lost time.

By Tim Darwick

Sam Koerber (Progold, above) edged out Justin Lindine (Redline) for the victory while Andrea Wilson (Brickhouse Racing) took her first win of the week on Stage 5 of the Trans-Sylvania Epic. The day’s stage featured a substantial amount of climbing condensed into only 26 miles. Lindine described the stage as having “almost as much climbing as the longer days, but all in a two hour package.”

By Karen Brooks

It’s 10:21 p.m. and I’m typing this at a rustic wooden table in the dining area of a Boy Scout cabin. My cabin-mates are chatting, drinking water (or beer) and snacking, discussing today’s racing (and shenanigans) and tomorrow’s stage. Someone says, “Aw, it sucks you guys have to work.” But then I remind them that I’m technically at work when we’re out on the trail, too.

Racers found Wednesday’s stage 4 to be the most challenging yet. 

By Mike Cushionbury

By Montana Miller

For 2014, Magura has updated the dampers and air springs in its line of 29er forks. I recently had a chance to ride the 120mm travel TS8 and got one ride in on the new 140mm travel TS8 that can be streched to 150mm.

Dampers

Zach Adams led the charge out of the mist Tuesday morning.

By Karen Brooks. Photos courtesy of Santa Cruz.

One of the coolest parts of my job is getting to meet those athletes or personalities who have inspired me in my own struggles to be a better mountain biker. So when I got an email from mountain bike legend Juli Furtado—one of my heroes from way back in beginner days—inviting me to a press camp to introduce a new brand she’s spearheading, I stared at the computer screen for a while in amazement. Juli Furtado! Wow! 

Day 1

The fourth edition of the Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic presented by Dirt Rag began today with picturesque weather and ideal trail conditions. The riders raced through the 14-mile NoTubes Individual Time Trial in Bald Eagle State Forest in sunny, 60-degree temperatures and dry, tacky trails. The course took riders through a variety of terrain, from gravel roads, to rocky descents and freshly cut, serpentine trails.

By Montana Miller

For 2014 Magura is introducing an automatic electric compression damper. To lock and unlock the fork, the eLECT damper uses the same accelerometer technology that changes an iPhone screen when the phone is flipped from straight up to sideways.

By Vicki Barclay

Approaching a big race like the Trans-Sylvania Epic, people always ask, “How you are feeling?” and “Are you ready?” I always find it a funny question to answer! The same way as when someone asks how a job interview went, men tend to answer with confidence, I have noticed, whereas females tend to be more coy and careful. I prefer the coy and careful approach.

While the top-of-the-line XX1 11-speed system is getting most of the press these days, SRAM has updated its 10-speed systems with trickle-down technologies across the board.

The XO, X9 and X7 shifters have all been redesigned. All three now have internals derived from the 10-speed XX group, including zero-loss shifting, a German-engineered mechanism, a smaller body and all are Matchmaker compatible. They are shipping now.

Photos by Margus Riga.

Rocky Mountain’s riders are a diverse bunch, and the company has been hard at work on "Fourtitude", a video that explores what four very different riders could bring to the Altitude 790 MSL. Watch it below.

BlackBox. It started nearly two decades ago with the original RockShox BoXXer and the desire to provide completely personalized support to a special group of riders. In this relentless pursuit of the podium, no rider request was too crazy or too costly—the average yearly salary of a pro mountain biker wouldn’t have covered the manufacturing cost of those first generation BoXXers.

By Karl Rosengarth

If a rider hucks the gnar and nobody is there to film it, did it really happen? Thanks to folks like Bjørn Enga, that question is pretty much a moot point.

After striking a deal in 1996 with Surfer Publications to produce a show called "Bike TV" for the Outdoor Life Network, Enga formed Radical Films with business partner Christian Begin, and sallied forth in a purple bus to make history.

By Stephan Kincaid,

The Tour of the Battenkill is a road race spread over an entire weekend and catering to the beginner to the Pro. Littered with a bunch of dirt road sections it’s becoming a legendary event. This year had over 3,500 racers in attendance on Saturday alone.

So what does this have to do with getting ready for Trans-Sylvania Epic?

By Michael Wissell

So you decided to do a week- long bike race.

I can’t tell you what you have to do to win the race. I imagine that it involves a lot of “training” and “hard work”. I can, however, tell you about a couple of things that can make your week at the Trans-Sylvania Epic even more awesome (and perhaps take away a bit of the sting of losing 30 minutes a day to Jeremiah Bishop).

By Justin Steiner. Photo by Matt Kaspryzyk.

Man, it sure is a good time to be a mountain biker. With all of the recent innovations—from dropper posts to 27.5-inch wheels—development sure is cooking along. Seems like this year, more so even than recent years, there’s simply a flood of incredible bikes and products coming to market.

By Eric McKeegan

The S.I.R. 9 was one of Niner’s first models, helping to propel the 29-only company from tiny start up to a dozen models including three full-suspension platforms. Not one to forget its roots, the S.I.R. recently got a full redesign, and Niner sent us out a test bike, set up in single speed configuration.

By Karl Rosengarth

There’s no denying the buzz surrounding 27.5-inch mountain bikes. Color me intrigued, as I begin my first long-term test on a tweener. I’m ready to clear my mind of preconceptions, ride and learn.

By Mike Cushionbury

DVO (pronounced devo and short for “developed") Suspension has been not-so-silently working towards an August release for its new Emerald fork and Jade shock. The company formed over a year ago when then Marzocchi USA president Bryson Martin and four key employees walked out the door to form this new suspension company. Their plan is to focus on top shelf downhill suspension but, when we spoke with Martin at this year’s Sea Otter Classic, he hinted that there would be more products coming, targeted at other riders as well.

By Mike Cushionbury. Photos by Justin Steiner

Rocky Mountain started with a clean slate for its new 150mm travel Altitude 770 MSL. The Canadian company weighed the pros and cons of wheel sizes and decided that for a long travel, do-it-all trail/all-mountain bike with a genetic gift for descending, 27.5 was the ideal hoop size. Like geometry and suspension travel, Rocky now uses wheel size to enhance its bike’s ride characteristics.

By Justin Steiner

Here at Dirt Rag and Bicycle Times Headquarters it seems nary a day passes without a delivery person rolling a new bike through the door. Awesome as it is, there are challenges to constantly swapping from bike to bike. In terms of suspension bikes, quickly setting up a new bike at its manufacturer’s recommended baseline is key to kicking off a proper test.

Join damn it. That’s the message Niner has applied to its limited edition run of nine custom painted Jet 9 RDO frames that will be auctioned off to raise funds for the International Mountain Bike Association. Each is paired with a painted to match RockShox SID XX fork.

By Mike Cushionbury,

Dirt Rag Issue #170 has shipped to subscribers and will appear on newsstands on May 14. In case you’re wondering, a one-year, or lifetime, subscription not only ensures you’ll never miss an issue but it also guarantees you’ll get your own personal copy before anyone else. Don’t trust your postman? Then order a single issue or subscription through one of our digital options for your tablet.

By Stephan "Geronimo" Kincaid.

Over two recent weekends I rode in two different events, the Hell of Hunterdon and the Monkey Knife Fight.

Neither of these are "races", but there are some people that will "race." It’s no bother to me. What matters most is we all are safe and have a great ride. Both of these rides accomplish this handily.

By Eric McKeegan

Banshee Bikes is known for B.C. bred big hit bikes, so I was surprised to see this prototype hanging out in the booth. Dubbed the Phantom (at least for now), this bike is still a ways off. Banshee is calling this a 2015 prototype.

By Eric McKeegan

KS is continuing to expand its dropper range, from the highest of high end, to very affordable options.

This is the LEV Carbon. This post will weigh in at a claimed 325 grams, at least 200 grams less than most droppers on the market. The drop will be limited to 65mm of infinitely adjustable travel.

By Eric McKeegan

Diamondback has been plugging away the last few years, making great bikes that seem to fly under the radar. After hitting a solid homerun with the Mason 29er all-mountain hardtail, I’d expect to Diamondback garner more attention this year with some of these other new models.

Mason FS

By Joel Kostelac.

A few weeks ago I celebrated my birthday. It was a great week and day and probably fairly typical as birthdays go. I worked, enjoyed time with my family, and even managed to squeak in a ride at Allegrippis. I am thankful everyday that I can do so.

Ten years ago I celebrated my 28th birthday a bit differently in a small southern Iraqi city named As Samawah. It is a small city straddled over a key supply line to Baghdad and home to an important bridge over the Euphrates River.

By Eric McKeegan

Raleigh has been into the cross scene for quite a while, pushing both serious racing and fun with the Hodala single speed team and the Raleigh/Clement race team.

It has a few new carbon and aluminum bikes for 2014, and they should be available to race this fall. Here is a sampling of the line up.

By Mike Cushionbury

Renthal, located in Manchester, England, has 35 years of motocross parts mastery and has recently brought that knowhow to the world of gravity mountain biking with a range of handlebars, grips, stems and chainrings. It’s collection of elite racers using and R&D’ing the product include some of the biggest names and teams: Aaron Gwin, Troy Brosnan, Mitch Ropelato, Jill Kintner, the Yeti domestic and World Cup downhill teams, the Norco International team and MS Mondraker Racing.

By Eric McKeegan

White Brothers and MRP are sister brands under the Mountain Racing Products umbrella and we stopped by their booth at Sea Otter to see the new goods. 

With 34-35mm stanchion forks taking over the lion’s share of the market, White Brothers is set to fire back with their own bigger chassis. Shown here are prototypes, but the lowers are the final castings, so the investment to make these forks happen is already in place.

By Eric McKeegan

This is Turner’s first foray into carbon frames, and the Czar does not look like a product hurried to market. The Czar is a XC 29er race bike, but is designed to handle trails more burly than the average cross-country race course.

News landed in our inbox today of a new full-suspension 29er from Specialized designed specifically for women. The Rumor uses Specialized’s M5 alloy frame with 110mm of travel front and rear with a tapered head tube, internal cable routing, a super low standover height and somehow still manages to fit a water bottle. In a size small, the standover is just 706mm.

By Mike Cushionbury

Bell’s new $125 Super (available in May) is the company’s first dedicated enduro/trail/all-mountain helmet. It combines the protection of a gravity helmet with the light weight and ventilation of an XC lid. Additionally, there are plenty of other useful features built into the package.

By Mike Cushionbury

Yeti Cycles held a special off-site ride day to introduce its two newest carbon offerings: The SB95 Carbon and the ARC Carbon. Both are based on the iconic brands successful aluminum versions of the same names.

By Emily Walley. Photos by Emily Walley and Justin Steiner.

The new-for-2013 Trek Lush 29 SL is the fast, stable, big-wheeled sister in the Lush family, which began in 2012 with her 26-inch wheeled siblings. Flaunting her 29-inch wheels along with frame sizes as small as 14-inches, this full suspension trail woman is proof that a small frame size doesn’t have to mean small wheels.

By Mike Cushionbury

With a change in owners and investors last year, Lake is considering 2013 a bit of a relaunch in the U.S. The Illinois-based cycling shoe company, which was founded in 1982, has a new North American distributer and it just signed a three-year sponsorship deal with the Sea Otter Classic. With 10 new models scheduled to come down the pike in 2014 Lake previewed two of those over the weekend.

I was chatting with Banshee bikes about the new prototype short travel 29er they have at Sea Otter. I’ll have more info on that bike later, but I noticed the 1x drivetrain was running a Race Face ring. Looking closer, it was a wide/narrow tooth style ring, much like SRAM’s XX.

Teva Pivot clipless shoes

We’ve tested a few pairs of Teva shoes for flat pedals, and all of them have won us over with a high level of comfort and performance, both on and off the bike. At Interbike last fall, Teva showed off a pair of prototype Pivot clipless shoes that looked like just thing for trail riders hooked on clipless, but not the standard three strap shoes that usually goes along with the pedals.

Norco

Norco embraced 27.5” wheels in a big way with the Sight and Range models. In 2014 Norco looks to expand that embrace even more. We got a glimpse of what lies ahead, check it out!

Sight Carbon

Niner RIP 9

A few days ago Niner sent around press release about the new RIP 9. The original RIP was long time favorite and a great selling bike for Niner, it was only with some trepidation that a redesign was undertaken.

The carbon RIP gets most of the attention for being high tech, but the new aluminum framed RIP should not be dismissed at low tech in any way.

Kona’s been on a bit of a tear lately, with lots of new bikes that show a revitalized spirit at this long time player in the mountain bike scene.

Hei Hei Supreme 

By Matt Kasprzyk

Issue #170 is done and done. It’s being shipped and will soon be fondled by lucky subscribers. It won’t be long before you’ll be marveling at the issue in its entirety, but here’s a little insider bump to hold you over.

The 26-inch version of the Firebird was so well received it made its way into the permanent fleet of the Dirt Rag staff. Now Pivot has upped the ante by developing a completely new, 27.5-inch version.

By Eric McKeegan

Scott invited us to a media event the day before Sea Otter opened to the public. Adrian Montgomery, Scott’s PR Director sent this invite, but didn’t share any other info about what bikes we’d be riding.

By Montana Miller

The Basics

Town: Brevard, North Carolina (4 miles from trailhead)

Brevard is an arty little town. It has a good bakery, plenty of restaurants, coffee shops and white squirrels. It’s a pretty excellent place to stage a mountain bike trip.

Beers: The Pisgah Tavern (2 miles from trailhead)

By Joh Rathbun

Cycling fans from as far away as Pennsylvania flocked to the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival this past weekend with approximately 6,000 folks in attendance on each day. The genesis of the festival was showcasing mountain biking as a great form of recreational tourism in Santa Cruz County, driven by the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz.

The author, lugging the ever-present load of camera gear, with Adam Craig looking on.

By Adam Newman. Photos by Adam Newman A. E. Landes Photography.

By Shannon Mominee. Photos by Shannon Mominee, Jon Pratt and Justin Steiner

The Intense Spider 29 Comp is the bigger and bolder brother of the Spider 29. Intense should have picked a different name for the Spider 29 Comp, because unlike the Spider, this machine has a carbon fiber frame with more rear travel, shorter chainstays and a slacker head angle than its aluminum counterpart. It’s pretty much an entirely different beast except for the suspension design.

By Michael Wissell

My apologies in advance for this text-heavy entry. This post was going to be about trying to get in enough training to perform at a reasonable level over a seven-day stage race while juggling job, family, and other extracurricular activities. I even had adorable pictures of cats.

Based in Ollantaytambo, Peru, just around the corner from Machu Picchu, starting at nearly 16,000 feet altitude, the Inca Avalanche, protected by Bell Helmets, motion by Kenda Tires, holds the title as the second highest race in the world. Now in its 6th running, the Inca Avalanche is set to host more than 13 nations during the two day event June 1 and 2, 2013.

By Stephan Kincaid

I don’t like to let people down. It’s a weakness disguised as a strength that sometimes wears lycra. For those of you that don’t know me, that would be 99% of you reading this, my name is Stephan Kincaid. Most people call me Geronimo.

For a few weeks I’ll be guest blogging my adventures (a.k.a. daily life as a working stiff trying to ride bikes trying to achieve life balance) leading up to the Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic.

By Eric McKeegan

The market for complete wheelsets looks to be getting even more crowded with the announcement of three new models from SRAM. These new wheels are aimed squarely at the trail/all-mountain market, joining SRAM’s existing cross-country oriented Rise line of wheels.

By Joh Rathbun and Adam Newman

For the fourth straight year, the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz will welcome riders and visitors to Aptos Village, Calif., for the Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival this weekend, April 13 and 14. Conceived in 2009 by a few officers of MBoSC, the festival raises funds for neighborhood bike parks and legal, multi-use trails.

VP Enduro Teaser from VP Components on Vimeo.

Editor’s note: While we at Dirt Rag get to ride a lot of very nice bikes, most of them are bone stock or very close to it. I’ve always enjoyed seeing how individual riders personalize their bikes with component choices, accessories or other little touches that really make them their own. We’re starting a new feature called How We Roll to highlight some of the cool, unusual or just awesome bikes we see out in the wild. Up first: our current intern Montana Miller.

Many riders will be forced to choose between racing events like the Whiskey 50 or staying home to stay in the good graces of USA Cycling and the UCI. 

By Mike Cushionbury. Photo courtesy of Epic Rides. 

By Eric McKeegan. Photos by Justin Steiner and Jon Pratt.

Santa Cruz didn’t seem to need another trail bike. It already has the well-regarded 26-inch Blur TR and Blur LT with 125mm and 140mm travel respectively; the 29-inch Tallboy LT at 135mm; and the evergreen single pivot Heckler at 150mm. Bookend those with the Nomad at 160mm, and the 100mm Tallboy, Superlight 29 and Blur XC, and it gets hard to see a gap in there to fill.

The Breck Epic stage race traverses 240 miles of Colorado singletrack over the course of six days and is one of the most popular mountain bike events on the calendar.

By Vicki Barclay. Photo courtesy of Dave MacElwaine.

One of the things I love about mountain biking is the way that people refer to trails as if they are living entities. I often hear local people here in State College talking about how the harsh winters in Pennsylvania allow the trails to “get a rest” under the blankets of snow, like a sleeping beast waiting for spring.

By Adam Newman and Eric McKeegan.

The Pike name has been absent from the RockShox lineup for the past few years. First used on a 140mm travel 32mm chassis fork, the Pike was a favorite for hard chargers and even showed up on some dirt jump bikes. As the market evolved, other forks, such as the Revelation and Argyle took over and the Pike quietly disappeared.

By Jon Pratt

Recently a few select, privileged, cooler-than-the-rest, Dirt Rag staffers hit up Sedona for a couple of days of fun in the desert. With the guiding hands of Matt McFee, Kevin Waterbury, and Hermosa Tours we sampled some of the best singletrack and crazy crystal-powered-UFO folklore the region has to offer. Look for the story in the new issue of the magazine: 

The Kenda/Felt Pro Mountain Bike Team is inviting two riders to be part of the crew for the 2013 TSE. From pro bike prep before and after each stage to a daily post-ride massage, this is a chance to make the most of your Trans-Sylvania Epic experience.

Danny MacAskill is back with a new project, Imaginate, in which he seeks to push the limits of his sport even further than he has previously.

Sometimes being told you can do whatever you want can be more intimidating than being held back and it’s the sign of a true champion to be able to grasp their dreams and make them come to life.

Spring is here at that usually means new bike models come out to play. Fresh off the release of the Enduro 29er, Specialized shows no signs of slowing down, with two new prototypes being ridden by pros.

Our friends over at Hermosa Tours announced today a new trip offering beginning in Summer 2013: Monster Enduro Weekends: Durango & Telluride. These self-guided trips will take place over three days in Southwest Colorado, as Hermosa shuttles riders thousands of feet into the San Juan Mountains for some of the biggest rides anywhere totaling nearly 15,000 feet of descending over the three days.

Santa Cruz has been teasing the mountain bike world pretty hard over the last several months after it bought prominent ad space in Dirt Rag with the tagline "And now for something completely different."

The speculation ran wild: A 6-inch travel 29er? A new variation on the VPP platform? A unicycle?

No, it seemed most of the world was holding its breath for what would likely be the first 650b platform from 104 Bronson St.

By Stephen Haynes.

Click to see ithe infographic full-size.

Ever wanted to do the BC Bike Race but it was ‘Sold Out’? Ever wanted a Rocky Mountain Bike but couldn’t afford it?

Four lucky finalists have a chance to ride the 2013 BC Bike Race with the ‘Godfather’ of Fun, Wade Simmons, on a brand new Rocky Mountain Element 970 RSL BC Edition bike with a huge pile of other prizes. 

By Eric McKeegan. Photos by Thomas Dietze and Matt DeLorme.

Fox recently released news of redesigned forks and rear shocks, upping the ante in the gravity arms race. While Dirt Rag couldn’t snag an invite to Spain for the official unveiling, we got the low-down on the new suspension bits, and we’ve got a request in for review samples.

Let’s breakdown the new stuff:

By Joh Rathbun. Photos by Brad Davies.

The Soquel Demonstration Forest is a unique forest located on Santa Rosalia Mountain about an hour away from San Jose, California. It’s unique not just for its amazing beauty and great riding, but because it’s owned by the California State Fire Department and it leases out the land for logging and recreational activity.

By Jon Pratt. Photos by Justin Steiner.

By Matt Kasprzyk

Why mess with a good thing? To make it better, of course. If you agree with the reviews and press; Yeti’s SB-66c is a good thing – if not a great thing. So good that I leapt at the chance for the super-bike to kill my quiver. Yeti has already received several accolades from our staff and many others for their Switch Technology suspension bikes. They must be a good thing, right? So why f’ck with it?

Aside from the frame itself, nothing has a greater impact on the quality of your ride than the fork, and a good suspension fork is anything but cheap. Top-level offerings cost as much as—or more than—many frames.

RockShox has always offered forks at many pricepoints, but the new RockShox 30 Gold offers many of the technologies of the higher-level forks but at an impressive price, starting at only $330.

By Andreas Hestler. Photos and video by Connor MacLeod.

By Justin Steiner. Photos by Justin Steiner and Jon Pratt.

By Trina Haynes. Photos by Emily Walley.

There were a record-breaking 203 women at Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park’s Women’s Weekend in Milwaukee and a record 218 at the same event in Cleveland. I feel like I can say with confidence there is a growth of woman who are embracing the fun and challenging sport of mountain biking. 

By Adam Newman, photos by Nathan Kraxberger

One of the most anticipated and long-awaited bikes in years, the production version of the Ibis Ripley is here. Built around 120mm of rear travel through a dw-link suspension and a full carbon construction, it’s sure to be one of the most sought-after bikes of the spring.

Rather than redesign the very popular Mojo series around 29-inch wheels, Ibis CEO Hans Heim says they knew that to make the best possible bike Ibis needed to start with a clean-sheet approach. 

Videos of insane urban downhill courses have been a huge hit online, and the popularity of bringing the sport to new venues has prompted a full race series to emerge.

In 2014, the City Downhill World Cup series will grace at least half a dozen cities in Europe and South America, with talk of more venues to come. A pilot race will be held June 22, 2013, in Bratislava, Slovakia.

By Karl Rosengarth

In my previous post, I shared some cool reader art from the Dirt Rag Time Machine. It turns out that Uncle Karl was holding out on you. I also have a sweet stash of vintage advertisements.

As I’ve said before, time travel is notoriously rough on paper, so forgive the less-than-pristine quality of some of the following images.

By Eric McKeegan, photos by Adam Newman

By Estela Villaseñor, photos by Bob Allen Images

Word on the street (or at least the fat bike forums) is that Kona will be the next major brand to introduce a production fat bike, and we’ve got the spec sheet.

Never afraid to push into unique market segments, Kona has a long tradition of niche designs such as the long-tail Ute cargo bike and the specially-designed Africabike. Now as fat bikes continue rolling from the margins of the market to becoming a mainstream model, I’m not too surprised to see Kona getting on board. 

By Eric McKeegan

A few weeks ago, X-Fusion announced sponsorship of the Pivot Cycles factory downhill team, maybe a bit of an odd pairing, considering the X-Fusion line-up does not include a dual crown fork.

By Adam Newman

Eriksen

Kent Ericksen has been building with titanium for more than twenty years, and this year he was showing off his brand’s new suspension design, complete with a full-titanium rear swingarm and this boxy chainstay yoke.

The inaugural Grand Junction Off-Road endurance mountain bike event and free community concert, presented by U.S. Bank, and produced by Epic Rides will take place in Grand Junction on Labor Day weekend, Friday, August 30 through Sunday, September 1.

Niner Bikes posted on MTBr today that the company is readying a new model, and is asking the public for input on the name.

Saying it will "appeal to old-school MTBr readers in particular," the steel hardtail will featured a rear thru-axle, short chainstays, a slack 44mm headtube, internal routing for a dropper seatpost, and Niner’s BioCentric bottom bracket. 

By Mike Cushionbury

Two French brands, Time and Mavic, have signed an agreement for technical collaboration to design and manufacture clipless pedals together in France.

For 2013 Shimano will offer multiple 650b mountain bike wheels at various price points and new Dyna-sys Deore XT and SLX components designed specifically for 650b and 29-inch wheels.

By Eric McKeegan

Problem Solvers

Every few months Problem Solvers comes out with a widget or two that makes me think, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Here are three quick ah-ha items they were showing off at Frostbike.

The 2013 North American Handemade Bicycle Show was the Year of the Fat. More than a dozen builders had fat bikes, both 26 and 29+, in their booths. Here’s part two of our sampling. You can read part one here.

REEB

Reeb Cycles is an offshoot of Oskar Blues Brewing Company from nearby Lyons, Colorado. (Spell it backwards and you’ll get it).

By Adam Newman

Each year at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show there are some clear trends. Randonneuring bikes, disc brake cyclocross bikes, track and fixed gear bikes, and 650b mountain bikes have all had their moment in the sun. This year the clear favorite for custom builds was fat bikes.

More than a dozen builders had fat bikes in their booths, and here’s a sampling:

I really thought they would go straight for 650b wheels. Then again, developing these products takes years, and this bike was likely well underway before the current 650b surge: the Enduro 29er. 

With 155mm of rear wheel travel in a chainstay that is only 10mm longer than the 26-inch version (430mm), it shouldn’t have the land-yacht feeling you might expect. Mated to a 150mm Fox 34 Float CTD fork, this is one of the most burly 29ers we’ve ever seen.

By Eric McKeegan.

Frostbike is the annual dealer expo put on by Quality Bicycle Products (QBP). While February in Minnesota might not sound so inviting, this is a great event, full of people who really, really love bikes. Besides QBP’s roster of house brands (Salsa, Surly, Foundry, 45NRTH, All-City, Civia, Problem Solvers, and more) there are more than 100 other companies in attendance.

By Justin Steiner,

Crankbrothers recently announced a new version of the Mallet dh. According to Crankbrothers, rider and racer feedback lead them back to a pedal with a larger platform and more traction. The first two versions of the Mallet both had a fairly larger platform, while the third iteration, launched in 2011, offered a narrower platform. Generations two and three offered six adjustable and replaceable traction pins apiece.

Portland framebuilders Ira Ryan, left, and Tony Pereira joined forces to create Breadwinner cycles.

By Karen Brooks

By Karen Brooks

Sometimes you just want to imagine yourself sailing down a silky-smooth country road, wine and cheese in the bag, and sun shining… Here at the 2013 North American Handmade Bicycle Show there are plenty of classically beautiful road bikes to inspire just such a vision. Here are a few.

Shamrock Cycles Fluid Druid

Simply a traditional road frame with fender capability. Pretty fenders, too. I love the little Brooks tool roll on the back of the saddle.

By Karen Brooks

Building a bike to be an everyday vehicle gives a lot of opportunities for creative framebuilders to add all kinds of amenities to their NAHBS show bikes. Here’s a few that have stood out so far.

Donkelope

This Donkelope caught my eye right away. Builder Greg calls it a steampunk bike. It has an actual bike lamp—yes, a lamp—from the early 1900s, retrofitted with a modern LED light inside. 

By Adam Newman

Riders are always looking for new challenges and new places to ride their bikes. Adventure touring and bike-packing are two of the fastest-growing segments of the industry, and like every year, the North American Handmade Bike Show is setting trends that the rest of the industry is likely to soon follow.

Though adventures can be had on any bike, more and more riders are designing, building, and riding bikes specifically designed around touring or racing on unpaved roads or rough terrain.

The inherent width of fat bikes’ rear tires requires the use of a wider bottom bracket shell, thus a wider crankset and spindle. There are a few options on the market, but brands spec’ing new bikes and those building them up from scratch have a new option from SRAM, the first of the “major” brands to introduce fat-specific equipment.

By Trina Haynes.

As a cyclist and a mom of two, I am quite familiar with Nashbar’s offerings. Over the years it’s been the cost effective outlet for my hubby and I to get new gear without breaking the bank.

This year Nashbar is breaking into the 650b market with the $500 Bee’s Knees single speed. This is not the first 650b I have played around on and I already enjoy this “tweener” size.

Cherubim by Shin-Ichi Konno won the President’s Choice award and Best of Show at the 2012 NAHBS.

By Gary J. Boulanger

By Adam Newman. Photo above by A.E. Landes, photo at right courtesy of Team CF.

By Trina Haynes. Photos by Emily Walley.

From ultra-beginners to advanced riders, ladies traveled far and wide to enjoy a day of one-on-one coaching and a weekend of women dominating Ray’s Indoor bike park in Cleveland.

Editor’s note: Each year we cover dozens of the most beautiful bikes in the world at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show and other local shows. But what happens to them after the display booths are disassembled and the lights go out? After all, bikes are built to be ridden, not to sit around and look pretty. So we followed up with some of the bikes and builders we’ve covered in the past to see how these works of art are holding up.

Ever wanted to test your meddle at the BC Bike Race but find it’s always sold out?

Dejay Birtch at the 2012 Trans-Sylvania Epic. Birtch will represent Ride for Reading in 2013.

Ride for Reading is teaming up with professional mountain biker Dejay Birtch to create an innovative, professional mountain bike team. Birtch will not only represent Ride for Reading through racing, he will serve as an ambassador of the organization by collecting books, visiting classrooms, and spreading Ride for Reading’s mission as he travels from race to race.

By Eric McKeegan. Photos by Adam Newman

Editor’s note: Will this process work on your bike? I have no idea, so please don’t ask me. But since we get paid the big bucks to be human guinea pigs, we went ahead and tried it anyway. Caveat emptor and all that…

By Montana Miller. Photos by Adam Newman. 

Tubeless fat bike tires have quite a few benefits. They roll faster (by eliminating friction between the tire and tube), can be run at lower pressure without risk of pinch flatting, and are lighter.

By Montana Miller

It took longer to get to Ohio than usual, because I got stuck behind a house.

I don’t like going to Ohio in February but my girlfriend is in school there, so every few weeks I have to head into the grey plains.

Fortunately there’s an awesome trail, Vulture’s Knob, just a few miles from the college in Wooster. Friday was barely above freezing, and alternating between rain and ice pellets. I still wanted ride. So I went out. 

By Matt Kaspryzk 

These last couple seasons I’ve welcomed some time off my bike. The winter months have given me time to prepare both mentally and physically for riding in the coming season.

The first Dirt Rag issue of 2013 has shipped to subscribers and will appear on newsstands Tuesday, February 12. As always, order a subscription and not only will you never miss an issue, you’ll get your copy before anyone else. Can’t wait? Order a single issue or subscription through one of our digital options for your tablet. 

On the cover: Photo by Michiel Rotgans.

By Karl Rosengarth

Chances are you’ve never met former Dirt Rag employee Emmet B. Handy. Despite the fact that he’s never ridden a bicycle, let me assure you that Emmet is a legend among Dirt Rag staffers. For several years, Emmet played a critical role in the production of the magazine.

I figure it’s high time that the rest of the world learns the truth about this hidden hero. I recently caught up with Emmet, and we talked about the old days, and what he’s been up to lately.

The Outdoor Experience Organization—promoters of The NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Mountain Bike Epic- and TransRockies Inc—promoters of TransRockies Challenge – have agreed to exchange entries so that top riders from each side of the continent can participate in the other’s event.

Editor’s note: Montana Miller is our new columnist, and Knobby Meats is a weekly column about bad decisions, good times, and riding bikes. Enjoy! 

By Montana Miller.

I munch on a raw potato, while drawing a big loop on the computerized topo Saturday night.

By Adam Newman. Photos by Ethan A. Glading.

In case you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks, you may have heard the UCI Cyclocross World Championships were held this past weekend for the first time ever in the U.S. Though the weather caused a few headaches for racers and promoters alike, the even was a smashing success and a great opportunity for the U.S. ‘cross scene to show the world how much it loves the sport.

The high school cycling movement continues to gain momentum in California

"Singletrack High", a documentary about a progressive approach to body, mind and character developmentthrough the sport of high school mountain biking premieres tonight in Mill Valley, California. The premiere is at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre, at 8 p.m.

By Karen Brooks

I’ve been wanting to try one of the latest crop of fatbikes for a while now. I got to ride the Surly Pugsley we tested for Dirt Rag oh so long ago, and it was a lot of fun, as was the Jones Spacebike with its fat front tire.

World record holder and mountain bike legend Jeff Lenosky has joined X-Fusion‘s growing team of athletes and brand ambassadors. In 2013, Lenosky plans to continue highlighting his head turning trials skills at multiple demonstrations across the country. On top of his national tour and dealer visits for long-time frame sponsor Giant Bicycles, he also plans on getting his competitive fix at select enduro events around the country.

By Neil Browne. Photo by Todd Trisch.

These past weeks the cycling world has been rocked by the admission of widespread doping from several riders. The parade of cyclists willing to unburden themselves from the guilt, or perhaps to reduce their suspension under undeniable evidence, continued with Danish rider Michael Rasmussen. Nicknamed “The Chicken” from a Danish cartoon, Rasmussen’s professional cycling career started with mountain biking and ended this week as a member of a professional road racing team.

By Jeff Lockwood.

I’m driving home after barely hanging on for a pathetic 16th place in a soul-crushing amateur cyclocross race in Rillaar, Belgium when I get an email from a friend in the United States asking me to translate “Handups are not a crime!” into Flemish.

The timing of the email turned my grimace into a smirk.

While the standard Fox 32 chassis received a major face-lift in creating the first generation 32 Step-Cast, the changes to 34 Step-Cast chassis were not quite as extreme after going under the knife. Aside from the distinct external steps in the lower casting, the most notable change to the (MY2019) 34 Step-Cast chassis is locking ...

Editors Note: This the second installment of an ongoing series where we find out from the mountain biking community what their go-to accessories are for tackling the trails, enhancing the ride and saving the day. Check out the first installment here.   Tracy Brown & Ikhide Ikhigbonoaremen are the Co-Founders of All Mountain Brothers, an ...

A two-parter with Esker Cycles; First up is Cedar Keyes of Esker joining Ben from Mountain Bike Radio podcast during our Dirt Fest West Virginia Festival. (Be sure to scroll to the bottom to listen to the episode.) Second, Esker Cycles is helping get some new trail built in their home state of Montana. Flathead ...

Editors Note: This the first installment of an ongoing series where we find out from the mountain biking community what their go-to accessories are for tackling the trails, enhancing the ride and saving the day. Thanks to Alexandera Houchir for volunteering to be first  Alexandera Houchin recently set a new women’s singlespeed record at the ...

Introducing the newest merchandise to hit the Dirt Rag Store. Welcome, the Dirt Rag Bolt. Act fast, this is a pre-order only and ends Wednesday, October 30th at 11:59 AM EST. We’ve got your crewneck sweatshirt. The full-zip hooded sweatshirt. And, of course, we have a T-shirt available in Black, White or Gray. Be sure ...

Take what you know about a hardtail mountain bike and toss those opinions in the trash; the new Specialized Fuse for 2020 is an entirely new animal, and it’s ready to party. This aggressive hardtail is sporting a slack 66.5-degree head angle, minimal branding, and adjustable dropouts for those that refuse to let singlespeed life ...

On October 4, 2019, a friend from Surly Bikes posted news on social media. The United Bicycle Institute was closing its Portland location. She, amongst many others, had a life-changing experience there. Education, friendship, and bikes, they have that power. On a positive note, UBI is keeping open their Ashland, Oregon location! Phew. When any ...

By Brett Rothmeyer Online:www.viathonbicycles.com Price: $1998 Last year before the annual Sea Otter Classic, there were rumblings of a high-end Walmart bike coming to the market. Yes, high-end bikes and Walmart are an easy segway to a punchline, but it is no mystery that the Walton family has a vested interest in the bike industry. ...

Joining a growing list of bike and outdoor brands, in August, Kitsbow announced they would be moving its operations to North Carolina. We reached out to David Billstrom, the chief executive officer of Kitsbow, and asked him a few questions on what helped make that final decision. Dirt Rag: I know that you were looking at ...

Chris Akrigg takes his dynamic skills and puts them to work in the latest edit from Mongoose on a drop-bar all-terrain, half cyclocross, half freeride meets gravel show. Which begs the question, do you even freeride/cyclocross/trials/gravel bro? Well, do you?

Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in issue 210. If you like what you are seeing and reading Subscribe and help support independent mountain biking journalism. By Leslie Kehmeier “But is it foldable?”   I am told this was a question that was raised when the SQZBX (pronounced “squeeze-box”) Brewery and Pizza Joint was about to ...

With some already seeing snow in the mountains and Pittsburgh receiving the first official frost warning this weekend, it’s time to enjoy the few remaining days of dust-covered trails. To help keep the good vibes going once the sun sets we’ve paired up the 30th Anniversary stainless steel flask and signature “Pedal Silent Pedal Deep” ...

A temperature-based guide for cold weather mountain bike riding By Keith Huff Now that fatbiking has become a popular sport, more riders, both skinny and fat tire, are riding through the winter months. This has allowed not only extended (or continuous) seasonal recreational riding, but it also promotes base mileage achievement for competitive riders. Winter ...

QBP is continuing its efforts to expand diversity within the bike industry with its Bike Mechanic Scholarship open to women, trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming, two-spirit, and intersex individuals. From my own experience most of the cyclist I’ve met in every genre of cycling are welcoming folks, we are just stoked when other folks want to ...

Editor’s note: A little while back we had the pleasure of riding with Cameron Falconer and visiting his workshop in Quincy, California. It was a real pleasure all around and we are happy to share a little bit of Cameron’s story here with you. If you would like to see more about what is going ...

For one week only get yourself a special deal on Limited Edition Dirt Rag Magazine 30th Anniversary bundles in the Dirt Rag Store. Be sure to act fast as quantities are limited and the special sale ends Sunday, October 6th. The Butts and Booze Bundle is marked down to $90 and includes a 142 mm ...

As we polish up our last issue of the year, the Offbeat Races issue, our attention has turned toward all the wacky bike stuff going on out there. This Friday, the self-proclaimed world’s hardest ATB Race-Experience is taking place in the Southwest Kingdom of Vermont (SKOV). According to race promotor Old Mark, their lawyers recommended ...

By Melonee Hurt Steve Kasacek’s handiwork stretches from the woods of Maine to the remote hills of Arkansas. Most days his workspace is five miles deep in the woods somewhere. His home address consists of a storage unit and a mailbox. He has been known to sleep in his car or next to it, regularly ...

Zwift, the online cycling platform that ties together stationary biking and video games, has agreed with UCI to host the first ever UCI Cycling eSports World Championships in 2020. First! This is eSports, not E-Bikes. eSports started in the 1970’s with video game competitions. (You could argue that e-bikes might have started in the 70’s ...

INTRO Back in ‘81 when the first Specialized Stumpjumper hit the floors of shops, it sported a rigid fork, cantilever brakes, 26-inch wheels and a high-post. Today, while the Stumpjumper name is consistent, the bike itself has changed a lot over the decades. Available in three modes of rowdiness with options in carbon or aluminum ...

It has been a busy season for Ibis and they have just added a new member to the lineup with the Mojo HD5. The HD5 builds on what the HD4 started, a 27.5 enduro bike made for tackling the toughest of tracks. Along with the HD5 comes Traction Tune Suspension. Ibis’ full-suspension models use the ...

Over the next few months Race Face will be releasing a collection of short films as part of the ‘Creator Series.’ First up is Skye Shillhammer’s “From Slide to Ride.” Skye Shillhammer’s film From Slide to Ride is a story of how a natural disaster brought a town together and how mountain biking could bring ...

A message from our sponsors  Mountain Biking Park City        The temperatures are crisp, the colors are sharp and the trails beckon… Park City, Utah has some of the best fall riding, sometimes well into November.  In fact, for many, it’s a favorite time of the year to ride. The fall foliage is outstanding ...

Welcome the Remote 160 to the Kona family of trail bikes. Like it or not E-bikes are here to stay and Kona has joined the ranks. Based off of the popular Process models, the Kona Remote 160 is designed around fun and efficiency. Check out the Remote 160 in action here and visit Kona Bikes ...

Paul Components is having a party! We’ll let them invite you themselves, just after this interview with Paul Price of Paul Components. That’s right, *the* Paul. Dirt Rag and Paul Components both turn 30 this year! Read our interview, attend their party, and subscribe to Dirt Rag so you don’t miss future rad content featuring ...

This Friday, October 13th a new show, ‘Peaking’ will premiere on the CW network featuring record-breaking Olympic mountain biker, Jenny Rissveds. The eight-episode docu-series produced by Red Bull Media House, will premiere on The CW and takes you behind the scenes each week with a different athlete. Each athlete has a unique story to share ...

Hear ye, hear ye, we’ve got the threads you want, no, need! Fresh merchandise is back up in the Dirt Rag Store. All items are packed and shipped with tender loving care by an actual Dirt Rag staff member. There are only five of us on staff and wear many hats, so, for now, we ...

Ibis has just added an aluminum option to their line up by way of the Ripmo AF and it is available as of today. Mimicking the lines and attitude of its carbon sibling, the AF looks to get riders on a big mountain killer at a much lower price. Starting as a complete for $2,999 ...

I don’t know about you but we are still flying high from the big World Cup Weekend down in Snowshoe, WV. If you weren’t there well, sorry you missed out, but don’t fret, you can still experience how awesome the weekend was via WynTV. GT Bicycles fluffy-haired pro is back with what we consider his ...

There was little at stake concerning the overall for the men’s World Cup. World Champion Nino Schurter had the series in the bag and Sunday’s final was a bit of a victory lap for the dominant Swiss rider. However, Schurter certainly didn’t make the trip all the way to America to just phone in the ...

The stage was set for a proper mountain bike treat for the fans at Snowshoe Mountain Sunday afternoon. American Kate Courtney, one of the sports biggest stars looked to put on a show for the home fans. Along with the race at a hand, Courtney also was looking to seal the deal on the World ...

There was speculation day long on how many people actually showed up for yesterday’s Downhill Finals at Snowshoe mountain. As the riders began plummeting down the mountain at warp speed the cascade of cheers, horns, cowbells, and chainsaws sounded like a tsunami barreling through the woods. Based off of intense scientific research of maximum decibel ...

Friday was an action-packed day on the mountain at Snowshoe. The early afternoon saw the Downhill qualifying runs and in the evening the stars of the World Cup XCO took to the slopes for the Short Track race. Twenty minutes of all-out racing to determine starting positions for Sunday’s main event. The women hit the ...

The stage is set for a monumental showdown tomorrow for the final of this year’s Downhill World Cup. Tracey Hannah set the fastest time for the woman during qualifying with her closest rival Marine Cabirou coming in second and newly crowned world champ Myriam Nicole finishing with the third-fastest time today. In the men’s field, ...

Whatever concerns that may have been floating around the internet about the track at Snowshoe being to tame or to buff were completely dispelled after yesterday’s walkthrough and today’s practice laps. Holding to West Virginia’s theme of ‘Wild and Wonderful’ the course for Saturday’s World Cup Final is more than worthy of this year’s final ...

Raleigh Tamland 2 – $2,400 raleighusa.com By Scott Williams Designed to be that jack-of-all-trades ‘road’ bike the Tamland has been aimed directly towards the gravel crowd since Raleigh first introduced the bike in late 2013. The Tamland is available in two build kits, the Tamland 2 which we review here and the Tamland 1 for ...

By Stephen Haynes When tasked with conjuring names of cities in Tennessee, one might be inclined to list Memphis and Nashville ahead of Knoxville. If this were a magazine about music, you could have an argument, but as far as mountain biking is concerned, Knoxville may just surprise you. A lot of manufacturing cities are ...

Editor’s Note: This feature first appeared in issue 205 of our print edition of Dirt Rag Magazine. Like what you see? Subscribe today so you don’t miss issue 213, the last issue of the year. Be sure to stop by your local bike shop to pick up a copy of issue 212, out now. by ...

As you may have read in our Issue Announcement, for issue 212 of Dirt Rag Magazine, Access editor Leslie Kehmeier focused this issue’s column on public lands. Her focus was primarily on Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and Capitol Reef National Park, as those are the federal lands she was visiting, but the column covers ...

It’s a big and busy week in the world of mountain biking and all eyes are on Mont-Saint-Anne for this weekends World Championships. Things got kicked off this past Wednesday with a relay race where the American squad captured second place. There was also an E-MTB World Championship (honestly didn’t know that was a real ...

In less than a week the UCI mountain bike World Cup will descend upon Snowshoe Mountain, West Virginia. The resort sits virtually secluded in the Appalachian mountains but is no stranger to big-time mountain bike events. Snowshoe had been a regular stop on the once-massive NORBA series and just last year hosted the US mountain ...

Today, Pivot Cycles introduces the new LES SL – a bike engineered to the Nth degree to deliver the kind of handling, extreme power transfer, and weight that transforms every last watt of output into a race-winning performance. Already proven by the Stan’s-Pivot Pro team with a Short Track National Championship, Leadville 100 win, and ...

Donnelly Cycling $72.00 per tire What makes the ideal gravel tire? Is it size, tread pattern, or lack of rolling resistance. Likely for most of us, it’s a combination of the three. When I started looking for the perfect mixed surface tire, the Donnelly X’Plor MSO caught my attention. When Donnelly emerged as Clement a ...

By Eric J. Wallace West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed a groundbreaking new mountain biking bill into law earlier this year. Known as SB 317, the legislation effectively extends ski resort-style liability protections to private landowners — so long as they join a group like the Mountaineer Trail Network Recreation Authority. Comprised of public organizations, ...

Liv may have cracked the code on how to sell a women-specific mountain bike. While some other brands fuss about paint color and handlebar length (both important!), Liv was taking measurements on how women ride bikes: The average ranges of our body dimensions (inseam versus torso length, for instance), where our power comes from, how ...

The latest and perhaps the most anticipated (at least on this side of the country) update to Santa Cruz’s line up is the Tallboy. The Tallboy entered the scene back in 2009 as the flagship cross-country bike for Santa Cruz. What began as a short travel 29er, the Tallboy has evolved over the last decade ...

You would think after five tough and challenging days on the bike, most of the field would be relieved to see that today was the final stage. Yes, I know there is a Stage 7, and as soon as I have finished typing this, I’m heading over. Today on paper was the easiest stage of ...

Today’s stage at the Breck Epic was yes, Epic™. It was Epic™ for the usual reasons; big climbs, impressive views, not one but two 12,000 foot summits, but also and most importantly, a wedding. A lot of this would not be transpiring if not for this wedding. Our own Scott Williams and his partner and ...

Issue 212 of Dirt Rag Magazine has hit the doorstep of Dirt Rag Headquarters, which means it’s on its way to bookstores, bike shops, ports, rabbit holes, hobbit huts, sasquatch pits, alligator caves, marmot nests, clown fortresses and, of course, subscriber mailboxes. If you haven’t already subscribed, be sure to stop by your local bike ...

With the Queen stage over French Pass yesterday it is likely safe to say that most riders were looking for a bit of a more leisurely day today. On tap for Stage 4 was a 41 mile 6,500 feet of elevation gain day, so hardly a walk in the park. After yesterday’s debacle in finding ...

Ready to update your suspension for fall? Fox has updated their 2020 Fit4-equipped forks to now feature an 8mm damper shaft, new bladder construction and a reconfigured shim stack. The 8mm damper shaft has a smaller cross-sectional area, theoretically pushing less oil through the base valve, allowing for less damping. The updated Fit4 damper should ...

I had big plans for today. Stage 3 was to take the riders over French Pass high along the Continental Divide amongst the snow and the mountain goats, and I planned on being there, camera in hand. I checked with a few locals to see if it was possible to drive there and it seemed ...

The rain and the cold that battered riders during Stage 1 moved out with the moon. The Breck Epic was greeted with sun and clear skies this morning to the relief the riders. With clean drivetrains and hopefully dry shoes, the competitors looked to get after a big day of climbing taking them far into ...

I delayed my departure from Breckenridge to Leadville, CO as long as possible the day before the Leadville 100 was to begin. After two long days behind the wheel torpedoing across the vastness of the midwest, the urge to jump back on the highway was absent. I rolled into the Silver King Inn at around ...

When we arrived a few days ago in Breckenridge, CO, it was as if we came to some sort of fantasy land for lovers of the outdoors. Majestic mountains reaching far up into the blue skies, the air was dry and cool, a perfect setting for a bike race. It is now Sunday and the ...

This weekend at Crankworx Whistler, Maxxis is launching a new signature tire, created with downhill World Cup champion Troy Brosnan. The Dissector is designed especially for dry, loose conditions. Beginning in early 2018, Brosnan and Maxxis engineers worked together to find the right balance of rolling speed, cornering traction, and braking traction for the Dissector. ...

Words by Andrew Juiliano Photos by Ethan Lawrence 06:15 a.m. ish I open my eyes and stare through the mesh tent window. I’m belly up, on the bank of the North Yuba River, six miles upstream from of the tiny town of Downieville, California, the site of the 24th annual, two-day bike race that bears ...

Every morning I open my inbox to Google alerts of the word “bicycle” and every day someone is injured to near-death or killed on a bike, or while just walking along by a vehicle. The sad fact is Andrew “Bernie” Bernstein is no different than all the other people mowed down by vehicles on a ...

The latest from Kona Bikes is the Process 134. A do-all trail bike featuring 134mm of travel in the rear and 140mm up front, the Process 134 is ready for just about anything. The Process 134 CR DL 29 represents two and half years of design iterations, mechanical engineering and real-world testing. Born from the ...

Sunday mornings in the small town of Quincy, California, are quiet. The occasional person or two can be spotted strolling down the sidewalk, perhaps the distant bark of a dog or even the crow of a rooster can break the stillness, that is until recently. Outside of Feather River Outdoors there is a bit of ...

Do you use public lands? If you’re a mountain biker, then it’s likely that you do — especially if you live or ride west of the Mississippi. The Forest Service is proposing big changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA has two major functions. For one, it requires informed decision making regarding public ...

Enter To Win a Durolux36 Boost 27.5″ RC2-PCS Single Crown Fork SR Suntour’s beefiest single crown fork, the Durolux36 is designed for freeride and roughest of enduro singletracks. 180mm maximum travel can be internally adjusted down to your desired length. The fully sealed RC2 cartridge provides reliable damping support with externally adjustable high-speed compression, low-speed ...

Editor’s Note: This feature first appeared in issue 210 of our print edition of Dirt Rag Magazine. Like what you see? Subscribe today to catch issue 212, in production now and soon to set sail. Be Kind Rewind 1990 Doug Bradbury Manitou Mountain biking is a unique sport in several ways, different in its culture ...

From Our Advertiser: Snowshoe Mountain This September, American mountain biking fans will have the rare opportunity to watch a World Cup event right here on U.S. soil. And not just any American soil. We’re talking about the legendary rocks and roots of Snowshoe, West Virginia. And it’s not just any World Cup race. It’s the ...

Dear sweet and kind and mischievous readers: Thank you! If you’ve received issue 211 in the mail or at your newsstand, you’ve seen that this is our 30th anniversary of Dirt Rag. We couldn’t have done it without you. Since the days of handing out ‘zines at local Pittsburgh mountain bike gatherings, you’ve been there, ...

Selene Yeager, Kristin Gavin, and Kathleen Harding are part of the dominate Women’s Elite team. Photo by PJFreeman Photography.

Team CF, the rolling brainchild of cystic fibrosis researcher Dr. Jim Wilson is racing into its fourth year with some fresh faces and a new Club Team that is open to the public.

Editor’s note: Each year we cover dozens of the most beautiful bikes in the world at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show and other local shows. But what happens to them after the display booths are disassembled and the lights go out? After all, bikes are built to be ridden, not to sit around and look pretty. So we followed up with some of the bikes and builders we’ve covered in the past to see how these works of art are holding up.

Trek has announced a new cross-country mountain bike race team for 2013 dubbed Trek Factory Racing. Forged with Olympic veterans, the team will feature US National Champion Sam Schultz, Canada’s Emily Batty, 23-year-old rising star Annie Last, two-time Olympian Dan McConnell, and U23 podium finisher Rebecca Henderson. Managing the team will be industry veteran Jon Rourke.

BMC, best known for its bikes in the pro road peloton, has signed on to partner with the NoTubes Trans-Sylvania Epic (TSEpic) mountain bike stage race. Presented by Dirt Rag, TSEpic is the fastest growing mountain bike stage race in North America.  

Jaroslav Kulhavy on his way to Olympic gold in London.

Photos by Karen Kefauver.

Santa Cruz county-based Fox Racing Shox returns as title sponsor of the popular event April 13-14, 2013, that includes professional and amateur competitions, skills clinics, a kids’ practice area, bike demos and shuttles, an industry expo, and food court/beer garden.

SRAM’s new XX1 11-speed drivetrain requires a special freehub body to accomodate its massive cassette, and Kore began working on theirs before the system was even launched to the public.

The XX1 freehubs will be available with the 2013 Durox and Torsion hubs in alloy and cro-mo versions and they will be available on XCD-SL, Durox and Mega complete wheelsets. The alloy Durox version weighs 11 grams less than our standard freehub which makes the Durox rear 12/142 hub a very respectable 240g. 

The Blur TRc is perhaps the most versatile and popular model in the Santa Cruz lineup, and as it has with the Tallboy, Highball, and other models, the carbon version has now been followed with an aluminum model.

The Blur TR matches the geometry of its carbon stable-mate with 125mm of travel through Santa Cruz’s patented and popular VPP platform.

Specs include a 68-degree head tube angle, tapered headtube, 142×12 thru axle, and ISCG mounts.

Photos by Jeremy Kershaw.

The Arrowhead 135 returns for its ninth running Monday, January 28, racing 135 miles on foot, bike, or ski across northern Minnesota at "hopefully the coldest time of the year."

With temperatures plunging well below zero, riders usually complete the course in about 24 hours and skiers and walkers taking up to two days.

Kelly Noltensmeier’s Klein Adept features a custom rear triangle, modern components, and yes, 29-inch wheels.

By Adam Newman

When Kelly Noltensmeier decided to take on longer, more endurance-oriented rides and races, his all-mountain bike just wouldn’t do. After borrowing a friend’s 29er he knew the big wheels were the ticket, but rather than purchase a new bike, he eyed his Klein Adept and thought… “why not?”

We love hearing from readers, especially readers who are as passionate about mountain biking as we are. Alexis, 13, of Biddeford, Maine, sent us this poem that beautifully summarizes why we do what we do. Thanks Alexis.

The 2013 Chihuahuan Desert Bike Fest is back in Lajitas, Texas, February 14-16. After 2012 treated festival-goers to a rare lightning show above the desert, who knows what kind of fireworks will be in store this time. 

The festival will be hosted by the Maverick Ranch RV Park in Lajitas with access to the trails owned by the Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa and Big Bend Ranch State Park.

Film by Adam Nawrot.

The Puppies & Rainbows Ladies Jump Jam at the San Francisco Bike Expo was a skills clinic and practice session that brought the joy of dirt to San Francisco’s Cow Palace. 

By Joh Rathbun. Photos by Shane Mckenzie.

There will be several changes to the 2013 Sub-9 Death March including a brand new host venue for the 3rd edition of the race on March 9. First, the start and finish will take place at the Midwest Trail Ride Horseman’s Camp and Outpost in Norman, Indiana, on the western edge of the Hoosier National Forest. The change in venue opens the doors for more riders to participate as well as adding several new cemeteries to the list of check-points.

Amateur registration for the Whiskey Off-Road endurance mountain bike event opened January 1. Much like Geoff Kabush’s arrival to the finish line in 2012, registration has been rolling in at record pace. With an amateur field limit of 1,850 registrants, Epic Rides suspects the event will reach capacity faster than ever before.

By Karl Rosengarth

Over the years, “reader contributions” have had a major influence on Dirt Rag‘s unique flavor. I thought it would be fun to fire up the Dirt Rag Time Machine and make a trip back to the days when black-and-white reader art graced the pages of The Rag. Jump in and fasten your seat belts. If you have a spare flux capacitor, it wouldn’t hurt to pack it.

Forgive the less-than-pristine quality of some of the following items. Time travel is notoriously rough on paper.

Chewy Aikin, a mechanic at Sedona Bike & Bean, had a great time at the 2012 Whole Enchilada.

By Sarah Rawley

Enduro continues to be the most talked about topic in the industry on both a national and international scale. As racers start planning their schedules for next season, we get to the bottom of the series in the U.S. that has the terrain and the vert to bring Euro-style enduro racing to our own backyard.

The exploding popularity of fat bikes has led the International Mountain Bike Association to put together some "best practices" for fat bike riders when using the bikes on Nordic ski trails, snowmobile trails, or in the backcountry.

Bontrager RXL Waterproof softshell gloves

• MSRP: $70
• Sizes available: X-small to XX-large

Nothing is worse than cold hands on a ride. Well, maybe cold feet, but we’ll get back to that. These lobster-style gloves are designed as the ultimate barrier between your ten digits and the single digits on the thermometer.

By Shannon Mominee

Call it luck, but with 8-12 inches of snow on the ground and a Salsa Beargrease in for test, I was ready to see what the snow bike flurry has been all about. If you’re not familiar with the Beargrease, it’s one of Salsa’s two aluminum fat bikes.

Photo courtesy of Specialized.

Former U23 World Champion, Olympian, and World Cup winner Burry Standar was killed by a taxi while riding in his home country of South Africa today. He was 25 years old. 

The collision occured in Shelly Beach on the Kwazulu-Natal South Coast. Details are under investigation.

By Adam Newman

Profile Racing has been building high-end, race-worthy chromoly and aluminum parts since before BMX hit it big and before mountain bikes were but a glimmer in the Klunkers’ eyes. But it wasn’t bicycle parts that got the wheels turning—company founder Jim Alley opened his first motorsports racing shop in New Jersey in 1968 and a few years later moved his growing brand to Florida.

Join us for a garage sale and swap meet and make some room in the bike room for spring or find that item you’ve been looking for! Head on down to The Wheel Mill, the new indoor bike park being constructed in Pittsburgh, on Saturday, January 26, from Noon to 7 p.m.

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association Awards were established in 2010 to honor student-athletes, coaches, volunteers and partners that have made outstanding contributions toward the development of high school cycling and the national high school mountain biking movement. This year, awards were awarded to 13 individuals in 10 different categories that were selected from a field of more than 222 nominees from NICA Leagues across the

It’s a new year and we’re going kick it off with some exciting news: registration for Dirt Fest 2013 is now open. Sign up online now! 

Once again we’ll be gathering at the Allegrippis Trails at Raystown Lake, Pa., on May 17-19 for three days of riding, partying, eating, live music, bike demos, and more riding.  

By Harlan Price,

2012 is the year when the Enduro race format emerged awkwardly from it’s pre-teens to become a gangly all-limbs adolescent who is ready to crush the world with new-found power. On the East Coast here, where I reside, we went from one enduro in 2011 to a total of 10 official enduros in 2012.

One of the biggest gravel grinder races of the year, the Almanzo 100, will get a big boost January 5 as riders and fans will gather in Minneapolis for a party to offset some of the cost of organizing the race which charges no entry fee. 

Intermedia Arts will host the party from 6-10 p.m. Tickets are just $10 at the door. Expect a family-friendly event for cycling fans from fanatic to casual. 

By Mike Cushionbury. Photos by Dave Joachim.

I quit bike riding. I’d almost suggest you do too. It’s hard. Equipment breaks down. You get cold and wet. You get lost. You fall and get fucked up. Don’t even get me started on racing; it ruins you from the inside out. It sucks

I think I’ve said that every year since 2006 and oops I said it again in 2012, about four times I think. Thankfully I never really mean it and we’re riding big again in 2013. We may even race some.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

Editor’s note: Today is Keith Bontrager’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Keith! 

By Gary J. Boulanger,

Keith Bontrager’s last name is etched, emblazoned, or cast into thousands of bicycle components and accessories, courtesy of his business relationship with Trek, dating back to 1995. The former motorcycle racer-turned-tuner was a physics major at the University of California-Santa Cruz, and was instrumental in developing mountain bike suspension in the 1980s.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

Harlan Price

By Mike Cushionbury.

French brand Commencal will be bringing its line back to the US after a several year absence. Best known for its mountain bikes, its line is expanding in to road and commuter bikes as well.

The return is thanks to a new distribution system based in Las Vegas, Nevada, in partnership with JM Gagne, which will allow consumer-direct sales.

Beginning immediately customers can place phone or email orders for 2013 models with an expected January or February delivery. Some 2012 models may be available immediately.

We had heard rumors that the Kona Explosif was going to make a resurection of sorts this year, and I was excited to see they were true when I received the Kona email newsletter today. 

By Karl Rosengarth. Photos by Karl Rosengarth and Adam Newman.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

A 30-mile, point to point race dubbed the Mt. Borah Epic will be a highlight event of the 2013 CAMBA Festival of Trails. CAMBA, short for Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association, has developed miles of pristine, smooth single track that the Epic route will pay tribute to.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

To ensure you receive your items in time for Christmas, please note the following deadlines:

Orders received on or before Tuesday December 18

This is the last day to ship an order using USPS first class mail or UPS ground for Christmas arrival.

Orders received on or before Wednesday December 19

This is the last day to ship an order using USPS Priority mail or UPS Two Day for Christmas arrival.

Crankworx Les 2 Alpes is back again for 2013 and will take place July 6–14, 2013.

In its second consecutive year as a major freeride mountain bike festival across the Atlantic at Les Deux Alpes resort in France, Crankworx Les 2 Alpes will be host to one of next season’s biggest, most critical events for the Freeride Mountain Bike World Tour (FMB), one stage of the new Enduro World Series and the annual Free Raid Classic.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

By the Dirt Rag staff

This is our first attempt at a holiday gift guide, and, in typical Dirt Rag fashion, we had to do it our way. We’ll share a dirty little secret with you: most magazines’ gift/buyer’s guides are not created based on the recommendations of riders, but by the wants and desires of advertisers.

By Adam Newman

Few new bike models seem to become household names as quickly as the Honzo has. A serious heavyweight in terms of both design and well, weight, it has become the poster child for a new breed of 29ers that are pushing the limits of where you thought those big wheels could go.

The 68 degree head tube is slack. The 120mm fork is long. The 16.3 inch chainstays are short. The smile on my face is large.

Photos by Steve Z.

MTB Ayiti is billing itself as the first international cycling event in Haiti. Ayiti literally means “land of mountains” and is the perfect backdrop for a unique event that combines a once-in-a-lifetime cultural immersion experience with the opportunity to build the foundation for a sustainable adventure tourism industry.

By Matt Kasprzyk, 

If you like to trade the mud and gray skies of winter for florescent lights and gray floors, then Pittsburgh can soon accommodate. The town totes plenty of all the aforementioned and plenty of vacant warehouses.

It’s not cyclocross, it’s not mountain biking, it’s not gravel grinding… it’s Ultracross.

Whatever it is, it’s a lot of fun and we’re excited to see the calendar expanding to seven races in 2013:

It’s not cyclocross, it’s not mountain biking, it’s not gravel grinding… it’s Ultracross.

Whatever it is, it’s a lot of fun and we’re excited to see the calendar expanding to seven races in 2013:

Recently we brought you news of the founding of a new race series that included some of the biggest enduro events of the year, and now we’ve got a schedule. 

The Enduro World Series, in association with the Enduro Mountain Bike Association (EMBA), will offer seven events taking place in Italy, France, Canada and the US between May and October of 2013

By Eric McKeegan

The more bikes I ride, the more I get excited to try models at the edges of acceptability. The Mason is going to bike that many find unacceptable, after all, a 66.5 degree head angle can’t really work on a 29er, right?

That is very, very slack, the slackest of any production 29er that is on my radar. Match that head angle with 140mm travel Fox 34 fork, a KS dropper post, and chainstays shorter than 17 inches and you can expect a 29er hardtail that wants to find the big boy lines down the hill.

By Gary J. Boulanger. Photos by Carmen Freeman-Rey.

German by birth, Austrian by nationality, Hans Rey has been an ambassador for adventure riding for nearly 25 years. Beginning as a trials competitor, he first shifted to extreme riding through exotic locales, then transitioned to a seasoned evangelist, all the while making films to bring the world along for the ride.

The popularity of enduro racing continues to rise, and a new series is poised to become the hottest ticket of 2013. 

Better head on over to your local shop and make nice. Some bike shops attending Interbike in 2013 will be allowed to invite their favorite customers to the annual tradeshow in Las Vegas, opening the door to consumers for the first time.

The limited-access initiative, called Interbike by Invitation, will allow registered retailers to invite customers to attend. These special invitees will be treated as special guests of that shop and will be afforded preferential treatment at the show.

Head on over to our online store and get your shopping done early, with plenty of time to head out for a ride. See our holiday specials here.

Now you can ride the same bike that Steve Peat, Josh Bryceland, and World Champion Greg Minnar of the Santa Cruz Syndicate have been piloting throughout the 2012 World Cup. 

By John Herron

When I heard I would be getting a Surly Moonlander for the winter, I couldn’t wait for the “snow bike” (and the snow) to arrive. Sadly, we had an eerily snowless winter in 2011-2012. Fortunately, I’ve come to understand that the Moonlander is a “fatbike” not just a “snow bike.” And that Roger Rabbit cartoon tires are just as fun on sand, ice, and slime as they are in snow.

By Shannon Mominee

We often hear of bicycle products created by bikers for bikers, but Bike Blood Synthetic Lubricant can claim roots to a rich racing history. Bike Blood is brought to market by former pro BMXer and Pittsburgh native Mat Harris.

It’s summer somewhere: A Patagonia travelogue

By Andreas Hestler

While North America slumbers under a peaceful blanket of snow Wade Simmons, Thomas Vanderham, Geoff Gullavich, and Andreas Hestler head south in search of hundreds of miles of pristine singletrack on the underside of the world.

Cross training: Is it really preferable to letting yourself go in the winter?

By Thom Parsons

Yes, Milwaukee. As in, Wisconson, where you don’t expect to hear about things like gravity riding and lift-served trails. But it’s true. A local developer is planning to biuld a recreation complex that includes baseball fields, snow sports, and mountain bike trails.

Local State College pro Aaron Snyder (Scott Pro Team) used his trail knowledge to help search out leaf-hidden trails during our two-day media camp. He finished fourth overall at TSE in 2012.

By Mike Cushionbury, photos by A.E. Landes.

Coming into its fourth year, the top mountain bike stage race in the contiguous United States has big plans not only for 2013’s edition but also for its fifth anniversary in 2014.

By Justin Steiner,

Our review of Yeti’s much anticipated, and subsequently revered, SB-95 has traveled a rocky trail to fruition. First, we intended to do a head-to-head comparison with the SB-66 like we had with Specialized’s Stumpjumper 29 and 26.  

By Adam Newman

Isn’t this a sight? These two little guys are just waiting to get good and dirty. Most of us here in the Dirt Rag office are still fairly new to fat bikes and haven’t been able to get much time on them. Well that’s about to change. 

Six 1 Six

By Mike Cushionbury, photos by J. Andres Vargas.

By Maurice Tierney. Photos by Maurice from 2011. 

There’s something for everyone at the SF Bike Expo this weekend, November 10 and 11. If you are in the Bay Area and reading this, you need to be there.

"A Life of Mountain Bike Adventures", offers a detailed glimpse into Hans Rey’s 25 year career as a professional mountain biker and icon, riding his bicycles in some of the most beautiful and remote places on earth.

By Matt Kaspryzk. Photos by Matt Kaspryzk and Bill Freeman.

Riding bikes with Brian Lopes in Laguna Beach for a couple days? As if that wasn’t enough of a reason to pack my bags, throw in a pair of the much-anticipated new shoes from Pearl Izumi and I’m reminded why this job can be so much fun.

Dirt Rag Magazine—the independent voice of mountain bike riders for more than two decades—is excited to announce Mike Cushionbury has joined the staff as Editor. He brings 20 years of industry experience to the role as the magazine continues to grow.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Dirt Rag family. I’ve always been a friend and fan of the publication since day one so this is a truly great honor to be leading a group of core mountain bike riders who also happen to be the best and most creative people in the business,” he said.

By Karl Rosengarth

Gather ‘round the fireplace kiddies, and Uncle Karl will tell you a story. This one’s the tale of how we used to make the Dirt Rag, back in the day.

See this big envelope? It contains the archives from Dirt Rag #20, which was published in November of 1991. Inside the envelope are the original 8.5×11” hardcopy pages that we sent to our printer, and other fun stuff that I’ll tell you about in a moment.

By Harlan Price,

Dirt Rag has been supporting IMBA since Day One.

Words and Photos by Gary J. Boulanger.

More than 350 devoted mountain bikers from 20 countries gathered for the 2012 International Mountain Bicycling Association World Summit in Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 10-13, rallying the troops to advocate increased trail access for all in a celebration of IMBA’s 25th anniversary.

From the team’s website: