Dirtscrolls

Editor’s note: After the September 11th attacks, I sent out a request in our eNewsletter. Here’s what it said:

"I haven’t been able to get away from the news for the past week, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way. Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, you’ll probably remember the specifics for a long time. But memories deteriorate.

Editor’s note: After the September 11th attacks, I sent out a request in our eNewsletter. Here’s what it said:

"I haven’t been able to get away from the news for the past week, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way. Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, you’ll probably remember the specifics for a long time. But memories deteriorate.

Editor’s note: After the September 11th attacks, I sent out a request in our eNewsletter. Here’s what it said:

"I haven’t been able to get away from the news for the past week, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way. Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, you’ll probably remember the specifics for a long time. But memories deteriorate.

Editor’s note: After the September 11th attacks, I sent out a request in our eNewsletter. Here’s what it said:

"I haven’t been able to get away from the news for the past week, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way. Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, you’ll probably remember the specifics for a long time. But memories deteriorate.

Editor’s note: After the September 11th attacks, I sent out a request in our eNewsletter. Here’s what it said:

"I haven’t been able to get away from the news for the past week, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way. Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, you’ll probably remember the specifics for a long time. But memories deteriorate.

Editor’s note: After the September 11th attacks, I sent out a request in our eNewsletter. Here’s what it said:

"I haven’t been able to get away from the news for the past week, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way. Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, you’ll probably remember the specifics for a long time. But memories deteriorate.

Editor’s note: After the September 11th attacks, I sent out a request in our eNewsletter. Here’s what it said:

"I haven’t been able to get away from the news for the past week, and I’m sure most of you feel the same way. Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, you’ll probably remember the specifics for a long time. But memories deteriorate.

By Joel Kennedy

By Lanie Ann

By Pete Weir

By Pete Weir

By Pete Weir

By Mitchell

By Chris Cosby

By Joel Kennedy

By Jeff Lockwood

By David Alden

By David Alden

By Lee Klevens

By David Alden

By David Alden

I’m always a bit apprehensive when it comes to testing safety gear. I mean, to test shoes you ride and walk around a lot, to test shifters and derailleurs you ride and shift a lot and so on. So am I supposed to crash to write a full and complete review on this stuff?

By Karl Rosengarth

On-One wants you to know the “Inbred was designed as a bike for riding. No fancy clever bits…” No new revelation here. Singlespeeds are all about the bare basics in a bike. After test riding the Inbred singlespeed for over a month, it finally occurred to me what this British bicycle company might be implying. I believe these Brits have full confidence in not having component or frame failures. The Inbred is “kid proof”, “bullet proof”…it’s overbuilt.

By Adam Lipinski

By Doug Pippel

The differences between a production built bike and a custom designed frame are numerous, but it all boils down to fit and function. Just as a custom tailored suit fits you like an "off the rack" brand could only hope to…

By Chris Cosby

I thought it would be interesting to get a pair of "blue collar" mountain bikes (affordable, yet capable, bikes), and have two different riders test them.

By Lee Klevins and Jeffrey D. Guerrero

The heart of the Rockhound is its air hardened steel frameset: Reynolds 853 main triangle and True Temper OX Platinum stays. Both of these air hardened steels have higher strength-to-weight ratios than conventional chromoly..

By Karl Rosengarth

To Wes Williams of Willits Brand Bicycles, the only option when it comes to mountain bike wheels is 29 inch.

By Adam Lipinski

Just what is a 29" inch mountain bike? It’s a mountain bike designed to use 700c rims. When you install WTB’s 700c Nanoraptor mountain tire, the tire’s outside diameter measures 29".

By Karl Rosengarth

The Nanoraptor is the only mountain tire available for big wheeled mountain bikes (see the Vicious Cycles Motivator bike review in this issue). Getting that first "mountain" tire was crucial…

By Karl Rosengarth

You may recall seeing steering dampers a few years back. These bulky friction disks had nothing on Tim Hopey’s bicycle steering damper.

By Adam Lipinski

After extensive product testing on Vicious Cycles’ 29" Motivator mountain bike, I decided that I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what was up with this whole 29" mountain bike thang. Time to round up the people behind

By Karl Rosengarth

We test some gloves, some pedals and some tires in this article!

By Dirt Rag Staff

KHS has a great idea: softails for the masses. Usually you’d have to spend 3 or 4 grand for the pleasure of owning a short-travel, pivotless suspension bike.

By Philip Keyes

One blustery January day, I get a call from Matt Chester, and he tells me he wants to build me a bike for product testing. He says I’d be the perfect tester because I like to ride in the winter, I dig rigid forks…

By Karl Rosengarth

When I asked Merlin’s designer to describe the concept behind the Fat Beat, he told me he wanted to make an XC bike with enough suspension to take the edge off, without wasting pedaling energy or inducing a lot of waggle.

By Karl Rosengarth

According to Richard Schwinn (top dog at Gunnar), the Crosshairs is a general purpose road bike disguised as a cyclocross bike. Gasp, did he say ROAD bike? In Dirt Rag? Yew becha.

By Karl Rosengarth

Dual suspension, disk brakes, out of the box at 27.6 lbs. The Hayes hydraulic disks have slotted bosses for easy, no-drag setup.

By Karl Rosengarth

By Andy Bruno

One half of a second on a Trials bike. My chain screams as I apply more force than a champion sprinter does on his joints.

Jeff Jones dubs each bike he produces "One," as no two machines are created the same.

By Ben Delaney

These $35 levers, for cyclocross riders, are unique in that they alone are compatible with a 31.8 drop handlebar.

By Thanita Adams

As I’m primarily a mountain biker, I was more than happy to give these brake levers a try; they add levers to the top of drop bar cross bikes, which to me feels much more natural. Keep in mind, though, that (as with all such levers) stability and control are compromised a bit because of the relatively centered placement. But, no biggie.

By the end of the test, I’d put over two months on the XC3, and I couldn’t remember having any negative riding experiences. Fortunately, the stock springs worked well for my weight and riding style.

The Zed 5.0 is K2’s second-in-line hardtail, keeping with Dirt Rag’s effort to present affordable “blue collar bikes.” I was determined to put as many miles on it as possible, at the expense of my own, now neglected, mounts.

By Joel Kennedy

With a spec list including a 7005 aluminum alloy frame, LX rear derailleur, Mavic X138 rims, STX-RC cranks, Avid 1.0 brakes and an RST 381 suspension fork, the $700 NuNu was designed to deliver comfort and durability…

By Karl Rosengarth

Santa Cruz designed their Chameleon to perform like its reptilian namesake. Their goal was to produce a versatile bike adaptable to multiple environments-cross country, dual slalom and single speeding.

By Karl Rosengarth

Iron Horse designed the ARS 7.0 to be an entry level sport racer. Their goal was to make a light, dependable bike that was affordable. Iron Horse’s approach was to fashion double butted 7005 series aluminum tubing…

By Karl Rosengarth

By Industry Insiders

A letter from a reader about his broken frame got Dirt Rag thinking…what is the definitive answer when it comes to warranty issues? What’s a consumer to do? What can he/she expect the manufacturer to do? We decided to ask the ones who should know…the manufacturers. Here’s what they have to say on this oh-so touchy subject.

Dear Dirt Rag,

The rapidly growing popularity of e-bikes on trails is ruffling a lot of feathers in the mountain bike community. We took an in-depth look at the issue in Issue #179, and below you’ll find the International Mountain Bicycling Association‘s position on “motorized” bicycles. Your feedback How do you feel about electric-assist bikes both on the ...