Dirtscrolls

In earlier parts of this series we looked at the advantages and challenges of racing a singlespeed bike. While a singlespeed drivetrain is mechanically more efficient then a geared one, we need to make the most out of that efficiency. As some readers have pointed out, the motor is just as important as the drivetrain. ...

The IMBA Summit is the biannual international gathering of mountain bike advocates, this year held in lovely Park City, Utah. With around 350 advocates in attendance, it’s a virtual who’s who of advocacy. Wednesday Night’s opening ceremonies took place at Olympic park, where a team of top-level freestyle skiers put on a show for us ...

On September 20th, a group of 100 cyclist will set out from New York City on a 5-day, 320 mile journey to Washington, DC to raise money and increase awareness for global warming solutions. Geraldine Carter and Caeli Quinn, who have spent the past ten years leading bicycling tours around the world, will lead the ...

It now takes over $80 to fill the gas tank of my 2001 VW Eurovan. Between taking my daughters to school and other various trips I wind up making, I use about one tank of gas per week. To put that in perspective, for the equivalent of two weeks worth of gas, I could buy ...

The Tour Divide, touted as the world’s longest mountain bike race, started on June 13th in Banff, Alberta, Canada—with 16 racers setting off to test their endurance on a 2,711-mile journey that follows Adventure Cycling’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route all the way to the USA/Mexico border. This year SPOT Inc. has partnered with the ...

As the month of June continues to roll by like a speeding locomotive, we’re again loading up the van for the next stop on the Dirt Rag World Tour. This time we’re heading north to Chico Racing’s 24 hours of Summer Solstice, held this weekend June 20-22 at the Albion Hills Conservation Area in Bolton, ...

The more aware I become about systemic environmental and social issues, the more I realize that American’s needs to address the issue of sprawl immediately. Our country is at a critical point. We can either forfeit our open spaces to suburban slums or we can develop healthy urban communities that enhance quality of life. The ...

Shimano hosted press test rides on their new Saint component group in Whistler last week. Whistler Bike Park to be exact. Lift assisted downhill mountain biking, yessir. The plan? Journalists (And I use that term loosely) bring a frame, fork, shocks, and cockpit. Shimano to install the drivetrain and wheels. Well, actually, we scribes did ...

We each have our own reasons on why we love the bicycle. But I just came across this very cool list from Eco Worldy on 17 reasons many other people love bicycles. Here’s the link: http://ecoworldly.com/2008/06/16/17-reasons-why-bicycles-are-the-most-popular-vehicle-in-the-world-today/

The fine folks at Santa Cruz Bicycles have selected the finalists, and now it’s time for you, the voting public, to cast your ballots and select the “lucky” riders who’ll get a chance to join the Santa Cruz Hellride. Go to the Santa Cruz website to view the finalists’ video entries, and vote for your ...

Wild and wonderful West Virginia did not disappoint last weekend as Granny Gear Productions hosted the Suzuki 24 Hours of Big Bear in Hazelton. The Dirt Rag posse was there, spreading the World Tour love and racing with about 600 others. Once again the Dirt Rag booth was a hotbed of excitement where we sold ...

For three years running now I’ve been putting on and riding in a little event called Crush the Commonwealth. Pretty simple concept; start in Philadelphia (odd years) or Pittsburgh(even) and ride your bike to the other city along a route that incorporates parts of the Great Allegheny Passage, Penn Dot Bicycle Route S and the ...

On the Dirt Rag World Tour, sometimes the opportunity presents itself to participate as well as spectate at an event. When Granny Gear’s 24 Hours of Big Bear came up on the calendar, many of us at the office wanted to do some participating, but we soon realized that somebody would have to man the ...

With just one gear, the only other variables on a singlespeed are crankarm length and pedaling speed, or cadence. It turns out that there is more leeway in both of these factors then the convention cycling wisdom thought. In an interesting study Jim Martin, Ph.D. of the University of Utah, and Waneen Spirduso, Ed.D of ...

Summer is right around the corner, and the action is already heating up on the Dirt Rag World Tour, with upcoming stops at the IMBA World Summit in Park City, UT and the 24 Hours of Summer Solstice in Bolton, ON, Canada. If you can’t hook up with us on The Tour, don’t sweat it—check ...

Whiteface Mountain Bike Park in Wilmington, NY kicks of its 2008 mountain biking season on Friday, June 20th. Discounted lift tickets will be available via www.downhillmike.com for Saturday and Sunday (June 21st–22nd), as part of the Second Annual Hcor Days. Here’s the skinny on the grand opening weekend schedule of events: Friday Mountain open 10:00 ...

With Beijing Olympics a little over two months away, America’s top mountain bike athletes are getting set to throw down against the world’s best bikers at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy on June 15th through 22nd. USA Cycling has announced the 37 remaining athletes that will represent the USA at ...

It was supposed to be a fair weather only event, the 4th in the Mid Atlantic Super Series, and on Friday night it looked questionable. The forecast was for thunderstorms, tornadoes, and high winds. The promoters figured that most of the racing would be done before it hit, and decided the race was a go. ...

Dirt Rag’s hometown of Pittsburgh, PA is celebrating its 250th birthday in 2008, and bicycles will be rolling into the party. “This year’s DC to Pittsburgh 250 Bike Tour is going to one huge celebration on bikes. You will retrace our nation’s history, starting with the Canal Age in DC and passing into the Industrial ...

Once again Dirt Rag will pack up the van and head on down the road a piece to Hazelton, WV for Granny Gear’s 24 Hours of Big Bear. We have a long history of going to this race and we’re glad to be going back. This year will feature the classic 24 hour race starting ...

Take a look around the cross country race scene and you’ll find very few events that have been running continuously for the past 20 years. The Massanutten Hoo Ha! is one of these rare gems, and since Dirt Rag was present for the 1st annual Hoo Ha! it was only fitting that we help celebrate ...

No, she’s not giving Roman the Heimlich Maneuver. Sometimes it’s just easier to put a T-shirt on an excited 9-month old, 65 pound Weimaraner puppy than it is to get him to pose for a photo, as Karen found out during the latest attempt to display our new Dirt Rag T-shirts. It’s all fun though ...

Singlespeed bikes are the most efficient bikes in the world (except highwheelers). From the hour record , to Jennie Reed’s 2008 Keirin World Championship, when looking to getting the most return for your effort nothing beats one gear. Most hillclimb records have even been set on singlespeeds. Why? Drivetrain efficiency and weight. What is efficiency? ...

The Oregon Manifest 2008 Handmade Bike Show will take place on October 10th through 12th and, according to the promoters, will feature “an unconquerable mix of custom framebuilders, bike-centric vendors, bike culture squads, and a Sunday cross race to bring home the glory.” Portland’s cycling scene already has plenty of street cred, and hosting Oregon ...

Artist Chris Cole channels his two decades of experience as a bike mechanic into creating unique sculptures made from metal bits, including used bicycle components. Chris collects refuse from bike shops, along with bits from automobiles and farm equipment, and uses the material to build his magnificent creations. All of Chris’s sculptures move, either driven ...

Last weekend I raced in the third cross country race in the Mid Atlantic Super Series, “Escape from Granogue”, in Delaware. This race gave me a good lesson what can go wrong on race day. I had raced Granogue before, winning the Expert Class, so I knew the course well enough that being competitive on ...

Adventure Cycling Association—North America’s largest cycling membership organization—and Dirt Rag magazine invite cyclists to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) which travels the spine of the Rocky Mountain Continental Divide for 2,711 miles and stretches from Canada to Mexico. Enter the Ride The Divide contest at this Dirt Rag ...

It’s time for the next stop on the 2008 Dirt Rag World Tour. Justin and I are heading to the Massanutten resort in McGaheysville, Virginia, for the 20th Anniversary of the Massanutten Hoo-Ha! this weekend, May 31-June 1, 2008.  This classic cross-country race is the biggest and baddest in Virginia, and the plentiful supply of rocky ...

As an industrial designer, Erik Björk typically is faced with a lot of limitations. He strives to produce non-conventional product designs that are not too experimental, They should be easy to mass produce, yet hard to copy. He aims to create an exclusive look with interesting, low-cost materials. Most days he finds that limitations are ...

The 2008 Kenda BikeFest presented by Dirt Rag Magazine kicks off on Friday, July 25th with a screening of the mountain biking movie Klunkerz, which traces the Marin roots of mountain biking. The film features archival footage and interviews with the pioneers of off-road riding who built their bikes—the so-called “klunkerz” of the title—from scavenged ...

USA Cycling has announced the junior and U23 cross-country racers that have been nominated to represent the United States at the 2008 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy, June 17th–22nd. In the U23 category, Sam Jurekovic received the only automatic nomination to the men’s team, thanks to his fourth-place Elite finish ...

Speedgoat’s annual Pink Bike Raffle is upon us. As in past years, 100% of the proceeds from the $10 raffle tickets sales will go to the Breast Cancer Fund in their search for environmental links to cancer, and their promotion of consumer awareness. What about the bike? Chris Currie from Speedgoat explains his philosophy this ...

I’ve heard a lot of reasons why some riders prefer a singlespeed over a geared bike, but one that doesn’t come up often is that they are faster. Welcome to Project SingleSpeed Racer (Project SSR), a regular blog feature where I will be exploring if that could be true. Over the course of the coming ...

To celebrate Bike to Work Day, Taylor Coffroth, seen here in the Dirt Rag Bright Idea Tee, has been organizing the City of El Cajon’s Bike to Work Day Pit Stop for the past 10 years. Each year, 70 to 80 riders stop by and are treated to free food and prizes on their way ...