Ok, some of you…and Maurice…have lamented the fact that we took the “Links” link out of the top navigation on the site here.

Why?
Well, we recognize that we’ve got a huge-ass collection of cycling-related links. We also recognize that some of you really value that resource on the Dirt Rag site. However….we feel this collection of links is not popular enough to warrant the highest-priority placement on the Rag site. Plus, the advent of Google, etc. kind of negates the usefulness of a collection of links.

But the Links list is still available, and we’ll continue to update it.

Where’d that link go?
Well, it’s out of the main navigation of the site. But you can still find it in the footer of the site. And under the Web Rag area of the site.

But hey…what do we know. Maybe you really DO want that link back in a prominent place. Let us know!

Special Gift…the first person to get back to me on where I pulled the very obscure reference for the title of this post will get a free grip of Dirt Rag stickers. Hint: It’s from a band from Pennsylvania.

This Saturday I’m leaving on a jet plane, headed to Sun Valley, ID to attend the official 2008 Trek/Gary Fisher mountain bike press camp. That’s where yours truly, and a cadre of cycling journos, will get their first look at (and rides on) the 2008 mountain bikes from Waterloo. In many, if not most, years companies simply refine their bikes, as part of the ongoing process of optimizing existing designs. This year, however, promises to be a bit more exciting, as Trek has given the Fuel EX line a serious makeover. I’ll be blogging all the gory details—live and direct from the press camp—but in the meantime, we managed to snap some Dirt Rag hot air balloon spy photos of the new Trek Fuel EX 9.0.

The newly redesigned 120mm-travel Fuel EX featrues carbon OCLV mainframe, Active Braking Pivot (rear pivot concentric with rear axle), Full Floater rear shock mount that allows the shock to float between to independent linkages and an updated Rocker Link dubbed EVO Link.

Traditionally, mountain bike suspension designs have located the pivot point either on the seatstays (like the previous Fuel EX) or on the chainstay (i.e. Horst link), and Trek points out that either of those locations cause the the suspension to stiffen under braking. The new Trek EX uses Trek’s ABP technology, which locates the rear pivot concentric with the rear axle. This pivot location is claimed to keep the suspension active and independent of braking, which keeps the rear tire in contact with the ground for reduced skidding and better braking control. Here’s a close up look at the ABP rear pivot on the new Fuel EX 9.0 bike:

Check out the photo below and you’ll note that the instead of mounting the bottom of the rear shock to the frame like traditional designs, the new Fuel EX’s Full Floater technology allows the shock to “float” between two independent linkages. Trek says that they tuned the linkages to produce a continuously active suspension with a bottomless feeling—and good pedaling efficiency. Also note that the rear suspension now sports an “EVO Link” Rocker Rink, which replaces the old three-piece (bolted together) design with a one piece (welded) design that is twice as stiff as last year’s Rocker Link.

I find myself wondering how all that new technology translates to “the ride?” Lucky me, I’ll be in Idaho, working hard to discover the answer to that question soon enough. Stay tuned for my reports.

Hi there, kids! Welcome to the new Dirt Rag Blog. Us staff people have been talking about doing a blog for a couple of years now. And finally….here we are.

As you can see by some of the older posts in the Blog here, we’ve been test-driving it for several months now. We promise to keep the goods coming to you very frequently. On that note, we also vow to keep the content in this Blog at least semi-interesting and relevant. We’ve been putting together a magazine for more than 18 years.

We sincerely feel that this Blog adventure will be another extension of the magazine. We’ve got the knowledge, experience and the passion to give you quality content. And thanks to this Blog, we can now give you more of that content in a fast and easy way, though a bit less formal than a bona fide magazine article.

Anyway….we’ll still be working out some bugs and learning some stuff over the coming weeks. We’ve already got some cool stuff planned for this space.

So as always….stay tuned.

Ladies first. Vanderkitten, Clothing for Women Who Kick Ass, is a cycling-inspired clothing company, established in March 2005 by the husband-and-wife team of Dave Verrecchia and Jennie Vanderlaag. The company recently unveiled a new website that features their complete 2007 product line. In addition to casual tops, hoodies, and hats, Vanderkitten offers technical cycling shorts and jerseys in bold, yet feminine prints.

Hoss Technical Gear has added Ponderosa Knickers to their line of functional and affordable cycling clothing. Based on Hoss’ popular Ponderosa Shorts, the Ponderosa Knickers offer urban and/or trail riders the versatility and additional coverage of a 3/4 length design. Ponderosa Knickers feature an integrated CoolMax chamois liner, an adjustable bungee cord closure on the legs, six pockets. Available in black, grey, and beige in sizes small through XXXL. MSRP: $69.95. Check out www.hossmtb.com for more info.

For the third consecutive year Primal Wear will be offering officially licensed Tour De France merchandise. For 2007 Primal will have men’s and women’s T-shirts, caps, visors, track jackets, women’s cut T-shirts, sweatshirts and polos. 2007 marks the first time in Tour history that the race will start in London. To commemorate this historic event Primal will be offering London depart caps, visors, T-shirts and sweatshirts. All items are available in small through XXL. Primal Wear tells Dirt Rag that they’ve just started to ship orders to bike shops nationwide (TDF items will not be offered on Primal Wear’s website).

A while back I posted about my off season strategy and stated that: “I could easily deceive myself into thinking that I did a pretty good job of keeping myself in shape, over the off-season. A deception that will surely burst like a toy balloon on April 21st when I plan to strap on a number plate for the first time this season, and go head to head with my fitter and faster competition in the WVMBA series.”

Well, the balloon has burst. Not to say that I consider myself in bad shape, just that all the guys who’ve been faster than me in the past, are still faster than me. I crossed the finish line in 6th out of 8 Expert Masters at the WVMBA Big Bear Lake race — par for the course. Then at the WVMBA Coopers Rock shindig I finished 5th of 5 finishers (one guy DNF’d) but still proud of the way I rode, despite the fact that Matt Marcus and Scott Root must have been flying, as they both beat me by over 25 minutes. Hats off to those guys (they take off-season training seriously, and it shows).

At least I had a cool Specialized Epic Marathon Carbon dual-suspension test bike to race on. That made my body feel a bit fresher, and saved the wear and tear on the old back.

The racing felt good, in a “blow out the carbon from the pipes” and/or “hacking-up-a-lung” sort of way. Still, I think I’ll take a bit of time off the racing circuit and get in some long solo training rides on the road bike before I throw down again.