THE FINAL LOOK AT THE DIRT RAG SHOP
The final look at the Dirt Rag shop, where countless ideas have been explored, arguments had, wrenches turned, and beers downed. I first entered the shop as a wide-eyed 14-year-old sometime in late 1995, right about the same time that Jerry’s handprint went up, and could have never dreamed about what would play out between that moment and standing in the basement back in 2020 mourning the end of an era.
What started out as a PA-WV-OH tristate mountain bike newsletter in 1989 grew to become the definitive record of ‘90s-2010 mountain bike culture. “It’s A Big World, Ride On It” was emblazoned on that first cover, and those words truly carried through for over 30 years where the emphasis was more on the people and the ride and the activities surrounding it than tech and equipment. While there was plenty of tech and product content as it is such a large part of cycling, it was the stories surrounding the bike that remain most burned in from Dirt Rag lore. Team Hugh Jass, the Bob Weir interview, singlespeed worlds, homebrew, punkrock, advocacy. Dirt Rag was a reflection of all of the things that keep people riding together beyond the bike, a unique and independent voice that forged its own path, a handful of people working out of converted house competing with the big boys of cycling publishing by their own rules. Dig through those old pages and it only becomes clear in hindsight how far ahead of the curve the magazine truly was. The Dirt Rag shop was my first introduction to outlaw DIY freak culture, and the discussions had around this workbench forever changed my perspective on everything.
I still remember the afterschool phone call offering me a few hours here and there entering bike shop addresses and reader surveys into a database for a few dollars an hour. I ran a lap around my parents first floor I was so excited. Little did I know how much the magazine and the discussions around the basement workbench would influence everything that came after.
And it continues. The two of us that started Footdown.cc met and both got our start in bikes at Dirt Rag, and we are incredibly excited to offer the Dirt Rag rasta logo shirt almost five years after the magazine ceased production. This is the logo that so many Dirt Rag readers remember from getting hooked on bikes and beyond, brought back to life for another run. The magazine is gone, but the culture lives on. Forever grateful.
