The Dirt 100

As always this blog is a bit slow on the uptake.  The Dirt 100 has been out for ages, and only now are we writing something about it. Sort it out lads!

Anyway, I can remember reading the very first Dirt 100 thinking “I’d love to have a frame in there one day”. I never thought it would happen so soon, but my hopes were up when I first rode the Ranger though, from the very first ride I knew she was something special.

She has become the ‘go to bike’ for both of us. Whatever ride it is from commuting, to the local DH nibbles. I am constantly surprised by what this bike just takes in it’s stride.

The frame pictured in the magazine is Tam’s own frame, specially painted for the Dirt 100. We built the frame for display at 2013’s Bespoked Bristol (pictured above in raw), and then it sat around in the workshop waiting for parts until the main man Ed from Dirt gave us a call and said he needed a frame for the 100. Well, it didn’t happen exactly like that. Butcher told us a few hours before he was supposed to. ha ha. Both of us were so happy, I even went outside and did a jumping fist pump, where no one could see obviously.

Well, like I said that frame in the magazine is old, and the Ranger has had a few tweaks since then. The most notable is the addition of the new 142 Standard dropouts. These new dropouts locate the rear hub when inserting the wheel into the frame, so there is no more faffing around when it comes to getting the axle in. Proper tidy if you ask me! Another is the loss of the seat tube gusset, but this is only on the small frame. The medium and large sizes still require the support in that area for taller riders. Other than that things are pretty much the same. The geometry and the build quality is the same as it always has been, and you can still customize your frame with our optional features. This includes a choice of over 100 colours too!

That full build pic is of the very first 2014 Ranger off the line. While it was being built in the Bicycle Academy’s workshop I just couldn’t get my head around why I was so jealous of the frame when I have one of my own. I came to the conclusion it was a number of reasons, but mainly those new 142 dropoouts. They just make the whole frame a bunch more sexy.

Remember now, buy a Ranger and Keep ‘er Sideways

Burf