John Shafer - Mtbr.com

About the author: John Shafer

John Shafer, a.k.a. Photo-John, is a respected photography expert and adventure photographer. He’s been an Mtbr member and contributor since 1999 and you can find his writing and photography across the Web, in mountain bike magazines and on his own Web site, Photo-John.net. John loves big mountains, rocky singletrack, low-visibility powder days, 6-inch trail bikes, coffee and tacos. Look for him pushing his bike uphill, carrying an inappropriate amount of camera gear in an overloaded backpack.

Brett Rheeder No-Hander- 2012 Red Bull Rampage Qualifying

2012 Red Bull Rampage Qualifying Video and Photos

Yesterday was qualifying for the 2012 Red Bull Rampage freeride competition in Virgin, Utah, near Zion National Park. Some of the best freeriders in the world have gathered to show what they can do in Southern Utah’s unique terrain.

2012 Park City Point To Point Race Report & Gallery

The Park City Point to Point (PCP2P) is one of the coolest mountain biker races in the US. The course is approximately 80 miles of mostly aspen-shaded singletrack at about 8000 feet of altitude in Utah’s glorious Wasatch Mountains. This isn’t just any singletrack, either. Park City was recently named a “Gold-Level Ride Center” by […]

Bryson Martin Launches DVO Suspension

Recently, there have been a lot of questions about the direction of Marzocchi Suspension, one of the original mountain bike suspension manufacturers and arguably the originator of the freeride movement. Bryson Martin Sr., John Pelino and Tom Rogers, the main guys at Marzocchi USA, left the company earlier this year and there has been a […]

Sea Otter Speed & Style - Martin Söderström and Mitch Chubby

2012 Sea Otter Classic Speed & Flow Pumptrack Competition

It seems like Sea Otter gets better and better every year. This year I shot two new dirt jump events, the FMB dirt jump competition (Sea Otter FMB photo gallery) and the Speed & Style pump track competition. The Speed & Style event isn’t actually new to Sea Otter but it was the first time […]

Tony Ellsworth With The Enlightenment Carbon Fiber 29er Hardtail

A Visit With Ellsworth At Sea Otter

I stopped by the Ellsworth booth at Sea Otter a couple of weeks ago to say hi and see what was new. Specifically, I wanted to take a look at the new Dare downhill bike. I’ve owned a few Ellsworths over the years, including a Dare, and I wanted to see what they’d done to […]

2012 Post Office Jump Jam Photos

The Post Office Jump Jam is an informal event where all the dirt jumpers in the Monterey / Santa Cruz area for the Sea Otter Classic show up the day after, polish up the jumps and then spend the day one-upping each other. For as long as I can remember there’s been a jump jam […]

2012 Sea Otter Pro Downhill Photos

Sunday, the last day of the Sea Otter Classic, dawned cool and foggy. The cool temps were a relief after an unseasonably hot Saturday and I’m sure the racers appreciated the cooler weather for the downhill finals. The fog made for interesting, atmospheric race photos, although it did hide the dramatic, green backdrop of the […]

2012 Sea Otter Dual Slalom Photos

The weather was near perfect for the dual slalom competition at this year’s Sea Otter Classic – one of my favorite events to shoot. I’ve been shooting it for over ten years and I still look forward to it. It’s one of the most photogenic venues for a race and the dual slalom racing format […]

2012 Sea Otter FMB Dirt Jump Competition Photos

A bronze-level FMB dirt jump was held at the 2012 Sea Otter Classic. Since it was at Sea Otter, the turnout and competition was excellent. Camera and Tyler McCaul, Paul Basagoitia, Mike Montgomery, Aaron Chase, Andrew Taylor, Kelly McGarry and a whole bunch of other top-level chuckers were there to show off their big air […]

Knolly Endorphin Sneak Peek

I believe I just scored an exclusive with this Knolly Endorphin sneak peek. Kevin Waterbury from Knolly showed me what I think he said was a one-off pre-production bike. It has a shocking day-glow yellow paint job that my photos don’t do justice and Knolly’s standard-issue sophisticated linkage with beautiful CNC machined parts. The Endorphin […]

29er Day Full Suspension Bike Gallery

(photo by “chuky”) To celebrate the 29th of February, or 29er day as we’re calling it, here’s a gallery of 29er full suspension bike eye candy. Most of these bikes are the private rides of Mtbr members, although I also pulled a few tasty morsels from last year’s Interbike coverage. It used to be that […]

29er Day Hardtail Bike Gallery

In celebration of 29er day, here’s a gallery of 29er hardtail bike porn, with plenty of full rigid singlespeed photos for the serious perverts. The photos are all of Mtbr community member 29er bikes. Click on the thumbnails below to see larger photos. Each photo has a link to the original post in the description […]

Park City Point-to-Point Race

The 2011 Park City Point-To-Point mountain bike race took place in Park City, Utah over Labor Day Weekend. The PCP2P is a 78-mile endurance race almost all of which takes place on the endless and glorious Park City singletrack. The race starts at about 7000 feet of altitude in Park City’s Round Valley trail network. […]

Trailside Bike Park Opens In Park City, Utah

This weekend I had the pleasure of attending the official opening of the new Trailside Bike Park in Park City, Utah. It is spectacular – especially considering it was paid for with local tax dollars and it’s free to the public. It has a 5000 sq ft. pump track, a 1500 ft beginner “flow style” […]

2010 Red Bull Rampage Photos & Coverage!

The finals for the 2010 Red Bull Rampage mountain bike freeride competition are being held today on the redrock cliffs in Virgin, Utah. On Friday, twenty-five riders who weren’t pre-qualified got the chance to show their stuff and the top ten and moved on to the finals, along with the fifteen who were pre-selected to […]

2010 Press Camp At Deer Valley Gallery

The second annual Press Camp was held at Deer Valley Ski Resort in Park City, a couple of weeks ago. Exhibitors included, Scott, Orbea, WTB, Mongoose, Race Face, Fox, and Cannondale. Since I live about 45 minutes away in Salt Lake City, I felt it was my moral duty to drive up, ride the Deer […]

Top Five Mountain Bike Digital Cameras

Most mountain bikers I know ride with a digital camera. If they don’t, they should. We get to play in such beautiful places and have such a good time riding that every ride needs to be documented. But how do you choose an mtb-worthy digital camera? A camera that would be fine for the average […]

I Heart The SF Bike Expo – Event Report

I accidentally – and happily – ended up at the SF Bike Expo this weekend. I thought I was just going to a cyclocross race at the Cow Palace, but when I got there I discovered the race was only one part of the SF Bike Expo. This is the second year of the SF […]

Sneak Peak – Canfield Nimble 9 29er

Canfield isn’t the first name you think of when it comes to 29ers or cross country bikes. Bikes for chucking off red cliffs, maybe – but 29ers? They’ve been talking about it for a while and those who had heard the rumors have been waiting. But this will be a surprise to most mountain bikers. […]

Specialized 2010 Global Press Launch

I am up at Snowbird Ski and Summer resort for the 2010 Specialized Global Press Launch mountain bike presentation. Yesterday I saw the new Stumpjumper, the new Epic 29er, the new Safire and era women’s bikes, and the new 27 pound S-Works Enduro. I also got to ride the carbon S-Works Stumpjumper and the Epic […]

Red Bull Rampage Rain Delay

The 2008 Red Bull Rampage qualifying is postponed due to stormy weather.

Red Bull Rampage 2008 – The Evolution

The Red Bull Rampage is back and Mtbr is covering the event! The last Red Bull Rampage took place in Virgin, Utah in 2004. It was the premiere mountain bike freeride competition at the time and is probably most responsible for the slopestyle competitions that exists now. It looked like the 2004 event was going […]

2008 Deer Valley National

2008 Deer Valley National June 26-29, 2008 The US National Mountain Bike Series (NMBS) makes its fourth stop this season at the Deer Valley ski resort in Park City Utah. Events include Dual Slalom, Downhill, Cross Country, and Super D. Pro Cross Country finals and pro Dual Slalom finals take place on Saturday and pro […]

Marzocchi 2008 Forks

Marzocchi 2008 Fork Lineup This is the first of three articles on the 2008 Marzocchi suspension product lineup. It goes over the highlights of Marzocchi’s 2008 fork introductions. I will cover a few products, some new features and changes, and then at the end of the article you’ll find links to specific fork images and […]