Bikes, frames, suspension, rolling stock, cockpit, transmission and kit…the 2010 Dirt 100 Special Edition has them all.

Seductively shot in a fashion house style by one of the countries leading magazine photographers, the 2010 Dirt 100 is more than  just a product guide, it’s a work of art that will enhance any coffee table,  book shelf or gallery and infuse you with desire.

We will be featuring one product a day for the next 100 days on the homepage to give you a teasing, titillating, taster as to what’s on offer.

Also why not check out the 2009 Dirt 100 archive?

The 2010 Dirt 100 is available today in all good newsagents, bike shops and art galleries.

Choosing the top 100 products for 2010 has been a tricky old game. Having to cut down thousands of components, frames and complete bikes to just the 100 best is near impossible. But we asked ourselves two simple questions about the products on the list: are they the best, and if we had the money would we buy them ourselves? Both questions are open to interpretation, but we had to try and set some basic ground rules. We all know that money does matter and that if you are going to spend large amounts on something then you want to make sure that it is ‘money well spent’, that it is the right choice. There is nothing worse than being won over by the latest fad or wonder material only to find out that it is all hype and marketing. But unfortunately it seems to be the case that if you want the best, you normally have to pay for it. It is difficult.

Working out what is value for money is also tricky. Take something like the legendary Chris King headset. At around £110 it might sound like a lot for a headset, but it comes with a 10 year guarantee. So if you do a quick bit of maths…that works out at just only £11 a year. Mine has been on three different bikes over the last five years and is still running strong. So it is worth investing in quality products.

And what of 2009? It was meant to be a year of belt tightening, scrimping and saving, watching the pennies and generally just ‘not spending any money’….make do and mend. An austere year, if you like. So it is refreshing, and brave, of a company to bring out a £300 one–piece, ten speed cassette! And not only that, but you’ll need to buy the compatible mech and shifter. But you have to applaud SRAM, they are leading here, and you can be sure that others will follow. We like to call this the Trickle Down Effect. Much as Shimano have done with their top of the range XTR crankset…the crème de la crème, a beautiful piece of design, craftsmanship and engineering…but for many just way too expensive. So what do Shimano do? They use everything they have learnt with XTR and feed it through to their lower groupsets, so that you end up with something like SLX, quality at a reasonable price.

The arguments over what are the best products will go on forever, but as I said last year, bikes and components are better than they have ever been. We really have never had it so good.

Enjoy.

Mike Rose.