Last week we let you know about a video contest we’re sponsoring and the response has been – well – muted. We’re not too worried though since we don’t mind holding onto the iPod Touch for ourselves (though we already have a singletracks jersey).

For those who missed the announcement, we’re looking for helpful mountain bike trail and gear review videos and MTB how-to videos (how to fix stuff, MTB skills, etc.). Submitted videos will be plugged into the appropriate trail and gear pages and the how-to videos may go into a new beginners area we’re working on. Don’t worry about trying to make a long, complicated video – check out the sample below to see what we’re talking about.

With less than 40 days to go, someone is going to take home an iPod Touch and someone else is going to get a singletracks jersey – why not you? Even if you don’t plan on submitting a vid, drop by the contest and vote for your favorites. We’ll be using that feedback to help us create better product and trail review videos in the future.

Roll camera on the trail this weekend and show us what you’ve got!

Kona is sponsoring their 3rd Annual Shoot the Ride Photo contest and they’re giving away $700 in Kona store credits to the top 3 photogs! The contest is pretty simple: email your “tightly edited photo” to photos@konaworld.com and in May they’ll announce the winners. Clearly the shotgun approach to MTB photography won’t work here – pick your shots like a sniper for a serious chance at winning. Get the contest deets here.

Singletracks is hosting our first ever video contest and we’re stoked. Unlike some other MTB video contests you may have seen, this one doesn’t require a helmet camera or MacAskill moves to win. Just come up with a good concept for your video and enlist your friends to vote!

Here’s how the contest works: create a video review or how-to related to mountain biking. This could be anything from a review of your favorite trail system or beloved bike to a how-to video showing the best way to detail a muddy bike. You can even create a video showing how to do a trick on your bike – the possibilities are pretty much wide open.

When you’re creating your video, be sure to mention singletracks.com either on camera or on screen for those with fancy video editing software. Upload it to the contest site and let the votes roll in!

Anyone with a Twitter or Facebook account can vote on videos – not just singletracks users – so be sure to get your friends to help you out. Make your video funny, awesome, or weird – whatever you think will get you the most votes.

The winner will take home an iPod Touch which has been optimized for viewing the singletracks mobile website. Second place gets an official singletracks jersey (or REI gift card depending on size availability) and third through fifth places get a singletracks t-shirt and PRO membership. Contest rules and more details can be found on the official contest site.

The contest ends June 1, 2010 and we’ll be posting updates periodically here on singletracks. We already posted a few videos to get things started and can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Titus Cycles is running 3 contests to give away some seriously sweet bikes to some seriously dedicated fans. They’re handing out a total of 4 bikes and here’s what you can do to earn yours:

1. Get a Titus tattoo. First you’ll need to come up with an original design and other Titus fans will have a chance to vote for their favorite. The winning designer will have to get the image permanently tattooed somewhere on their body to receive a 2010 Titus FTM Trail bike worth $5,170.

2. Have a Titus “spandex wedding.” This one may be the most difficult to pull off but Titus is asking a couple to complete their nuptials in matching Titus jerseys and have the ceremony taped (presumably to be posted online). I know I’d be up for this myself but convincing my other half would be the real challenge. The upside? Matching 2010 X Carbon bikes for the bride and groom.

3. Legally change your name to “Rockstar 29er.” I figure someone will get this done on a technicality (change your name on Monday, change it back on Tuesday) but it will still be fun to watch. The winner will get – you guessed it – a $6,265 2010 Titus Rockstar 29′er mountain bike.

The ad agency that came up with this promotion seems to be pretty stoked about such an innovative campaign but this whole thing (especially #3) sounds vaguely familiar. Oh yeah, that’s right – I offered to do this back in 2007. OK, so the offer was only to change my screen name but I think I used “Titus Racer X” as an example name at one point. Anyone else need a good MTB marketing idea?

OK, so I actually had a dream about this just a couple days ago before I even heard about the contest so I’m pretty sure I’m going to win. Go ahead and enter if you like but I’m just warning you: it’s my destiny

Seriously though, the contest runs through December 2, 2009 and all you have to do is become a fan of Clear2Go on Facebook and fill out an online entry form to enter the sweepstakes. You can even “earn” more entries by posting photos to the Facebook page. The press release I got mentioned the ride would take place in Austin but didn’t say what kind of bikes we’d be riding. When I win I’m hitting the mountain bike trail with Lance (Walnut Creek sounds like a good one) just like in my dream.

Here’s a brief description of the contest:

Lance Armstrong partnered with Clear2Go™ this past year to help design a water bottle that would be conducive to cycling and other endurance sports and wanted to give his fans the opportunity to not only test out the bottle but take a personal bike ride with him. Lance is an advocate for living a greener lifestyle and is fully supportive of this sweepstakes.

Who knew Lance was a product designer?

Sorry for the late announcement but here it is: The dirtiest mountain bike drivetrains on the planet. Ok, so maybe there are nastier chains, cassettes, and cranks out there somewhere (probably in a third world country) but these riders happened to post the nastiest pics on singletracks.com.

Grand Prize

Goo uploaded this one and the judges noted the serious wear on the crank teeth along with the dirt and grime that’s been built up over many, many rides. We know this didn’t happen all at once – shame on you Goo At least now you’ll have the proper Tri-Flow products to keep your equipment in tip-top shape plus a new Titec Hellbent Nemesis saddle!

First runner up

ckdake clearly knows where to find mud on the trail and the amount of gunk lodged between his wheel and seat tube is impressive. Aside from the copious amount of mud (which should easily wash off), the judges noted the dryness of the chain on the left side of the image. In honor of this epic mud slog, ckdake wins Tri-Flow Citrus Degreaser PLUS a Titec Honcho Prolite seatpost.

Second runner up

We had a tough time choosing the third prize winner but in the end, BFD squeaked by with this sad entry. Sometimes a MTB drivetrain can get so clogged the rear derailleur just gives up which is what we assume happened here. I wish we had some mud flaps to give away as a prize but BFD will just have to settle for some sweet Tri Flow Citrus Degreaser.

ckdake may be tough to beat with this pic.

Just a couple more days left in the Tri-Flow “Dirtiest Drivetrain” contest. Post your pics to the dirty drivetrain photo album for consideration by the end of the day, October 1, 2009 and we’ll pick the winners. Right now we’re seeing plenty of mud but not much rust, grease, corrosion, or nasty black gunk. Worst looking drivetrain will get a prize pack from Tri-Flow plus a Titec saddle with additional prizes for second and third place.

No need to be embarrassed  – just tell everyone you submitted a pic of your buddy’s bike

Rust. Dirt. Grease. Grime. Mud. All of this adds up to a dirty drivetrain which can seriously harsh your ride. Fortunately Tri-Flow offers a full line of products to help you get your chain, derailleurs, cassette, and crank into shape for conditions from wet to dry.

Send us pics of your dirty, muddy, rusty, and grimy bike chains and cassettes for a chance to win sweet lube and de-greasing products from Tri-Flow! Hit the ‘dirty drivetrain’ album and upload your pics (make sure to tag them ‘dirty drivetrain’ to be considered) and we’ll pick the winners on October 1, 2009. If you’ve already uploaded some worthy pics, just add the ‘dirty drivetrain’ tag for consideration. And be sure to rate the dirty pics you like!

Top three photos win product from Tri-Flow and Titec – full prize list below.

1st: Tri-Flow Citrus Cleaner Degreaser, Superior Foam Lubricant, and Synthetic Grease PLUS Titec Hellbent Nemesis Expert saddle
2nd: Tri-Flow Citrus Cleaner Degreaser PLUS Titec Honcho Prolite seat post (30.9×350 mm) OR Ritchey WCS 10 Degree Sweep Flat Bar
3nd: Tri-Flow Citrus Cleaner Degreaser

This summer we’ve been busy giving away other peoples’ products here on singletracks but now it’s time to give away some of our own gear. This contest is simple and it’s a “fastest finger” style contest so listen up and act quickly! (this time everyone will win something)

Just add a link to singletracks.com from your website or blog (Facebook or MySpace links don’t count) using one of the codes below. Then fill out this short form so we can check your link and will know where to send your loot. First 5 submitters get a 1-year Pro membership to singletracks; next 5 submitters get a singletracks t-shirt; everyone else gets singletracks bike stickers. Pro membership and t-shirt winners will be notified via email and you can submit links through Friday, September 18. One entry per person.

Link codes (or roll your own!)
Mountain Bike Reviews @ singletracks.com
<a href=”http://www.singletracks.com/mountain-bike/reviews.php”>Mountain Bike Reviews</a> @ singletracks.com

Mountain Bike Trails @ singletracks.com
<a href=”http://www.singletracks.com/mountain-bike/trails.php”>Mountain Bike Trails</a> @ singletracks.com

Mountain Bike Blog
<a href=”http://www.singletracks.com/blog/”>Mountain Bike Blog</a>

Mountain Biking @ singletracks.com
<a href=”http://www.singletracks.com/”>Mountain Biking</a> @ singletracks.com</a>

VholdR.com is holding a mountain bike video contest through November 30 and there are some pretty sick prizes up for grabs. It’s simple to enter: just upload your mountain biking related video to VholdR.com and tag it ‘mtb.’ VholdR members can rate videos on the site and the top 5 video producers will walk away with the loot. Of course there’s even a video explaining the contest itself – ain’t technology great?

Prize details from VholdR:

Winners of this contest will receive cool stuff from Diamondback and Avenir, as well as the usual mount, battery, or store credit from us.

1st: Diamondback Drifter1 Beach Cruiser
2nd: Avenir Cargo Trailer
3rd: Avenir Home Mechanic Tool Kit
4th: Avenir Torque Wrench
5th: Avenir Handler Pro II Floor Pump

The submission deadline for this challenge is Nov. 30th.

We’re pulling for you maddslacker, make us proud with your shiny new Contour HD camera!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the VholdR contest last month. Maddslacker ran away with the lead early on and never looked back. Soon he’ll be the proud owner of a slick VholdR Contour HD helmet camera and we expect to see some sweet videos from him soon!

By the end of the contest, members linked 437 new trail videos to singletracks trail listings and added footage for more than 100 trails. The video tab on our trail pages is quickly becoming the most popular destination and with sweet HD video it’s no surprise

Thanks to VholdR for hooking it up on this contest! Stay tuned for more contests in September…

So this is pretty exciting: someone on singletracks is going to win a Contour HD Helmet Camera from VholdR at the end of the month. Take a moment to wipe the drool off your keyboard and keep reading…

Starting today we’ll be awarding points to members for linking MTB trail videos on VholdR.com to singletracks trail pages. We’ve set up a contest page showing the current standings where you can also read the rules and find out more.

If you’re not familiar with VholdR.com, it’s a video site with thousands of action sports videos posted by VholdR camera owners. The site is super slick and includes location data, comment features, and cool community features. Even if you don’t own a Contour HD (yet) you can still join and watch sweet vids.

Questions? Post ‘em here in the comments. Let the search for VholdR trail videos begin!