Charge, Sombrio and Fabric – CSG 2016 (VIDEO)

In the final instalment of our stories from the CSG launch, Barney takes a look at what’s hot to trot from hardtail-meisters Charge, clothing-meisters Sugoi and saddle-meisters (arse-meisters?) Fabric:

First up, then –

Singletrack World Issue 143 - June 2022

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Charge Cooker

Well, first of all the Charge Cooker is now designed around 27.5+ wheels. The chaps at Charge tried all the 27.5+ combos available, and settled on a 2.8in WTB tyre and 40mm rim combo as the best combination of rolling resistance, cornering ability, comfort and aesthetics.

Cookers come in a variety of different flavours, from the singlespeed Cooker 0 through to the Ti Cooker 5. There’s new geometry; it’s still an XC leaning machine, but it’s longer and slacker, with shorter chainstays. The Cookers with suspension all come with Boost front ends, too.

This is Main Man Ash’s personal bike, so the spec. isn’t stock. It’s a pre-production model, but the frame is the same as the production bikes, and it looks ace:

He’s got 3.0in Nobby Nicks on there – which aren’t on the production ones, but certainly look purposeful.

Yup, it’s 1x – isn’t everything these days?

Here’s Ash chatting about it:

This very bike is in to test, folks – so look for it very soon in Fresh Goods Friday!

Prices for the Cookers range from £699.99 for the 0 all the way up to £2,999.99 for the 5.

More details here.

Sombrio

For 2016, CSG have let Sugoi focus on road gear, and brought Sombrio to the fore for their MTB collection. And there’s some tidy looking gear, too:

Pinner Shorts

Freeride shorts. Tough fabric, Seamless crotch, lift pass retention thingy. £100.

Disciple Jersey

We like the look of this camo top a lot. 3/4 length, wicking, drop back hem. £40.

Pedigree Jersey

Ace womens’ top. Same features as the Disciple, but a different cut (natch) and pattern. £40

Duster and Rev

DH jersey and shorts respectively. Pyjama-tastic for the climbing-averse. £55 and £90 respectively.

Prodigy Gloves

Twisted Fire Starters. £30

Vagabond Freeriding Shirt

The CSG lot were all wearing these. Stretch fabric, bike light loops and vented pits an’ that. Look suave while you shred. £70

Silhouette Freeride Shirt

Ladies’ version for the same price (£70). We actually prefer the ladies one – sadly Barney won’t fit into it. He did try though.

More details from Sombrio

Fabric

Some cool stuff from Fabric, as they advance from their established position as saddlers. A couple of things in particular caught our eye, in the more tool-y area of Fabric’s range:

CO2

A CO2 kit with nicely designed levers, held together by a silicone band. £19.99 gets you two cartridges. Nice blue, people; nice blue.

Chamber

We like this a lot. It’s a little multi-tool setup which has loads of attachments, and a ratchet mechanism in the top of the housing/handle. It’s £34.99.

For more details see Fabric’s website.

Barney Marsh

Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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