Hnnnn…grrraaa…schschschs…ngngngngg.
That’s not the sound of Hannah doing battle with a tyre. Or Wil on the loo. It’s the collective sound of Team Singletrack crawling up the stairs into the office. The lurgy is still working its way through the office and out of our systems, and visitors to the office this week have been handed masks to help prevent the spread of the germs of doom.
The ram raiders are still at large, which is disappointing, however we suspect our local police force has been busy tracing the perpetrators of another crime this week.
Despite feeling a little wobbly, we still managed to have a great night with Ned Overend and Specialized. If you couldn’t make it, watch it here. It’s worth it – Ned tells a good yarn.
Wil – ‘Just call me Parky’ – hosted the evening, because Chipps is away having a terrible time on holiday.
Just a regular Sunday ride… Mills Peak near Graegle, CA. with our host, Scot from @IbisCycles. pic.twitter.com/fjIA02henK
— Chipps (@Chipps) October 10, 2016
And so the week comes to a close. The serious business of the Marmite shortage had been resolved, much to the disappointment of Vegemite. And so we can progress, from yeast products, to bicycle products. There’s no question of love or hate here, we know you love it. Fresh Goods Friday – bring it on!
Trek Stache 9.8
- Price: £3500
- From: Trek Bikes
29+ carbon fibre hardtail with 120mm travel up front. The carbon is Trek’s mountain bike specific OCLV carbon, made to be tougher than other types of carbon fibre. So is this a tough monster truck perfect for rolling over everything in your path?
Horizontal sliding drop out, so you can go singlespeed if you want your quads to be in proportion to the tyres.
To keep the wheelbase short but still provide clearance for the 29+ tyres, the drive side chainstay is shifted up.
The bike comes fitted with Bontrager’s new Drop Line dropper.
You’ll be seeing some more of these 29+ monster trucks as we have a test coming up. We’ve got our giant, Barney, on the case to test them, because if you’re going to go big, you may as well go the whole hog and go XXL with extra fries, gherkins, and a side of coleslaw, right?
Bontrager XR Mud 29×2.00 Tyres
- Price: £39.99
- From: Trek Bikes
Ever wanted to change the size of your knobs for better performance? Now you can. There are tubeless ready tyres for British winter conditions, with trimmable knobs so you can get your tyres just how you want them, should you wish to spend a spot of time in your shed doing a bit of knob trimming. Or knob fettling as we call it here in Yorkshire.
Bontrager Mini Charger Frame Pump
- Price: £29.99
- From: Trek Bikes
A high volume pump with an extra long hose and a folding foot for better stability while pumping.
Cancer Sucks Mudguard
- Price: £8.99
- From: 35 Bikes
Created for Cancer Awareness Month (which is October, which is now), a portion of the money from the sale of these mudguards is going to cancer charities in the UK.
On Your Bike Book
- Price: £9.99
- From: All good bookshops
This is a great little book for children, with lots of practical information about riding your bike, and looking after it. Handily spiral bound so it stays flat and you can refer to it while following the guide to puncture fixing, and so on.
It even has a section on how to do tricks. So, it’ll be popular with a few grown ups in the office too.
Specialized Burra Burra Luggage
- Price: Stabilizer Seatpack 10 £110, 20 £120; Handlebar Harness £35; Drypack 23 £20; Top Tube Pack £35; Pizza Bag £70; Frame Pack 5 £80
- From: Specialized
This is a new range of luggage from Specialized, made from coated nylon fabric to be highly water resistant. On the left we have the Stabilizer Seatpack 10 and 20, both of which attach to your seatpost using an aluminium arm, promising minimum wiggle without the weight of a full rear rack. In the middle we have the Top Tube Pack, and the Frame Pack 5. On the bottom right, we have the Pizza Bag, which is specifically designed to work with Specialized’s Pizza Rack (£45). Top right we have the Bar Stabilizer Harness, holding a Drypack 13 (also available is a Drypack 13).
The bags are packed with pockets, zips, reflective bits, and handy loops for anything you can’t fit into the luggage itself. We’ll be stuffing as much as we possibly can into them – after all, the nights are getting cold.
Sombrio Highline Shorts
- Price: £80
- From: CSG
Shown here in black, lightweight shorts from Sombrio.
Sombrio Prodigy Gloves
- Price: £26
- From: CSG
Same shorts, just bigger And bluerer. ‘Big Air’ blue apparently. And that’s a pair of cuffless gloves from Sombrio too.
Sombrio Wingman Jacket
- Price: £65
- From: CSG
More of those gloves, in a more stealth colour option, plus this lightweight stuffable packable windproof jacket.
Sombrio Slice n Dice Jersey
- Price: £45
- From: CSG
Sombrio Vagabond Riding Shirt
- Price: £50
- From: CSG
There’s been a bit of a fight over this shirt in the office, and Andi had won. Riding shirt with rear pocket specially sized to hold a small can of beer.
Cube T shirt
- Price: tbc
- From: Cube
Cube Tour Free Shorts
- Price: £54.99
- From: Cube
Wil goes full Smurf with this blue outfit from Cube. Same t-shirt as before, twinned with these lightweight shorts.
Endura MT500 Jacket
- Price: £179.99
- From: Endura
This is a new colour scheme for the well established waterproof from Endura. As worn by Danny MacAskill, it should keep you just as dry as Danny, but we can’t promise it’ll give you any of the skillz.
Endura MT500 Spray Baggy Short
- Price: £69.99
- From: Endura
These are waterproof at the back and lightweight Cordura at the front, so you can wear them whenever the wet stuff isn’t falling from the sky, but is lying on the trails. Which is pretty often. The Endura website describes them as ‘Like the mutant offspring of a waterproof short and a baggy short’.
These are also available in a limited edition YELLOW for a less understated look.
Endura MT500 Full Zip L/S Jersey
- Price: £69.99
- From: Endura
Insulated jersey with windproof sleeves for those cool autumn days. Or midsummer if you’re an Australian in the UK.
Not only are the sleeves windproof, but they’re also made of ripstop fabric – handy for fighting off the vegetation. And that’s not mutant bee slime on the shoulders, but handily placed silicone to keep your back pack in place. Or maybe your bandolier. Keep those shotgun shells handy.
Fabric 16 Multi-tool
- Price: £24.99
- From: CSG
Fifteen essential tools, plus a bottle opener. Or a bottle opener with 15 other emergency functions, depending on how you look at things.
Cannondale Ryker AM
- Price: £59.99
- From: CSG
This helmet will protect your head on the trails, though we’re not sure protection from ram raiders is part of the envisaged use. Still, better safe than sorry.
Phew! That’s it!
There’s only one way to finish of this week’s Fresh Goods Friday, and that’s with our Nobel Prize for Literature winner, Bob Dylan. Possibly as divisive as Marmite, there are those that love him, and those that can’t stand him, and those that love him (but only before he spoiled everything by going electric).
It’s been read at many christening, and some funerals too. Even if you don’t like his singing, you’d have to have a cold heart not to be moved by the words to this.
Now get out on your bikes and be young.
ST Out.
