Fresh Goods Friday 384 – Two bikes and a guitar!

There’s been two kinds of cake, party poppers and singing already today, such is our delight that it is Friday. OK, yes, it’s because it’s Chipps’ birthday, not because it’s Friday. But still, it is Friday, and that is indeed a reason to celebrate. And celebrate we shall, with a double bike-mungous Fresh Goods Friday!

RDR Ares LTD 2018

• Price: €11,490
• From: RDR Italia / TopCog

Handmade in Italy, this is a super light carbon fibre race bike – frame has a claimed weight of 1570g in a size medium. Suitable for 27.5+ or 29in wheels, with 100m travel front and rear. The forks are Rock Shox World Cup SIDs in customised RDR Italia colours, with the shock and SRAM Eagle groupset also being fully customised in RDR Italia colours.

If you want one of these you can choose it in your own customised graphics, and there’s a highly personal customer service team waiting to make sure your dreams are fulfilled. It’s basically a family business of bike enthusiasts.

 

Raji Bird of Paradise Gloves

• Price: €29.99
• From: SixSixOne

Modelled by our very own bird of paradise, this is a pair of lightweight gloves with tons of ventilation for the summer months. Mesh stretch twill uppers, stretch mesh finger gussets, and perforated palms will keep your hands breathing when you’re wheezing in the heat.

Reset Helmet Tropic Orange

• Price: €99.99
• From: SixSixOne

This pearlescent creamy gold helmet with tropical plant life detailing is certainly eye catching. It’s also designed to be lightweight at an affordable price, has ten air vents to keep you cool, and is available in a whole seven sizes, from XXS to XXL.

Matrix Jacket

• Price: £109.99
• From: Royal Racing

If Andi looks comfortable here, it’s because he already owns a jacket just the same as this one. Designed to be used on or off the bike, Andi has already been doing just that with his. Waterproofing comes in handy whether dashing to the office or out on the trails, and the mesh liner helps with breathability, whether it’s a stiff hill climb or just meat sweats from a big lunch.

RRP ProGuard Standard and Max Protection Mud Guards

• Price: £24.99 (Standard), £26.99 (Max Protection)
• From: Extra

The indent in these Rapid Racer Product mudguards allow the guard to be fitted round the fork brace, maximising mud clearance. The Max Protection option is 21mm longer at the front and 68mm longer at the back than the Standard version, keeping you even cleaner.

TORQ Lemon Drizzle and Cherry Bakewell Gels

• Price: £24.00 (box of 15) (currently on offer at £22.80)
• From: Torq

Known for their ‘is it a gel or a dessert’ flavours (and some of us might suspect that there is probably a chef who has used a Torq gel for a bit of that plate drizzle decoration you get in fancy restaurants), these are two more flavours to add to your menu. It might taste like pudding, but it’s got electrolytes and suchlike in it, so it’s definitely healthy. Nom nom.

Muc Off Dirt Bucket Kit With Filth Filter

• Price: £64.99
• From: Muc Off

Amanda got all excited when she saw this bucket and came bounding into the office calling out ‘you know when you do a two bucket wash on your car?’. Cue blank stares from Hannah and enthusiastic agreement from Chipps. Apparently the Filth Filter in the bottom of this bucket means that the dirt is separated at the bottom of the bucket away from your sponge, so you don’t put your sponge or brush into the sludge at the bottom and back onto your bike. Also included are three brushes, a sponge, cleaner, chain cleaner, bike protector and two kinds of lube.

Thule Vital 8L

• Price: £119.99
• From: Madison

This is a brand new pack from Thule designed to have a low centre of gravity for comfort and stability This one will take 2.5L of water, with a total capacity of eight litres. Six and three litre versions are also available.

Canyon Spectral 8.0

• Price: £2,699
• From: Canyon

27.5in wheels with 2.6in tyres, 150mm travel up front and 140mm rear, carbon fibre front end and SRAM GX Eagle drive train…all at a fairly wallet friendly price. It’s a reinvention of their classic trail bike, and Joe Barnes has been known to opt for this over the bigger bikes he has on hand.

Thanks to Amanda for shooting this week’s images in between all kinds of interesting spray can activities and general DIY mayhem. She’s been helping Ross and James build the stand for the London Bike Show next week – why not pop along and say hello?

It’s the last Fresh Goods Friday of Chipps’ 40s. On Monday, he will be 50. He’s been having an extended birthday, with gin in last week’s Fresh Goods, a purple sparkly guitar (which arrived in tune, which is damned classy) earlier this week, and the first sighting of birthday cake on Thursday. So what should be today’s tune?

How about the number one when Chipps was born?

Maybe we’ll jump forward to early but formative years. Five years old…yup, definitely an influential time in Chipps’ life, because look, there’s a purple sparkly guitar!

45 years after it snuck into his subconscious, he’s now got one.

Let’s see if there’s any evidence of the future that was to come in the tunes of his 18th birthday:

Perhaps…Chipps is a fan of the last minute deadline. The words seem to flow easier when they were due yesterday. When the going gets tough, Chipps is just getting going.

Hopefully at 50 he’s not yet winding down. Tally Ho! Weekend and the next half century, here we come!

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