Fresh Goods Friday 390

Last year I ruined Easter. I started off really well: I bought lots of chocolate eggs, and I wrote a bunch of riddles, and I carefully hid them all over a really beautiful wonderland of an arboretum, and then my children happily hunted all over for them and found all except one stash – which was snaffled by a squirrel (we could see the fragments of foil high up in the tree). It was full on magical, lovely, dewy sunny morning perfect. And then I let slip that it was me. Not some giant bunny with incredible basket handling skills.

It’s a moment I won’t forget. My poor youngest child looked at me as if I’d hit him, strangled a puppy, and said I didn’t like Lego, all on his birthday. It was a look of betrayal. A bit of his childhood died, and I saw it wither, along with a bit of my damned cold heart.

So this year, I’m taking no risks. We’re all going on holiday to Florida, and I have prepared the kids well: it is just poorly paid aspiring actors in outfits. Not real and actual film stars. I’m done lying to my kids. Apart from the bit about tickets to all the theme parks being sold out, so we could only do one of them.

Anyway, wish me luck. As you are reading this I’ll be mid air, on the longest ‘are we there yet?’ day of my life. And yes, I’ve heard you lot at the back, we’re nearly there. In fact we are there. We have arrived. It is time. Go wild, fling your hands in the air. It’s Fresh Goods Friday!

Canyon Spectral WMN AL 6.0

• Price: £2,349
• From: Canyon

Following on from Amanda’s trip out to the south of France we’ve just got our hands on the new Canyon Spectral WMN (that’s WMN as in short for women, Canyon’s new female specific geometry) for a longer test back in the UK. Except as soon as Rachel received it, she stuck it in a bike bag and flew it out for a week in the Majorcan sunshine so it’ll be a few rides yet until it sees some British mud and grime.

Our test bike is the AL 6.0 – the top aluminium spec, in a rather fetching coral paint job (that’s a slightly pinky red to you and me). As all Spectrals it’s a 150mm FS 27.5” trail bike. The AL 6.0 is equipped with Fox Performance EVOL Float shock and 34 fork, the virtually ubiquitous SRAM GX Eagle shifting and Guide R brakes, DT Swiss M1700 Spline wheelset and Race Face alloy finishing kit. Published weight for the small is 13.4kg (we’ve yet to stick this medium on the scales).

Park Tool P-Handle Torx Tools

• Price: £69.99
• From: Madison

This is what started our workshop wonderland makeover. We needed some new Torx tools. Which are green so you don’t get them mixed up with the Allen key version.

Park Tool Torx Wrench and Hex Wrench Sets

• Price: £24.99
• From: Madison

Every garage needs a set of these, for every possible twiddly bolt eventuality.

Park Tool 3-way Hex Sets

• Price: £11.99
• From: Madison

With one trio giving you 4, 5 and 6mm keys, and the other with 2, 2.5 and 3mm keys – don’t you just know you’ll be picking up the wrong one every time when faced with a 3 or 4mm bolt?!

USE HELIX 165mm Dropper

• Price: £259.98 (125mm), £284.99 (165mm)
• From: USE

Made in the UK, this dropper post from USE has infinite position choice. Available in 165m or 125m drops for internally routed bikes. It ships with the HELIX mount anywhere actuator, which is compatible with all other mechanical dropper posts.

Horizon GPS

• Price: £424.99
• From: Ordnance Survey

Promising ten hours of battery life, this is one of a range of four new GPS devices from Ordnance Survey. The Horizon is designed for walking or off-road cycling and includes a 1:250k map of the UK plus six free 1:25k map tiles. There’s an accelerometer, barometric altimeter, and a 3-axis compass within it. Hop right up to the Aventura spec model and you’ll get 12 1:25k map tiles plus 24 hours of battery life. All models are water and dust resistant.

Ordnance Survey GPS Accessories

• Price: £49.99 (HRM), £29.99 (upfront mount), £14.99 (stem mount), £44.99 (cadence & speed sensor)
• From: Ordnance Survey

If you want to go Big Data, or attached the Horizon to your bike, then this array of accessories will prove very handy.

Nim’s Fruit Crisps

• Price: £1.25
• From: Nim’s Fruit Crisps

Air dried crisps (so they’re definitely healthy, because they’re not fried) made from fruit and vegetables. And nothing else. Seriously – no salt, no sugar, no spices. There are other flavours too – we really want to try the tomato and cucumber ones. No-guilt snacks! We’re intrigued.

The Descent, Thomas Dekker

• Price: £8.99
• From: Bookshops

We are, frankly, bemused and amused that we’ve been sent this. Because we’ve had it before. And we’ve reviewed it. Funnily enough, it doesn’t quote us on the front of this new edition. Presumably ‘relentlessly grim’ and ‘don’t buy this book’ aren’t great marketing tools.

Acros Enduro Race Carbon 29er Wheels

• Price: £1299.99
• From: Oxford Products

Laced onto in house brand Nineteen hubs, these have 29mm internal width rims made from the black stuff. No, not coal. 28 spokes are laced up by hand in Germany to give you these wheels that our Tom Hill is going to be putting to the test.

Dakine Hot Laps 5L

• Price: £55
• From: Dakine

This has a 2L bladder plus internal pockets with organiser sections. It’s available in a choice of four colours, but we think this one is pretty damn nice looking.

Dakine Hot Laps Waist Bag 2L

• Price: £30
• From: Dakine

If you want to go even more minimalist, this pack has no reservoir, just 2L of pocket shaped carrying capacity, plus a bottle holder on the side. Dakine reckons you can just and so get a packable rain jacket in here too. Sensible.

Louri Straps

• Price: £14.99 Frame strap, £14.99 Saddle strap
• From: Cyclorise

Want to go even more minimalist? Then strap your stuff to your bike instead of your body. We’ve had a lot of this sort of thing recently so perhaps it is a new trend that we need to get with. Bum bags are so last year, yah? Anyway, the longer frame straps are now available in a selection of colours – the ones above for now, and 8 more coming at the end of April. The smaller saddle strap is only available in black.

Elvedes Inner Cable

• Price: ask your local bike shop
• From: Elvedes

Pre stretched super flexible inner cable for your shifters, so your shifting should be extra smooth – especially if you have convoluted cable routing. Elvedes products are available wholesale, so your local bike shop should be able to get hold of them for you.

Mondraker Foxy Carbon RR 27.5

• Price: £4499
• From: Silverfish

Extensively reworked for 2018, the new Foxy promises both increased stiffness and comfort, plus great traction on climbs and pedal efficiency – all in the name of delivering an all round trail bike. Andi will be putting this through its paces to see whether it delivers.

Ibis Ripmo

• Price: £2,999 Frame and shock. £6799 or so like this…
• From: 2Pure

Revealed earlier this week, this is the new long travel 29er from Ibis. With a 160mm fork up front and 145mm of dw-link suspension out back, it’s certainly aimed at being a trail ripper. Which reminds us, the name is from the Ripley and the Mojo. Geddit? There’s a lot more detail on our launch day story, so swing over and check that out. Or wait a few weeks for our review on it once we’ve finished taking turns at being 29er hooligans…

Rocky Mountain Thunderbolt BC Edition

• Price: £5,499
• From: Greenover Sports

Another bike that was revealed to us this week. We appear to have got a little overexcited with this one and taken it straight out to the trails.

Right, we’re all off to eat cheap chocolate until we’re sick. Happy long weekend everyone, see you on the other side!

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