evil following 29er

Fresh Goods Friday 342

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Sun! Snow! Sun! Sleet! Sun! Long weekends, teacher training days, four day weeks. Frankly we’re all so discombobulated here that you’re lucky we’ve remembered it’s Friday. [Checks calendar, checks phone, yup, definitely Friday]. Another Bank Holiday Friday Fresh Goods Friday! Woohoo! Four day weeks and three day weekends for the win! (No party political broadcast allusions intended).

Evil Following

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Like menacing frowning eyebrows, or horns?

In for next issue’s bike test, we have the Evil Following. It has 120mm rear travel and takes a 120 or 130mm fork. With 29in wheels it promises to roll over all the rocks you can throw it at.

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Chunky protection.

Depending on whether you want to go for ‘look at me I’m evil’ or the more traditional ‘stealth lurking in dark corners evil’, you can choose from this lime green or matt black.

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Evil lurking in a corner.

To find out more about this bike and Dave’s Extra Legitimate Travel Apparatus (yes, that’s the Delta linkage) check out our First Look article.

Deuter Attack Enduro 16

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Room for everything.
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Keep your back safe and carry stuff.

Features a removable back protector, padded goggle pocket and full face helmet holder so you can go full enduro, plus there’s an easy access smartphone pocket, so you can take all the selfies you like to provide it.

Pure Chimp Matcha Super Tea

  • Price: £4.95 for 20 servings (20g)
  • From: Pure Chimp
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Choose your flavour.

You learn something new every day: apparently ‘matcha’ is a powdered tea that you whisk with hot water to create tea, and is used in Japanese tea ceremonies. You can also add it to smoothies or sprinkle it on your cereal – or perhaps roll it round some home made energy truffles? Matcha tea contains more caffeine than normal tea, and also more theanine. We’re all familiar with getting a caffeine boost, but apparently this theanine can help you feel calm and relaxed. It’s being suggested that matcha tea can therefore give you the boosting benefits of caffeine but without the jitters, and this Pure Chimp version comes in a selection of flavours.

Tweedlove 2017 Brochures

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Your passport to fun.

All the details on all the fun that’s happening in the Tweed Valley this year. There are races for every type of bike and rider, family events, and of course the mega demo day. Get your mitts on one of these and start planning your fun.

Broken Riders Good Days Tee

Broken Riders Mark
Mark, showing us his nostrils.

‘On good days I ride, on bad days I ride more’ – inspired by those days when nothing seems to be going right, so you get out on your bike and suddenly all is good with the world. Made with 100% organic cotton in a factory that uses only solar and wind power – so it’s carbon neutral – and using eco-friendly water-based inks. So you can feel even better.

Giro Chamber MTB Shoes

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Gum soles – very on trend.
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Functional as well as fashionable.

Skate shoes styling but race proven spd compatible shoes from Giro in a very fetching ‘blue jewel/gum’ colour. These are as worn by Aaron Gwin and Richie Rude, so we think they’ll be good enough for Wil.

The Time Crunched Cyclist

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Who isn’t time crunched?

‘Race-Winning Fitness in 6 Hours a Week’ – who doesn’t like the sound of that? Well, actually, when we think about it, that’s probably going to be 6 hours of pretty intense and painful activity…but we like the sound of the race winning fitness. Can we pick and choose? Race winning fitness on, say, 3 hours of activity, 2 pies, and 7 pints a week? Maybe there’s a side project for us there: ‘Get Fit-ish With Singletrack: Pies, Pints, and Plenty of Play’. Anyway, for those who take fitness seriously but are short on time, this book will tell you what to do.

KMC EcoProTeQ Chain

  • Price: £36.99
  • From: Moore Large
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Swirly whirly round and round, which is the rust proofed bit?

EcoProTeq (or EPT) is a new treatment developed by KMC to improve the rust protection of the chain. Promising rust resistance and less noise, this particular chain we have here is actually a special half and half test chain for 11 speed drivetrains: half EPT and half a competitor’s chain. So we’re going to get out and abuse it and see if we can tell which half is which. Bring on the summer!

Tasco MTB Blue Check Mate

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Subtle

Fresh off the plane from Sea Otter, this Southern Californian company makes mountain bike clothing, including these matching sock and glove kits.

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Wowzers, our eyezers.

They do four different styles, including stars and stripes, and what Chipps calls ‘lava camo’. Coordination has never been so easy.

Sock Guy Socks

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Socks for friends only.

You can’t buy either of these sock design, because Mr Sock Guy made them to give to his friends. So he gave some to Chipps. But you can get lots of other designs from Mr Sock. Or is it Mr Guy?

Brilliant Beetroot

  • Price: £1.75
  • From: Cawston Press/ Supermarkets
Beetroot juice
Beetroot juice, not beetleguise.

Made of 90% beetroots juice and 10% apple juice, using only pressed juice and no concentrates, artificial sweeteners, preservatives or colourings. Beetroot juice contains magical properties that will make you see unicorns. Actually, there is some science out there that does suggest the nitrates can reduce oxygen consumption during exercise, making you a more efficient machine on the bike. The PR material includes a suggested recipe for a Magenta Fizz Mocktail…what should we add, gin or vodka? It is Friday…

Crank Brothers Tee, Hoody, and Cap

  • Price: £59 Hoody, £20 T-shirt, £15 Cap.
  • From: Extra
Crank Brothers Mark
Mark, looking…normal.

Wil isn’t here today, so you have some more Mark modelling, this time of this Crank Brothers branded gear.

Crank Brothers Mark
Street. Word. Or something.

So that’s Mark all kitted out for his holidays this weekend. Just a few more hours before it kicks off properly. Hopefully you’re ahead of the game and in wind down mode. If not, here’s a rush around tune to get you through all those last minute tasks so you can get out of the office and onto the trails.

Author Profile Picture
Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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