Hello! It’s a slightly scaled down Fresh Goods this Friday, mostly because there’s no one here. Everyone’s off at the Cycle Show at the NEC, or the Trans Provence so there’s just me (Chipps) here manning the office and doing the phone answering and coffee making. Nevertheless, we have a pretty good selection for you to get your techno teeth into…
First up, everyone has an opinion on Nicolai. It’s one of those Marmite brands loved by engineers and less loved by the aesthetes (or sometimes the other way around) – we have an Argon CC hardtail with Rohloff that’s lined up for next issue’s bike test. Excuse the mud, it’s been ridden a fair amount.
Price: £1275 frame only
Gates parts £200 (belt, chainring and sprocket)
From: www.nicolai-uk.com
Next up in Fresh Goods we have a rare ‘summer day’. It’s a product that we’ve not seen very many of since about May, but we’re always keen to see more as we just don’t know where they all go. It’s nice in the Valley today – it’s just a bit of a pity that we’re either stuck in the office, or at the NEC. We hope you get out and enjoy it if you get a chance though.
Fibrax Pro-formance Sealed Cables
From: www.fibrax.com
Price: £29.95
Here’s a fully sealed derailleur cable kit for your bike. Just in time for wintertime. It features full inner tubes to carry your cable between cable stops, so even if you don’t have full cable runs on your bike, you can get the same benefits. Just in time for the bad weather that’s coming. Prepare now! (We know you won’t actually get round to it ’til December, will you?)
Knog Boomer Wearable
Price: £20.49
From: www.todayscyclist.co.uk
Here’s a clever idea from Knog – it’s a super bright rear light that can either clip onto light tabs, or you can remove the back and use the super strong neodymium magnets on the back and the light itself to attach it through your clothes.
Crank Bros Iodine 2 Stem
Price: £59.99
From: www.2pure.co.uk
Here’s a dinky stem from Crank Brothers. It features a knee-saving internal wedge for the steerer and a more conventional bolt-on face for the bars.
Geax Saguaro 29in
Price: £30.99 ea
From: www.chickencyclekit.co.uk
Here’s another tyre for you big-wheel riders. The Saguaro (say something like ‘soo-war-oh’) is a medium-knobbled folding tyre that should be pretty good all year round.
Sock Guy Socks
From: www.silverfish-uk.com
We love Sock Guy socks here. And every year they come out with a few limited edition socks that are used as giveaways
Another random Fresh Goods product is ‘2012’. We’ve been hearing about this new product since early February, but we now have confirmation that it exists and we have a sneak preview in the form of the new WallPlanner of Doom. Expect it to fill up dramatically in the next month or two…
And finally (hey, we said it was a quiet week, OK?) we have ‘Clover haircut’. This is Clover the Poodle, a standard poodle, usually seen in the office with Chipps and she’s been to the dog hairdressers…
We’ll see you all next week with a fuller version of Fresh Goods for your Friday distraction…
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Jings, Clover’s had a right scalping…
£200 for a belt, sprocket and ring? Seems a bit steep?
Interesting, that Nicolai “belt-keeper” looks a whole lot sturdier than the Gates own-brand snubber.
Can you please ask Nicolai why its needed? I’d have thought the Nic frame should be stiff enough that belt-deflection (and hence ratcheting of the belt) wouldn’t be a problem.
£200 for the belt, sprocket and ring is relative.
How long do Gates suggest they will last? A regular set up will easily set you back £100 and may need replacing once a year. If the belt system lasted two years then a) it’s not expensive and b) you’ve got the convenience of never having to clean it.
Poor Dog. he is going to freeze to death once this heatwave has passed and the snow sets in.
Why didnt they do his ears?
Clover now looks fast!!
How much for the poodle cut and where can I get one?
I should add that my belt-drive Kona A is now (finally) working a treat. But it took new dropouts with an integrated snubber as the Gates one simply bent out of the way when the belt “climbed” out of the rear pulley.
But my question above is to try and find out why Rohloff insist on a snubber being fitted. Implies to me they’re not happy with the apprent belt-tension Gates want to specify.
‘summer day’ Price: priceless
That bike is absolutely hideous
chipps they have left you on your own!!.
i would close up shop early & head out on them hills whilst the weather is this good…..
finish off with a nice pint in the stubby …job done .
That bike is absolutely lovely.
I usually like the look of Nicolai bikes but that is horrid, it looks like its been ridden into a wall at high speed. Yuk
Like DD monkey said. What’s the head angle on that thing and can you use the front brake without ‘impromtu dismount and dental work?’
71.5°/72° according to my Wixey.
Bug-bud – I could bunk off early, but then the magazine definitely won’t be ready in time for the printers next week…
yep i laughed poor dog, so going to get his @rsed kicked at the dog park
if the belt snaps you are **** right? As the belt goes through the frame….?
No sram powerlink there lol
That bike looks like is been in a head on crash….ugly
Clover looks like Oli Beckinsale now LOL
Must say, I’m rather enjoying the Boomer Wearable advert that pops up next to the forum regularly.
“How long do Gates suggest they will last? A regular set up will easily set you back £100 and may need replacing once a year”
My first conventional sprocket and chain on the Rohloff lasted 3 years and the current one has done 2 years.
The chain was around £12 the sprocket £25 and I could have reversed that and carried on using it. With the Rohloff the only real advantage of the Gates system is the weight saving. I never clean my chain i just squirt it with gt85 and I commute off road all year round. I’d still like one though.
Presumably, Clover wanted shaving in case she gets road-rash? That’s the usual “reason”, isn’t it?
“£1275 frame only”
And its not titanium, carbon fibre, full suspension or custom made?
Poor clover, however I laughed, my 9 year old and 7 year old laughed and my other half laughed..so officially funny!
Yep, the family laughed at Clover.
you shouldn’t trim that close around a dog’s nose, they have (barely visible) whiskers that are very sensitive. That will have hurt. 🙁
That is not the same dog!
It was done by a canine beautician. Honest. So I must be beautiful, yes?
Reckon the bike would look better in a normal person size, not Smurf size.
“Reckon the bike would look better in a normal person size, not Smurf size.”
Agree with this.
Also, what have you done to clover, and why?!? Crazily bad stuff there.
They told me I smelled awful. But now when I roll in fox poo it’s even more effective. So it’s not all bad now, is it? And my whiskers are growing back already. Wuff.
Poodles rock 🙂