Welcome to this week’s Fresh Goods, the celebration of the end of our working week and your chance to take a peek to all the lovely new kit that’s landed in the office to prod and poke…
Specialized Epic Comp 29
This rather gainly looking big wheeler is the 100mm travel Epic Comp. It’s the entry level full sus 29er in the Specialized Epic range, with 100mm of travel either end and an M5 aluminium frame. As with every Epic, rear suspension is automatically controlled by an inertia valve, this using the latestFox/Specialized FlowControl Mini Brain shock with Brain Fade inertia valve.
Price: £2,600
From: Specialized UK
The back end uses 142mm hub spacing and they’ve aimed to keep the chainstays as short as possible.
Rather neat linkages and dinky shock…
Tapered front end has Rock Shox Reba 29 forks plugged in, drivetrain is SRAM X7/9 with a 38/24T double and there’s a covering of own brand finishing kit to finish it off.
The amount of force taken to fully open the Brain shock can be tweaked via the blue knob…
We’ve been hugely impressed with a lot of the own-brand Specialized tyres recently – both tyres on this bike are ‘2bliss’ ready, meaning you only need a dash of sealant to get a proper tubeless setup.
661 Recon Wired helmet
We reviewed the Recon helmet a while back and really liked the sheer spec you get for the price. This is the latest model with rather snazzy new graphics as well as the in-moulded shell, 18 vents and more trail-riding design and fit. It’s also available in a black ‘Wired’ version as well as matte black or white ‘Stealth’ finishes.
Price: £69.99
From: One Industries Europe
661 Sub-Gear long sleeve top
Matt may have lost the ‘Vernon Wells in Mad Max 2’ haircut but that doesn’t mean he’s given up on the apocalyptic future, far from it. A cunning mix of EVA padding on the chest and ‘Intella-Foam’ shoulder and elbow pieces sewn into a compression fit base layer should offer him lightweight protection from boomerang wielding feral kids or simply falling off his bike. Flat locked seams should make it comfy to wear and there’s also an elbow-less short version available.
Price: £59.99
From: One Industries Europe
661 Comp Knee/shinpad (L) & 661 Rampage Knee/shinpad (R)
Two different takes on protecting your knees and shins here. The Comp (£34.99) uses hard plastic outer shells fixed to a ventilated foam backing to give as much protection as possible. The Rampage (£54.99) takes the soft pad with internal plastic shell concept, something that 661 helped pioneer, into an item that offers shin protection too.
From: One Industries Europe
661 Comp Elbow pad (top) & 661 Rhythm Elbow pad (bottom)
Again, the Comp Elbow (£24.99) uses a two-piece hard shells, articulated over a EVA padding body with crossed over straps to keep them in place. The Rhythm Elbow (24.99) is a bit of a new concept – it’s basically similar to an armwarmer but with added protection, using a stretchy sleeve outer with silicone grippers to prevent it moving. Bash resistance is given by the perforated EVA foam covered with with touch mesh. Should be just the trick for anyone that wants some less-obtrusive protection on the trails.
From: One Industries Europe
661 Evo Knee pad
The popular Evo knee has been fully designed for 2012. It now uses a new, specially shaped piece of D3O moulded to fit around the kneecap. The outer cover is made from Kevlar to prevent any rips or tears and the soft stretch body is kept in place with an adjustable strap on the top and wrap-round stretch Kordura piece.
Price: £79.99
From: One Industries Europe
661 Rhythm Knee pad
Providing knee and shin coverage with the same padding-over-stretch-sleeve design, the Rhythm should be just the trick for ‘knee pads or leg warmers?’ dilemmas this winter…
Price: £34.99
From: One Industries Europe
661 Sub Shorts
Providing a bit of undershort protection thanks to the EVA inserts, the tight compression fabric with silicone grippers should stay put under shorts – and 661 say that the tight fitting and breathable fabric “improves blood flow and boosts muscle recovery”. As well as hip and thigh padding, there’s a cunning little piece to protect where your tail should be.
Price: £44.99
From: One Industries Europe
661 Riot Elbow pad
The Riot uses a hard cap with EVA padding and perforated neoprene surround with 1000D Kordura reinforced fabric.
Price: £29.99
From: One Industries Europe
661 Riot Kneepad
The Riot Knee pad uses the same hard shell under neoprene construction to offer plenty of protection for the front of your knee at a very reasonable cost. It’s held in place by an upper adjustable strap and lower stretch loop.
Price: £34.99
From: One Industries Europe
661 Riot Shin pad
You don’t tend to see many shin-only pads these days – have people got better at missing their shins or have pedal studs got less painful? Who knows, we still bear the marks of many missed pedals. If you still nail you shins regularly then the Riot pads provide hard shelled protection under wrap-round neoprene padding to keep you legs lovely and scar-free.
Price: £34.99
From: One Industries Europe
661 2012 gloves
Freshly made 2012 handwear from 661 – from left to right: the 858 (£29.99), Rev (£18.99) and Evo (£34.99) gloves. The 858 and Evo gloves use direct injection protection to guard your knuckles and fingers, while the Rev is a lightweight, super thin glove for maximum feel. All are available in a host of colours too…
From: One Industries Europe
More 661 2012 gloves
From left to right: the Raji (£24.99), Storm (£39.99) and Rev Wired (£18.99). The Raji is a lightweight summer glove, with perforated mesh backing and single layer palm with silicone gripper patterns. The Storm is their latest winter glove, with a Pittard leather palm, insulated backing and neoprene knuckle protection, while the Rev Wired is a nice and stripy version of the lightweight Rev.
From: One Industries Europe
Crank Brothers Ascender pack
This is our first look at the new Crank Brothers packs. The Ascender is, unsurprisingly, designed for cross-country style biking with a 13 litre volume and 3l slime-resistant microban bladder. The pack is made from tough looking coated nylon with ventilated padding on the back. The bladder itself has a proprietary high flow hose and valve, which Crank Brothers say is ‘leak free’. The inside has lots of organised pockets and there’s a separate lined pocket for your glasses or phone.
Price: £69.99
From: 2Pure
Crank Brothers Descender pack
Designed for the descending set, this 20l pack has plenty of pockets and straps to attach bits of extraneous body armour to. It uses the same microban 3l reservoir and there’s a removable tool pouch hidden inside as well. You also get an external helmet holder and there’s a cunning sliding loop system to stop the bag peeling open and shedding kit when you unzip the main pocket
Price: £99.99
From: 2Pure
Super organised guts…
Singletrack Sterling Silver Cufflinks
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Comments (25)
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May I be the first to point out that this:
This rather gainly looking big wheeler is the 100mm travel Epic Comp. It’s the entry level full sus 29er in the Specialized range
Doesn’t seem to fit with this:
Price: £2,600
When did over two and a half thousand pounds become entry level!?!?!
“When did over two and a half thousand pounds become entry level!?!?!”
The same day that cufflinks cost £85…
Just saying…
Yawnnnnn…..
The Comp is the cheapest way to access Specialized’s Epic platform. So, whether or not you think that £2,600 is good value (and, for a race-ready, full suspension 29er, I happen to think that it’s not bad actually), it *is* the entry level Epic.
Can we all play nicely please, it is Friday after all…
cufflinks are lovely – if i still wore a shirt for work id have em
“It’s the entry level full sus 29er in the Specialized range”
Aside from the ‘entry level’ epic 29 costing £2600 (when an 07 epic (albeit 26) started at £1500 (08 £1600? IIRC), this isn’t true
A 2012 Camber (100/110mm) 29er starts at £1900, still not cheap of course
That tag. “Race Ready”
What Matt said.
Umm I think you struck a nerve there guys. I think they this is entry level to 29er platform but however you cut it that’s expensive as the competition have full sus 29ers at 1500 of your finest British pounds. I didn’t realize that you needed a competition certified bike to compete… I’ll go and buy a sticker now.
These:
http://www.endura.co.uk/Product.aspx?dept_id=104&prod_id=400
+
These:
http://g-form.com/product/knee-pads/
= The new Evo pads. A few ‘borrowed’ ideas in there me thinks !
Those Recon helmets are really very good. I bought one a few weeks back and rate it very highly indeed.
As for £2.6k now being the entry point for an Epic, while it’s not cheap, it’s worth remembering that the Spesh Camber range looks like a more wallet friendly option. If I were in the market for a 120mm all day bike today, I’d want to test ride a Camber first.
Some of the pads / armour look a very reasonable price.
Selling cufflinks to the fashionista t-shirt wearing IT support staff who read the mag / populate the forum? Arf!
Those Riot knee and shin pads look a trifle baggy, or has the wearer just got legs like a sparrow?
Recently bought a 2011 recon helmet, best fit i’ve ever had although it is a touch warm inside.
Cuff-links look well made. Any chance they could knock up some Mint Sauce ones?
Yawnnnnn, plus one
weres that nice Felt full sus that Jenn was riding being tested that she was racing at Thetford last weekend.
Classic! ST cuff-links! Surely this must be the start of a ST/JoB partnership, eh? 12 month delivery time as well I imagine…
good job the 661 van paid a visit this week otherwise the fresh goods shelves would look a little bare … £2.6K … entry level … teeheehee…
No JoB or Mint Sauce were used in the production of the cuff links. Turnaround 2 weeks tops.
You know what I like about you Sim? – You’re a good looking and apparently jovial fella, with a non-confrontational and witty line in retorts! Maybe you could run an INSET at ST Towers…
Good work old son!
Aw, shucks, I’m blushing 🙂
Man up, you tart.
sim, why you telling me 2 weeks….
I love how a lot of the manufacturers throw a 29er out and add about a grand on the price, still i’m sure they’ll sell loads of em to the all the gear no idea clan.
Expect to see lots of them on the bay or here after 4 or 5 rides.
Felt Edict will be the star of next week’s Fresh Goods, in a time travel sort of way.