Fresh Goods Friday 162

Fresh Goods

by Chipps April 13, 2012 1:54 pm21

Even with Jon on holiday, there’s no stopping the Fresh Goods train. Here’s a selection of some of the things that have been making our doorbell ring…

Crank Bros Kronolog
Price: £249
From: www.2pure.co.uk

Crank Brothers was early to the uppy-downy game with its Joplin seatpost. Then everyone else came out with their versions and the Joplin was a little left behind. Now Crank Bros is back with its Kronolog post. Costing £249 and coming in 30.9 or 31.6, they are just coming into the country now.

Cable entry is at the base of the post so there's no flailing loop of outer cable when the post is dropped.
It's always good when your logo is a handy thumb-lever shape too.

Pacenti Tyres and Just Riding Along Wheels

Price: Wheels approx: £450/pr, tyres £50 each

And what’s so special about these? Yes, they’re for the ‘Third Way’. 650B, or 27.5in wheels are suddenly in the news, though Kirk Pacenti has been quietly plugging away at them for the last six years or more. See the next issue of Singletrack (issue 73, out around April 26th) to see what the rest of the industry thinks of this French touring rim size from the last century…

From: Just Riding Along www.justridingalong.com

Pacenti Neo Moto 650b tyres even have 'UK' amounts of tread on them
These wheels came from Just Riding Along, big fans of 650b, tubeless and anything slightly quirky!

Copter Tape
Price: £9.50 for 50cm
From: JRA again www.justridingalong.com

JRA’s Copter Tape is frame protection in a neat little tube. Just say ‘no’ to cable rub…

We got a Pavlovian Jaffa Cake reflex when unwrapping this.

Tufo XC2 Plus

Price: £80 or so each.

From: www.Osport.co.uk

They’re all at it. Racers, that is… running tubular tyres for XC racing. Tubs can be run at low pressures without pinch-flatting and give an arguably softer ride. And thanks to modern sealants, it’s no longer a race (or tyre) ending thing if you get a thorn flat… We have a couple of these from Osporto to try out. Bring on the summer races!

The XC 2 is the mama-bear of the range, with the aggressive XC3 above and the file tread XC1 below in the range. Comes with super sticky tub-tape so you don't even need to glue them on.

Gipiemme Kenya Professional Wheels

Price: £700 a pair

From: Osporto www.osporto.co.uk

And of course you can’t run tubs without special rims. Also from Osporto comes these Gipiemme Kenya Professional wheels with tubular rims. Featuring DT hub internals, Sapim spokes and with everything made in Italy, it’s enough to make the old club cyclists go misty eyed with nostalgia. Until you take these wheels through a rock garden for fun… Stay tuned to Singletrack’s Grinder feature to find out how they fare.

Chain Johnny
Price: £19.99
From: Madison www.madison.co.uk

We’re assuming that White Lightning doesn’t necessarily get the UK slang for ‘johnny’ but perhaps it does. The Chain Johnny fits snug around your chainset, chain and rear mech and stops your bike from making a big mess everywhere. Hmm… so quite accurate then.

Commencal Meta AM

From: Decade Europe

We showcased this new All Mountain bike from Commencal back in our Interbike coverage and we’re glad to see that we’ve finally been able to get hold of one for test. As Commencal says ‘A good enduro bike is not an XC bike that can descend but a downhill bike that can climb.’ – and with 150mm of travel we reckon it’s going to be perfect for the rufty tufty trails we have around here.

Captive, internal cabling
Mud room, even if there's space for it to accumulate too.

Focus FSL 2.0

Price: £5995

From: Focus Dealers

Not quite Fresh Goods as they’ve taken it away again, but Matt was out yesterday on this light and fast 100mm machine from Focus. To quote Matt “I BIG RINGED IT UP INCHFIELD ROAD!!!’ Which is another way to say that this is a very light bike that seems to flatter the rider on the climbs.

The jury is still out on the 'winkie-pincher' design, but it seems as good a place as any to hide a rear shock.

Can you spot a winner?

 

And a few more bits and pieces here. Lining up for the next grouptest we have some glasses from:

Adidas – Evil Eye, Half-rim
From: www.surfdome.co.uk

Price: £135

With a UK friendly pinky lens and adjustable arm angle and a natty sports-bag case, we like this already.

Tifosi Dolomite
From: Zyro www.zyro.co.uk

With a great, contrasty orange photochromic lens and a sub £70 RRP, the Dolomite looks a winner too.

BBB Rapid
From: Wind Wave www.windwave.co.uk

This BBB Rapid has Rapid has a photochromic lens that works well in Dutch ‘sunlight’ – with a (85%-17% light transmission range)

Endura Piranhas
Price: £44.99
From: Endura www.endura.co.uk

Here’s a pair of glasses from the Masters of Driech, Enduro. The Piranhas are ‘for the summers we really get’

Bell Drop helmet
Price: £129
From: Madison www.madison.co.uk
From: Madison www.madison.co.uk
Lining up for a future feature, this Bell full face helmet appears to weigh near to nothing while still offering full face protection. And in this colour, nobody will miss you coming down the hill…

PHD Designs Yukon Pullover
Price: £263

From: PHD phdesigns.co.uk

We featured PHD last autumn in our factory visit and were impressed with just how ‘made in the UK’ all its stuff really is. Here’s a great example of a UK-friendly down jacket, the Yukon. For a start the outer layer is very water resistant, not a given with all down jackets, so ideal for those bothy and bivvy trips where you’re not always going to be completely under shelter. The half zip goes over a helmet when you’re stopped, but saves bulk and faff. We heard of PHD making an down outer for Elizabethan costume drama actress to wear between takes and reckon that would be the ideal ‘waiting for your team mate at Mayhem’ jacket. Anyway… this works down to -15C, so Chipps is going to stand out in the carpark in today’s hail for you…

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Comments (21)

  1. veedubba April 13, 2012 at 2:03 pm

    Holy Jesus! How much for a tyre?!

  2. rippa 8 April 13, 2012 at 2:04 pm

    Just about to say is that a typo for that tyre price!

  3. mumblemiler April 13, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    £80 for a tubular tyre? Seems about right to me when you consider how much some standard tyres are costing right now.

    I would say that these are aimed at racers generally, same as in the roadie world where joe bloggs tends to run std “clincher” tyres rather than “tubs”.

  4. mumblemiler April 13, 2012 at 2:11 pm

    Or was that aimed at the £50 or so for a 650b tyre? Even so, not unusual RRP for a tyre nowadays.

    Have to admit I tend to buy tyres when they are on offer and maintain a stockpile, I probably spend more this way than buying them at “normal” prices when I need them, but hey ho…

  5. singletrackmatt April 13, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    It’s kind of weekly the “i’m outraged at the price of that tyre shocker ” isn’t it? Priorities I reckon. Price of beer in pubs and puppy vaccines at the moment make me gasp in horror – Do I ever think that trainers from OK-NI are to much – of course not.

    (It does mean as well ace good value tyres like the Specialized chunder etc appear as a trickle down effect of expensive tyres .)

  6. wrecker April 13, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Great fresh goods! Loads of good stuff and not a bottle of wine in sight.

  7. DrP April 13, 2012 at 2:52 pm

    That commie looks ace, and I bet it rides a treat too… but, I can’t imagine the shock will remain in any form of modest condition given it’s placement!!
    The only worse place I could think to put a shock would be, well, erm…answers on a postcard…..

    DrP

  8. chipps April 13, 2012 at 3:01 pm

    Good point Wrecker, I’ll nip across the car park to the off licence… 🙂

  9. crocodilian April 13, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    I’d recommend all wine and in vast quantities.

  10. wrecker April 13, 2012 at 4:05 pm

    There’s an off license across from your car park?
    Explains a lot…..

  11. brant April 13, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    BIG RINGED IT UP INCHFIELD ROAD?

  12. dave360 April 13, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    “Tubs can be run at low pressures without pinch-flatting and give an arguably softer ride”

    No they can’t

  13. Nobeerinthefridge April 13, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    That shock position on the Focus is a bit of a brainfart.

  14. chipps April 13, 2012 at 5:57 pm

    I’ve been running 30psi in my ‘cross tubs for two years Dave. Not a single pinch flat. I’m not sure I’d be happy with taped-on tyres at super low pressures, but I’ll give it a go…

    wrecker – offie in one direction, cake/pie shop in the other. What could possibly go wrong?

  15. james April 13, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    “Crank Bros Kronolog
    Price: £249”
    Reverb money then, guessing its not hydraulic actuation?

    Thats Commonnfail looks a bit steep angled in that pic, is it just the pic?
    The shock position (similar-ish to fusions of a few years ago) looks brilliant for collecting crud

  16. juan April 13, 2012 at 8:27 pm

    Hey Ian i did rode it and it runs even better than ours 😉 Just different though. As for the shock it’s easily sorted with a neoprene chain guard 😉

  17. mikewsmith April 14, 2012 at 12:32 am

    sod the tyre prices how much for frame tape!! It’s about £12/m!!
    http://www.vikingtapes.co.uk/Aerospace/3M_Helicopter_Tapes/3M_8671HS_Polyurethene_Protective_Tape/3m_8671hs_protective_tape.htm

  18. juan April 14, 2012 at 9:30 am

    James well it’s easy don’t ride when it’s muddy 🙂

  19. speaker2animals April 14, 2012 at 9:52 am

    To be fair as said some 26/29 tyres are nin that region. Considering the 650b’s will be VERY small volume so price seems easily justifiable.

    Tubs, if the thing these are pricey you should see how much some road/track tubs can be.

    I have no experience but I would think tubs are VERY hard (won’t say impossible) to pinch flat. The rim design is just so different to tubed or tubleless

  20. convert April 14, 2012 at 9:59 am

    That Crank Brothers Seatpost is like a poxed French whore – I know I’ll catch a dose if I going anywhere near it, but I can’t help myself! The first droppy post to get the cable location static – that has to be the way forward.

    Off to try and break my Cobra one now so I can justify it!

  21. singletrackmatt April 14, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    BIG RINGED IT UP INCHFIELD ROAD? Yes 😉

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