Fresh Goods Friday 222

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Well, that went well! We’ve completely stuffed ourselves with turkey, polished off the last of the roast potatoes and had a pitched battle over the last of the Christmas pudding, while fending off the little’uns and trying not to watch the DVD of Frozen that’s on in the corner. All that remains now is to try to figure ways to burn off all those calories (All 6000 of them! Yowzers!).

And if your biking-chi is a little flat right now (or you can’t see the toptube for Christmas Moobs), take a look at the stuff that’s just come into the office – just the ticket to tighten and invigorate your pedalling muscles!  It’s Fresh Goods Fri(boxing)day!

Merida One-Sixty 7 900

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This big hunk of blue gorgeousness came in this week. Barney’s going to try desperately to man up and ride it as it needs to be ridden.

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There’s a cunning and discreet multi-linkage system in there, giving 160mm of plushness from Rockshox’s finest front and rear.

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27.5in wheels, natch, and the now traditional long and low thing is in effect. It’s got the seemingly ubiquitous 1×11 drivetrain, though there’s space for a front mech if you fancy. And XT brakes with reassuringly expansive rotors.

Price: £3,250

From: Merida

Santa Cruz Bronson C

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We’ve got the Santa Cruz Bronson C in for a grouptest. Carbon blackness from the boys on the West Coast, and 150mm of VPP travel.

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There’s a Rockshox Sector fork up front…

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Oooh, look at the carbon on that…

..and a Fox CTD at the back, and a mixture of SRAM and Shimano stop’n’go. Sweet.

Price: £3,599

From: Santa Cruz UK

Orange Segment frame

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A long term short travel tester for Mr Chippendale, who’s keen to dip a wizened toe into the world of nu-skool gnar.

Price: £1,500 with a Rockshox Monarch RL shock

From: Orange

O’Neal Appalachee and Sinner Knee Guards

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To keep your knees toasty warm in the cold, and (more importantly) shielded from the more pointy things that litter the world…

Appalachee Knee Guard (at left): £33.99

Sinner Knee Guard (at right): £74.99

Azonic Blaze Pedal

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Extremely green resin pedals from Azonic that will blaze a trail across your retinas. 350g the pair.

Price: £31.99

Azonic Big Foot pedal

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Thin, with a cro-mo axle, decent bearings, and a neat play-removal nut. IGUS bearings mean no bearing bulge, even for such thin pedals. Noice.

Price: £99.99

O’Neal AMX Glove

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Mesh backed AM gloves with phoneuseability ™. It’s a slip on design for easy entry, too…

£25.99

O’Neal Stinger II shoe

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For an upcoming mag grouptest, here’s the Stinger II. It comes complete with O‘Neal’s unique, Honey Rubber® sole… and apparently the ‘sole and upper shoe construction provides the perfect blend of rigidity and flexibility, for maximum pedaling efficiency and comfort’. Sounds good – we’re looking forward to testing the claims.

Price: £84.99

O’Neal B1 RL Goggles

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Triple foam for the face bits and silicone for the helmet bits. Anti fog lenses, tear off pins, and they’ll match your  Blaze pedals, no?

Price: £33.99

Azonic The Rock stem and Flow bar

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Oh so stiff and oh so black. The Rock: 45mm of CNC machined stiffness, perhaps for lovingly bolting onto 785mm of wide, aluminium Flow awesome?

Price: The Rock stem – £79.99; Flow Bars – £49.99

Azonic Predator stem and CFK bar

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And for those who prefer a more slender (but still rather burly) setup, it’s the Predator/CFK combo…

Azonic Predator 50mm stem: £59.99

Azonic C.F.K. bar: £109.90

All of the above is available from O’Neal

Vee Rubber Crown Tyres

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A tyre company from Thailand, Vee Rubber re-entered the UK market last year. The Crown tyres for 27.5 wheels are available in Front or Rear flavours in a 2.3″ width….

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… and 29er Crown Gems are also available.

Price: £36-£42

From: VeeTireUK

Now you’ve feasted your eyes on that lot, what are you waiting for? Grab hold of some of the inevitably biking-related stuff you got for Christmas, get into your finest grim-weather gear and get riding!

Or, perhaps, just perhaps there’s room for one more mince pie first… 🙂

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Barney Marsh takes the word ‘career’ literally, veering wildly across the road of his life, as thoroughly in control as a goldfish on the dashboard of a motorhome. He’s been, with varying degrees of success, a scientist, teacher, shop assistant, binman and, for one memorable day, a hospital laundry worker. These days, he’s a dad, husband, guitarist, and writer, also with varying degrees of success. He sometimes takes photographs. Some of them are acceptable. Occasionally he rides bikes to cast the rest of his life into sharp relief. Or just to ride through puddles. Sometimes he writes about them. Bikes, not puddles. He is a writer of rongs, a stealer of souls and a polisher of turds. He isn’t nearly as clever or as funny as he thinks he is.

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