Fresh Goods Friday 266

by 5

Another week, another Friday. Apart from it being the start of a wet weekend in Blighty it also marks the day when we gather round, dress up in all the daft clothing that’s appeared and dance around the office in front of the cameras drinking beer. Yes, it’s Fresh Goods Friday… Or is it halloween? The two seem remarkably similar.

In case you are new, just woken from a coma or have lived in the forum for 15 years and didn’t realise ‘there’s a front page’, you should know that Fresh Goods Friday is our regular weekly slot that gathers together everything that has been sent to us at STHQ in the week. Sometimes we specifically ask manufacturers and distributors for stuff, like bikes for the mag tests and sometimes stuff is just sent to us random style. However it arrives, this is our homage to the random and the planned. Not everything goes on for further testing but if it does then you’ll find it either in the pages of the mag or in the reviews section here.

Vitus Sommet

Price: £3399
From: Vitus Bikes

Described by Vitus as an Enduro bike it comes with 155mm of travel at the back and sommet similar at the front via the RS Pikes (See what we did there?)

vitus sommet singletrack
Backdrop Todmorden’s own
vitus sommet singletrack
Black BLACK! Like flies in the cellar!
vitus sommet singletrack
SRAM groupset and a suspension system designed for efficient pedaling as well as hammering down.
vitus sommet singletrack
Wait! An added dash of Shimano in there, just to be cheeky.
vitus sommet singletrack
..and then it’s a case of stopping by France to pick up the hoops
vitus sommet singletrack
Translated it means, ‘Vague northern’
vitus sommet singletrack
Properly global with some Canadian in the mix
vitus sommet singletrack
Don’t tell him…

 

CLUG – Bike mount

What we have next claims to be the world’s smallest bike rack. Which ironically came with the world’s largest amount of paperwork and promo material.

Price: £14.99
From: getclug.com

clug bike rack mount singletrack

The idea is you screw this bit into the wall and you squeeze your front wheel in the gap. Comes in three sizes for skinny to chubby (The MTB version claims to fit up to 2.5″ tyres).

Galibier Windstop Skull Cap

Keep your noggin warm this winter with this monastic looking head wear. Apparently comes in two sizes because, ‘one size in a skull cap does not fit all’ according to the press release that accompanied this.

Price: £8.94 delivered
From: Galibier.cc

galibier skull cap singletrack
Hannah looking all angellic.. which is ironic

Alpkit Stuff

From: Alpkit.com

Socks: Various lengths and weights from one of our favourite UK based outdoor manufacturers.
Prices: From £10 for lightweight to £16 for super winter and chunky.

What we have here is the MTB specific Akdrenalin socks that come in a pack of 3 pairs for just £10.

 

alpkit socks singletrack
Have you noticed that new girl Hannah hasn’t learned to hide on a thursday from the roaming camera of FGF yet? It’s almost like she looks forward to the ritual humiliation.

 

 Alpkit Kepler Base Layer (Men’s)

Merino Wool, available in 4 different colours.

Price: This long sleeved version is £39, short sleeved available at £29.

DSC_0657
About as half assed as it is possible to respond to the clear instruction, ‘Put this on Hannah!’

 

Alpkit Kepler Neck Warmer

Price: £13
..and made from real New Zealand sourced Merino too.

DSC_0648
Alpkit’s take on the classic Buff-esk headwear.
DSC_0649
This way you fool! Why are you trying to scare some boxes?

Alpkit Kepler Base Layer (Women’s)

Merino Wool.  This is the ‘Lupin’ colour way, also available in ‘Eggplant’.

Price: This long sleeved version is £39, short sleeved available at £29.

Altura Shield Shorts

Price: £59.99
From: Altura

Some reasonably priced waterproof and tough shorts for the liquid sunshine we are getting a lot of at the moment. Velcro leg and waist adjusters plus lots of pockets with waterproof zips.
altura shield shorts singletrack

 

The Athletes Fix Book

A book full of hints, tips and advice on finding and cooking all kinds of awesome food to match your active, get up and gone, typical mountain bike lifestyle. Mark is still blowing between pages looking for the beer section. Makes claims about eliminating the confusion surrounding fad diets and all the currently fashionable gluten nonsense, among other things. Aimed at endurance athletes, so not sure why it ended up here, but hey, it might stop the kitchen table from wobbling.

Price: £16.24
From: Amazon and proper book shops
the athletes fix singletrack pip taylor

 

Vaude Tremalzo Mens’ Shorts

Price: £80
From: Vaude 

Made from super stretchy fabric and not so subtle green.

vaude tremalzo shorts singletrack
Made of purest green!

Exposure Equinox Helmet Light

A helmet light that we didn’t manage to squeeze into our big lights grouptest in issue 101 (out now btw way). This little dazzler comes with a properly remote – like bluetooth remote – bar mounted switch. It knocks out 2000 lumens of night to day power.

Price: £269.95
From: Exposure
Exposure Equinox Helmet Light singletrack

Absorb-It Mat

What this is a long roll up mat that allows you to get away with servicing your bike in the kitchen while your significant other is out of the house. You can also use it under your bike when you are turbo-training in the house to catch the sweat and drool. Comes in small (48″ x 18″) at £9.99 and Large (60″ x 36″) at £19.99.

From: Madison 

absorb-it mat finish line singletrack
Catches oil, grease, snot, sweat and drool. We wouldn’t recommend using it as a picnic blanket.

 

Fox Doss Dropper Post

Price: £349
From: Mojo

We’ve been looking forward to getting hold of one of these. It’s Fox’s first dip into the dropper post market. Promises super smooth and slop free operation, which we will be testing to the max as soon as we get it on a bike. Comes in a choice of 4 or 5 inches of drop.

fox doss dropper post singletrack
Slop free and super smooth according to Fox.

 

That’s it for this week folks. There’s nothing more to be done bar get the wet gear kit out of the box from under the bed and go out and embrace the filth we’ll all be riding in for the next 6 months.

Singletrack Weekly Word

Sports Newsletter of the Year finalist at the Publisher Newsletter Awards 2024. Find out why our newsletter is different and give it a go.

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.

More posts from Barney

Comments (5)

Comments Closed