Fresh Goods Friday 301

It’s Friday, it’s Friday! Dum di dum di dee… In a week that’s seen international tragedy, bonkers domestic politics, cyclists running up mountains in the Tour de France, snow in St. Moritz and the delivery of some fluffy pillows to Singletrack Towers, we’re here to bring some stability and escapism to your world with your regular dose of Fresh Goods Friday! Sit down and relax for a few minutes and join in the rest of the civilised mountain bike world in pointing alternately at the screen to say ‘Want!’ ‘Eww, who would buy that?’ and ‘How much?’ In three part harmony please.

We’ve just this second sent issue 107 of Singletrack off to the printers, so we’re demob happy (for today at least) although we have a fair amount of desk tidying to do now. So, without further faffing, here’s Fresh Goods Friday 301!

Stanton Sherpa Ti

Price: £1649
From: Stanton

Stanton has a fine reputation among the rad hardtailers of the world, but it’s keen to point out that it makes some great all-round trail bikes – and here’s the magic Titanium version of its 29er or 27+ Sherpa. Featuring some super-neat touches like bolt-on internal cable ports, a snazzy head badge and dropouts that’ll easily convert your machine to singlespeed for either dirtjumping or eyeball popping XC… you can see how it fares in our next-but-one issue, out in September (not to wish the rest of your summer away though…)

Mule Energy Bars

• Price: £1.49 per bar
• From: Madison

Peanut and raspberry flavoured energy bars with a hearty 242 calorie count. They are made up of rice syrup, oats, peanuts, freeze dried raspberries, crisped rice and Himalayan Crysal Salt; sounds fancy. Each bar has 7.8 grams of fat, 35.8 carbs (22.7 made up of sugars), 25.5 fibre and 6 grams of protein. But more importantly than that – they’re yummy! This box won’t stay full for long…

PDW Bindle Rack

• Price: £69.99
• From: Ultra Sport Europe

A saddle rack for all your saddling and packing needs from Portland Design Works. The alloy rack prevents the bag from rubbing on the rear wheel and stops it from swaying.

Hydro Flasks

• Price: £22.95 (18oz), £23.95 (21oz) and £34.95 (32oz)
• From: Hydro Flask (available in most outdoor shops in the UK)

Three colourful (is silver a colour?) hot and cold flasks. According to the packaging, each bottle “keeps you drink at the perfect temperature so you can stay refreshed for any adventure”. The purple one stores up to 946ml (32oz), the silver 621ml (21oz) and the orangey mangoey one 473ml (18oz). The smallest flask is ideal for keeping coffee hot (or iced coffee cold) with a handy drinking spout. The purple flask is more suited to getting your hot soup to work without your laptop becoming tomato-flavoured and the silver flask is great for chilled water on long days out.

ArroWhere Hi Vis Jacket

• Price: £69.99 – exchange-rate willing.
• From: Leveret

Kane lines up against the wall in a hi-vis waterproof that can be seen from up to a quarter of a mile away. It keeps you warm (which is still a useful thing for summer if you’re a Brit) with fleece lined pockets. Snug. It has an MP3/iPod pocket too. And a giant arrow, of course.

Altura 540 Shorts

• Price: TBC
• From: Zyro

So new that there’s no price on them, but they’re lining up for our waterproof baggies test next issue.

Power Trail Gore-Tex Active Shorts

• Price: £109.99
• From: Gore

Men’s Gore multifunctional shorts with added Gore-Tex Active technology, which makes them lighter with “extreme breathability”. But are they durable? Short of rubbing ourselves against our gritstone wall, the only way to find out is to ride the bejeesus out of them. Yay!

Endura MT500 Waterproof Shorts

• Price: £74.99
• From: Endura

Or ‘Endura, MT500 Waterproof Shorts II’ to give them their full, ancestral name. Tough enough to live up to Endura’s MT500 name, but designed to be waterproof enough for any typical British summer (or winter too). Taped seams but with Cordura panels for wear resistance and a couple of stretch panels for ease of movement.

 

Madison Flo Women’s Shorts

• Price: £69.99
• From: Madison

Three-quarter length waterproof leg shorts. We plan on hosing Hannah later to make sure. Or she could just stand outside in the rain, given today’s forecast. And who said that testing waterproof shorts in July was a silly idea?

Madison Flo Women’s Jacket

• Price: £149.99
• From: Madison

Matching Flo jacket in an aquatic blue. It has fully waterproof chest pockets and a nicely fitted hood that has been designed to fit the peak of a helmet.

Smith MIPS Rover Helmet

• Price: £120 (with MIPS) £100 without
• From: Ultra Sport Europe

Chipps had a first look at this helmet at Press Camp earlier this year. There’s a MIPS version and one without for a slighter cheaper price. The vents are bigger than the Smith Forefront but the protection value still remains with the Koroyd material fitted in high impact areas.

Read Chipps’ first look in full here.

Camelbak Kudu 8L

• Price: Coming soon
• From: Zyro

The Kudu 8 is yet to be released but Chipps had a first look at Press Camp 2017. It follows the same design and build as Camelbak’s larger Kudu range but in a more manageable 8litre size. It still has the full moto-rated back protector to keep you safe.

Burgtec RW Carbon Bar

• Price: £124.99
• From: Stif

Burgtec Ridewide bar made in the same shape as the alloyed versions, but with a considerable amount of weight taken off.

Burgtec Enduro Mk2 Stem

• Price: £79.99
• From: Stif

The latest Enduro model from Burgtec. It’s available in both 35mm or 55mm.

Burgtec Cloud TI Saddle

• Price: £64.99
• From: Stif

Feels like you are sitting on a cloud… get it? It’s called “The Cloud”, sorry. It is rather light and very sleek though.

And that’s the end of that. So, to play you out of what has been a very confusing week, have yourself some beats. Chosen because we’ve no idea what it’s about but it is Friday feeling dancing music which makes us feel like we might still be young enough to go out on a Friday and large it, rather than slumping exhausted on the sofa. Which we’ll probably do anyway. Apart from Rob Crayons, who still is young enough to go out and large it AND get up the next day and ride bikes. Sigh.

ST Out.

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