Fresh Goods Friday 302

It’s been a touch warm this week at Singletrack Towers. But we are definitely not complaining about it. So hot the tarmac melts – but what are you doing on the road? Get out there on the trails where all the hero dust lies! Or did, before the rain came, again.

But we’re not complaining about the arrival of the rain either, because there are only so many of Jamie’s warm weather outfits we can handle. Usually the most stylish of the STW crew, the heat seems to cause a sartorial malfunction. It started gradually, with the advent of flip flops on Monday, by Tuesday he was in a Hawaiian shirt (but with Chipps also in the office we barely noticed). As the heat built to a crescendo on Wednesday, he was in a pair of lime green speedos. Thankfully for us he was working from home but we do apologise to those who had to Skype him. By yesterday things appeared to be returning to normal, although some of us suspect that he was quite enjoying the snug budgie smuggler sensation as we’re sure we heard the twang of Lycra from beneath his Paul Smith baggy shorts. We might have to sew up his pockets.

And so to Friday, after six long years, Jamie is off to a ‘proper’ job in the City. What will Jamie wear? Hopefully his outfit will be accessorised with a nice man bag full of tissues to dry our eyes (an his), as we bid him adieu. Actually, would we want to dry our eyes with tissues from Jamie’s man bag? Hmm…quick, this is heading down a road where STW readers may not wish to travel. Back to the weather.

Yes, so, it’s been hot! Hotter than Spain! Hotter than Hell! (We’re pretty sure those are two different places). But not, ever, hotter than a jam packed Fresh Goods Friday!

Scott E-Genius 720 Plus

Price: £3599
From: Scott Sports

It’s a bike. A plus bike. An electric plus bike. Go on, keep reading, whether you want to tell us you’d quite like one, or whether you’re going to say it is the spawn of Satan and has no place in this world or the next. If it’s the latter, do you think maybe that might be a teensy bit of an over reaction?

It’s a bike. A 27.5in alloy plus bike with 140mm travel front and 130mm travel rear. With added vroom.

Packing in the controversial – it’s a 1x set up.

Bosch battery, 500wh.

Bosch motor, 250W.

Bosch display screen, to check how fast you’re going, and how much battery you have left.

Bosch controls. For going fasterer and slowerer.

Shimano M506 brakes, with 180mm rotors front and rear.

Fox 34 Float Performance Air Forks.

Arty shot of the Fox Nude rear shock.

There’s room for one more cable there, surely?

Scott remote fork lock out fitted as per usual.

Less arty shot of that Fox Nude shock.

Shimano SLX gearing at the back.

Proprietary X40 Plus Rims, tubeless ready.

SRAM XO1 Eagle

Prices:

• Eagle Crankset: XO1 – £328.00
• Eagle Rear Mech: XO1 – £185.00
• Eagle Trigger Shifter: XO1 – £112.00
• Eagle Cassette: XG-1295 – £302.00
• Eagle Chain: £50.00 – £71.00
• X-Sync Chainring: £79.00
• XO1 Complete Group: £1,005.00

From: SRAM

Enduro style Eagle.

All the bling.

How long till James breaks it? He better bloody not.

Abus youn-i Youth S-M Helmet

Price: £39.99
From: Zyro

The Small-Medium version (Matt Black) of two, very smart looking kids lids from manufacturer Abus. We first saw these on show at Eurobike 2015 here and were mightily impressed that (typically), the Germans were grabbing the MIPS tech from adult lids and refining it into their top end kid’s versions. After all, ‘they’ are future and their cheeseboxes are so precious.

This 48-54cm version (at 240g), is actually not MIPS equipped but the checklist includes EPS moulding, neat reflective strips, on/off and blink rear light, 17 vents and and proper wheel ratchet/chin strap fitting.

Abus youn-i Youth M-L Helmet

Price: £39.99
From: Zyro

This Medium-Large kids 52-57cm version, (again non MIPS) but this time in Gloss White, EPS moulding, reflective strips, on/off and blink rear light, 17 vents and proper wheel ratchet/chin strap fitting.

dhb Aeron Women’s Rain Defence Bib Shorts

Price: £80
From: Wiggle

Waterproof bib shorts, for riding fast in the rain. Swoosh, sploosh. This is part of a new range of clothing from Wiggle, available for both men and women.

dhb Aeron Women’s Rain Defence Jersey

Price: £95
From:  Wiggle

Waterproof short sleeved top, also available in black, and for men.

dhb Aeron Rain Defence Arm Warmers

Price: £22
From: Wiggle

For when short sleeves are not enough, add waterpoof arm warmers…

dhb Rain Defence Knee Warmers

Price: £26
From: Wiggle

…and keep your knees dry too with waterproof knee warmers. Hannah is going to test out all this waterproof Lycra and will let you know how it stands up to the wet stuff.

Wil Barrett

From: Australia
Price: Money cannot buy this kind of quality

This is Wil, a new addition to the STW office. He has come all the way from Australia to join us. Looking at this photo, we suspect he may be questioning the wisdom of this decision.

Vaude Women’s Spray 3/4 Pants

Price: £75
From: Vaude

Waterproof 3.4 length shorts for women. We will test, and report back. Because we are pretty sure it will rain soon.

Vaude Yara Jacket

Price: £135
From: Vaude

A waterproof jacket, in parrot green, which is much brighter than this photo suggests.

Vaude Spray III Shorts

Price: tbc
From: Vaude

Vaude Women’s Moab Jersey

Price: £35
From: Vaude

Hannah channels her inner catalogue model. We can see why she didn’t make it. A super bright ‘pear’ colour casual riding jersey…

Vaude Altissimo Shorts

Price: £95
From: Vaude

…and equally bright ‘apple’ colour shorts. Soft stretch material, and comes with a padded inner liner short. We’re not sure what Hannah is doing. It could be dancing.

Vaude Women’s Craggy Pants

Price: £95
From: Vaude

Ah ha. Now we know what Hannah is doing here. Or trying to do. It’s surfing. Inspired by these surfer chic shorts, which are actually for riding mountain bikes in. There’s a pretty awesome range of colours available for both men and women. Rad, dude. Comes with padded inner liner shorts too.

Go Pro Hero 4 Silver

Price: £329.99
From: GoPro

Camera featuring 1080p60 and 720p120 video, 12MP photos up to 30 frames per second, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and Protune for photos and video. Waterproof to 131’ (40m) – no Jamie, this does not mean you can borrow it to film yourself in the shower, even if your singing is brilliant.

BZ Optic Bi-focal Photochromatic Glasses

Price: £99.99
From: Ison

Yes, we had these in before but our tester misread his prescription…perhaps he needs glasses? Like these ones, which have a bi-focal section so you can see your bike computer (near) as well as the trail (far away – remember, you should be looking ahead, not at that big rock in front of – oof).

Gamut Podium Anodised Replacement Pins

Price: £14.99
From: Madison

We all get clumsy and none more noted than routine kit breaker Jamie (it’s probably best he’s leaving!) Here’s some rather natty, heat treated/anodised aluminium pins for the various missing shin-rippers in his tried and tested Podium sole savers.

These should keep even him sorted, for a while. For a bit more battle protection the stainless steel versions are £19.99.

Team JMC/Northern Grip Tee

Price: 20 quid, 25 for a hoody.
From: Northern Grip festival or the JMC shop: teamjmc.uk/shop/

And finally, here’s a moody model showing the shirt design for this year’s Northern Grip festival. The tees (and hoodies) will be available at the festival this weekend, or from the JMC shop if you’re not going there. The design is by a certain Mister Binners of this parish.

And that’s your lot. Go forth and ride. But before you do, let’s revisit one of Jamie (and Sarah’s) finest moments, surely only Botox could keep his face that straight:

https://vimeo.com/33715145

Oh, and maybe some music to twitch your tush to while you get yourself ready to ride:

ST OUT

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