Fresh Goods Friday 328

The week that started with Blue Monday ends in…Bleak Friday? Here is Hannah practising her happy face. Note the clenched fists. She’s trying really hard. Too hard?

Even Wil isn’t looking his usual spiffing self, even with a touch of Photoshop.

However, we have a bundle of booty here that we’re sure is going to cheer you up. And we’re not talking about Wil’s behind. Or Hannah’s. And definitely not Chipps’. We’re talking about bikes, and bits, and bikes. Because today, this glorious Friday, we have TWO bikes, as well as a bunch of cool stuff.

Buck up and buckle up, it’s Fresh Goods Friday yo!

Giant Trance 1

• Price: £3,299
• From: Giant

This is the 2017 Giant Trance. The bike we’ll be giving a pastin’ is the Trance 1; the top-spec option with an ALUXX SL-Grade Aluminium frame. There are cheaper spec versions available, and you can also get pricier options that swap in a fancy carbon Advanced frame. Regardless of frame material though, all Trance models feature 27.5in wheels, 140mm of rear boing and 150mm of front bounce, and an all-new suspension design and frame geometry for 2017.

The upper rocker link is made of the carbonz. It’s apparently 50% lighter and 50% stronger than the previous alloy version, and hot damn, it’s at least 85% sexier too – BOOM! Like the new Anthem and Liv Hail models, the Trance is rocking on a trunnion-mounted rear shock. That puts two cartridge bearings on either side of the shock body, which creates a more compact package, and one that rolls smoother than the DU bush eyelet of old. Having tested both the Liv Hail and Giant Anthem, we can attest to the improvement in sensitivity of the new suspension design.

The rear triangle is a one-piece welded unit, and has some striking shapes and tube profiles going on. Two linkages tie the front and rear triangles together, and control the 140mm of rear wheel travel. Giant makes the Maestro linkage particularly neat by integrating the lower shock mount with the forward pivot for the lower linkage. Tidy indeed.

A bolt-up axle keeps the rear hub in place, so you’ll need a 6mm hex key to remove the wheel. It does look super clean though, and along with the hydroformed tubes and post-mount rear disc brake, it’s all very neat.

Giant’s own TRX1 carbon wheelset features on the Trance 1, and it comes with hubs that are packed with sealed bearings and a straight-pull spoke design. The rear hub features the DT Swiss Star Ratchet freehub mechanism for bombproof reliability.

The TRX 1 wheelset has a claimed weight of 1685 grams, which is darn impressive given the huge rims. With tubeless compatibility (the bike comes with tubeless tape and valves in the box), the TRX 1 rims have been upsized from a 27mm internal width from last year, to a 33mm internal width. Modern and all that.

We’re warming up now. Let’s have a bit of a jump around and vent a bit of aggression.

Unior Pro Home Tool Kit 1600CN

• Price: £299
• From: 2Pure

OK children, settle down now. Shall we look inside the blue box and see what’s in there today? Is it the codes to the nuclear armoury? The Big Button Of Doom? Hannah’s sewing kit?

Yay! It’s an 18 piece tool kit for fixing and fettling pretty much anything that your bike might need.

A place for everything and everything in its place. We might just sit and gaze awhile at this oasis of calm. Ahhh…

DMR V-Twin Pedals

• Price: £129.99
• From: Upgrade Bikes

Officially these are ‘magenta’, not pink. Whatever. Pink. Purple. Rose. Magenta. They’re eye catching and cleat catching too, so you can clip in and pedal off down the trails in confidence, supported by the large platform. You can customise the set up, to suit your needs, as there’s a tuneable platform height with nylon bumper, metal shim plate, and foot pegs. Also available in a variety of other colours so you can argue with your friends whether they’re yellow or green, or gold, or blue….

Brooks B17 Standard Saddle

• Price: £90
• From: Brooks England

The classic saddle, in to adorn Chipps’ Performance Pub Bike, which you can read all about in Issue 111. That little tool is for adjusting the saddle once you’ve worn it in a bit, so it doesn’t get saggy.

Lezyne Digital Alloy Drive

• Price: £69.99
• From: Upgrade Bikes

A High Volume pump with digital pressure gauge for accurate inflation of your tyres.

Lezyne Shock Drive

• Price: £49.99
• From: Upgrade Bikes

The ergonomic handle enhances pumping comfort on this shock pump, which provides up to 400 psi (27.5 bar).

Lezyne Digital Shock Drive

• Price: £69.99
• From: Upgrade Bikes

A shock pump which provides up to 350 psi (24 bar) and features a zero-loss chuck design, which unthreads from the shock after the valve pin seals itself.

BBB Easyair CO2 Cartridge Inflator

• Price: £19.95
• From: Windwave

Fits both Presta and Schrader valves, and weighs 16g, for all you racing snakes.

BBB Pressure Gauge

• Price: £14.95
• From: Windwave

Accurate up to 160psi, compatible with Presta and Schrader valves, and with an auto off. Can you sense a group test coming?

CycleOps Hammer Direct Drive SMART Trainer

• Price: £1,200
• From: Paligap

You could buy a winter bike, or you could buy this. This way it’s only you that’ll be needing a wash, and not your bike – day after day, ride after ride. Put that way, this indoor suffering machine has some appeal. The Hammer’s axle compatibility gives you the freedom to choose any thru-axle or quick release bike. Simply add a cassette, pop off your rear wheel, connect to your favourite virtual training software and prepare to suffer/have fun/get faster than all your mates.

Endura MTR Shorts II

• Price: £69.99
• From: Endura

DWR protected lightweight trail short, as featured in the subscriber section of issue 110. With zipped pockets to stop all your valuables spilling out on the trail like sweeties. That’s not a simile – you don’t want to be losing your sweets.

BTR Ranger

• Price: £1000 (frame only)
• From: BTR

BTR – that’s Burf and Tam Racing – says:

When we headed to Scotland for the inaugural Dudes of Hazzard enduro race, we thought it a good idea to make something a little more ‘all round’ than the Belter… So we created the Ranger to take us up hill, down dale, through the jumps and probably to the pub after.

Look at those decals. This bike is turning heads in the office. We have it in a 27.5inch format, but the frames are bespoke and built to order in whatever size you want. We want them all.

We think these are glow in the dark grips. We’re going to have to stand in a darkened room and find out.

If the Terminator rose from the ashes (again) and built himself a bike, we reckon it would look like this. Nice rear triangle brace and brake mount.

Loads of tyre and mud clearance, despite the short chainstay length on the Ranger frame.

If you order one you can opt to have your own custom text on the head badge. And you can choose to have internal cable routing – our is externally routed.

Our test model has an externally routed Reverb, but you can opt for stealth routing if you want.

Now, we should point out that this is the current BTR Ranger frame, and not the incoming 2017 Ranger model that was released just before Christmas. The difference? The 2017 model gets even slacker and longer, which is insane, because this is already one slack beast. We’ve got this Ranger on test for an upcoming issue of Singletrack Magazine, where it’ll be going tête-à-tête with a couple of other intriguing bikes that we think you’re going to like…

My Drinking Club Has A Cycling Problem T-Shirt

• Price: £19.99
• From: Charlie the Bikemonger

Apparently designed by a man who lives in a shed and runs a wall of death. So why wouldn’t you want one? Comes in men’s and women’s fit, made from organic cotton.

Beer

From: Honest Brew

Hannah is both Scottish and squeamish about her meat but likes Haggis, so she is eying up this beer. Actually, she eyes up the beer every week. Get yourselves set for Burn’s Night with a Scottish beer to wash down your sheep body parts. Or celebrate Waitangi Day with a New Zealand brew – but as if we need any excuse to drink beer when it comes in a lizard skin bottle. We’ve learned that a Tuatara is a lizard, proving that beer can be educational. Hurrah!

For Burn’s Night (25 Jan) – Scottish Brewery
Tempest – Farmhouse Ale – Saison
Tempest’s flagship pale ale takes full advantage of South Island New Zealand hops. Extra pale, especially refreshing and jam-packed with citrus and tropical fruit notes, Long White Clouds on the horizon guarantee bouts of great drinking.

For Waitangi Day (6 Feb) – New Zealand Brewery
Tuatara – NZ APA
‘As Kiwi as a 25 year mortgage’, this APA boasts Pacific Jade, Sauvin and Motueka hops and is a cracker with tangy lime flavours and a bready, biscuity malt body.

Et voila! We have gone from blue and bleak to beer bliss.

Let’s leave on a high note. Some literal ones. A spot of culture. Bear with us, it’s opera, but close your eyes and think of all that is good and beautiful in the world while you listen to this. If anyone knows what they’re actually saying, don’t spoil it for us if it’s not all about love and happiness.

Peace, love, happiness and sweet trails all round.

ST Out.

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