Fresh Goods Friday 345

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How come the long winter months drag on at the slowest of paces, each short day taking seemingly snail paced hours to creep by, whereas now we have daylight and sunshine time is passing at hippo speed? Hippos being surprisingly fast. Surprisingly fast in a new pants needed way if you happen to find yourself near one. Happily, so far, our UK climate means that we tend to have warmth or mud, but not too much of both at the same time. For now, then, we’re safe from hippo attacks on the trails – though perhaps a warm wet summer might change things. Anyhow, the point being (there is one, bear with us), time is flying. Before we know it we’ll be at the longest day – yes really! Gallop, gallop, gallop, time waits for no man, and we suddenly find it’s Friday again. Again! So soon! And while that might mean you’ve not quite got to the end of your weekday to do list, it does mean that once agin, it’s time for Fresh Goods Friday…

Rose Root Miller

y love is like a blue blue rose?
My love is like a blue blue rose?

We’ve got a new Root Miller 29er from German direct-to-consumer brand Rose Bikes. With 140mm travel front and rear, the Root Miller is available in 27.5+ and 29er varieties – this one being a 29er. You can also customise your build, or choose from a range of pre-selected build kits. It’s an alloy frame with BOOST rear spacing that will take up to a 29×2.6in tyre, or 27.5×3.0in tyre.

Blue-minescent?
Blue-minescent?

Designed to give you all the set up options you might want while being fun out on the trails, ours is off to be tested in the Lake District. The Root Miller uses a four-bar suspension design with a small alloy rocker link mounted to the seat tube for activating that slippery gold Kashima Fox shock.

Go, mill those roots?
Go, mill those roots?

Everyone seems to be going 29er crazy at the moment, so we’re keen to investigate what Rose has to offer with this metallic blue beauty. Stay tuned for a full ride report soon…

Specialized Butcher Tyres

Specialized Butcher Grid Tubeless Ready 650bx2.3
Side knobbles for corners, middle knobbles for speed

Made with a nod to the popular downhill tyre, these are made to have good cut-resistance while being fast rolling on even the gnarliest of terrain. Available in 26, how about that? 27.5 and 29in options.

Julbo Bang Next OTG Goggles

  • Price: £115
  • From: Lyon Outdoor
Julbo goggles
Enduro elbows!

Having discovered she has to wear a full face helmet for the Julbo Enduro in June, Hannah has switched her attention to goggles. These have Zebra light photochromic lenses and will fit over her glasses (OTG = Over The Glasses), so she’ll still be able to see when she takes her goggles off between stages. At least that’s the idea. She might go blind with fear.

Vee Crown Gem & Crown F Tyres

fgf_345_30
Both for designed aggressive trail riding.

The elongated tread and spacing on the Crown F was designed to clear mud from the tire so that it doesn’t pack on, while the Crown Gem has taller side knobs for more cornering control and an aggressive yet fast center knob pattern. Both are available for 27.5 and 29in wheels.

Kenda Honey Badger Tyres

fgf_345_32
HBDC = Honey Badger Don’t Care

Fast rolling for dry conditions, with HBDC = Honey Badger Don’t Care in between the tread. Available in 26, 27.5 and 29in sizes.

Kenda Nevegal X Pro

fgf_345_31
A modernised old favourite.

The Nevegal has been around a long time, and this X Pro version is lighter and faster than the original.

Exchange Wallet

Dang, none of the rest of us can snaffle this!
Dang, none of the rest of us can snaffle this!

The ‘Exchange Wallet’ is a wallet designed to hold the basics, cash, I.D. and a couple of cards so that you’re carrying less when you’re out riding, at the cafe stop or pulling up for a post-ride pint. It’s available in either a full-grain leather or cork leather (vegan) construction and every wallet can be laser etched with initials, a name, short message or company/club logo. All the cork is sourced from the Portuguese Cork Forests, a region that has been managed sustainably for over two centuries. All the leather used is sourced from Derbyshire tanneries and is a by-product of the food industry. Every wallet is made in Sheffield under one roof, working across two studios within one building. The Kickstarter campaign runs until the 29th of May – don’t worry, they don’t all say ‘Chipps’ on them! In fact, there’s a collaboration with Ratboy and the 50/01 crew so you can show your allegiance to those loveable scruffy haired oiks.

Calderfornia T-shirts

Chipps T shirt Calderfornia
We think this is ‘look at me I’m a cute kitten’ face.

A limited run of only 50 T-shirts (although it might be possible to persuade Matt to print more), with all profits going to Calderdale Mountain Rescue. Matt had some decals made for his Orange 5, and then decided maybe it would make a good T-shirt. If you agree, mail him and bag one.

Cane Creek Helm Launch Fork

Cane Creek Helm
What colour bike for these forks?

We spotted this when it first launched, and now we have a real life Helm to try out. Positioned at 160mm from the factory and optimized for 140-170mm of travel, this blue version is the ‘Launch’ option – there’s also a black ‘Factory’ version, if blue is going to clash with your eyes, say.

Cane Creek Helm
“D-Loc” 15mm thru axle system / 15mm x 110 BOOST spacing / 44mm

Mudhugger SL

fgf_345_7
Those racing stripes would match Andi’s Shan No.5 bar/stem…

Designed to fit all wheel sizes, even 29+, by simply overlapping the fork legs tabs to suite your needs. The more overlap the tighter the curve for smaller wheels. They’re available with stripes in a whole range of colours – mudguards need not spoil the aesthetics of your bike.

USWE Liquidator Thermo Flask

fgf_345_11
600ml capacity

Double layer stainless steel bottle keeps the water cold twice as long during a warm day. The marketing blurb also claims ‘makes you look super-professional everywhere you go’. Some of us might need a little more help than that, we fear.

Specialized Levo Turbo FSR Comp 6Fattie

daywithspecialized35
Battery is in the down tube.

140mm travel front and rear e-MTB with 27.5+ wheels. We’ll be bringing you a ‘Day Out With Specialized’ feature soon, when we spent the day playing out on these.

daywithspecialized28
Oops, OK we got it dirty before we took the pictures!

With the battery hidden in the down tube and no display screen on the bars, Specialized has aimed to make this look as much like a standard mountain bike as possible.

daywithspecialized29
Side panel assist control and battery life display.

There’s a ‘Mission Control’ app that goes with the bike and can do all sorts of useful things, such as giving you directions, and monitoring your battery life so you don’t run out of juice before you get home.

That’s your lot folks. Now for the next time/space/quantum wormhole: Friday afternoon. The time when either you have a million things to do and there is nowhere near enough time and you’re still in the office at 8pm – or the time when you have nothing to do but watch the clock until the weekend. Surely that second hand just went backwards?

Turn back time to 1994 now, with a blast from the past. RIP Chris Cornell.

Oh go on then, this version is pretty good too.

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Author Profile Picture
Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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