Ohhhhh my loooooord. Who is that bloody idiot with the jackhammer in the office? The really loud one that’s making my brain rattle inside its skull?
Wait a minute. I don’t think that’s a jackhammer. Is that just the obnoxious keys being pummelled on Chipps’ computer?
Oh. It is the keyboard. Ohhhhh. Why does my head hurt so much?
You’ll have to forgive us for this Friday, because it is the morning after the night that was the 2017 Singletrack Reader Awards. Some of you may have watched our broadcast via Facebook Live, where we announced all of the winners you voted for in this year’s Reader Awards. Some of you reading this may have actually been there celebrating with us at the town hall in Hebden Bridge. And if you were, please inform us of your recommended remedy for ridding us of this thumping hangover.
It’s all becoming a little too much. In fact, we might be starting to see double;
There may not be enough isotonic sports drink to pull us through this one, which means there is only one thing left that could possibly get us out of this hole. And that, our friends, is FRESH GOODS FRIDAY!
2018 Cannondale Jekyll Carbon 1
- Price: £5,999.99
- From : CSG UK
US brand Cannondale has been making the Jekyll full suspension mountain bike for a very long time. But this new one is pretty darn different from any of the previous versions. It’s got a new Gemini rear shock made by Fox, which allows you to switch between two travel modes at the flick of a button. In the ‘Hustle’ mode (yes, that’s really what Cannondale calls it…), you’ve got 130mm of pert travel ready to speed you up the climbs. Flick that handlebar remote, and you’ll settle into the 165mm travel ‘Flow’ mode for roosting it back down.
The one we’ve got on test is the all-singing, all-dancing, all-pedalling Jekyll Carbon 1. Which is about as bling as you can get without jamming diamond rings into the downtube. It’s a full-blown enduro race bike, and has been piloted (very successfully) on the Enduro World Series circuit by a certain Mr Jerome Clementz. If it’s good enough for Jerome, then we may be tempted to give it a try. We’ve already reviewed the Cannondale Trigger, so we’re eager to see how this biggerer version goes.
Showers Pass IMBA Jacket
- Price: £150
- From: Showers Pass
Designed with input from IMBA (International Mountain Bicycling Association) members, this 2.5 layer waterproof jacket is packed with features to make it just right for trail riding. Lighter and more packable than the Refuge we’ve tested previously, this jacket includes a detachable hood and comes in both women’s and men’s versions. And 5% of nett proceeds on the IMBA Jacket are going to help support IMBA.
Fabric Gripper Bottle
- Price: £9.99
- From: Fabric
UK ‘why didn’t someone think of this already’ accessory and component brand, Fabric Cycling, has now got a regular drink bottle to join it’s clever cageless bottle. For those happy with cages, this BPA-free bottle here will slot straight in. It’s got a dimpled surface for grippage, and Fabric states it has a “soft squeezable body”. Kind of like some of us here at Singletrack Towers.
Fabric AM grip
- Price: £19.99
- From: Fabric
Also for gripping with hands, Fabric has added another set of squidgy hand rods – sorry, I mean grips – to its already well-stocked grip line. These ones are of the locking variety, with a single locking clamp on the inside of the grip, and a high-traction hexagonal pattern for the part that your hands grab onto.
Fabric Sport Scoop Radius Saddle
- Price: £29.99
- From: Fabric
Fabric is probably best known for its range of saddles, including the excellent Scoop that has made its way onto many of our test bikes over the last couple of years. Looking to bring the price of entry down for your derrière, this Sport version features steel rails, while still using the same profile as the higher-end Scoop saddles. For more details, check out Tom’s first look of all the new season Fabric toys here.
Scott Trail Pro Sock
- Price: £TBC
- From: Scott Sports
Scotty McScott-Scott sent us some fresh threads along with a snazzy Spark RC test bike last week, though these socks were wedged deep within a cardboard crevice of the bike box that we didn’t find them until we sent work experience Tom to his box-crushing duties. Now Hannah has a new pair of foot-gloves, which are made from material and come in sizes.
Shower Pass Lightweight Waterproof Socks
- Price: £29
- From: Showers Pass
Waterproof socks, handy for all that sploosh out there, now available from Showers Pass in new camo colours. There’s this greeny colour so you can hide your feet in grass, and a grey version so you can hide your feet in more urban settings.
WTB Trail Boss TCS Tough Fast Rolling 27.5×2.25in Tyre
- Price: £46
- From: Hotlines
Given that we’re using a slightly different test technique to Danny MacAskill, our upcoming carbon wheel test (for Issue #116 of Singletrack Magazine) presented a need for a significant number of tyres to be paired up with each test wheelset. The folks at WTB were happy to oblige with an obscene amount of rubber, including the fast-rolling Trail Boss tyre that we’ll be fitting to the rear wheels. Width is 2.25in, and we’ve gone for the TCS Tough casing and the Fast Rolling rubber compound.
WTB Vigilante TCS Tough High Grip 27.5×2.3in Tyre
- Price: £46
- From: Hotlines
Up front will be the toothy Vigilante tyre, which also features the TCS Tough casing that is reinforced for added resistance against pinch-flats and sidewall cuts. The rubber compound is WTB’s ‘High Grip’ formula, which is a little softer compared to the Fast Rolling compound. Width is a little bigger at 2.3in, and this should be a good match for the soggy trail riding that we’ll be doing aboard each test wheelset.
Tom Boom
- Price: Open to bids!
- From: The highlands of West Yorkshire
This is the last item of Fresh Goods Friday this week, and probably the most useful. Young Tommo here has been with us on work experience this week, and all the photos you see here have been taken by him (apart from this one). He’s done a ton of other banging product shots for us this week, he’s cleaned many many bikes, helped out with the Awards (it was very useful having someone sober to operate a camera and perform other essential tasks), and we hear he has a little video edit coming our way too. It’s probably just as well we’re not allowed to pay him, as we probably couldn’t afford quality like this.
Hey – did you realise we just got to the end of Fresh Goods Friday? And nobody vomited all over their keyboards? Well, at least not in the editorial office anyway. We can’t speak for the haggard party animals in the publishing room…
In fact, given we got this far, we reckon that might be reason to celebrate with a Friday afternoon tippl….BLURRRRGHHHHHH.
Ok, maybe not. Time to take our minds off things and get out of this office and into the fresh air. While we do that, here’s a chunky groove to get you groovers into the mood for the weekend.
ST Out!
Comments (3)
Comments Closed
“Looking to bring the price of entry down for your derrière”
I think it best for all concerned that the price of entry for my derrière stays unobtainable.
Waterproof socks? Supermarket carrier bags at 5p each worn between sock and shoe are ideal for winter and keep your feet toasty warm. Don’t spend money when you don’t need to. With that in mind, carry your trail tools in a pencil case, widely available for around £1.
Lmao at dangerourbrain .
Now I’ve seen a more affordable derrière perch, I might just have to check that one out as I refuse to spend loads on a saddle but realise charge spoons recently do not cut the mustard in terms of comfort nor support as they’re very narrow with not enough padding.