Cor Blimey It’s Hot! Hot sun and hot product in Fresh Goods Friday 393

Fresh Goods

by and 3

Who is heading into the weekend with a light sun burn after over indulgence in the bright stuff this week? Who is heading into the weekend with the smugness of one who had booked Thursday off work and actually got to go and bask in the sunshine? Even if you only grabbed the after work evening sun, it’s been a cracker of a couple of days. We’re trying not to think too much about next week’s forecast, but with our Vitamin D levels just a touch higher than they were this time last week, looking on the bright side just got a bit easier.

So it is, with a hop skip and a jump, we plunge in to Fresh Goods Friday. Flush away the sweat and stress of the week with a dose of ice cold cool fresh product. Feels those pores cleansed and the mind revived. OK…we might be over egging the soul reviving properties of FGF…but it’s Friday and we’re feeling pretty damned good. We hope you are too.

RockShox Lyrik RC2 Fork

rockshox lyrik rc2 fork
If Robert Palmer designed forks.

Last month RockShox brought us some news from the future with the announcement of its 2019 Lyrik RC2 fork. And now we’ve had one hand delivered to us in a DeLorean by Doctor Emmett Brown. Sadly he didn’t stick around (we think he got confused by the surrounds of Todmorden and assumed he’d accidentally travelled back to 1985) but he did hang out long enough to tell us that the Lyrik RC2 now features independently adjustable high & low-speed rebound and compression damping, and to make things more slippery smooth, it’s packed with a redesigned DebonAir spring. Thanks Doc!

Tweedlove Goodies & Programme

  • Price: Can you put a price on fun?
  • From: Tweedlove
Enduro Towel, in stealth black.

To mark the fact that the Tweedlove Programme is now available – hop on over to their website to check out all the options – we’ve been sent this care package. Tweedlove isn’t just racing for the fast folks, there’s also a massive bike demo weekend, a family day, events for all tyre sizes and treads, and photo and film competitions. Whether you want to take part in something or just go along to heckle, it’s time to get your calendar out and get planning.

Giro Riddance Mid Shoes

Might coordinate nicely with the fork above?

Flat pedal shoes with a high top to give you extra protection out on the trail. Also available in understated grey, these have the same sticky Megagrip ISR Vibram sole as the lower cut versions we featured last week. They also use a lace-up design like the regular Riddance kicks, but the Mid version has been reinforced with an extra Velcro strap to tighten down over the top of your foot to keep them a little more secure.

Syntace C33i Carbon Straight Wheelset

Just casually hanging out with a wheelset.

Uber-bling hoops sent in from Syntace, the C33i wheelset is built with carbon fibre rims that feature a shallow V-shape profile and a 33mm internal width. They’re 27.5in only (for now), but they are tubeless compatible, and they’re good for tyres up to 2.8in wide. There are 28 spokes per wheel laced in a 3x pattern, and the hubs are Syntace’ own design with tightly sealed adjustable cartridge bearings and a ratchet freehub mechanism that has 45 points of engagement. Complete weight is claimed at just 1580g for the 27.5in wheelset, which is bloody impressive given these are designed for proper hard trail and enduro use with a maximum rider weight limit of 110kg.

Shimano Deore XT 4-Piston Disc Brakes

  • Price: £159 per end
  • From: Madison
shimano deore xt 4-piston brake pads
More pistons, moar stopping.

You may have read about these already – they’re the new Shimano XT 4-piston disc brakes that arrived in the office earlier this week. Using the same levers as the existing XT 2-piston brakes, these simply add in a larger 4-piston calliper to increase overall power, but more importantly, improve modulation and control too. The callipers are very similar to the Zee and Saint brakes, but the piston diameter steps down to 15/17mm in the XT 4-piston calliper, making these a more suitable choice for trail riders, enduro racers and e-MTB enthusiasts.

Hunt TrailWide 27.5in Wheels

hunt wheels tubeless trailwide
Are these the wheels you’ve been hunting for?

Also freshly baked as of this week is the news that HuntBikeWheels is now offering dedicated mountain bike wheelsets. There are three wheelsets available, which are called (in order of width and gnar-ness) the RaceWide, TrailWide and EnduroWide. We’ve got a set of the Goldilocks TrailWide wheels, which get a 29mm internal rim width, a nice shallow rim profile, and a normal build with J-bend spokes and hubs manufactured by Novatec. They’ve got some lovely attention to detail given they’re a sub-£350 wheelset, so check out the detailed first look story here to see more.

Kalf Tall Sock

  • Price: £11.99
  • From: Evans
The sun has melted Hannah’s bones.

Socks from the Evans in house brand Kalf. These are made with ‘Meryl Skinlife’ yarn, which claims to keep bacteria at bay for 100 washes. The chevrons on the back are reflective. These are the latest design in the range, but if you hop on over to the Evans website you’ll find previous editions in a limited range of styles and colours at £3.59.

Kalf Terra Baggy Short (Women’s)

  • Price: £54.99
  • From: Evans
Amazingly, these short shorts arrived with the sun!

Shorter fitted shorts for those who don’t want big baggies. These are made with a 4-way stretch fabric that promises water resistance and breathability. There’s a hidden zip pocket on the left thigh and another two on the rear, and the hems are bonded rather than sewn.

Kalf Terra Women’s Merino Jersey

  • Price: £59.99
  • From: Evans
100% catalogue. But definitely no Palmer Girl.

Designed to be race fit, so Hannah has gone for a large because she is not race fit. There’s a half zip and a neatly hidden zipped breast pocket, and another zipped pocket on the rear. Silicon gripper keeps the hem from riding up, and the jersey is made from 56% merino wool and 44% polyester.

Kalf Jacquard Tall Socks

  • Price: £12
  • From: Evans
Recommended for use with shoes.

Made with a Cool Max yarn to stop your feet getting sweaty, and designed to coordinate with the Kalf clothing range.

Sunrace MZ90 11-50T 12 Speed Cassette

  • Price: £119.99
  • From:  Ison
Black hole sun?

Wil spotted this earlier this week on the SunRace website, and after a phone call to Ison Distribution, has now got his sticky little mitts on it already. Basically you’re looking at an 11-50t cassette that’s designed to slide onto a regular Shimano splined freehub, rather than a SRAM XD freehub body. That could make this cassette the perfect solution for those wanting to run a SRAM 1×12 Eagle drivetrain, but perhaps can’t source a SRAM XD freehub body for their rear wheel. In other news, SunRace has some other 1×12 drivetrain items cooking, so stay tuned for a story on that one… If you want more details on this cassette, hop on over here to the article Wil’s written about it.

Bridgedale Storm Waterproof Socks

Hannah doing the head down dog?

New waterproof socks from Bridgedale, here we have a selection of lengths and weights of sock. They come in ‘Heavyweight’ knee or boot length, ‘Medium’ knee, boot or ankle+ length, and ‘Lightweight’ boot or ankle length. The Lightweight are closer fitting and designed for warmer weather and high octane activities, whereas the Heavyweight are better in extreme cold weather. Midweight offers a balance between the two extremes, and you can pick your sock length according to the depth of puddles you’re expecting to encounter.

Crank Brothers Mallet DH Super Bruni

  • Price: £149
  • From: Extra UK
This is a pair – they’re just different colours, because, moar fun.

Here’s some fancy limited edition pedals for you from Crank Brothers. Dedicated to everyone’s favourite French fastboy, Loic Bruni, the ‘Super Bruni’ edition of the Mallet DH pedals are functionally the same as the regular version, but these ones get an asymmetric anodized finish along with some fresh logos that’ll raise everyone’s expectations of how fast you should be riding.

Wheels Manufacturing Bushing Tool

The military parade was less impressive than had been anticipated.

Beautifully made machined aluminum, this bushing tool from Wheels Manufacturing is designed to help you with removing and installing DU bushes into your rear shock. We’ve been doing some shock-swapping lately, and rather than try to bash out some bushes with a dodgy socket and a vice (seriously, don’t do it!), we now have this purpose-built tool to do the job properly. Includes the retaining tool, top cap and all three eyelet “slammers”. Fits eyelet sizes – 10mm, 12mm and 1/2″.

Nim’s Vegetable Crisps

Someone should paint that window.

We had the fruit version of these in a coupe of weeks ago and noticed that vegetable versions were also available, which had us super intrigued. How much is left of a cucumber if you take out all the water? Can you tell the difference between a dried courgette and a dried cucumber? Now we can find out. And all of it will be guilt free since there’s nothing added – no salt or sugar or anything.

Right, off we skip. Since we’re feeling happy and sunny, it’s almost like we’re young again. Let’s go back to the youth of some of us (OK, maybe just Hannah, and even Chipps is too young for the original) with a bit of sprightly grunge.

 

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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