Fresh Goods Friday 423 – The Dark At Four Edition

Welcome to the ‘Dark at 4pm, deadline week, Chipps is back and we’re ignoring him’ winter Fresh Goods Friday special!

Yep, there’s no getting away from it that we’re fully into the grips of the winter months now, and yet it’s just that little bit too early in the winter season to immediately start sinking into vats of stout and dark mild and hiding under mince pie wrappers until spring. So, we’re aiming to keep the bike stoke high and keep your enthusiasm for all things mountain biking as good as it was back in the sunny, dusty days of June.

Focus SAM 9.9

• Price: £5499
• From: Focus Bikes

It’s the big bruiser of the Focus range. The new 27.5in wheeled SAM looks the business and offers up 170mm of travel, front and rear. This should keep that spark alive in the winter slop, eh?

The 9.9 features a carbon frame front and rear, 170mm travel, FOLD kinematics as seen first on the Jam, PF30 BB; 148×12 boost spacing. This spec features a RockShox Super Deluxe RCT with a custom tune, Race Face Turbine wheels with a 30mm internal width, SRAM GX Eagle 12 speed; Truvativ Descendant carbon cranks and SRAM Guide RSC brakes. The SRAM full-set is completed with a Rockshox Reverb Stealth dropper…

KS Lev 2019 27.2

• Price: £300
• From: Jungle Products

This product has been a long time coming, but has finally arrived with us. The 2019 LEV is a complete redesign on the current 27.2 dropper post from KS. There’s a new, forged shaft, which should stiffen things up on this, the thinnest of dropper diameters. There’s a new bigger volume air chamber, with a user-adjustable pressure valve hidden in the saddle clamp now, along with KS’s new no-load actuation, where the lever force isn’t affected by the rider sitting on the saddle. All of this should be good news for riders of 27.2 seatpost bikes – older bikes, steel bikes, adventure and cyclocross bikes – all sorts really. The post will come in 80, 100 and 120mm versions – internal and external routing too.

Syncros Vernon 2.0 Dual Floor Pump

• Price: £94.99
• From: Syncros

First shown in prototype form at Eurobike, the new Vernon 2.0 Dual floor pump from Syncros is now available through Scott dealers around the globe. Sharing a similar size and spec to the regular Vernon 2.0 floor pump (like the robust steel barrel and base, air bleed button, and flippable valve head to suit either Presta or Schrader valves), the new Vernon 2.0 Dual adds another very clever feature that makes it more suitable for a wider variety of bikes; dual pressure modes.

Inside the barrel are two air chambers. In ‘MTB’ mode, both chambers are engaged to deliver more air volume per stroke. In ‘ROAD’ mode, one chamber is disengaged, which turns it into a low-volume, high-pressure pump that’s much more suited to the higher pressures you’ll find on a road or gravel bike.

To change modes, you simply flip the analogue gauge 180°, which activates the internal valve between the two air chambers.

The MTB gauge reads up to 40psi, giving you a nice and easy to read display for lower tyre pressures that mountain bikes require. The ROAD gauge goes up to 160psi.

Syncros Trail Fender

• Price: £14.99
• From: Syncros

Syncros has been offering this neat little bolt-on fender for a wee while, but you can now get it in Orange! Also, there’s a separate version designed specifically for the 34 Step-Cast fork.

Geometron G16

• Price: £5400
• From: Geometron Bikes

We’ve just got this XXXL Geometron in for XXXL the next bike test that Barney is doing for us and we asked him for some words. He got a bit carried away…
Here are some photos of the Geometron. This, length fans is the G16 in Extra Longest. That’s a 535mm reach, Head angle is 62.5°, according to the website, 77° SA. EXT Storia Lok shock, Lyrik in 160mm. Lots of Hope (cranks, brakes, headset, 83mm BB, wheels), XT (mech, shifters, cassette). Price for this XT build is £5,400

*no, it wasn’t.

 

Geometron frames are made for, er, Geometron by Nicolai. Although “made” sounds a little tame. How about “hewn’? Or “forged”? I kind of imagine lots of molten aluminium, orange light, and very sweaty topless men wielding hammers. *goes for a lie down*

Right, now that Barney’s gone off to a darkened room, we can get on with the rest of the goodies in Fresh Goods this week…

EcoCoat Bike

• Price: £75
• From: EcoCoat

Taking its cue from the fancy (and expensive) nano-technology coatings that the car detailing industry is keen on, this EcoCoat set should be everything you need to deep clean and then protect your bike’s paint finish, without resorting to wrapping it in clear film. The idea is that you clean the bike frame thoroughly until there’s no trace of polish or wax left (you DO polish your bike frame, right?) and then you apply the teeny bottle of nano-coating to your frame and let it dry for up to five days. It should then leave a super hard and glossy finish that’ll withstand mud and wear for up to two years. We’ll let you know how we get on, assuming we can find a frame that isn’t already deeply worn…

Rock n Roll Tool Roll

• Price: $32.99
• From: Granite Designs

The Rock And Roll tool roll (wonder where the name comes from?) is designed to be slim enough that you can wrap it, along with your spare tube in your Enduro Strap onto your bike frame. It comes with a mini ratchet tool (so clicky!), extension rod, and nine bit kit. Granite Designs reckon the ratchet is tough enough to withstand 60NM at the gear. There are 7 Hex bits (2mm/2.5mm/3mm/4mm/5mm/6mm/8mm), Star bit (T25), and Philips bit (PH2) in the kit. And there are an additional two pockets for your spare chain quick link, all in a low-profile flat Cordura wrap.

Polaris Aquanought Hydration Backpack

• Price: £89.99
• From: Polaris Bikewear

No one likes soggy trail sandwiches at the best of times, and in winter, keeping your kit dry can be more important than a dry cheese and pickle. The worse the conditions, the more important it is that things like your spare layers, gloves and phone are kept dry. This bag from Polaris is fully seam-sealed against the elements and should keep the contents dry, no matter how hard the deluge.

The bag also features a neat, removable tool storage card, that Velcros to the inside of the main compartment, keeping mini-pump and tools in place. There’s a 3L hydration bladder, with its own storage (no one minds wet water apparently) which left-handers will be happy to hear can be routed to either side of the pack. Finally, there’s a small rear mesh pocket for wrappers etc. and a light loop too.

Polaris Aquanought Waterproof Bumbag

• Price: £44.99
• From: Polaris Bikewear

 

Even if you’re out for a swift winter blast, keeping your essentials dry is, well, essential, so Polaris is also offering this waterproof bumbag. It’s small – and a quick tot-up of the measurements puts it at about 2.6L, but it should be enough for a layer, gloves, phone and tools – and in fact there’s a removable tool organiser too. There are also small mesh pockets on the hips for gels and a multitool.

Rockshox Pike 29er

• Price: £949
• From: Rockshox

This lil’ beauty has come in for a rather exciting bike build that we’ll be revealing in the next few weeks. Its official title is the “AM FS PIKE RCT R 29 B 2P 140 DFBS 51T B1” which in the real world means that it’s a 130mm travel, 29er Rockshox Pike fork, with the optional handlebar-mounted lockout. We’re very much looking forward to getting this on the frame that’s just arrived, with the components that are on their way… And that’s all you’re getting. 🙂

And with that, that wraps up Fresh Goods Friday for another week. We’ve just sent the magazine to the printers last night, so we’re bouyed with the euphoria of another deadline met (or missed entirely if you’re Chipps). So we’ll definitely be joining you with some ‘Drink Beer At Your Desk Friday’ celebrations.

And, seeing as it’s traditional to leave you with a tune with which to kickstart your weekend, here’s ‘Return of the Mack’ – mostly because they didn’t have ‘Return of the Chipps’ at the online record shop. He’s back and he’d like to point out that the next issue looks awesome and had very, very little to do with him. Step forward the rest of the team who added the awesome this issue: Stunt Editor – Hannah. Glorious Technicolourist – Amanda. Internet and Page Filling: Andi. Keeping the lights on: Mark, Ross and Zoe. Keeping the hamsters whirring: Andy and Tom. Keeping the postal service from going postal: James Luv. Making the iPads sing: Amazing Grace.

and if your tastes are a little less modern (though, saying that, Return of the Mack is now over 20 years old…) here’s Steppenwolf!

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