There are various things that can slow you down on natural trials. A dog you need to pet, walkers, rearranged rocks, a fallen tree… Well here in Calderdale we have some new trail critters to watch out for. Almost overnight, it appears that all of the frogs and toads have agreed to tour the Pennine Bridleway together, whilst camouflaged. Here is exhibit A, steadily making his way down the packhorse behind Amanda’s house. Being on high alert from her ride two days prior, where she nearly greased out on a couple of frogs that were discussing which route to take up to the Pike, fortunately she spotted him in time and gracefully dismounted into the wall. Anyway, wildlife to one side for the moment, it’s time for Fresh Goods Friday 441.
So consider yourselves warned that there’s a lot of French food wandering around. Be nice, say hi.
Crankbrothers Synthesis XCT 11 29er Wheels
- Price: £2150.00
- From: Extra UK
Crankbrothers have already launched their tuned Enduro wheels, and have now added XC to the line up. To be brief, they’re carbon, and the level 11 come with bladed spokes and I9 Hydra hubs which offer 690 points of engagement. We’ve got a first look article here for more information, and for those who need to know what tune the hubs play here’s a preview below:
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DeWidget Strap ‘Deck’
- Price: £22.00 (large/5 slot) or £19.00 (medium/4 slot)
- From: Backcountry
This is a large/5 slot De Widget strap ‘deck’ from the mind of dR j0n.
If you have a desire or need to carry mo’ stuff this could be just the thingamabob. It provides an additional surface area to attach sh1t to. There’s a couple of recessed and slotted holes for mounting directly to std bottle bosses or for those who don’t have or can not spare the bottle bosses you can just strap it on. It’s recommended for lighter bulky items. As a guide, nothing much heavier than a full 26oz/768.91ml water bottle (1lb 13oz/820g)
SRAM Workshop Solids
- Price: Various
- From: ZyroFisher
A selection of brake pads, chains, bolts and adaptors to keep our test bikes in full working order.
SRAM Workshop Liquids
- Price: Various
- From: ZyroFisher
And more workshop essentials, we have DOT 5.1 fluid, SRAM Butter, Reverb fluid and 0W30 Suspension Fluid. Thanks SRAM!
Lezyne SV-16 Tool
- Price: £45.00 (+ £2.50 for the quick links)
- From: Upgrade Bikes
This slim stainless steel multitool houses 16 tools optimised for modern components, so you should be covered for most trail-side mechanicals.
One neat aspect of this tool that might get overlooked is the integrated magnetic quick link holder. It makes a very satisfying ‘ffdunk’ when you put one in.
Lezyne Port-A-Shop S
- Price: £80.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
Designed for travelling, this collection of multitools has everything from allen keys to a chain drive. All kept neat and organised in a canvas padded carrying case that zips closed.
If you like to keep your tools organised and don’t enjoy rummaging around in the footwell of your car for the right size allen key, this might be a good investment.
Lezyne ABS-1 Pro
- Price: £17.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
Our Lezyne Digital Overdrive Pump hasn’t been working, so we’re fixing it. In the mean time, it’s been good exercise doing tubeless wheels without a high pressure pump!
Lezyne Storage Drive
- Price: £25.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
This storage drive holds five of the most frequently used tools for trail-side repairs and tweaks. They are neatly stored within the handle, making it long enough for a decent amount of leverage. There’s a magnet to hold your tool bits in place, and a strap to mount it to your bike.
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Lezyne T-Drive
- Price: £35.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
If you can’t get by with five tool bits, how about twelve? The T-Drive from Lezyne is extremely compact, offers the same system of a screw in handle and it comes in a padded carry case.
Lezyne Torque Drive
- Price: £50.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
You invest in a torque wrench set, build your bike ever so carefully and professionally at home, and then you need to make adjustments on the trail. All that torquing for nothing! Well, not anymore. A travel torque drive with 2Nm – 10Nm torque capacity.
Specialized 2FO Flat 1.0 MTB shoes
- Price:
£100.00£80.00 - From: Specialized
Foot-Out, Flat-Out! These shoes are designed to provide comfort on the trails while still looking the part for your post ride pint. Featuring Specialized SlipNot™ 2.0 rubber compound, developed to create the best pedal connection possible, and a relaxed fit for a balance of pedal feel and off-bike comfort.
The internal bootie is there to provide comfort and control, and looks like it might keep some of the weather out too.
BURGTEC The Bartender Pro Greg Minnaar Signature Edition Grips
- Price: £19.99
- From: Burgtec
For the past year, Burgtec and South African downhill legend Greg Minnaar have been working on a new signature grip, and this is the end result. The Burgtec Greg Minnaar signature grip has a clamp on just one end while the other end sees a slight increase in diameter so that riders can feel how close to the end of the bar they are.
The grips are available in 8 colours, so you can struggle to choose, spend a while umming are ahhing between a couple… and ultimately buy the black ones.
Mark’s Video Selfie Stick
- Price: NFS
- From: Singletrack Towers
Mark has made a selfie stick to shoot wide angle videos with good sound quality. We aren’t sure what he was filming, we aren’t sure we want to know, but he seems really happy.
Maxxis Rekon 27.5 x 2.60
- Price: £64.99
- From: Extra UK
Designed for aggressive trials, the Rekon features wide knobs down the middle to provide control under braking and L-shaped side knobs assure support when carving loose turns. This 2.6in is the widest in the Rekon range, available in 27.5in and 29in.
Maxxis Minion DHF 27.5 x 2.80, DHR II 27.5 x 2.80
- Price: £64.99 each
- From: Extra UK
The Minion DHR II is a complete redesign, with shoulder knobs were borrowed from the DHF and then beefed up to handle duty as a rear tyre. Pair it up with a DHF for an aggressive riding combo.
Ortlieb PD350 13L Dry Bag
- Price: £16.50
- From: Lyon
Featuring a roll closure with a stiffening strip to keep the contents dry (or wet contents, and keep your car dry), this handy travel companion can be stuffed to capacity or rolled closed to whatever size you need. Other features include buckles with two D-rings for securing or locking and a base loop for fixing or holding during unpacking.
Bam Organic High Protein Drinks
- Price: £23.95 12 pack
- From: Bam Organic
Free from refined sugar, gluten and artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. This low carb natural protein drink provides 25g of protein and 0.6g of fat per 330ml. No comment can be made on the taste, as the person typing this is allergic to milk.
PILO Engineering SRAM Direct Mount Chainring
- Price: £37.99
- From: GearMechHanger
Amanda: What can I say about a chainring?
Ross: It’s round?
Amanda: It’s not, it’s a narrow wide.
Ross: So, they can still be round?
…This is NOT an oval chainring, and yes, Amanda is that tired/ill she had to measure it to check.
PILO Engineering Shimano 104BCD Chainring
- Price: £34.99
- From: GearMechHanger
This is £3 cheaper than the SRAM one, because there’s less to it. Please ensure you buy the correct one.
Well that was all going really well until the end! On that note, Amanda is off to celebrate her birthday, Mark is off to make some home movies, Hannah is probably at the skate park, Chipps has disappeared again (PART TIMER), Andi is in A&E, and Ross is riding his bike for a change.
FGF Tunes of the week
This week’s playlist may be a little more mellow due to the fact we sent the mag off to the printer last week. Are you beginning to spot the patterns here?
The Singletrack MTB Chain
This playlist grows by a song each week. A song picked by one of you guys. The rule is simple – it has to have a link to mountain biking somehow. It can be vague or specific, we leave it up to you but you must explain your choice. Nominate your tunes on social media using the hashtag #themtbchain and we’ll do the rest. There’s a Singletrack t-shirt in it for you if we pick your track.
Comments (5)
Comments Closed
Over 2 grand for some crank brothers wheels……….
I like there pedals, but, that is simply not happening
Rekon no longer 2.8 shocker.
“Andi is in A&E, and Ross is riding his bike for a change.”
I could swear I just saw the pair of them at the London Bike Show taking some ‘artistic’ video shots with Mark’s contraption
Rekons are still listed in 27.5×2.8.
Bought a 27.5 x 2.8 Rekon last week!