Fresh Goods Sunday 462 – Four Bikes

The doorbell has barely rung this week, which is just as well because the skeleton staff we have here are quite tired enough without running up and down the stairs too. Tower life has its disadvantages, and with even our very own Rapunzel off her holidays, we’d be forced to take the stairs. Maybe we could rig up something with a TowWhee?

The deliveries we have had have been on the large side however, so any hair or TowWhee based set up would have to incorporate some pulleys and gears. What gear ratio for a carbon fibre bike from ground to tower top? What about e-bike deliveries?

And, as if to showcase our skeleton staff credentials this week, what with all of the glamour of the Singletrack Reader Awards finalists announced this week, time ran away from us to finish Fresh Goods Friday – on an actual Friday. So here we have an unapologetic (and pioneering…) Fresh Goods Sunday!

Intense Primer S 279

• Price: £5699
• From: Intense Cycles UK

29 Up front 27.5 out back, this bike was launched this week and Chipps managed to stash this one in the car and whip it home before anyone noticed. And, as we all know, Bristol-based riders like importers Saddleback find it hard to get past Gloucester Services on the M5, so hopefully that means we have it long enough to give you a decent report on it. 

Anyway, with 150mm Fox 36 forks up front (and a 29in wheel) and 140mm travel out back (with a 27.5 x 2.8in wheel) this Primer S (for Staggered) is certainly a different-looking bike and sure to cause a stir. 

Santa Cruz Tallboy 4 CC RSV

• Price: £7,299
• From: Santa Cruz UK

Released into the wild this week, Mark snuck out to bring you a first ride review. If you can’t be bothered to hop over there and read the review, you could just watch his video. Or, for the summary: it’s a full carbon frame with a brand mixing combo of a Fox Performance Elite shock and Rockshox Pike Select+ fork at the front. The Shock gives 120mm of travel at the back and the Fork gives us 130mm at the front, which is a 10mm increase on the Tallboy 3. SRAM X0 shifting with SRAM G2 Ultimate brakes featuring easy to use reach and bite point adjustment. And there’s a trigger for the Rockshox Reverb dropper post to complete the cockpit lineup.

Intense Primer 29 Pro

• Price: £5,599
• From: Intense

This bike has actually bypassed the office and gone straight out for some testing, and its beer barrel backdrop may go some way to explaining the cropped composition of this shot. Apparently by this point the photographer was also incapable of squatting to get horizontal to the bike – although something (or someone) else has had a little squat previously. Add your photoshoot in a brewery comments below. For better pics, see the news story here.

Juliana Joplin

• Price: £7299 (with carbon Reserve wheels)
• From: Juliana Bicycles

Amanda drew the short straw and had to jet off to Denmark to try out this Juliana Joplin. It was a struggle, but she managed to bring us this review. It’s the same frame as the Tallboy, but with different sizing options and build kits aimed at women’s proportions and body shapes. Look out for a Danish feature in an upcoming issue of Singletrack Magazine too!

Formula Selva R Fork

• Price: £1210
• From: Formula

Not so fresh as we got all excited and used it. This Formula Selva R is the enduro race fork from Formula. Unlike the regular Selva, with its single air chamber, the Selva R features two separate chambers to allow you precise tuning of your positive and negative pressures, rather than the self-equalising systems more commonly used. Add in Formula’s clever CTS system and you have a very, very tunable fork.

Formula Cura 4 Brakes

• Price: £328 a bike’s worth (£312 in black)
• From: Formula

The Formula Cura 4 brakes are aimed at fast riders who need to stop in a hurry. Forged levers and calipers and highly polished, the brakes have been doing rather well in both downhill and enduro world series.

And before we drift into Bank Holiday Monday, we should set this lot free. We’ll be back to normal service next week (although we won’t have Hannah in the office to keep us punctual – Ed) so who knows where we’ll end up!

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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