All the kids are back at school. The kids in Scotland – who have been back for weeks – are already looking forward to half term. The teachers in England are already looking forward to half term. Daytime gin consumption is suddenly reducing. Soft play areas lie quiet, sticky detritus slowly mouldering in the ball pit. Morning traffic jams are on the up. Prepare for the spike in worming and nit killing product sales, once those texts from admin@school start arriving.
For those of you unencumbered by progeny, it’s time to dash off on your bargain sunshine holidays. See if we care. We’ve spent all summer peeing in the pool you’re about to plunge into. Enjoy.
Whether you’re lounging by the pool or trying not to slump over your desk, let’s plunge on in to Fresh Goods Friday 464…
Orange Stage 6
- Price: £tbc
- From: Orange Bikes
Ross grabbed this and tested it in secret before the launch earlier this week. With 150mm of rear travel paired with a 160mm fork up front and rolling on 29er wheels, Ross summarised it with ‘Once off the brakes it is blisteringly fast, composed and great fun and I reached my limit before getting anywhere the bike’s’
Charlie the Merchmonger
- Price: £very negotiable
- From: The South
He’s not very fresh, despite having just become aware that we have a shower in the building. He’s definitely not good either. Quite naughty in fact. But he is here, and it is Friday. He’s here on other days of the week too, working on all kinds of merchandise to be available through our shop. Go check it out. He needs to monger something, or he’s just another Charlie.
NS Bikes Synonym TR1
- Price: € 5,999
- From: Hotlines
Better known for its jump bikes and airtime bagging trail slayers, NS bikes has now introduced this XC rig, with 120mm travel front and rear. So, hardcore XC then? There’s a Synonym RC line up for those who want a more traditional XC 100m travel. This TR1 is the top of the TR range. A 66° head angle and 76° seat angle keep things confident, while the carbon frame keeps things light. Our Andi is going to be giving this a thrashing – will he be converting to clippy pedals? Expect to see him out on this in the Peak District, working off his Eurobike pretzel paunch.
Problem Solvers
- Price: £14.99
- From: Ison Distribution
Mount these to your bottle cage bosses and you can carry things much bigger than a bike bottle. Like a a spare tyre, or your fishing poles? Maybe a tupperware box containing your autumn mushroom pickings? The world is your lobster (you probably need some cable ties for the claws) with one of these on your bike. Imagine what you could do with a bunch of these on the new Marin Pine Mountain! Oh my…
Nukeproof Outland S/S Top
- Price: £30
- From: Nukeproof
Nukeproof Outland L/S Top
- Price: £35
- From: Nukeproof
The Nukeproof Outland short and long sleeve tees – as seen above are subtly printed and casual looking, but feature an 88% Polyester/12% Cotton mix so they’ll wick well while still feeling more like a favourite tee and not a plastic base layer.
Nukeproof Nirvana Packable Jacket
- Price: £165.00
- From: Nukeproof
Here, modelling the new (out at the end of September) purple colour, is Ross, squinting into the sunshine at the big black cloud coming over the hill. The Nirvana is a light 2.5 layer full waterproof with an adjustable hood, drop hem and waist drawcord, yet it all fits into its zipped chest pocket.
Nukeproof Blackline Softshell Jacket
- Price: £199.99
- From: Nukeproof
Not everyone likes to go riding in fully technical jackets and stuff, so for riders who like to mix some casual looking gear with riding, Nukeproof offers this stealthy technical jacket. Resembling a regular hoodie, the outer fabric is actually fully (15,000mm) waterproof with an additional DWR coating. Inside there’s a great feeling waffle fleece for keeping warm when riding – or when watching your mates take 23 attempts at doing the Drop of Doom…
The hood fits over a helmet and there’s a pair of hand warmer pockets. Colours are currently black and maroon, but Ross has the sneak peak on the new green.
Bontrager Rally MTB Shoes
- Price: £139.99
- From: Trek UK
The Rally is Bontrager’s first-ever clipless flat-soled mountain shoe. Already being ridden by the Trek Factory Racing downhill and enduro pro teams, the shoe “is built to perform whether riders are serious racers, weekend adventurers, or everyday shredders.”
The synthetic leather upper features a ‘GnarGuard coating’ on the toe cap and heel for extra abrasion resistance. They will come in Black, Olive, and a Nautical Navy ‘Trek Factory Racing’ colorway.
Carder TwoTwelve Pedals
- Price: £94.99
- From: Cardertech
Made in the UK pedals from the south west, designed for downhill and enduro riding and racing and coming in at 425g a pair. There are 24 stainless steel pins for super grip while the pedals run on double Igus bush and sealed bearings.
Oh, and they come in six colours – blue, red, black, orange, purple and green. That got your interest, eh?
Assos Trail Liner Shorts
- Price: £95
- From: Assos
Don’t worry, we’ll spare you Chipps in just a pair of liner shorts – however, what is different and great about these Assos liner shorts is these polyurethane ‘impactPads’ which fit into special pockets that sit right over the pointy bit of your femur – the bit that always hits the ground… The pads soon conform to shape when warm and said to be unnoticeable in use.
Assos Trail Cargo Shorts
- Price: £105
- From: Assos
Super light in weight, these stretchy, durable Assos Trail Shorts feature a 12in inseam, a pair of small thigh pockets and that’s really about it. The shorts feature a tall elastic waistband for maximum comfort and, aside from those pockets, there’s nothing else to keep you from concentrating on riding your bike.
Assos Trail S/S Jersey
- Price: £80
- From: Assos
Coming in three colours – red, blue and green, the trail jersey features a loose fit and a super quick-dry fabric. Expect punitive ‘Euro’ sizing by the way – our reasonably average model here is wearing size XL, so big riders might want to check fit first. There are two sizes above XL though – XLG and TIR. What they stand for is your guess. Smaller riders can rejoice that they go as low as a (Euro) XS size though.
Assos Trail L/S Jersey
- Price: £105
- From: Assos
Not just the short sleeve jersey with longer sleeves, the Assos Trail LS Jersey features forearm sleeves made of “dyneRope, a densely woven armor-like textile acclaimed for its exceptional durability”. It’s a thorn-resistant fabric that protects against inadvertent brushes through the scenery. There’s even a small forearm pocket that’ll accept your lift-pass (or emergency fondue €20 note).
Assos Trail Arm Protectors
- Price: £60
- From: Assos
Using the same dyneRope material, but this time in a slim pair of arm warmers, these allow a bit of extra warmth and protection for the descent while allowing you to shuck them for the climb and keep cool.
Assos Trail Knee Protectors
- Price: £60ish
- From: Assos
Kneewarmers for the mountain biker, these Assos Knee Warmer/Protectors feature that dyneRope material again – this time positioned on the outside of the leg, so that all of that gorse, heather and brambles you find on your autumn rides are fended off, were normal kneewarmers might snag and pill.
Singletrack Wisecracker
- Price: £17.99
- From: Singletrack, yes, us!
- Sorry, this product cannot be purchased.
This is a headset spacer and bottle opener all in one! Not just suitable for singlespeed bikes, it’s an aluminium 1-1/8″ headset spacer with a stack height of 4.8mm. Oh yeah, mixed imperial and metric. Pass me that pint of beer. Oh, sorry, that 330ml bottle.
And that’s it for the fun times Fresh Goods Friday multi-author collaboration this week. We hope you get some great riding in this weekend and we’ll be seeing you on the flipside! In the meantime, don’t forget to put your vote in for the Singletrack Reader Awards – and if you’ve already voted, great! You’re now entitled to #drinkbeeratyourdeskfriday and to listen to some groovy tunes…
If you have a suggestion for our MTBChain playlist then email us or use the hashtag #themtbchain on the socials. We need your reasoning so we can publish your wisdom.
Ta-rah for now folks!
Comments (5)
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“We’ve spent all summer peeing in the pool you’re about to plunge into.”
And how much extra did you pay for that privilege? You go back to screwing up traffic with the school runs while we leave the car at the airport for a couple of weeks of massively cheaper sun. “winkyface” #toooldtoworksmilies
Lot of funny captions are missing.
Fixed that for you, Gilles…
£149 for a pair of shorts?
The ASSOS Trail L/S Jersey is £105 on their website, as are the Trail Cargo Shorts.