FGF 505 – The Enjoy This Weekend. Nights Start Drawing In Soon Edition

Fresh GoodsNews

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Did everyone’s grandad always greet midsummer like this? Or just mine? Was it a celebration of a summer barely half-through? Or a lament at months wasted and a looming winter to look forward to? Who knows? All we know is that the weather has mostly been fantastic (save a bit of flash-flooding and a tornado/funnel cloud over the hills here) and this weekend would have been the Mountain Mayhem 24 hour race, along with all sorts of other ‘longest day weekend’ activities around the country.

Hey, there’s no reason that can’t still happen in our new world. Go camping in the garden, toast the late, late sunset with a beer or a cocktail from the top of your favourite hill, try a midnight Saturday Zoom with your regular 24 hour teammates and remind them that you’d still only be halfway through and it’s Jim’s lap next and who’s got any food left? All the ingredients are still there – the bikes and the countryside and the people – it’s just not mixing quite as thoroughly as usual – like a sort of mountain bike emulsion. So make the most of what you have and appreciate everything we’ve had this year and look forward to equally fun, but hopefully less-weird times soon.

And now, let’s look through the letterboxes of Singletrack Towers and its far-scattered worker bees to see what’s been showing up on in boxes this week.

2021 Juliana Furtado CC X01 RSV

New for 2021, the Juliana Furtado features 140mm fork travel compared to a previous 130mm, it has the updated lower linkage VPP suspension that can now accommodation any shock currently on the market (air and coil, woo!) and much more.

First ride review here and a look at the full range of Santa Cruz 5010 and Juliana Furtado bikes here.

Specialized Recon 2.0 Shoes

specialized recon 2.0

These natty Specialized Recon SPD trail shoes are intended to look smart, offer great grip (and toe-flex) off the bike without either strapping your feet to unyielding carbon soles or floppy freeride flats. With a super aggressive sole, but a sole flex rating of 6 on a scale of 13… they’ll let you race into the sunset, but still be able to walk around when you get where you’re going. A single BOA dial and toebox velcro strap keeps everything where it should be. And if you can find the version that comes in red, lucky you!

Sweet Protection Trailblazer IPS Helmet

MIPS, matte bits and shiny bits to break up the solid colour, and subtle branding make this Trailblazer helmet a very stylish piece of protection for your bonce. The visor is both adjustable and replaceable, and there’s plenty of ventilation. Available in six colour ways, in sizes from 53cm-61cm.

Sweet Protection Firewall MTB Rig Goggles

Extended ventilation and a design to fit full and open face helmets, the Firewall goggles are aimed at racers and enduro riders. They have hydrophobic and oleophobic (oil) coatings, and are a great fit with the Trailblazer helmet.

Sweet Protection

Elasticated low profile sleeve style kneepads, ideal for low gnar trail riding and long days out when comfort is key. Sizes range from XS to XL, so there’s some shock absorbing kneepads for almost every rider!

Alpkit Viso 3 Tent

  • Price: £199.99 currently reduced to £149.99
  • From: Alpkit
  • Alpkit tent
  • Alpkit tent

Hannah is hoping that she’ll be able to go somewhere with her kids for the summer holidays. At least, that’s what she’s saying she’s bought this tent for. It sleeps three people, packs up nice and small for easy car camping – or at 4kg, bike packing at a push – and has a porch area so you don’t have to leave your shoes out in the rain. Three people – that’s her and her kids. So where is her partner, Fahzure, going to sleep?

Alpkit Hunka XL

Alpkit bivvy bag

Ah. Could this be where Fahzure will be sleeping? Maybe this is where one of them will be if his post-transatlantic flight quarantine reveals that they don’t actually like each other after all? Hannah has generously bought the larger Hunkka XL bivvy bag, which should fit Fahzure nicely as he acquaints himself with Hannah’s garden. Alternatively, normal sized people will find that there’s enough room in this waterproof bivvy bag to keep your sleeping bag fluffy rather than compressed, and give you a little wriggle room for a more comfortable night of sleep.

Flexx Enduro Carbon Suspension Handlebar

From: https://cyclorise.com/pages/fasst-company
Price: £449.99

flexx handlebars
So, what have we here? Handlebars with hinges?
flexx elastomers
You’ll be needing some of these for your handlebars…

We thought these would get your attention… £450 for a pair of handlebars? Handlebars with hinges and elastomers? Yep, these handlebars from Flexx do indeed move and they’re sprung with elastomers. And rather than being something that’s been unearthed from 1992, these are brand new, 800mm wide and intended for enduro and downhill riding and racing. “…forgiving in the load path, taking the edge off trail chatter, square edge hits or huge, flat landings.”

And they’re so confident that you’ll love them, there’s a 30 day ‘love them or return them’ guarantee. So we’re going to be trying them out for you. Stay tuned!

Revgrips Race Series

It’s a fun day at Singletrack when £70 grips aren’t the most shocking item in the news…

You’ll probably be familiar with RevGrips by now. Despite being £99 for the Pro series grips, they’ve been well received. These new Race Series grips offer the same trail-buzz-taming benefits, only without the tuning of the Pro series and with chunkier clamps.

Well, that’s been an interesting selection for you on this ‘will it? won’t it rain?’ Friday. We hope your weekend goes well and that all of your planned bike rides, barbecues, virtual 24 hour races or whatever you’re up to go well. Make sure you appreciate those long evenings too, because – you know…

Let’s sign off with a tune from that underrated British pop band, Hard Fi, who have a message for you. That’s assuming you can remember what day it is…

Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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