Fresh Goods 514 – The Stand Inna Garden Edition

Yes, without wishing to gloat too much, us Calderdale residents are now afforded the luxury of being able to actually stand in someone else’s garden having previously been denied the pleasure for most of the year. Quite what the owners of the garden will have to say about it, I’m not sure. It doesn’t say if you have to actually know them. I thought it might be nice to just go and sit in Madeleine from down the road’s garden and have a bit of tea party. If she’s good, we’ll invite her along too.

Not that we’re going that teeny bit stir crazy here, but we are. After all, this would have been the week where we’d have been at Eurobike, seeing the delights that next year will bring us while looking forward to a currywurst and a beer after the show, while simultaneously searching for reliable Wi-Fi.

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Anyway, this sort of means that many products are being dripped out this week (the show has been postponed to November though who knows if anyone’s going to turn up to it…) or they’re not because the distributors are selling all of the bikes they can get. And it won’t surprise you to learn that if there’s a customer willing to buy a sold-out bike and a journalist looking to review it, we come last every time.

But look! We have some fun things to gawp over anyway (many of which were ordered months ago, luckily…) Feast your eyes and then check back on the site to see if any new bikes have appeared..

Specialized Epic EVO Expert

• Price: £6100
• From: Specialized

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The Specialized Epic EVO Expert has come in for an upcoming ‘Fast Trail’ bike test. Based on the stunning new Epic frame, only without the singleminded racing mindset (and divisive Brain) of the 100mm racing machine. This bike offers up 120mm of travel front and rear, with ‘normal’ suspension that doesn’t have the locked-out feel of the Brain-equipped bikes. Oh, and it comes in this fabulous brick-red colour.

Gloworm Lights Alpha+

• Price: £170
• From: Gloworm NZ

We love the start of autumn, when we get to see the new lights from Gloworm. Despite looking unchanged, the lights from this Kiwi brand improve year on year thanks to listening to their customer feedback. This 1200 lumen Alpha Plus set comes with more secure mounting straps, a selection of (helmet and bar) mounts and lenses. There’s also an optional wireless remote, which offers you instant control of your helmet or bar (or both) lights fo mid-descent light boosts.

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Giro Rincon Shoes

• Price: £139.99
• From: Giro

Just when we thought we’d seen every single pair of Giro shoes for this year and next, we get a new delivery. Here is the Rincon, which features a BOA dial and velcro strap closure. Not a super aggressive tread and a sole that’s flexible to walk around in too. Also features Giro’s clever Synchwire seamless fabric upper too for strength and light weight. We won’t mention that it’s touted as a ‘gravel’ shoe for some reason…

Scott Sports Stego Helmet

• Price: £149.99
• From: Scott Sports

This sassy looking lid is the new Stego from Scott Sports. We’ve actually got the Contessa version, which is the same price and comes in this cool Nitro Purple colour (and five others). The Stego is an enduro/trail helmet that’s goggle friendly, featuring a good low coverage and MIPS inside too. One interesting feature is that all helmets come with both a carry bag and a whole ‘nother second peak, with a moulded in ‘action camera’ (GoPro) mount.

Ibis Pork Chop

• Price: £50
• From: Ibis UK

A Pork what? The Ibis (Bone-In) Pork Chop bag is designed to fit behind the headtube of specific Ibis frames and to offer a ballistic nylon storage space for your tools and tube (or a beer and a sandwich, depending on what you’re doing). The ‘bone-in’ bit refers to a plastic clip that braces the back from the shock mount so that it’s a true strap-free addition to your bike while remaining secure. This one fits the Rip­ley, Rip­mo, and Rip­mo AF, and there are other versions for the Mojo. Mmm, tasty!

Shimano MT-WH601 Wheelset

• Price: £89 front, £99 rear
• From: Freewheel

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Finally, something nice and affordable to counter the ‘How much?’ crew. These 24 spoke Deore-level Shimano wheels come with the new Microspline rear hub standard for 10-51T type ratios. They’re tubeless ready and come pre-fitted with tubeless valves. There are versions in Boost and non-Boost (though not QR) and in 29in and 27.5in. For less than £100 an end, it’s a pretty affordable way of getting into the Microspline future.

And that’s it for Fresh Goods Friday this week. We hope you’re having fun, wherever you are, and if you have the luxury of standing in someone’s garden, that you take advantage of that. And given that we’re already starting the speedy slide towards knock-off-for-the-weekend time, and the Tour is on too, here’s a bit of speedy road riding to get you there.

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