Fresh Goods Friday 563 – Bank Holiday Treats

The sun is shining, the birds are tweeting, the bees are buzzing, and it’s the weekend! If you’ve failed to make plans for this summery treat of an August Bank Holiday it is not too late to take yourself to The GT Malverns. You can pay at the gate, and as a Singletrack member you also have the following benefits:

• Singletrack Saturday afternoon picnic ride (meeting at 3pm at the Singletrack gazebo), where we will go for a ride of the course with “refreshments”.
• VIP area to watch the DH racing on a massive telly.
• DJ Chipps 8am Sunday morning soft rock DJ set.
• Singletrack camping area. Simply tell marshals you are with Singletrack and you will be directed to our own camping area – see map below.

Sonder Dial GX Eagle

• Price: £1,699.00
• From: Alpkit

This aluminium XC trail bike is a race-tuned 100mm travel Sonder Dial that is actually in stock! Available in ‘Jaffa’ or Grey, can be bought frame only for £299 or fully build from £999.

We have the GX Eagle build, and have a very big adventure planned for it. Stay tuned later this year to find out just what this bike is capable of.

10@Kirroughtree Trophy

• Price: Several bruises, 6 Empire Biscuits, 2 donuts, 2 cans RedBull
• From: Galloway Hillbillies

Amanda entered a 10-hour endurance XC race recently, because her iron deficiency wasn’t tiring her out enough. 10@Kirroughtree is a tough course in dry conditions, so torrential rain throughout the night and continuing for the full race made for some interesting riding. Many crashes, many considerations to stop and drink beer, and many kilometers later she actually won! This is a great event with the type of organisation and race commentary that really gets the energy going for both riders and supporters.

Smith Optics Persist Road/Gravel Helmet

• Price: £90
• From: Smith Optics

The Smith Persist helmet is good for gravel or road. A budget-friendly option with MIPS that retails at under £100. Available in three colours (black cement, white cement or matte cinder). The helmet pictured is the white cement option. It’s available in sizes S-XL and weighs in at around 300g (in M). It comes with 21 vents, MIPS and has a good deal of adjustability thanks to the VaporFit dial.

Fizik Terra Argo X5 Gravel-Specific Saddle

• Price: £89.99
• From: Extra UK

Following a rather uncomfortable ride a few weeks back on the gravel bike changes needed to be made. The Fizik Terra Argo X5 comes in either 150 or 160mm widths and weighs in at 250-257g (depending on width). It’s a gravel-specific saddle, though it can obviously be used on other bikes. It’s designed with a short nose to help relieve pressure on the most sensitive areas. Good for longer distances, it helps you sit in a more planted position. Featuring a cut-out the saddle offers a flexible shell and greater sit bone support.

Reserve Wheels (Ross)

• Price: From £1,599
• From: Jungle Products

The 30 SL wheels from US brand Reserve are their newest carbon wheelset. Designed for all-round trail riding, the 30 SL’s have an internal width of 30mm and a lower profile to aid with lateral stiffness yet still remain compliant. Only available in 29er, our test set are laced to i9 Hydra hubs and come in at a ‘kitchen-scale-confirmed’ weight of 1,668g (901g rear, 667g front), with valves and tape.

Michelin DH34 Tyres

• Price: £62.99
• From: Silverfish

The Michelin DH34 will be a familiar sight to anyone following the UCI DH World Cup. This is Michelin’s tough and grippy downhill ready tyre, one which they say is read for the “fastest downhill riders in the world”. This version of the DH34 uses the Magi X DH compound and is designed for hard, rocky terrain and bike park use. The Down Hill Shield casing provides high-speed stability, and of course, is tubeless and e-bike ready.

Halo Vapour GXC 700c Gravel wheels

• Price: £169.99 front £289.99 Rear
• From: Halo Wheels

After running Halo’s gravity wheels for a little while, Andi has added a pair of Halo Vapour hoops to his gravel bike (which is slowly turning into a MTB might we add). The Vapour are an aluminium rimmed wheel featuring a 21mm internal rim and highly adaptable Halo hubs which can be spaced to suit various modern frames. Like the Gravitas, the Vapour uses Halo’s 120 points Supadrive and is taped for tubeless tyres out of the box.

Crankbrothers Highline CX/Gravel Dropper Seatpost

• Price: £179.99 – £224.99
• From: Extra

Thanks to the popularity of gravel bikes, it’s becoming much easier to find dropper posts that suit 27.2mm frames. This is Crankbrothers’ 27.2mm dropper that is aimed at CX and gravel bikes but could be fitted to a steel MTB frame if it happened to have stealth routing. The Highline CX/Gravel is offered in 60, 80, 100 and 125mm drop options and can be used with either a flat bar remote or Crankbrothers’ own drop-bar remote.

Crankbrothers Dropper Remote

• Price: £42.99
• From: Extra

As the above Highline dropper will be fitted to a gravel bike, we have also been sent the optional drop-bar controller. Fitting means re-taping your bars, but it also means you can use your current lever configuration and you will be able to drop your post either from the hoods or drops.

Fizik Terra Bondcush Tacky Bar Tape

• Price: £32.99
• From: Extra

Knowing that we have to re-tape the bars to fit the dropper remote, it only made sense to get some new tape in for test too. This Terra tape from Fizik is 3mm thick and uses a layered mid-padding foam to improve comfort. The tacky and slightly sticky surface is said to improve grip too.