Fresh Goods Friday 572 – Firing On Most Cylinders

by 27

A combination of staffers taking half term off, and three staff households having the Covid has led to a half-staffed Singletrack this week. Many of us have been pinged by the NHS app and have gone off for testing, and Hannah, despite being double jabbed, is laid up in bed. We are all chipping in and keeping the good ship Singletrack afloat, and normal service is being maintained. However, I have prepared a testcard should things go south. I made this without the adult supervision of Art Director Amanda… can you tell?

testcard

Do you remember the testcard? Well youngsters, there was once a time when there were only three TV channels, and when someone at the BBC accidentally pulled a lead out and they stopped broadcasting, they would pop the testcard up. This image of young girl, and sinister clown, playing noughts and crosses by herself, would reassure everyone that everything was going to be OK. And hey… it is going to be OK.

Singletrack Forage’flage Corkscrew Pom Pom Beanie

The new Singletrack Pom Pom hat will protect your noggin when you are out and about without your bike. Quite how you got yourself into this being outside without your bike disastrous situation is your own fault/problem. Maybe you listen to people more than you listen to your bike?

It features a bobble so you know when you are about to bang your head in old pubs. It also captures all the bright and vibrant colours of autumn, and yet somehow it is also low profile. This makes it perfect for blending into the countryside when full on camo makes you look like the sort of weirdo who has a mobile phone holster under his arm, like a gun holster, but for their phone. These people are amongst us.

New tune of the week: If Donna Summer and Bad News had a child..?

Adidas Five Ten GORE-TEX Trailcross Shoes

  • From: Adidas
  • Price: £150 (but read on)

These look like a boot, but are really a shoe with a neoprene ankle cuff. The hook and loop neoprene ankle cuff provides a secure fit and stops debris from entering the shoe. And then a GORE-TEX waterproof lining keeps your feet dry. They have a new dotted outsole for grip in slippery condition. And best of all, from my point of view… they come in size UK 13.5.

They have an RRP of £150, however at the time of writing this there is a 20% code when you sign up to their newsletter.

Nukeproof Blackline Range

  • Price: Jacket £130.00, Pants £85.00, Jersey £55.00
  • From: Wiggle

Two out of three of these items have prevously won Editors’ Choice awards, so we’ve no doubt the new colourways are just as good. A great selection for riders that like a bit (or a lot) of colour, excellent weatherproofing, and durable kit with reasonable price tags.

POC Women’s Ardour All-Weather Pants

Fully waterproof from the knee down, and water resistant from the thigh up makes these POC all-weather trousers comfortable, breathable and perfect for the coming season. The waist comes up high enough to keep splashback out, and includes a card pocket that we all know is actually for your key, two Ibuprofen, and an emergency fiver. First impressions – the elasticated ankles make these much easier to put on than many riding trousers, yet still keeping the water off your socks.

Specialized 2FO Roost Canvas Mountain Bike Shoes

The Roost are a new flat-pedal shoe designed for riders wanting that casual skate shoe look, but requiring all-out grip when hitting gnarly downhill and enduro lines. The Body Geometry sole is designed in such a way that the footbed is ergonomically designed to boost power and increase efficiency.

Read more

Thule ProRide 591 Roof Mounted Bike Rack

Suitable for bikes under 20kg with tyres no wider than 2.5in, this Thule ProRide rack is suitable for all good choices of bike. Easily fitted to either side of your car, lockable, and currently on Buy One Get One Half Price!

WTB Tubeless Tyre Sealant

  • Price: 4oz £7.99, 8oz £9.99, 16oz £14.99, 32oz £24.99. (Don’t try to do the maths…)
  • From: WTB, wtb.com and dealers everywhere from December

WTB, or Wilderness Trail Bikes, to give it its proper name, was pretty early to the tubeless game, with tubeless-compatible tyres and rims, but was happy to leave the fluid bit of the system up to other manufacturers. This was fine when the universally loved St Stan’s was the only bottle in town, but now that everyone is coming out with their own take – with various levels of reliability… – WTB thought that it was time to make a tubeless sealant that was designed to definitely work with its rims and tyres.

The WTB Tubeless Tire/Tyre Sealant is on the thinner (Stan’s-like) end of the scale and is said to last for months while also working down to temperatures of -9°C (though it also says on the bottle to install it at more temperate room temperatures…)

There is a Large Boat of the stuff on the waters, so it should be here in time for Christmas present time…

(Incidentally, Laoganma crispy chilli in oil is AWESOME!)

#TOTW Thread Of The Week

Each week we are picking our favourite Singletrack Forum thread, and bunging the thread instigator a small parcel of Singletrack merch. This weeks winner was almost “British Kabab Awards”, however it was narrowly beaten by the subject of blind etiquette… “what is the correct way to close blinds?”. Singletrack member “Skarkattack” gave us two options for closing blinds, A or B. Oh if only it was that simple, a forum full of bike geeks had dozens of theories on this subject.


And with that we sail into a winter weekend. Yep, its going to be cold, probably wet and you will also certainly need your lights at the end of the ride. It’s the time of year to find your Seal Skins and Crud Catchers, make the switch from cider to Guinness with a dash of Port in it, and settle into the pleasures of winter. Alaskan bearded piano beater Ben Caplan is playing Manchester (and elsewhere) this week… his music goes well with Guinness, log fires, dumplings and cuddles with damp dogs.

Author Profile Picture
Charlie Hobbs

Merch & Marketing Manager at Singletrack

Grumpy, happy, hairy, overweight and awesome. I started riding offroad in 1978, and never stopped. I was once Charlie The Bikemonger, I invented orienBEERing, the Clunker Classic, and the Dorset Gravel Dash. I own the Bum Butter brand and I'm a co-owner of Dirt Dash Events. I also work at Singletrack, I have the self-appointed job title of "Overlord of the leftovers" and look after the merch shop, and marketing. Other interests include skateboards, surfboards, motorbikes, and cooking (I invented the Beefer Reefer).

More posts from Charlie

Home Forums Fresh Goods Friday 572 – Firing On Most Cylinders

Viewing 27 posts - 1 through 27 (of 27 total)
  • Fresh Goods Friday 572 – Firing On Most Cylinders
  • Woo
    Full Member

    Good grief, this is early. Couldn’t you sleep? Good wishes to all who are ill, it’s a reminder the pandemic hasn’t gone away.

    mogrim
    Full Member

    Nothing like a tasty Kabab after a trip to the pub.

    duncancallum
    Full Member

    That tracks like ozzy doing disco

    martib
    Full Member

    Those Five Tens don’t look like they are worth spending £150 on. Be interested to see what people make of them in real world riding.

    martinoh123
    Free Member

    Re the POC trousers.Surely, ‘Fully waterproof from the knee down, and water resistant from the thigh up’ makes these POC all-weather trousers an expensive oxymoron not ‘perfect for the coming season’. Unless that’s a season with persistent puddles but not actually raining.

    willard
    Full Member

    Cycling through long grass/wet nettles? Assuming you had some sort of waterproof shoe/sock combo

    jd13m
    Free Member

    PANTS????? Are we posting articles from the US this morning? Trousers, please……

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    @martinoh123 Personal experience admittedly but I’ve never found any waterproof trousers/shorts/over trousers that are actually very waterproof above the knee on a bike anyway, I assume it’s down to the movement. The best/closest thing I’ve ever had are some golfing over trousers that I’m fairly sure would keep me dry whilst swimming but I still have a wet backside after a properly wet ride (mudguards help a lot but even they only delay things) or some old sombrio freeride things that are brilliant for hiking (or standing on a hillside Marshaling) in the pouring rain but again seep from about mid thigh over the course of an hour or two of pedaling.

    brakestoomuch
    Full Member

    You’ll need a bigger office if Amanda’s giant twin comes to work for STW.

    I hope all the poorly folk get better soon.

    martinoh123
    Free Member

    Fair point. So definition of ‘all weather’ is to include the full range of conditions from puddles to wet knee high vegetation, but not actually raining.

    matt_outandabout
    Free Member

    I’m smugly looking at my Volvo branded version of those Thule racks, which cost £43 after a PSA on STW. 😎

    roger_mellie
    Full Member
    charliedontsurf
    Full Member
    prettygreenparrot
    Full Member

    Hope folks make quick, good recoveries from their ailments.

    Blinds? Depends. Upward if you want a darker room and no peeping in. Downward if you want to eliminate the burning sun and yet allow light in with the potential for folks to peer into the room. Or have I gotten that wrong?

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Fair point. So definition of ‘all weather’ is to include the full range of conditions from puddles to wet knee high vegetation, but not actually raining

    I wondered if it was more a case of someone (rightly imo) said “you can’t actually make waterproof cycling trousers, why don’t we just call them water resistant instead and save the complaints?”

    Also as any year-round-non-waterproof-short-wearing-post-person will tell you any clothing is all weather

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Or have I gotten that wrong?

    Depends what floor and how tall your neighbours are. That said venetian blinds are the devil’s dust collectors so it won’t matter in a week.

    martinoh123
    Free Member

    Fair point. Definition of ‘all weather’ is to include the full range of conditions from puddles to wet knee-high vegetation, but not actually raining.

    athy62
    Free Member

    Blinds are the best invention ever otherwise it would be curtains for the lot of us 😁

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Oh do pull your self together.

    athy62
    Free Member

    I’m not going to be drawn!

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Usually that just means they’re too small or not well hung.

    TrailriderJim
    Free Member

    Amazing to think they only ever used one image for the testcard.

    darksideby182
    Full Member

    If anyone has a revolut bank account you can get 35% off at adidas makes those 5-10s cheap enough.

    wheelsonfire1
    Full Member

    I’ve had a pair of the FiveTen Trailcross shoes for several months now. I can confirm that as lounge wear they are very comfortable! As soon as I can get the motivation/time/energy I’ll be out there. Hopefully next week in Patterdale – I’ll report back.

    TheBrick
    Free Member

    Needs more dungarees.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    martib
    Full Member

    Those Five Tens don’t look like they are worth spending £150 on. Be interested to see what people make of them in real world riding.

    TBH it feels like they’ve been priced for discounting

    salsaboy
    Full Member

    I went big and got a pair about a month ago.
    I love them!
    I had had a few pairs of 5Tens in the past, these feel less clumpy and lighter than my impacts.
    They are a bit of a job to get on but are super comfy and so far, totally waterproof, I can say this with a lot of confidence as I have used them when riding the cargo bike here in Todmorden for Cargodale, and its been WET here recently.
    Pricey, yes, worth it, yes.

Viewing 27 posts - 1 through 27 (of 27 total)

The topic ‘Fresh Goods Friday 572 – Firing On Most Cylinders’ is closed to new replies.