FGF 579 – The Case of the Pie Case Mystery Edition

For the last few weeks, thanks to a blocked gutter, anyone venturing into Singletrack Towers had to make their way through a waterfall. Not so much a nice Timotei advert, more like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle access tunnel. It finally stopped being wild, windy and wet for long enough for Hannah climb up a ladder (held securely in place by Charlie, in some sort of corporate trust development game) and investigate what was blocking the guttering. Careful exploration of the top of the gutter revealed the expected leaves, but what lay beneath? What had caused the leaves to sit atop the downspout? The answer revealed itself, and there could be none more Todmorden: a foil pie case.

Case solved, Hannah is off to navigate the challenges of international travel in the home of spending Christmas with her American family. Pray she gets there, or prepare to face the grumpiest Fresh Goods Friday ever next week…

In other news, a trip to the local garden centre to check out the Christmas decoration options revealed there had been a run on these – only three remained, in the bottom of a large bucket. The fact that Todmorden is well known for UFO sightings is thought to be unrelated to the popularity of festive mushroom decorations. Also in the garden centre: the traditional festive tractor.

Onwards then, to Fresh Goods Friday 579…

Lots of Cool Things

• Price: From £4.99
• From: Singletrack Merch Store

Last orders to catch the Royal Mail’s last posting day is midday Tuesday 21^st December. All orders are being sent first class up to Xmas, and members also get free UK postage. You will find a whole bunch of cool things in the merch store… check it out, buy cool stuff, give cool presents, and support Singletrack.

Focus Jam² 7.0

• Price: £7,499
• From: Focus

Revealed and reviewed this week, it’s this 150mm travel, 29er eMTB with a big battery and Shimano EP8 motor, all wrapped up in an alloy frame. Read Antony’s review here.

#TOTW Singletrack Forum Thread of The Week

• Price: it’s free
• From: Singletrack Forum

This week’s winner of Thread Of The Week is IHN for simply celebrating real world middle aged rad. Those acts of gnaar that make you happy, but are about 20 foot, a back flip, and a flat belly away from the cover of a magazine. Personally I compensate by going large on the gnaar facial expressions, and low on airtime.

BrandX Ascend XL 170mm Seatpost

• Price: £169.99
• From: CRC

This 170mm dropper was purchased for a hardtail build. BrandX seatposts have a great reputation for being reliable and affordable. Comes with the lever included, making it quite the bargain!

Peaty’s Brushes

• Price: £32.99
• From: Silverfish

Given that it’s taken two years to develop these brushes, they’d better be good! They certainly have a nice artisan look to them and wouldn’t look out of place in the sadly defunct ‘Brush Shop’, formerly of Victoria Street in Edinburgh (the street said to inspire Diagon Alley in Harry Potter). Anyway, we digress. They wanted to make these brushes with all natural fibres, but found that the bristles couldn’t be made durable enough (or cruelty free enough…did you know pig hair was a thing?), so in the end they’ve gone with recycled plastic bristles on the Detail brush, and hope to make the others from recycled material soon. Apparently there’s a shortage of recycled plastic thanks to Covid…you’d think that old plastic would be something we have plenty of…

In the set you get a Bog Brush (which is actually for your bike. The handle is quite short, you probably want more distance between you and a loo), a Detailer, Drivetrain, and Tyre brush. You can buy them as a set now, or individually from January.

INEOS Sport Spray

• Price: tbc
• From: Ineos Hygenics

Handy 100ml aerosol spray cans for killing 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. This is great for shared equipment, dries quickly and stops you spreading your germs. Same for the 50ml sport hand spray in the portable clip bottle. Fast drying, alcohol based, hospital grade cleanliness.

RockShox Care Package

• Price: tbc
• From: SRAM

Hannah’s pre trip laundry woes have been sorted. Three T-shirts, a hoodie, and a beanie are going straight in her suitcase with her dungaree collection.

Endura Freezing Point MT500 Jacket – Women’s

• Price: £159.99
• From: Endura

A lightweight durable jackets for the coldest rides. Made from ripstop with PrimaLoft Gold insulation, featuring huge underarm vents, from hand warmer pockets, plenty of reflective trims and a generous drop hem. Available in black or paprika in sizes XS to XXL.

Endura GV500 Insulated Jacket

• Price: £149.99
• From: Endura

A lightweight, packable insulated jacket for more winter adventures. Made from over 80% recycled fabric and featuring a water repellent finish. Available in black or green, in sizes XS to XXXL. Keep an eye on the print and digital magazines for full reviews soon.

Fist Handwear Knievel Gloves

• Price: £32.99
• From: Freewheel

Yes, the hashtag sticker does say #FISTARMY. These are probably the very best choice of gloves for attempting to clear the Grand Canyon on your Rocketbike. We’ll let you comment below about the use of the F-word here. Tech deets: pre-curved Clarino palm, Spandex (Lycra) uppers, silicon print on palm and fingers.

Since Zoe and Hannah are way too disturbed by this crash video, have this instead:

Fist Handwear Crew Socks

• Price: £16.99
• From: Freewheel

Fist Handwear socks for your feet based on a (motorbike) jumper. Confused? Don’t be. Perhaps thankfully placing the bold F-word branding under the sole, these socks look suitably Evel whilst retaining a softness that undeniably pleasant.

Absolutely no idea why this is ending Fresh Goods today…

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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