Fresh Goods Friday 587: Bad Gateway Drug Edition

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Another Friday is upon us. After another week of digital trials and tribulations. Here’s a rundown of what the beautiful rogues gallery of couriers and posties has cobbed at us this week.

Whatever happened to Spectral Display eh? Wow. This is perfect 80s.

Garmin Venu 2 Plus

Digital leaf

The last Garmin techno-timepiece we had – the Garmin Fenix Pro Solar – almost broke the internet. Well, the internet corner that we exist in. What does this Venu 2 Plus do?

Phone calls from your wrist (sounds a bit dodgy). Hands-free messaging (again, sounds dodgy). Health Snapshot. Body Battery monitoring. Pulse OX Sensor. Stress tracking. Women’s Health tracking. Hydration tracking. Respiration tracking. Sleep scoring (the new Strava?). Heart rate. Mindful breathing. Fitness age.

Yes, but does it have Nokia Snake?

Maxxis Shorty Gen 2

We’ve got a couple of one of the most in-demand tyres of winter 2021/22. The new Shorty! Currently only seemingly available in full-grrr DH casing MaxxGrip flavour. Our excitement is slightly tempered by the RRP reality that these tyres appear to cost over eighty quid.

Eighty four quid. Wowsers.

We should be able to ride down – and stay upright – on everything, everywhere at that price, right? We shall see. ‘Thankfully’ the weather looks like it’s very Shorty for the next few days here in the South Pennines.

Restrap Tyre Boot Kit

Something of a niche products but we like a niche product now and then. The kit features eight varied cuts of thin, durable and tear-resistant Hypalon, specifically designed for covering sidewall and tread tears on any tubed tyre.

This very orange kit is easily spotted in the dark depths of a pack, making it easier to find when you need it most. The orange colour is also intended for easily locate the boot inside a damaged tyre.

Apparently Olympic gold medallist Alistair Brownlee used one of these kits to mend a tyre failure that would otherwise have ended his race.

Crank Bros Icon MTB Socks & M20 Multi-Tool

Socks. Yeah! Available in a couple of sizes: 39-41 and 42-47. In case you’re interested, “compression fit, performance ribbing, enhanced ventilation and a reduced friction profile.” They still look a bit too short for my high-up-the-calf tastes.

The M20 multi-tool features, you guessed it, twenty tools. Tyre plug tool, tyre plugs, valve core removal tool, rotor straightener, chain tool, 2/2.5/3/4/5/6/8mm Allen keys, Phillips 1/2, flathead, 0/1/2 spoke keys, T10 and T25. It’s 89mm long and weighs around 200g. Lifetime warranty is nice.

Pile o’ Schwalbe

Tyres is crazy costly init? The only thing that prevents us from storming the tyre factories with flaming pitchforks (can you have a flaming pitchfork?) is that a lot of modern mountain bike tyres are genuinely flipping amazing.

We’re not overly familiar with the newish Big Betty or the revamped (again) Nobby Nics, but… the Magic Mary. Ohh… the Magic Mary. A great tyre that you can leave on the front of your bike for 365 days a year and not flounder.

The Nobby Nic looks like a diet Mary. Could be useful. The Big Betty looks like an extremely capable paddle-tastic rear tyre.

Another secret bike

This sneaky peaky behaviour is bound to bite us in the arse at some point but until then…

Can you tell what it is yet?

Maybe try some Blade Runner-style zooming in and enhancing on the reflections in the spanners in the background. Good luck!

Santa Cruz Chameleon 29 R

Santa Cruz mountain bikes have been like buses here at STW HQ 2022. You wait ages for one and then three turn up all at once. The three in question being the Santa Cruz Bronson (for mullet bike test in a future issue of the mag), the new Santa Cruz Heckler and finally this classic Chameleon.

This bike is currently underneath Mr AdH for a winter-spring thrashing. Will it look as pretty once he’s done with it?

Mark’s leg

  • Price: ouch
  • From: an out of control skier

Mark is currently on a not-snowboarding-anymore holiday in Canada. He now has a bust tibia(?)

Remember folks, when on the slopes: mirror, signal, manoeuvre.

The perfect stick

  • Price: money can’t buy
  • From: just over there

This is Amanda’s new favourite stick. It was ideal for propping up the twenty flat pedal shoes that she had to photograph for the next issue’s group test.

“When you just can’t get enough traction”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Duzes official® (@duzavizz)

Q: Is this for real?

A: No. Check the poster’s Insta bio. Still very amusing though.

Hackney GT Camo Lightweight Rain Jacket

We’ve just had this ‘camo lightweight weather jacket’ in from the ever-flamboyant characters at Hackney GT. It comes in seven sizes, from XS up to a XXXL. It’s a slim, road-style cut, so if in doubt, size up to prevent sausaging… (Chipps is wearing a Large).

Hackney GT says of it; “Essential cycling kit for all cycling gangs. Made from micro-weave fabric with DWR coating to provide wind and water repellency whilst being highly breathable and being only 70 gsm its very packable.”

Our ‘colour-enthusiast’ editor, Chipps, reckons this is a great looking jacket, though we’re not sure where the camo would let you disappear. A Lego factory, perhaps? Driving one of those multicolour Fiats? A Mondrian exhibit? Suggestions welcome.

Sorry not sorry

This week’s #STWFGF winner

Tag us on the ‘Gram and win stuff!

Every week we running a competition over on Instagram to win a free subscription to Singletrackworld (or some other item of merchandise if you’re already a subscriber/member).

Simply tag your Instagram riding pics with #STWFGF and… that’s it.

We sift through the tagged candidates at the end of each week and pick a winner. The winning Insta pic gets proudly displayed in Fresh Goods Friday.

Congratulations go to Jim Gardiner for this week’s winning shot. Slide into our DMs on your dropbars and we’ll sort you out with your prize (translation: “send us a direct message on Instagram please”).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jim Gardiner (@jim_gardiner)

Thread of the Week

This week’s TOTW is the ‘Ghosts – do they exist?’ posting from johndoh.

We’re all off to fit our new rubbers. Something for the weekend indeed.

Peace. Out.

Orange Switch 6er. Stif Squatcher. Schwalbe Magic Mary Purple Addix front. Maxxis DHR II 3C MaxxTerra rear. Coil fan. Ebikes are not evil. I have been a writer for nigh on 20 years, a photographer for 25 years and a mountain biker for 30 years. I have written countless magazine and website features and route guides for the UK mountain bike press, most notably for the esteemed and highly regarded Singletrackworld. Although I am a Lancastrian, I freely admit that West Yorkshire is my favourite place to ride. Rarely a week goes by without me riding and exploring the South Pennines.

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Home Forums Fresh Goods Friday 587: Bad Gateway Drug Edition

Viewing 22 posts - 1 through 22 (of 22 total)
  • Fresh Goods Friday 587: Bad Gateway Drug Edition
  • jam-bo
    Full Member

    ooh. that’s me that is…

    tall_martin
    Full Member

    £84!

    I’ve got a double down 2.4 on the front. It’s super gripy and super slow.

    Who knew 🙂

    rickon
    Free Member

    So you’re saving £40 for a pair of tyres if you go Schwable over Maxxis at RRP. Schwalbe used to be the expensive choice. Glad I stocked up on Shorty 2.4s a while back for £30 each!

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    ps. why can you get nice shiny instagram embedding on this page but its still broken in the forum…

    tourismo
    Full Member

    Fibula, get well soon Mark.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Bummer on the broken leg, I got taken out by an out of control snow boarder a few years back – took over a year for my shoulder to heal!

    stanley
    Full Member

    Fibula.
    Ouch :-/

    bigblackshed
    Full Member

    Christ on a bike, tyres are expensive now!

    That there jacket is very, very Chips.

    Heal up soon Mark.

    matt_outandabout
    Free Member

    Christ on a bike, tyres are expensive now!

    That there jacket is very, very Chips.

    Heal up soon Mark.

    ^ that

    imrobert
    Full Member

    Can we have a broken bone photo competition?

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    That x-ray gives me the shivers to look at, think I fear injuries more as I get older. Get well soon, eh?

    brakestoomuch
    Full Member

    Ow. Get well soon, Mark.

    Camo? In an explosion in a paint factory, perhaps. Or just among others wearing the same jacket, a la zebras, to confuse your predators.

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    Can we have a broken bone photo competition?

    WCA needs no encouragement!

    lightfighter762
    Free Member

    Heal up Mark!

    Shorty V2 got nothing on MSC Hotseat for RR and grip!

    jimmy
    Full Member

    Eighty four quid. Wowsers.

    Wowsers indeed.

    howsyourdad1
    Free Member

    ZOMG i utterly love that song , but I had no idea anyone else knew about it! The question is what muscle?

    b33k34
    Full Member

    ZOMG i utterly love that song , but I had no idea anyone else knew about it! The question is what muscle?

    Can’t get that link to play. Love it too but only know the MIA version (which I’ve just found has an absurdly low bassline), hadn’t clocked it as a cover…

    jimilindley
    Free Member

    Why has no one mentioned that an aluminium hardtail costs £3k? (-:

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    Why has no one mentioned that an aluminium hardtail costs £3k? (-:

    Wait till you see how much some of the steel ones cost…

    oldfart
    Full Member

    You could have bought 8 1/2 Tioga Factory XC tyres for the price of that Shorty 😬😬😬😬😬

    Northwind
    Full Member

    I suppose that’s RRP not street value for the Shorty? Though, it’s not as different as it used to be, for maxxis, I almost paid full RRP for my last one, with supply being so short.

    Wish they’d sort out their range though- a shorty maxxgrip in exo or exo+ would be fantastic. They do an Assegai exo+ maxxgrip, and a dhr2 exo maxxgrip even, but only dh and dd shortys for some reason.

    Big Betty looks good too though.

    oldfart
    Full Member

    You could have bought 8 1/2 Tioga Factory XC tyres for the price of that Shorty

    Aye and had a lot more than 8 1/2 more crashes too.

    oldfart
    Full Member

    Northwind 😁😁😁

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