FGF 606: Roland Just Wants To Help You Edition

by and 19

Did someone say 606? Remember the Roland TR-606 drum machine? You don’t but you do. Used in loads of nafftastic 90s/00’s moanrock but also used wisely by other genres. 303, 909, 606… which is your favourite device?

Enough with the repetitive beats, on with the repetitive bikes! Here’s your Fresh Goods for this week…

Roland TR-606 used on this

Vitus Escarpe 29 CRS

A very mountain bike [sic} to kick things off. 140mm rear travel. 150mm fork. 29in wheels front and back. Full T800 carbon front and rear triangles. Flippy-chippy. RockShox Lyrik Select fork, Deluxe Select+ RT shock, Shimano SLX 12 speed drivetrain and disc brakes, Nukeproof Neutron V2 wheelset with tape applied, Maxxis Assegai and Dissector tyres.

65° head angle. 77.5° seat angle. 478mm reach (Large). 440mm chainstays. 242mm dropper insertion depth (Large). 35mm BB drop.

High Above The Lookout Quick Draw Hip Pack

  • Price: From $150.00 – this ‘build’ is $195.00
  • From: High Above

How much?! Beat you to it. But I (Amanda) cannot fault this pack. It’s secure, not over-designed (there’s not a bunch of features you don’t really need) and it fits more than enough for a fairly big day out. High Above allow you to design your pack, so the Cobra buckle and extra Bottle Rocket are all optional extras. It’s a boutiquey price tag, but unfortunately for me, it has become an absolute kit essential. It just does the job, it carries my tools, plenty of water, and the zippers are easy to pull without turning the pack around to the front.

Knog Scout

The Knog Scout is both a loud bike alarm (85db) and an accurate bike finder which allows the user to trace the location of their bike using their Apple device and Apple’s ‘Find my’ app technology. Six months claimed battery life between charges.

Waterproof rating of IP67 (can be left in the rain or get wet when washing). Multi-functional LEDs allow the user to see if their Scout is alarmed, paired and the status of the battery. In-situ USB-C charging. Scout attaches to your bike via the bottle cage mounts using tamper-proof security screws.

Stan’s NoTubes Flow MK Wheelset

Low-profile 30mm internal width (2.3 to 2.6in tyres). 6069 aluminum with welded joint and reinforced spoke bed. BST-Asymmetric design. M-pulse ‘low drag’ magnetic pawl with 1.66° engagement.

Enduro bearings with double-row freehub bearing. Traditional J-bend lacing. Single spoke length for serviceability.

Orange Seal Sealant & VersaValves

  • Price: £17.99 for sealant , £27.99 for valves
  • From: Extra UK

Some jaffa juice designed to seals punctures up to 6mm and slashes up to 19mm. Lasts up to 45 days between top-ups and performs down to -11 degrees Celsius. Ideal for UK summer.

Valve stems with a large, sturdy base plate that can be fitted with different shaped rubber grommets for different rims. Four lengths available. Pack includes VersaValve stems, two types of grommet, extra valve cores, RVC tool.

Sorry, you won’t get all the pretty colours as featured in our Extra Special Spoilt Bike Journo Edition.

Topeak Free StrapPack

Mounts under Topeak’s swivelling Ninja water bottle cage thingy (or use alone with an additional frame mount). An alternative way to carry an inner tube and a mini tool/CO2 cartridge.

DMR Blade Chainring

Direct Mount chainring from the DMR Crew (not the DMX Krew). Wide/Narrow teeth. Boost flavoured. 4mm wide 7075-T6 aluminium. 26-36T options. Black as night.

Topeak Ninja Master+ Cages

  • Price: £12.99 for X1AJ, £9.99 for SK, £9.99 for X1
  • From: Extra UK

If you don’t know about the Topeak Ninjas then you probably should. Basically ‘Ninja’ stuff from Topeak is ways of storing spares and tools on your bike. I’m [Benji] am I big fan of their Toolbox-ed bottle cage system FWIW.

A lot of the range involves bottle mounts and bottle cages. These three cages are the different options that you can then attach things to (such as the FreeStrap described above and the various Toolboxes we’ll go into shortly…)

Topeak Ninja Master+ Toolbox PT30

Weatherproof tool box mounts to any of the Ninja Master+ cages above. Includes 30 function tool for most maintenance/rescue duties.

Topeak Ninja Master+ Toolbox 16

Weatherproof tool box for Ninja cages again. Guess what? This is 16 function tool. Cute! Great to see a chain tool in there still too.

Crankbrothers Stamp 7 Danny MacAskill

Concave; 13mm external and 11mm internal thickness. 20 adjustable pins per pedal (8mm in the centre of the pedal and 10mm on the outers). Igus LL-glide bearings. 114mm x 111mm. Five year warranty.

Crankbrothers Stamp 2

16mm thin. 10 adjustable pins per side.100x100mm (for Small). Igus bearings. Cromoly axle. Alloy body. Five year warranty.

Stickers!

Who doesn’t love a sticker eh? If there is such a sorry person in the world, they probably just haven’t met the right sticker yet. We can help. Buy a wad of ’em.

Or put a decent enough order in for some of our merch and Charlie stuffs a sticker or two in there.

Club Ride Shirt

  • Price: £79.99 for members (£89.99 otherwise)
  • From: STW Shop

Charlie says: “Packed full of neat features such as a sunglass cleaner, security pocket and mesh pits… it is my go to shirt for grown up things such as passing through customs looking like an adult and no trouble, and then banging out some miles and stopping for a brew. The popper closure is great for getting your shirt off in seconds. This is a quality not many people consider, however sometimes almost instant nakedness is handy. Also, you wont lose your buttons in a bramble fight.”

Hackney GT Singletrack Collab Jersey

This is not technically a new jersey (we’ve had them in stock for a while now) but every time I [Benji] wear it, someone comments on it and invariably asks where I got it from.

So here it is. Nice design. Nice sentiment. Nice jersey. Go get one from our shop if you like it.

Thread Of The Week

Congratulations to nickc for this week’s winning forum post. This history-tastic follows on nicely from last week’s geography-tastic FGF. Next week’s topic: P.E.

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Mo’ 606 goodness. Bye for now!

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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.

More posts from Ben

Home Forums FGF 606: Roland Just Wants To Help You Edition

Viewing 19 posts - 1 through 19 (of 19 total)
  • FGF 606: Roland Just Wants To Help You Edition
  • footflaps
    Full Member

    I thought that was a Grange Hill reference…

    Also, that Vitus looks remarkedly good value…

    sonic_groove
    Free Member

    606 or 808 are the ones you want. The 303 is a Bass synth/sequencer

    Sisters of Mercy used them too

    tall_martin
    Full Member

    I saw the jersey in the magazine and really like the look of it!

    When I actually needed a new jersey I’ll get one.

    I might stick it on my Christmas list now ,🙂

    maxlightpha5e
    Free Member

    Or the TR- 909 which superceded them. Acid house, techno, 90’s rave tunage was largely made with Roland drum machines.Sold my Juno6 synth last year to buy a new bike😉👍

    mickey93
    Free Member

    The 808 was definitely the big influencer.
    Hence the band 808 State.
    Th the days of the analog synthesizer.

    torchtaylor
    Full Member

    Great Tune choices this week. I was relistening to my Warp collection earlier this week, and you can’t go wrong with a bit of Massive Attack.

    Just received my Club Shirt and it’s really nice. Great in the sunshine.

    daver27
    Free Member

    The clasps on those hip packs are rubbish, used them on other things and once they were even a little bit, the are so easy to accidentally release.

    ThePinkster
    Full Member

    Yep, it has to be the 808. Used to have great fun with the one in the studio.

    aide
    Full Member

    Also came on here to say you’ve missed the 808,showing my age but have chucked a few dodgy shapes about listening to one of those machines, happy daze

    Ben_Haworth
    Full Member

    @footflaps It was a Grange Hill reference. 50 points to you.

    Roly
    Full Member

    Actually Roland was the helpee not the helper.
    I really enjoyed school btw.

    chestercopperpot
    Free Member

    The 808 lives on (you here it all the time) and is probably the most sampled drum machine ever. The kick drum often being repurposed as a pitched bass.

    Prefer the sound of the DMX myself.

    Northwind
    Full Member

    Without the 808 there’d be no The Only Rhyme That Bites and I don’t want to live in that world

    FarandAway
    Full Member

    Does the Knog Scout only work with Apple devices?

    footflaps
    Full Member

    @footflaps It was a Grange Hill reference. 50 points to you.

    🙂

    Can I trade in my 50 points and take the Vitus instead?

    gecko76
    Full Member

    The 808 and the 303 ain’t the friends that they used to be
    You got no time for sweet 909

    gazzab1955
    Full Member

    @tall_martin I went one better, bought the shirt late last year, wrapped it up and my wife gave it to me as a “surprise” Christmas present! I find the best Christmas presents are the ones I purchase for the family to give to me, never disappointed or have to ask for the receipt so that I can change it.

    dc1988
    Full Member

    Has anyone ever had a 6mm hole seal in their tubeless tyre let alone a 19mm one?

    robertajobb
    Full Member

    Yeah. Roland have a LOT to answer for. Some think he should still be in prison for crimes against music.

Viewing 19 posts - 1 through 19 (of 19 total)

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