Fresh Goods Friday 608: The Bike Heavy Edition

by 32

I’m writing this with stinging fingers. Summer is well and true upon us. The trails have grown their hair out and every ride sees regular brushes with nettles, brambles and other various whipping green things.

Are nettle stings more powerful than they used to be?

Anyway. Before we commence Fresh Goods, let’s shoot over to Downing Street to see what’s happening in the doorway…

Yeahhh… great.

Deviate Claymore

High pivoting idlering red radness from Deviate. The Claymore is the Scotland-based brand’s 165mm travel enduro type bike. Full carbon construction. 170mm fork potential. 18T idler pulley with twin outboard sealed bearings. We’re not sure if it’s the size of the pulley, or its position, or it’s twin-bearing-ness, but straight away the Claymore feels like its losing fewer watts in the system compared to most high pivoters.

Ross first took for a spin last Friday – somewhat reluctantly we might add because he’s not really gelled with idler bikes before – and he hasn’t been off it since. “There’s just something about it” he keeps helpfully proffering whilst at the same time not remotely suggesting that anyone else can have a go on it.

Canyon Lux World Cup CFR Team

23.58lbs in olde moneye

Flippin’ ‘eck we very nearly include this one as it’s literally just arrived this morning! Thankfully the bike went together swimmingly and it didn’t seem to mind posing for piccies either.

What can we tell you about it? Not a lot yet. Appears to still be 100mm travel at both ends. And it’s lock-out-a-(don’t)-go-go on the front and rear boingers too. StepCast Fox 32. Flat-mount rear disc mount. Non-dropper post. Cables through the headset. One piece bar and stem with a rather aggressive dip to it. Extremely cute chain retainer.

Canyon: “This full-suspension XC race bike is more than just fast. It’s World Cup-fast. With a superlight frame, pinpoint handling, and incredible speed and efficiency.”

Funn Trickster Dice

  • Price: N/A
  • From: Funn

The rules are simple: one dice has tricks (X-up, barspin, tuck-no-hander, unturndown, tailwhip), the other has combos (180, 360, straight air, opposite, transfer).

Throw both dice then simply thrown down your trick and combo. If you roll the Funn logo, you choose your trick or combo. Such as, have-a-lie-down + 360.

If you land the trick, you pass the dice to the next player. If not, you strike. Three strikes are you’re out. Or in A+E.

VitxCycle Cycling Vitamins

  • Price: £28 per month subscription, or £33 for a single one month supply
  • From: VitXcycle

Charlie says… Will from VitxCycle can supply you with a one month stash of vitamins to help you cycle. There are three daily tablets or capsules covering protection, flexibility and recovery. They reassure us that they care about what we put in our bodies and they believe that food supplements should be of the highest quality and offer the purest ingredients without the use of any additives.

Bryan Steel, an Olympic roadie says “Since using VitxCycle I have found a massive improvement in my recovery especially after a hard session.  I have also found the middle aged man aches and pains have mainly gone when I wake up in the morning”. Oh now you have my attention… I can confirm middle aged man aches are a real thing.

Adidas Five Ten Sleuth DLX Canvas

A revision of Five Ten’s tried and trusted Sleuth, it comes with the Stealth Phantom rubber with a dotty outsole. The mesh upper is a bit more breathable (and possibly quicker dry-out-able) mesh canvas stuff that is a recycled material made in part with Parley Ocean Plastic.

A canvas upper and traditional lacing give them a casual look, for those folk who don’t like to be seen looking overly bike-flavoured. Two colour options: ‘Core Black’ or this ‘Focus Olive’.

MET Parachute MCR MIPS Full Face Helmet

  • Price: £300.00
  • From: MET

Another week, another new helmet for Amanda. The MET Parachute has so many features, including in-mould polycarbonate shell with EPS liner, magnetic chin bar, MIPS , 360deg head belt plus vertical and occipital adjustments for the perfect fit, adjustable and flexible visor, BOA fit system, Fidlock buckle, loads of vents, removable cheek cushions, the list goes on!

Bluegrass Seamless Lite D3O Back Protector

  • Price: €190.00
  • From: MET

Amanda doesn’t waste her time with minor crashes. If she’s going to dismount, she goes OTB everytime, so here’s a back protector to pair with that new helmet. The seamless design is a great fit, there’s loads of elasticity to it. The D3O pad is easily removed for washing the vest, a vest which has really useful cargo pockets at the back!

HayMax

Rather than tackling the consequences of pollen getting inside your face, HayMax aims to stop so much of it getting in. A balm that you put on your nose drills and around the eyes that the pollen (hopefully) sticks to. Like an air filter balm. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this worked?! Amanda will find out…

5 metre 3.5mm Male to Female Headphone Extension Cable

  • Price: £6.99
  • From: eBay

Benji has moved home office as he could no longer bear overlooking his dreadful, dreadful lawn. Anyway. This majestic cable means he can output his synthwave soulcore megamixes directly to the creaky old hifi on his sideboard (tastefully out of focus in the background here). He is post-wireless. AKA Modern Life Is Rubbish.

Whyte T-140 RS

Whyte’s all-new 140mm travel platform. This is pretty much the shortest travel Whyte in the full sus range now it seems.

64.7/65.3° head angle. 76° seat angle. 330mm BB height. 435mm chainstays. We don’t know the reach figure at the mo.

We’ll have a First Ride Review of this bike up on the front page very soon!

Whyte E-160 RS

Whyte ebikes have reputation for being some of the more dynamic, fun-handling ebikes around. This new E-160 RS model has a big 750Wh battery in its downtube, powering the latest Bosch Performance Line CX motor and system.

Again, we have a First Ride Review of this very machine in the pipeline as we speak. So stay tuned if you want to hear more about this juiced jaffa juggernaut!

Etnies Singleton Vulc XLT

Your mum’s going to kill you when you get these dirty…

A simple, four hole lace, suede upper skate shoe, the Vulc XLT is flexible and smart in its white suede upper and navy sole. It makes you look like a yacht-owning skateboarder. Or a skateboard-owning yachterist, perhaps? We’ll have to ask Charlie later about what the best outcome of that is. There’s a Michelin sole, with tread obviously inspired by gravel tyres, so perhaps this is one for you flat pedal gravelleurs…

Etnies Windrow Vulc

Beige and white, what could possibly go wrong?


The Etnies Windrow Vulc is a slightly more involved construction compared to the Singleton, with seven pairs of lace holes and a more padded tongue and sides. The shoe comes in probably the worst colour combo for British wear; namely a light, tan suede upper that’ll show the first water drop and make you forever sad, combined with a white, inverted pyramid ‘Geohex’ sole that’ll fill up with grit and grime the second you wear them outside. Saying that, though, they’re instantly comfy, with an EVA midsole and, like most skate shoes, will spend their lives helping their owner drive to the shops, or to drink macchiatos while wearing.

Thread of the Week

Our endless love this week goes to Stirling Crispin for this championship quality thread posting…

For a limited/unlimited time we’ve decided to award An Actual Prize to the TOTW. And it seems pretty obvious that it’s the item featured below (Forum Bottle Opener) that should be awarded. So, well done jekkyl. Email editorial@singletrackworld.com to claim your opener…

Singletrack Forum Bottle Opener

Opens bottles of beer and other drinks. Oversized hole to make hanging it up extra easy. 180mm length delivers industry leading beverage to leverage ratio. 2mm stainless steel. It’s a steel without stains! Subtle text reminding you why you are here.

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Donadagohvi!

Rocking Suzi Q with a garage classic

Enjoy your bicycling this weekend! There’s plenty of pushbike racing on telly an’ all.

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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.

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Home Forums Fresh Goods Friday 608: The Bike Heavy Edition

Viewing 32 posts - 1 through 32 (of 32 total)
  • Fresh Goods Friday 608: The Bike Heavy Edition
  • whatyadoinsucka
    Free Member

    had to google claymore, thinking a Mine, also a sword.. very nice Red

    is the bluegrass d30 back protector cool?, my fox one is well hot..

    ps. £110 for the canvas sleuth, black leather ladies ones are £30 on Evanscycles

    teethgrinder
    Full Member

    Headset-routed cables can get to ****

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    is the bluegrass d30 back protector cool?, my fox one is well hot..

    I’ve got the slightly bigger one with shoulder pads in and it’s not bad at all in the grand scheme of these things. You’d never forget you’re wearing it but it’s not bad.

    whatyadoinsucka
    Free Member

    thanks @ dangeourbrain, i’ll see if they drop in price

    nickc
    Full Member

    Amongst some strong contenders for the title of “worlds’s ugliest E-bike” that Whyte goes straight into the top 5. Why are they (as a group) so uniformly bad?

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    FWIW The pockets are a good size and there’s space for a bladder in with the back protector of mine too.

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Why are they (as a group) so uniformly bad?

    I guess its just that we’re used to seeing skinny tubes and the like. Give it a decade or two and I reckon they’ll look the same but we’ll think that’s very normal rather than awful

    IHN
    Full Member

    We all know the vitamin stuff is nonsense, right?

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    It is absolutely not @IHN its even more potent than purest rattle snake distillate

    monkeyboyjc
    Full Member

    May as well replace every side on those dice to “crash horrificly” for me…..

    voodoo-rich
    Full Member

    Pretty standard vitamins and readily-available supplements, with added marketing… for £££

    Kryton57
    Full Member

    That T140 looks like the play bike I want. Please tell me its less than £3k…

    thegeneralist
    Free Member

    Tell me I’m not the only one who opened the article so see what these ridiculously overweight bikes were that pushed even STW to title it the Heavy Bikes Edition

    johnnystorm
    Full Member

    and offer the purest ingredients without the use of any additives.

    Where are they mining this pure vitamin ore?

    Such bollocks and £30 a month! 🤣

    desperatebicycle
    Full Member

    Give it a decade or two and I reckon they’ll look the same but we’ll think that’s very normal rather than awful

    Maybe mountain bikers will evolve cat-like pupils so we see things slimmer and massive shoulder muscles so we don’t notice 40kg bike weight when lifting them over gates.

    darlobiker
    Full Member

    Not THE Bryan Steel?

    zerocool
    Full Member

    Headset routed cables and flat mount brakes can go do one.

    HoratioHufnagel
    Free Member

    I reckon if you add a decent waterbottle to that Whyte E160, it will weigh roughly the same as 3 of those Canyon bikes.

    tuboflard
    Full Member

    Those dice should have “compound” and “fracture” along with “dislocated” and “shoulder” on them.

    voodoo-rich
    Full Member

    @Kryton57 the Whyte is listed at £4099 by Balfes, cheaper model at £3299 has full Deore groupset and Rockshox at both ends. I saw the Guy Kesteven review and went looking, no idea if the prices or spec are correct.

    dawson
    Full Member

    It’s coming to something when the title of FGF makes it sound like it is an anomaly for it to actually contain several bikes

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    its even more potent than purest rattle snake distillate

    As good as directional hi-fi interconnect cables?

    didnthurt
    Full Member

    Doesn’t help that the Whyte is in Flymo orange.

    honourablegeorge
    Full Member

    That Claymore looks ace, has turned my head more than any other recent bike I can think of

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    As good as directional hi-fi interconnect cables?

    Better than that, it’s like directional cables crossed with conti vert pros.

    Rubber_Buccaneer
    Full Member

    Where are they mining this pure vitamin ore?

    Such bollocks and £30 a month!

    There isn’t even an out of date discount code in the member’s area

    brakestoomuch
    Full Member

    I love you all. I may have been drinking.

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    @whatyadoinsucka so as it came up yesterday…

    I’ve been out for an all day and wholly inappropriate for a back protector ride in mine today, under a thin ls jersey, and I haven’t been too hot despite the weather.

    As to why I would do this there is a reason, its not very good, so I’ll pretend it was in the interest of science and being able to tell you if I died of heat exhaustion or not. I didn’t.

    argee
    Full Member

    Whyte have got rid of that horrible seat tube brace, the T140 now looks like most of the bikes in that 4-bar style, but at least they have UK company and support backing them up, would have been a contender before i got the norco if this had been out.

    robertajobb
    Full Member

    Has the integrated Canyon handlebar/stem combo broken yet? Like many other needless bollox designs they’ve put out in the past couple of years on road and TT Bikes ? If not, it’ll probably be doing so before long.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    £1 per vitamin pill on a monthly subscription vs £3 for 90 pills in Aldi. That is quite some mark up!

    And zero evidence they do any good.

    tykebike
    Free Member

    Are nettle stings more powerful than they used to be? Not for people who wear gloves like they used to do.

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