Fresh Goods Friday 611: The Skeleton Crew Edition

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Hello? Is there anybody there? Can anybody hear me? The mass exodus continues. Cliff Richard appears to have take everybody on a summer holiday.

This week’s Fresh Goods Friday may only have half a dozen things in it but hey! Two of them are bikes at least. And somewhat typically, most of the week’s deliveries happened late yesterday or this morning and there hasn’t been anyone in the ST HQ with the requisite amount of time/spanners/cameras to do anything. Either that, or the stuff that’s arrived is hush-hush embargo fodder. So apologies for that. Take solace in the fact that next week’s FGF should be a right proper belter and no mistake.

Great even without a naked Tom Hardy

Hope Fortus 30 Single Cavity Pro 4 Wheelset

Released without much fanfare at the end of last year, we’ve got some of these Hope hoops in.

The ‘SC’ on the rim stands for Single Cavity, so unlike the Fortus 30 – which is aimed at ebikes and Downhill – the SC forgoes the internal rim structure, saving you 100g and giving you a trail/enduro wheel. In other respects, the Fortus 30 SC is the same as the original Fortus 30 – an alloy rim with 32 spoke holes, recommended for tyres 2.4 – 2.8in wide.

Hope Tech 4 V4

Described by Hope as “our most powerful brake”, there’s certainly no mucking about here. Just big bigness. All the way down to the hewge 220mm front floating rotor. And because Hope are very useful, they’ve included a plethora of mounts and pad options so we can get schlapping these on a bike straight away. We really liked the Tech 4 E4 brakes (featured in the imminent issue of the mag’s group test don’t you know), so we have very high hopes(!) for these stoppers.

Mondraker Crafty Carbon RR

Remember that missing bike we talked/moaned about in last week’s FGF? Well, it finally turned up safe and sound. And it really was worth the wait. Yes, it has one of those silly cable-swallowing headsets that no-one likes but… this is an excellent example of a good handling e-bike. We’ve only been out a couple of times on this particular one but we’ve ridden Crafty Carbons before and they are one of the very few full-fat (750Wh battery, 85Nm motor) ebikes that handle with an amazing degree of nimbleness. We even quite like this red colourway, and we’re not usually fans of red bikes. And it’s interesting to get back on a Bosch bike after so many Shimano EP8 bikes we’ve had this year.

Freestate Gummies

  • Price: £10 for this pack of 20 (2 per bag)
  • From: Freestate
Something for the weekend?

A stranger offered us some sweets and we said yes. But it was via an email so that makes it okay (doesn’t it?) Anyway, what are these things? Despite looking like something that you might see on a sidetable as you walk into a swingers AGM, these are energy products. Low-sugar, vegan gummies with caffeine and vitamins. They’re claimed to “give you a surge of energy in only 5-10 minutes, without any of the bloat, crash or nastiness of energy drinks, gels or supplements.” 2.6g of sugar and 14.4kcal per gummy.

Vitus Sommet 297 CRS

  • Price: £3,199
  • From: Vitus

Does this bike look familiar? It should. Kind of. We had its full 29 sibling in FGF 607 a few weeks back. Basically, we ended up thinking that this mixed wheel mullet #partybike version of the Sommet would be the better bike. Long story. Pretty much boils down to chainstay lengths. So we did a swapsie. Other than having a smaller rear wheel, it’s pretty much exactly the same spec as the 29er was. 170mm modern mountain bike. Looking forward to schredding some hot lapz on this thang. Or just going for a pootle. It’s all good.

Fujifilm mystery boxes

Ooh! What exciting expensive photographic goodies are in here then??

Ah. Empty boxes for sending broken cameras back to Fuji. Not so much excite.

Risk

Someone in Singletrack’s extended family just turned ten (TEN FFS!) years old and the main thing they wanted was to take over the world. Well, what they actually wanted was a board game called Risk. Place your bets on when/if this particular battle will outlive the entire school hols?

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Thread of the Week

Congratulations this week goes to… tjagain, for this fuzzy feelz thread:

Each week the winning TOTW gets a prize. And it’s the majestic Forum Bottle Opener that is to be awarded currently.

Hey there tjagain, please email editorial@singletrackworld.com to claim your opener.

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Adeus!

Nice one Laurence

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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 611: The Skeleton Crew Edition

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)
  • Fresh Goods Friday 611: The Skeleton Crew Edition
  • landslide
    Full Member

    Never get involved in a land war in Asia.
    I’d also strongly advise against starting a game any time after 7pm, especially if you have anything to do the next morning.

    duncancallum
    Full Member

    Give it to him personally I believe he’s nursing a Binners induced hangover and heading east.

    Just keep an eye out on the to path for someone dragging a trailer and then make sure ask him about an independent Scotland

    ElShalimo
    Full Member

    I think I know where everyone is

    jamiestogden
    Free Member

    Can you take photos of the bikes with posts up in future? They look so odd that it’s quite distracting 😀

    b33k34
    Full Member

    Love Risk. So did Jimi Hendrix apparently.

    darlobiker
    Full Member

    Not sure you can call those sweets low sugar when it still provides the majority of the calories.

    MrOvershoot
    Full Member

    jamiestogden
    Can you take photos of the bikes with posts up in future? They look so odd that it’s quite distracting 😀

    I agree I’m guessing it must be the fashion?

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    According to the Hope web-site, those Fortus 30 Single Cavity wheels weigh ‘from 2195g’ in 29″ size, which seems a lot for a trail/enduro wheel.

    thepurist
    Full Member

    How many cameras have you broken? Guessing Fuji won’t be scoring well in the forthcoming ‘Long term camera test’ feature.

    reeksy
    Full Member

    those Fortus 30 Single Cavity wheels weigh ‘from 2195g’ in 29″ size,

    Still a few hundred less than the triple cavity wheels… a bit heavier than using Ex511 I think.

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