This is the Grintro… it’s like an intro but smiley 🙂 Time to down tools and check out what the various couriers and posties have lobbed at us this past seven days.
It’s definitely that time of year. New bikes are launching daily and those new clothes/shoes/components are finally in stock at the bike shop down the road. With Chr… er, the festive season starting to loom, are we the only ones who have two shopping lists? You know, ‘One for them… one for me’ – just us then? What with Black Cyber SunMonday and all of the invented holidays for spending, it’s very easy to get caught up in the consumer frenzy and convince yourself that ‘2023 Me’ will only achieve mountain bike nirvana with a new cycling jersey, some shoes, a wider handlebar, shorter stem and a spanky new front tyre.
We say, if that’ll inspire you to get out in the darker, colder months, then go for it. If you’d rather have the carrot of shiny new things than the stick of the bathroom scales, or of trying to keep up with your mates, then do what works for you. Conversely, if you’re pure of heart and only need the sun to rise to be inspired to get out riding, then good for you too. And besides, there’s no harm in a bit of window shopping, right? Even if you’re meant to be buying oven gloves and Lego. (Or were those on your Christmas list anyway?)
Anyway, with the weekend looming and some enforced trips to the shops on the cards, we have test bikes to ride. In fact, as you read this there’ll be another three (we think) test bikes being dropped off at STW HQ. Honestly, it’s like Christmas ’round ‘ere sometimes.
Cannondale Moterra Neo 3
- Price: £5,750
- From: Cannondale
The Cannondalers visited the Calderdalers last Friday and left with us a great many things. All of which you will witness as you scroll down this very webpage. The most significant thing deposited with us was this Bosch-motored, 750Wh-batteried Moterra Neo 3.
Hannah will be the principal tester of this bike, although the Medium size didn’t stop lanky Benji nabbing it for the weekend and rinsing the battery completely flat (which took quite a while, as it happens). Initial verdicts? “That’s a good one, that is.”
Cannondale Gripper Stacked 600ml bottle
- Price: £12.00
- From: Cannondale
Water bottles are something that it is all too easy to become obsessed with. Obsessed with finding The Perfect One, that is. This H2Offering from Cannondale is a pretty decent go. Nothing overly proprietary when it come to body shape, so it should fit it most folk’s cages without any annoying gaps or rattles. Big flow valve design. Easy to grab dimpled neck zone. And – most importantly – an aesthetically pleasing graphic on the outside. 8/10.
Obviously, the best/worst thing about bottles is that they go tatty depressingly quickly (especially when ATBing) so you have to begin the search all over again.
Cannondale Apparel
- Price: N/A
- From: Cannondale
Some cotton based garments that don’t appear to exist. Well, we can’t find any details about them on The Internet anyway.
Cannondale Set-Off Flat Kit
- Price: £32.00
- From: Cannondale
Twist-controlled dinky CO2 inflator with built-in non-piercing cartridge storage. Two PriBar tyre levers. Two 16g CO2 cartridges. Molded silicone insulator sleeve. Polyurethane straps fits most bikes. Just add your inner tube of choice.
Cannondale Precise Floor Pump
- Price: £55.00
- From: Cannondale
“Perfect for multi-bike households” apparently. Or the Singletrack BikeCave. Massive dual-stage gauge, bleed valve and suggested pressure ranges, if you’re feeling unsure. Gripper foothold. Ergonomic handle. AutoSelect head adjusts to Schrader or Presta valves.
Giro Montaro Helmet Pads
- Price: £9.99
- From: Giro
A ropey old phone pic snapped before heading out into the frozen hinterland beyond Tosside (AKA Gisburn Forest). I [Benji] washed the pads from my much-loved Giro Montaro helmet the other day. For some insane reason I thought it would be okay just to lob them in with some other garments. Big mistake. I will never see the two smaller pads ever again. Well, not until they fall out of the sleeve of a rarely worn long sleeve shirt or something. So I got some replacements. Next time I will definitely* remember to be bothered to put the pads in a zip-up mesh bag before washing to keep them from going AWOL. Honest.
*I almost certainly won’t
SKS MSP Mountain Suspension Pump
- Price: £46.99
- From: Zyro Fisher
This is where bikepacking meets biketesting. Not many normal people need such a compact shock pump. When fettling new test bikes it’s very much a necessity to take a shock pump with you. Carpark/workshop sag setting is all well and good but sometimes a bike just doesn’t quite like what you’ve done with its PSI pumpers once you’re out on the trails far from your toolbox.
Regular shock pumps are just that little bit too big to take out in a bumbag or jersey pocket. This is where the SKS MSP comes in handy; the overall size can be reduced to a minimum thanks to the detachable steel flex hose. The connection is made using a two-stage screw connection, which allows screwing on/off without loss of pressure. No one likes screwing under pressure.
Privateer 161 GX
- Price: £3,689
- From: Privateer Bikes
Not a new-new bike by any means (the first stirrings of the 161 date all the way back to 2019) but the 161 is still way up on a lot of people’s shortlists when it comes to relatively inexpensive enduro sleds that don’t have sucky geometry. What does this particular 161 build proffer? Well, it’s a size P3 which gives us a 490mm reach, 450mm seat tube length, 446mm chain stays, 120mm head tube length. The other geo stats are shared across the sizing range: 64°head angle (which doesn’t sound that ‘progressive’ anymore does it? At least it’s Angleset-friendly), 80° seat angle and 30mm BB drop.
As regards build-up bits ‘n’ bobs, there’s Ultimate level RockShox boinging dampers, Race Face cockpit stuff, One-Up dropper, Hayes Dominion A4 brakes, SRAM GX Eagle drivetrain, Hunt Enduro Wide V2 wheelset, Assegai DHR II rubber combo.
Pinnacle Alder Flat & SPD Shoes
- Price: £99.99
- From: Evans Cycles
With these sneaks, your feet will be “treated to a mesh tongue and collar while the non-slip heel helps keep your foot securely in place and the heel loop aids pulling them on and off.” What else? Lacing with additional Velcro strap, abrasion panel around the toes.
That ‘flat or SPD’ claim then. Hmm… we’ve worn shoes like these before and often find they’re very much SPD-y and not very flat-y. We’ll give them a go as pure flat pedals shoes, just to see. As it is, we reckon our in-house clipper innerers will end up with these.
Bentley Components Titanium Top Cap
- Price: from £28.00
- From: Bentley Components
CNC engraved titanium. Includes M6 x 30mm low profile stainless screw. Each one is anodised by hand, some are hand polished to contrast, some are disco anodised, some are flat and some are domed. Something for almost everyone.
Shower Pass Men’s Cloudburst Jacket
- Price: Was £175, now £131
- From: Shower Pass
Charlie says: “At the time of writing this, Shower Pass have 25% off in a ‘Cyber Week Sale’.
“The jacket is made from an innovative EliteAIR three layer fabric, that has good breathability and waterproof levels. It’s a 4 way stretch fabric, with a soft feel and an athletic fit, which is very welcome. I am a big chap and find that often an XL or XXL jacket is required for sleeve length, but some brands assume I am also 20+ stone and give me enough space around the belly to accommodate myself and a sheep. Great for rustling but bad for cycling. This is one of those near minimalist jackets that has everything you need such as vents, pockets front and rear and an adjustable hem, and none of the bulky extras such as a hood. Its packability makes it a great ‘weather looks OK, but I don’t trust it’ jacket.”
Women’s European Football Champions Top Trumps
- Price: £8.00
- From: Winning Moves
Excuse the slightly covert/rushed nature of the photograph; this set of Top Trumps is a top secret birthday present for a soccer-loving small female art-director-in-training who turns 7 very soon. Soon after this pic was taken the cards were quickly stashed back in The Official Prezzie Hiding Zone.
Seven years old. Eeeh… I don’t know, it only seems like yesterday since we were mopping down the blood-soaked walls of the birthing suite.
Everyone was perfectly fine by the way. Apart from the ever so slightly squeamish father…
Pete Scullion Issue 139 A3 Art Print – The Sound of Arisaig
- Price: £29.99 – members get a crafty discount
- From: The Singletrack Shop
Charlie says: “Pete recently won the Singletrack Readers Award for best photographer, and it really is no surprise. Take a look at the picture here that we used on the cover of issue 139. Yeah, stop what you are doing and spend 30 seconds lost in this picture, whilst listening to Wolfmother below. 1, 2, 3…
“… 28, 29, and 30. You back? Pretty damned cool isn’t it. How do you feel now? Pretty neat feeling isn’t it. We found that people who looked at this picture before 9am have a very high propensity to call in sick and ride their bike. These people are legends and will go on to be extra happy. Pop this on your wall for instant inspiration… and maybe a P45.”
Thread of the Week
This week’s winning TOTW is hereby awarded to winerwalker for this peach… Honestly. Can you imagine living like that? Just imagine. Ahem.
Every week the winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. And it’s now the fabulous majestic Singletrack x Granite Designs RockBand Strap that is to be awarded. So HIYA! to winerwalker. Please email editorial@singletrackworld.com. Please include your postal address, as it really speeds up delivery times.
Classified Ad of the Week
- Price: £120
- From: ST Classifieds
iainc: “This is in very good condition with no marks or scratches. Boxed with cable, manual etc. Not worn much as I use my Apple Watch for daily wear. Looking for £120 posted UK.”
Atsisveikink!
Join our mailing list to receive Singletrack editorial wisdom directly in your inbox.
Each newsletter is headed up by an exclusive editorial from our team and includes stories and news you don’t want to miss.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.