Hannah says: Science? Heck. I’ve barely recovered from the scientific calculator last week. I can’t do science, or at least not numbers based science stuff. Graphs especially. It’s like a foreign language – except they’re actually quite easy in comparison. Graphs are just wiggly lines or clusters of dots. I can just about manage a bar chart. Somehow I have ended up with a husband that thinks and talks in numbers and percentages. I think in ‘some’ and ‘quite a lot’. Quite a lot of the time – about 90% maybe – I have no idea what he’s talking about. Who knows how big that forest we’re going to is in hectares, or acres? I know that it takes one sandwich to ride around it, or that it takes about as long to walk through it as it takes to walk to school. No, I don’t know the population of Birmingham. Last week I spent a fair amount of time convinced it was 2022. Yes, I actually Googled it in the end to check. There’s only one difference between 2022 and 2023, and that’s a number. 2 and 3 are quite similar. It was an easy mistake to make. And no, I haven’t been in the Golden Lion recently. IYKYK….
It’s FGF 669. Which is another confusing number. It’s like one number is having a little roll around doing somersaults. 966. 696. 669. And arms in the air, dismount, and ta-dah. Is this maths or rhythmic gymnastics? Are we sure Hannah hasn’t been in the Golden Lion, or maybe just Todmorden, a little too long?
Norco Sight VLT C2
- Price: £6,999
- From: ZyroFisher
Now that Norco have got themselves a proper UK distributor once more (ZyroFisher) we’re starting to see more of them out and about on the MTB Media Scene. This is a good thing. Norco always seem to make interesting bikes. This looks to be another one. The Sight VLT is essentially the electric version of the Sight. Big wheels. Healthy amount of suspension travel. Capable looking geometry. Plenty of bottle mounts. Good spec that doesn’t skimp on tyres or dampers. And a Shimano EP8 motor and big battery options (this one comes with a 720Wh by the way).
Patagonia Dirt Roamer Storm Jacket
- Price: £300.00
- From: Patagonia
A slightly stretchy waterproof with some interesting features. You get 3/4 length 2-way zip down the front, and full length 2-way zips down the sides. A hood fits over a helmet (no stowage option though), and it’s designed to pack down small – it fits into its own rear pocket. Made in a Fair-Trade certified factory with Patagonia’s recycled 3-layer H2No Performance Standard fabric.
Schwalbe Billy Bonkers 26er Tyres
- Price: £20.73 each
- From: Amazon
Charlies says: “Life is better by bike, and every time a bike is the solution, it’s also an opportunity to build or resurrect another bike. So, off I go to the west coast of Euroland on a surf road trip while the air is 35c and the sea is at very agreeable 23c. The surf may be a few KM from camp, so a road trip beach bike is required. But what bike to throw on the back of the van? It will be on show outside the van on the rack, be locked but left unattended, so needs to be cool, but ultimately undesirable (just like me). The answer: this 1984 Raleigh USA Crested Butte. It was a crazy $800 USD in 1984 when it was sold by the Memorial Cycle Store in Houston, Texas.
“When digging it out of the lockup, the Tioga Wonder Dawg Tyres (circa 1990) looked too nice to use, they would be better off with a collector on a resto project. A quick search of the Schwalbe site revealed a cool 26″ pump track BMX ish tyre… with yet another deranged name… Billy Bonkers. It’s a 2.1″ 26er with “K-Guard” puncture protection. You also get retro brown sidewalls and change form £50 for a pair of tyres. They roll fast, look cool and will keep this bike in service for another decade or two.
“The suspect product name theme continues with a genuine product from the early 90’s. The Insane Wayne NadPad. I won this at MTB club Xmas party raffle decades ago. It is made from a tyre and protects your gonads from the awesome welded double stem”.
Funn Python Pedal
- Price: £110.00
- From: Funn MTB
Ultra thin (10.5mm!) flat peggles. AL6061 forged body. Cartridge bearings. Also has a full length bushing axle system. 11 pins each side. Comes supplied with a super cute Action Man wrench for pin removal/tightening/installation. Optional long pins (sold separately). Dimensions: 103mm x 110mm. 375g. Colours! Black, red, blue, grey (pictured) green, orange and turquoise. Despite what folk may think, I [Benji] am not totally averse to non-concave flat pedals… as long as the grip is there. I’m a secret fan of Shimano XT flats for example, with the correct shoes. Am always interested in trying new flatties.
Funn Equalizer Stem
- Price: £74.00
- From: Funn MTB
This is the sort of stem that Edward Woodward and/or Denzel Washington would be running. Crisply CNCd 6061 aluminium. Available in 31.8 and 35mm bar diameters and in 35, 42 and 50mm lengths. Modest stack height (34mm). Plenty of colour choice: blakc, grey, red, blue, orange and green. We’ve got the 31.8mm 35mm long version in black which weighs in around 135g.
Funn Upturn Bars
- Price: £TBC
- From: Funn MTB
Oh lordy! One for the high rise fans out there. How high is too high? Impossible! Well, we shall see how these lofty 55mm rise Upturn handlebars from Funn perform. We may have to wait until we get a long-reach short-headtube bike in! Also available in 40mm rise. 6061 aluminium. Sandblast finish. Indiscation marks for trimming and accurate/consistent controls positioning. 31.8mm diameter. 785mm width. Colours: blakc, red, blue, grey, orange and green.
Magura Vyron MDS V3 25mm Travel Kit
- Price: £14.99
- From: Magura
We’ve got one of those Magura Vyron wireless dropper posts in for test at the mo. This is the little kit you need if you need to change the travel by 25mm. Not a lot to it is there? (We hope we didn’t drop any of it under the fridge…)
Magura ShiftMix
- Price: £17.99 each
- From: Magura
It’s time to tidy up our cockpits. And for those bikes lucky enough to be sporting Magura’s excellent MT7 brakes, we have these ShiftMix clamp adapters… thingummybobs. These allow you to directly mount your gear levers (and some dropper remotes with a bit of cunning) to Magura brake clamps. Available for Shimano I-Spec I+II or Sram Matchmaker and for left or right.
Leatt Womens MTB 1.0 GripR Gloves
- Price: £32.99
- From: Hotlines
Form-Fit finger stitching. Vented, 360-degree stretch upper hand. MicronGrip palm with Silicone grip print. Pre-curved seamless palm. Stretch Stitch thread for seams. Snot/sweat/lens wipe zone. Stretch fit cuff. Just the right amount of jazzy in the design.
Leatt 6.0 Clipless Shoes
- Price: £159.99
- From: Hotlines
Mesh construction. “Strategically” placed TPU reinforcement on toe, heel and perimeter. Directional (AKA cat tongue) heel grip lining. ATOP lacing system. Leatt SPD Channel claims “all-pedal compatibility”. RideGrip sole compound. Control Flex Shank – Semi-Rigid Flex. Anti-compression midsole. Active Carbon insole and lining -(moisture-wicking, quick-dry, anti-bacterial, anti-odour material).
Leatt 7.0 HydraDri Flat Shoes
- Price: £189.99
- From: Hotlines
Heatwave? What heatwave? Check out these flat pedal shoes with built-in overshoe protection. 10K/10K Hydradri membrane. Speed lace system and waterproof sealed zip. Elastic with press-stud closure above the ankle. RideGrip PRO compound. Revised WaffleGrip Pro pattern for enhanced grip with short pedal pins. Anti-compression EVA midsole for comfort. Active Carbon insole (moisture-wicking, quick-dry, anti-bacterial, anti-odour material).
Leatt Hydration MTB XL 1.5
- Price: £169.99
- From: Hotlines
New colourway for an existing backpack from Leatt. As you can see from the myriad of pics, there’s a lot of features and pockets on this thing. AirLine back ventilation. Dual hydration tube routing: over the shoulder or the under arm. Magnetic tube catcher. Interestingly, is apparently optimised to fit with or without a Leatt neck brace. 1.5L hydration (bladder included) and 20L general cargo space not including hte various strap-on options, as it were.
Leatt Velocity 5.5 Goggles
- Price: £79.99
- From: Hotlines
“Out-riggers with a 45mm anti-slip coated strap. Permanent anti-fog function built into the inner lens polymer. Self-draining lens/frame design. Tapered custom shape to fit even those difficult helmets. OTG – Over-the-glasses fit. Triple-layer, dual-density foam and anti-sweat fleece backing. Roll-Off ready for Leatt WideVision 48mm system.”
Thread Of The Week
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It’s Singletrack’s long running, weekly roundup of all of the new products that have been sent in to the magazine.
They’re sent in by bike companies and marketing agencies
They’re featured and then some are reviewed down the line in either Singletrack Magazine or in online reviews and photoshoots.
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Nothing. Nil. Zero. Diddlysquat. Sod all. Just send all ‘next big things’ to us at – Fresh Goods Friday, Singletrack Magazine, Lockside Mill, Dale Street, Todmorden. OL14 5PX. Please note that if you require the products back after they have featured then you are responsible for arranging collection at your cost. While it is our policy to feature everything we receive in FGF if we decide your product is not suitable for publication we won’t do it. Publication is at our discretion. Whether a product goes on for publication as a review is at editorial discretion. Beer, coffee & spirits will ALWAYS be tested.
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