Fresh Goods Friday 671 – The Picking Cherries Edition

by and 9

The words “cherry picker” mean different things to different people. Most ordinary people (link NSFW) will probably think of the machinery depicted in the featured image of this web story. Some more haplessly romantic people may think of actual cherries being actually picked. A very small amount of people will think of 1980s BMX flatland tricks.

Anyways, whatever your cherry picker of choice, enjoy this week’s Fresh Goods Friday!

All hail the mighty Ruffell!

Lapierre E-Zesty AM LTD

A mid-power e-mountain bike from Lapierre. Looks good on paper. And in the flesh. It uses the Fazua Ride 60 system. 60Nm of torque. 430Wh battery. Suspension and component choice looks pretty sound (although the 760mm wide Renthal bars do instantly feel dinky). Geometry looks pretty sound on this XL size also: 460mm seat tube, 65° head angle, 77° seat angle, 445mm chain stays, 140mm head tube, 505mm reach.

SRAM Apex XPLR AXS Drivetrain

  • Price: £1,227
  • From: SRAM

This is for resident gravelleur Amanda’s testbed bike makeover. Amanda will be bringing you more info about this stuff soon (like, hopefully next week all being well).

SRAM: “The XPLR collection from SRAM celebrates a new era of drop bar riding to make gravel yours. Every upgrade works great by itself or all together. So pick a path, or mix and match galore. After all, gravel is what you make it. Tailored to the needs of drop bar riders, SRAM’s 1x-specific XPLR drivetrains target a gearing sweet spot. With a 10-44T or 11-44T cassette and matching derailleur, you get big range for gravel climbs and tight jumps for fast riding on road, whether you prefer wireless or mechanical.”

Privateer 161 Frame

  • Price: £1,191.76 – discounted price but currently sold out (£1,589 full retail)
  • From: Privateer BIkes

Ross: “This is my new build project – a Privateer 161 in P3 size. When Benji had a Privateer 161 GX in for a recent test I had a few goes, quite liked it, but thought with a few tweaks it could be properly good. So here it is! And what’s good about it? It’s made from metal, has external cable routing and proper geometry.

“The stock frame comes with a RockShox Super Deluxe Ultimate air shock, but I’m keen to try coil (one of the tweaks I originally thought about) so I’ve fitted a Fox DHX Coil. The finished build will be a mix of tried and trusted products and new test kit, and it should hopefully prove to be a solid test bed for reviewing harder hitting components.”

Hope Pro5 XD Freehub

After a wild few years of flux we appear to have settled down on the whole hub (and freehub) standards. Pretty much everything we get is 148/110 Boost with 12mm bolt-thru. And we’re now on ‘just’ the two freehubs these days: Shimano Microspline and SRAM XD. This little fellow is so we can make our current Microspline-d Pro 5 hubbed wheels accept SRAM-a-lamma-ding-dong drivetrains. Nice green seal.

Hope 5mm Hose & Bits

This is so that Ross can continue to use the frankly amazing Hope Tech 4 V4 brakes on his new Privateer 161 build. It’s pretty much true that it’s hard to go back to ther brakes once you’ve got used to Tech 4 V4s!

Singletrackworld Subscription

Countdown to membership cut off for the next print issue of Singletrack World Magazine is nearly at an end. YOu have until close-of-play Sunday (I think). Get on board! The next issue is a classic.

Top Secret Very Significant Thing

  • Price: N/A
  • From: The Future

Hmmm… 🤔

Cherry Picker

  • Price: £500 + deposit
  • HSS

Some people will go to great lengths to get their football back from the Singletrackworld office roof. It was a “proper casey” though to be fair ⚽

Thread Of The Week

Congratulations to lunge this week for telling us what most of us already were well aware of (in a good way)…

The winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. So @lunge please email editorial@singletrackworld.com for your random prize. Don’t forget to include your postal address, as it really speeds up delivery logistics like. Ta!

From Hannah

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.

Signing up to our mailing list is not only a great way to keep up-to-date on all things Singletrack but it is also a great, free way to support us.

Sign up to receive awesome editorial content from Hannah every week.

We appreciate how handing over your email address is a mark of your trust in us. Check your inbox for our confirmation email and click the link to activate your newsletter.
We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Check out a previous newsletter here

What is Fresh Goods Friday?

It’s Singletrack’s long running, weekly roundup of all of the new products that have been sent in to the magazine.

Where do all of the goods come from?

They’re sent in by bike companies and marketing agencies

What happens to all of the products?

They’re featured and then some are reviewed down the line in either Singletrack Magazine or in online reviews and photoshoots.

What happens to them when you’ve finished with them?

They’re usually sent back after review, or kept on long-term test bikes. But no one ever asks for shorts and shoes back. Trust us on that. Once we were asked to return some brake pads.

I’m a company making the next big thing. How much does it cost to feature in FGF?

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.

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 Fresh Goods Friday 671 – The Picking Cherries Edition

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Fresh Goods Friday 671 – The Picking Cherries Edition
  • Woo
    Full Member

    Marvellous to see this early while having lunch in Ikea near Leeds.  Alas no bike parts but the Swedish meatballs are excellent.

    ads678
    Full Member

    Top secret thing – Is that on a Canyon E-bike as it says CF on the top tube?

    darlobiker
    Full Member

    I thought the top secret thing might have been self centering steering, then I noticed the position of the front wheel.

    julians
    Free Member

    Isn’t a football a “caser” rather than a “Casey”?

    snotrag
    Full Member

    Ahem, cherry picker? Category 3B mobile elevating work platform thankyouverymuch…

    Secret tech looks like a display/control uni to me, next gen of kit from bosch, yamaha, fazua etc presumably?

    Privateer will be mega fun.

    dangeourbrain
    Free Member

    Ahem, cherry picker? Category 3B mobile elevating work platform thankyouverymuch…

    My ipaf course was done in the holding carpark for a very fancy garage, turns out the first time you drive one of those things around at full extension that doing it round what was probably several million pound in cars helps focus the mind a bit. I remember the last flag I had to pickup needed me to move the unit in between a cayenne and a bright blue lambo with about four inch to spare then swing the boom up and round.
    On the upside I’ve never been nervous about driving one on site 🤣

    zerocool
    Full Member

    That Lapierre looks really nice.  I’m glad e-bikes are starting to look better nowadays. 2 questions.
    1 – can the battery be removed so it can be used as a regular bike (like the Transition Relay)?

    and 2 – is the seat tube long enough for a decent dropper insertion.

    Ben_Haworth
    Full Member

    @zerocool 1. The battery can be removed I think (it’s a bit faffy and only meant to happen if needs repairing/replacing I reckon) but the motor remains in place o it isn’t as weight savey as previous E Zesty models (if that’s what you mean?)

    2. Hmm. I’d say no to ‘decent’ insertion. ‘Acceptable’ insertion maybe. This XL can only *just* about about have my saddle low enough at pedalling height with the 170 post inserted as far as seat tube allows. The L also comes with a 170mm post too IIRC. In this instance, it’s fine for me but for other folks and/or on other sizes, I dunno.

    Kamakazie
    Full Member

    Agreed that the Lapierre looks great, but even with the guard that shock looks destined for some major stone & grit damage.

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.