Fresh Goods Friday 673 – The Mashing Perfectly Edition

Merry October to you and and all! We shall do our best to keep your mountain biking stoke levels as high as is feasible. May we recommend getting some mud tyres? Don’t do expect anything to be any nicer on the trails until you get yourself sorted with some nice new rubbers. Hmm… rubbers.

If you’re not currently in a position to purchase any… thing at all really, then take solace in the fact that it’s the final round of the World Cup Downhill this coming weekend. What’s that you say? It costs money to even watch the World Cup DH these days? Ah yes. It does dunnit?

At least shooting the breeze is free eh? Who do you want to see claim the World Cup DH Overall title? The Elite Womens and Junior Mens titles have already been decided. Mathematically we *think* there are still four riders in the Men’s Elite who could take the win: Loic Bruni, Loris Vergier, Jackson Goldstone and even Finn Iles (who must still be rueing his exiting-the-tape crash earlier in the season). Anyway, GO GOLDSTONE!

In the Junior Women there are three possible winners of the Overall: Valentina Roa Sanchez, Lisa Bouladou and Erice Van Leuven. Erice is a bit of a longshot but… we can but dream. GO ERICE!

Anyhoo… ’tis time for Fresh Goods Friday at last!

‘ere y’are…

Zipp 1ZERO HITOP SW Wheelset

• Price: £2,000
• From: SRAM

Super-premium hoops from the House of Zipp. Zipp: “Zipp’s 1ZERO HITOP SW and 1ZERO HITOP S wheelsets reimagine what’s possible with a cross-country wheel. Trail compliance is vital for modern cross-country riders—your wheel should feel alive. Zipp’s HITOP carbon layup makes for a compliant wheel, so you’ll rip through rocks, ruts, and roots without losing speed, traction, or confidence. The 1ZERO HITOP SW premium carbon wheelset is ready to shred the most challenging XC trail at a light weight (1325g).”

Hutchinson Griffus Racing Lab 29 & 27.5 x 2.4in Tan

• Price: £69.95
• From: Windwave

If you know anything about me [Benji] then you probably know that I like my tyres. Specifically, I like having the correct tyres for the task in hand. Another thing you may know is that I have an Orange Switch 6 project on the go (codename: The Pink Pig). What tyres for a Pink Pig? Tempting as it was to just go down an obvious MaxxiSchwalbe route, I figured it was time to spend some quality time with a tyre brand that I’ve enjoyed in the past (specifically their classic Toro tyres) – yep, Hutchinson. I’ve not gone with Toros this time. After looking out of the window – and also factoring the type of sketchy riding I’ll be doing on The Pink Pig – I’ve opted for a set of Hutchinson Griffus 2.4 in Bronzewall. When can we expect to see a completed Pink Pig on the trail? It depends on the Italian postage system.

Lezyne Mega Drive 2400+ Light

• Price: £180.00
• From: Upgrade Bikes

Possibly called the Genesis in North America, the Mega Drive 2400+ is Lezyne’s most powerful light in their lineup, delivering 2400 lumens of output for over two hours. Waterproof USB-C 2A+ fast charging capability. CNC-machined aluminium construction with cooling fins ensures durability and efficient heat dissipation. This results in improved overall performance, ensuring illumination remains consistent for the entirety of the runtime. A strap securely fixes the light to all handlebar sizes and additional accessory mounts allow alternative mounting locations.

Lezyne Super Drive 1800+ Smart Light

• Price: £150.00
• From: Upgrade Bikes

1,800 lumens, Tri-Focus optics, waterproof USB-C charging port, 2A+ fast charging capability, CNC-machined Aluminium construction, cooling fins, ‘Smart Connect’ compatible, IPX7 waterproofing and you can customise your modes using the LED Ally smartphone app.

Lezyne Helmet Lite Drive 1200+ Light

• Price: £90.00
• From: Upgrade Bikes

Eight LEDs, delivering a broad 1,200 lumenbeam. 60-hour runtime. USB-C port, coupled with 2A+ fast charging, allows rapid recharging. CNC-machined aluminium “guarantees endurance while efficiently managing heat”. The MOR lens coupled with its GoPro mount “ensures optimal light dispersion and mounting flexibility.”

Canyon MTB Performance Flat Pedals

• Price: £93.95
• From: Canyon

Have we had these in FGF before? Soz if we have. Aayway, a(nother) pair of Canyon flatties has touched down through the letterbox this week. That’s not true. I answered and opened the front door and a parcel was given to me containing this items. Whatevz the mechanism of delivery, what about these premium peggles? Well, they look bigger-than-most. These are the Large size: 109mm x 110mm x 17mm. Bi-concave (is that even a word?). DIN 15CrMo axl. Sealed DU bushing. Pedal edge designed to slide past rocks, which is nice. 8mm Allen key instalation for small version, 6mm for larger version. For some reason.

Park INF-2 Shop Inflator

• Price: £134.95
• From: Freewheel

So, after years of faffing around with tubeless tyres and a track pump, or a converted fire extinguisher charge pump, you’ve splashed out on the cheapest compressor you could find in Machine Mart. Now, however, you find that getting the car-tyre biased inflator to work with your Presta valves is a faff, trying to use leaky brass adaptors, as no one makes a Presta gun for a compressor… or do they?

Enter the Park INF-2 Shop Inflator. It’s a reassuringly heavy inflator that fits a standard compressor hose. It features Presta and Schraeder heads, a trigger to inflate and a button to deflate, plus a gauge that will go up to 160PSI.
It probably costs more than you paid for your compressor, but hey, it’s made in the USA and is covered by Park’s lifetime warranty.

Park CN-10 Pro Cable Cutters

• Price: £49.99
• From: Freewheel

Buy once, cry once, as someone trying to justify a hefty purchase once said. However, Park’s Pro cable cutters really are the gold standard for bike-related cable and outer cutting duties. The cold forged and heat-treated handles feature ground cutting jaws as well as cable, and outer cable end cap, crimpers. If you only replace a gear cable once every few years, these are overkill, but if you run a fleet of bikes, with an assortment of cable-shifting and cable-braking setups, you’ll probably be happy at the amount of time you save by not having frayed cable ends and squished housing…

Madison Cycling Socks

• Price: From £4.99 to £14.99
• From: Freewheel

New cycling socks give you the biggest emotional boost of any cycling purchase. Fact! While getting a new groupset or pair of suspension forks will make your bike feel better, new cycling socks will make YOU feel better. We know many endurance riders and pro racers who keep a brand new pair of socks kept back just for race day, or for day two of an overnighter. You might have slept in a bin, but at least you have new socks…

And we’ve just seen that Freewheel has a MASSIVE sale on socks going on. These are some of the jauntiest socks on the block, so go get some – and then give them to yourself for Christmas.

Singletrack World Awards 2023 Voting!

• Price: £0.00
• From: Singletrack World Awards 2023 Page

The Readers’ Choice component of the 2023 Singletrack World Awards kicked off yesterday with the Most Desirable Mountain Bike category. The plan is to open up a new round of voting for each category every day from now on until well… until we’ve done them all. Have your say. This is dirtbike democracy in action people!

Idahoan Potato Pots

• Price: £1.50
• From: Idahoan

These are Hannah’s own private Idahoan potato pots and she’s not sharing. Just add boiling water and you will have a pot of tasty flavoured mashed potato. Mmm…. Not to be confused with porridge pots in the morning, perhaps. The last time Hannah had Idahoan instant mash it was the bagged variety for which you need an actual pan, and she was deep in the woods of actual Idaho. She is going to close her eyes as she eats these in Gisburn forest and pretend she might have to be worried about bears, and locals with big guns.

Actual raffle prizes to be won in rural Idahoan raffle: a quilt, a massive hydraulic log splitter, or a big gun.

Anyway, they also grow lots of potatoes in Idaho. Maybe it’s a big potato gun?

In fact, Idaho is rather nice. Big mountains, excellent mountain biking, lots of hot springs. You should go. And if you can’t, you can eat these potato pots while sitting in the bath just after you’ve cleaned your toilet with pine scented cleaner, and it’ll almost be like you’re in a hot spring deep in the Sawtooth mountains. Almost.

Singletrack World Magazine Issue 151

• Price: £10.00 (to non-subscribers)
• From: The Singletrack World Shop

Cover pic deets…

Camera:  Sony A7 iii
Lens: Sony 70-200mm f4
Rider: Ben Platt
Location: Les Vallons de la Meije, La Grave

“I’d heard stories about the resort of La Grave, and of its wild and untamed trails hugging the mountain side underneath a glacier festooned with ice caves. Ben and I had been riding there all day, dropping repeatedly from 3,200m back to the valley floor and the stoke was high. I grabbed my camera bag for our last run down the ridge, to be met with some of the most perfect conditions I’ve ever had the pleasure to shoot in. Our tyres were spitting up thick clouds of dust that hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity. Glorious late afternoon sunlight streamed through, and good times were had.” – JAMES VINCENT, ISSUE 151 COVER PHOTOGRAPHER

Thread Of The Week

Congratulations to stevious this week for this very timely reminder of lubing protocol and what are The Best Mountain BIke Chain Lubes…

The winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. So @stevious 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!

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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