As we all know, today is Twelfth Night. That’s right, the coming of the Epiphany. Finally. Does this mean we should have removed all of our Winterval decorations by now or something? More importantly, have bin collections resumed properly yet?
All Singletrack Staffers are back at their desks as of today. So it’s time to catch up with what – if anything – has been delivered to our various global outposts over the past couple of weeks that may have fallen through the FGF net of late.
Merry New Year!
Giant Stance 29 1
- Price: £2,399
- From: Giant UK
Kicking off 2024 we have a refreshingly affordable mountain bike. This is Giant’s entry level full susser trail bike. Aluminium. Full 29er. 140mm travel (own brand) fork. 125mm of rear travel, delivered by the venerable Maestro system albeit one that’s replaced an actual pivot bearing with a flex stay type thing (is it still a dual link tho?) a single pivot with rocker design. Ahem. Dropper post as standard, with internally adjustable drop/travel. Vital stats for this XL size: 65.5° head angle, 76.5° seat angle, 500mm reach, 475mm seat tube, 440mm chain stays, 125m head tube length, 293mm dropper insertion depth.
RockShox Vivid Air Ultimate
- Price: £749.00
- From: SRAM
A big ol’ air shock. Except it’s nu, not ol’. New TouchDown RC2T damper. Adjustable Hydraulic Bottom Out (HBO). Position-sensitive damping. RockShox: “The most coil-like air spring we’ve ever built featuring the latest in DebonAir technology, Vivid’s air spring maximizes fine-tuning potential, allowing riders to match positive air volume to any bike. Increased mid-stroke support and off-the-top suppleness create an unparalleled ride feel out on the trail.” The red rebound adjuster pulls out to reveal… a 3mm Allen key for twiddling the High Speed Compression (HSC) and/or HBO. Hydraulic Bottom Out. Service intervals are now 100 hours of ride time, which is nice.
Gaggia MD15 Grinder
- Price: £149.00
- From: Gaggia
I [Benji] can finally stop giving myself arm pump each morning (by using my manual bean grinder). Now a simple press of a button and a pleasingly loud and aggressive noise signifies that help is on the way ie. a cup of coffee is imminent. There’s a dosing dial on the front, around the JFDI button. There’s a grind size dial on the side. Stainless steel conical burrs. 300g capacity hopper on the top. The ground coffee container has a capacity of 150 grams and can be removed, in order to deposit the grounds directly into your mouth a filter-holder/V60 thing etc.
Shimano GF4 Shoes
- Price: £119.99
- From: Freewheel
Yes, I *think* we had some GF4 shoes in FGF before but they weren’t quite the desired size (or colourway). So we have these replacements in. Size 43 in boring black. As before, Shimano ULTREAD GF rubber compound and tread, layered half-length EVA foam, laces with elastic retaining strap, asymmetric padded ankle collar and sidewall sole for added protection, toe cap.
Local by Alistair Humphreys
- Price: £10.00
- From: alastairhumphreys.com
A kind gift from @Woo to Hannah, this is a book about exploring what’s on your doorstep. Except, it’s not one of those poetic ‘and after travelling the world, I discovered that every leaf in my own back yard was just as glorious’ type things. It’s also an examination (and rant/rallying cry) about lots of things you’ll have heard Hannah rabbiting on about before, like access, and nature connection, and The State Of Things. Grab yourself a copy if you fancy reading about that sort of thing too, and/or sign up to the Weekly Word newsletter, in which Hannah does much of her rabbiting.
Specialized Pizza Rack
- Price: £60.00
- From: Specialized
The tubular aluminium Specialized Pizza Rack ‘was designed to be a stout companion piece to any around-town commuter or touring rig’. It can hold cargo up to 15 kilograms (33lbs) and takes panniers too. Although the box contains hardware for a mid-fork and crown mount, we’re slightly concerned if the 33 x 27cm deck is going to be big enough for actual pizzas. Chipps has until Sunday evening to fit it before Sylvain the Pizza Man is in place.
Selection of Ergon Grips
- Price: From £20 to £40
- From: Ergon
Ergon grips started off life with the big palm-paddle winged grips you might know them for, but the German company has been coming out with lots of different, conventional style grips in recent years. Everything from rider-designed downhill GD race grips to the GRX series of slim, but well-damped endurance and cross country grips. Many are made in Germany and Ergon has been doing a lot to promote recycled rubber too. Just give us a few rides to work out which one is which and which one is bestest.
Thread Of The Week
The first TOTW of 2024AD is claimed by @molgrips for the Carrying rocks thread. Congratulations molgrips. The year will be all downhill from here for you, we fear. Soz!
The winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. So @molgrips please email editorial@singletrackworld.com for your random prize (it will probably be a Singletrack Forum Bottle Opener). Don’t forget to include your postal address, as it really speeds up delivery logistics like. K thx bye!
Subscriber Discounts!
- Price: Free with all Singletrack World subscriptions
- From: Singletrack Subscriber Perks
Singletrack Subscribers get a huge array of discounts with various online shops (as well as access to all our content, ad free web browsing, double entries to the Megasack, and more). A whole stack of new discounts has been added recently…
- Dryworld 30% off
- MuscleFood up to 25% off
- Berghaus Men up to 50%
- Berghaus Women up to 50%
- Nike Kids up to 50%
- Reebok up to 60%
- UK Cycling Events up to £15 off
- Ass Saver 15% off
- Rawvelo 15% off
- Troy Lee designs up to 60%
- Footasylum up to 60%
- Castelli up to 50%
- Oakley EXTRA 5% off (Was 10% now 15%)
- Ray Ban EXTRA 5% off
- Sunglasses Hut EXTRA 5%
- Cycloc 15% off
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.
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.
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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