Fresh Goods Friday 701 – The Hydrate and/or Die Edition

by 1

Hey there gang! How are you all doing? We trust you’re are acceptably radical and primed for another supremely stoke-filled weekend. That’s stoke. Not Stoke. There is a difference.

We usually waffle on a bit in this intro but it appears to have stopped raining. So we’re off out riding. Goodbye! Enjoy this week’s Fresh Goods Friday…

Japan 1971 FTW

Deviate Highlander II

  • Price: £3,333 frame only (complete builds from £5,999)
  • From: Deviate Cycles

We were fans of the longer travel enduro flavoured Deviate Claymore, so we’re looking forward to having a rag around on the new Deviate Highlander II trail bike. Will it be quickening [sic] around a standard trail ride than the bruisy Claymore? Well, it claims to be “dialled for adventure” and it certainly looks pretty flipping rad to us, so here’s hoping it lives up to our hype! The Highlander II has 145mm of rear travel deliverd by that eye-catching idler-tastic high-pivot arrangement. 65° head angle. 160mm fork. 510mm reach on this XL test bike. 441mm chain stays. Standover is approximately HUGE. That’s a 240mm travel OneUp dropper in there.

p.s. if you own a Deviate Highlander II and want to upgrade to a UDH compatible rear triangle, get in touch with Deviate.

Fresh Goods Friday 701 – The Quickening

Audio visual gold!

Ortlieb Fuel Pack, Handlebar Pack and Seat Pack QR

  • Price: £62.50 Fuel Pack, £120.00 Handlebar Pack, £168.50 Seat Pack QR
  • From: Lyon Equipment

Bags. For a thing we’re plotting. First up, the Fuel Bag. Easy-reach positioning on the top tube and a magnetic lid closure. Also features an integrated cable outlet for charging (via a battery bank etc) a device on the handlebars. Next up, the Handlebar Pack. Waterproof, stiffened interior, compression belts, comes with four hooks to enable the attachment of Accessory-Pack for storage. The spacers-and-Velcro mounting system ensures secure attachment to pretty much handlebar shape. Lastly, the Seat Pack QR. We did a deep dive into the Ortlieb Seat Pack QR a year or so ago, suffice to say we think it’s arguably still the best example of its kind.

Ortlieb Atrack & Atrack Bike Backpacks

Atrack Bike not pictured. Soz!

The standard Atrack claims to be “the first waterproof backpack that opens like a travel bag” ie. there’s a full length zip down the front. Four zipped inside pockets, adjustable height back panel to accommodate different heights, padded hip belt with zipped side mesh pockets, two outside net pockets, “daisy chains” allow you to attach additional stuff, four compression belts, hermetically sealed baldder tube port. The Atrack Bike version is designed for bikepacking: the hip wings are eliminated, a more slender shape, helmet fixing and comes in Ortlieb’s black-and-range colourway that is assocaited with its other bikepacking items. Matchy matchy.

Troy Lee Designs Ruckus Cargo Trouser

These won’t be for everyone; they’re kinda a bit overkill for normal riding around in. Troy Lee bills them as “tough trousers designed with trail building, enduro and bike park laps in mind”. Made from woven bi-stretch fabric (90% polyester, 10% Lycra) with stretch reinforcement panels at seat, knees and cargo zones. Rrubber chainguard protection panel. Perforations at gusset and rear panel allow air to circulate. Duraflex cinch buckle, nylon webbing and dual press-stub closure system. And a total of five zipped pockets.

Hope Tech 4 X2

The bigger sibling of these stopppers (the Hope Tech 4 V4) is very probably our favourite disc brake of all time. So we thought it’d be a good idea to test the X2 caliper version. The Tech 4 lever is the same, as is the hosing and stuff. It should be interesting to find out how they compare to the 4-pot V4 caliper version.

Grayle UltraPress Water Purifier

Grayle states that this purifier “Requires zero setup, and makes safe, great tasting drinking water in a mere 10 seconds (3L/min).” We partly got this product in to review as an answer to the strong desire a lot of us have to never wear a backpack (or indeed hip-pack) during a mountain bike for the rest of our flipping lives. Can we do a proper epic ride with just one bottle on a bike (refilling it from streams as we go etc)? We shall find out. The replaceable purifier cartridge is rated for 300 cycles (150L); “as ‘press time reaches ~25 seconds (or three years have elapsed since first use) it’s time to replace your purifier cartridge”. Dimensions: 75mm diameter, 247mm height.

502 Club Raffle x Cannondale Habit Carbon LT 1

This could be yours!

Help us build an even better website! Enter into a raffle to win a Cannondale Habit Carbon LT 1 worth £4,750. Money raised through this raffle will be ring-fenced and used to upgrade our website servers. You can find out why we are doing this by clicking here.

Thread Of The Week

This week’s winner is kayak23 for this compellingly crispy thread:

The winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. So @kayak23 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!

RIP Graeme Naysmith

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 701 – The Hydrate and/or Die Edition

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)
  • Fresh Goods Friday 701 – The Hydrate and/or Die Edition
  • dirkpitt74
    Full Member

    £180 for a pair of trousers?????

Viewing 1 post (of 1 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.