Fresh Goods Friday 705 – The Freewheelin’ Edition

by and 8

Good day to you. We trust this Friday finds you well and that you are suitably pre-amped for the weekend.

Not pre-amped in the vinyl hipster stylee. That would lead to a low buzz that would interfere with your tweeter response. And NO ONE wants that.

Which totally does not bring us to the next point but here it is anyway: what is better than pedaling?

Freewheeling!

Coasting. Gliding. Living laughing loving life. Only bicycles can bring you this deep joy. Just ask Stanley Unwin. Who? Exactly.

Enough of the babble from a psycho (you’re very welcome), bring on the Fresh Goods!

Saracen Ariel 30 Elite

  • Price: £3,999.99
  • From: Saracen
  • SQUIRREL_TEXT_13047368

Another Ariel from Saracen that looks the absolute bee’s knees. Literally. This is one of those Normal Mountain Bikes that we used to hear about back in the day. Aluminium. 130mm rear travel via Saracen’s own TRL linkage driven single pivot. 140mm travel Fox 36 up front. Shimano XT everywhere. DT Swiss EX511 rims. 170mm KS dropper post. 450mm stem. 780mm bars. What isn’t so very back-in-the-day is the wheel size and the geometry. This is a mullet. The Small and Medium (this bike) Ariel 30 models come as mullet bikes. The Large and X-Large models are full 29ers. Geometry-cally speaking this Medium has 410mm seat tube, 480mm reach (oof! yes!), 65° head angle, 76.5° seat angle, 440mm chain stays and 30mm of BB drop.

Fresh Goods Friday 705: D’Movie

Saracen Metal Cups

You can’t buy these for love nor money. They’re exclusively for darling media types.

Wild Rye Freya Bike Pants

Hannah was excited to get these because a) they have cacti on them and b) they’re the dragon’s blood of the bike world: women’s riding trousers that are actually long. She was so excited to discover that this US size 10 pants fitted perfectly, that she’d had them on all day before she discovered exciting thing number c) the cactus cuffs are double sided, with the inside fabric upside down, so you can roll up the cuffs and turn them into capris if you’re tall, or normal length pants if they’re a bit long. Her mind has been blown. She may never take them off. Easily the most excited she’s been about trousers in years.

Wild Rye Elorie Technical Overalls

Hannah has been calling these ‘Executive Dungarees’. They’re smart enough to wear to the office (even if you’re not a scruffy bike journo). They’re not designed with riding bikes in mind – instead they’re more of a general active lifestyle thing. Made with recycled nylon, they’re quick drying with a touch of stretch.

Vittoria Mostro Enduro Race

  • Price: £69.99
  • From: Freewheel
  • SQUIRREL_TEXT_13047369

The latest tyre beginning with M from Vittoria. Joining the Mazza, Martello and Mota, the new Mostro (Italian for “monster”) is intended for loose conditions. As is tradition with new tyres, we first have to pointlessly compare to some existing tyres from other brands. This is The Law. To my [Benji] eye, I can see echoes of the Specialized Cannibal and the Pirelli Scorpion Enduro. Vittoria sez: “Featuring a new V-formation tread pattern with alternating mid and center lugs adorned with pronounced trailing edges, Mostro ensures unwavering stability across rocks, roots, and loose surfaces. The innovative tread profile, equipped with progressive siping and surface-stepped technology, enhances traction and cornering prowess while facilitating rapid acceleration.”

Vittoria Mazza Enduro

  • Price: £64.99
  • From: Freewheel
  • SQUIRREL_TEXT_13047371

We dare say we’ll be first trialling the above Mostro tyre on the front of a full-bore ebike. And we’ll be pairing it with a classic Mazza out back. And yep, it’s a 27.5 tyre because that’s what we the intended full-bore ebike takes in the rear.

Vittoria Air-Liner Tool MTB

  • Price: £24.99
  • From: Freewheel
  • SQUIRREL_TEXT_13047372

To be honest with y’all (as we always are), we’ve not got this item in to work on Vittoria Air-Liner tyre inserts. We just wanted something for those rare b*st*rd tyres that are really, really, really hard to get the bead away from the rim wall. Tools like this have existed for decades but they are never big enough to accommodate modern mountain bike tyre sizes. Designed to “provide a gentle but secure grip on the tyre, which is needed when removing the tyre bead from the rim.” The ends of the handles can be used as tyre levers (even though you also get a pair of separate levers in the box too).

Vittoria Universal Tubeless Tyre Sealant

  • Price: £19.99 (500ml)
  • From: Freewheel
  • SQUIRREL_TEXT_13047373

Nothing – no NOTHING – is more prized at Singletrack HQ than tyre sealant. Especially when it’s tyre sealant that is decent. Which this Vittoria sealant most definitely is. It does a really good job of sealing when changing tyres, as well as seemingly holding air pressure over a number of days a bit better than most sealants. In terms of sealing punctures, Viorria claim that they’ve had success with cuts up to 7mm in size. This sealant is also ammonia free so shouldn’t damage tyres or tyre inserts.

Worx Hydroshot Kit 56 bar

  • Price: £199.99
  • From: Worx
  • SQUIRREL_13047374

More powerful than the previous Hydroshot 24, this pressure washer has adjustable settings so you can clean more delicate things, or blast at stubborn dirt at will. It’s a ‘lance only’ style, with no tank for water, making it nice and compact for when you’ve also got a million other things to fit in your van for race day. Or a lot of bikes in your shed. Instead of lugging a tank around, you can use any water source, or just a standard bucket (which is probably a better idea because you really don’t want bike oils or soap washing into a river or pond). This kit comes with a battery, but if you’ve already got other Worx items (robot mower anyone?!) with batteries you can buy the kit without a battery and use what you’ve already got.

Thread Of The Week

This week’s winner is hyper_real with this thread right here. It’s like a different world…

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

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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 705 – The Freewheelin’ Edition

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
  • Fresh Goods Friday 705 – The Freewheelin’ Edition
  • pmurden
    Full Member

    Well I was pumped for the weekend and then some numpty showed me some cool Saracen mugs I cannot buy! Just kidding, another great FGF and have a great weekend everyone.

    6
    jimbob99
    Free Member

    That Saracen doesn’t look like it has a 450mm stem, but if you say it has, then I believe you 😉

    brakestoomuch
    Full Member

    Intermission made me laugh. Møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti.

    sillyoldman
    Full Member

    @jimbob99 –  must be true – says up there “To be honest with y’all (as we always are)”!

    Tom83
    Full Member

    Massive stem ruining an other wise nice bike! 😉

    jimster01
    Full Member

    As soon as I see “Good day to you “, my mind finishes the sentence with “one and all, it is I Justin Hawkins “

    noeffsgiven
    Free Member

    The brake & shifter on that Saracen is a bit of an optical illusion, I thought Shimano had brought back the all in one unit for a second 😁, and 480mm reach on a medium is a large in my book, ML at the least.

    BadlyWiredDog
    Full Member

    I’ve just ordered one of those Vittoria tyre pincers as a weapon in my on-going battle to remove a super-stubborn Rekon 2.8 from a WTB Scraper. I’m hopeful that it’ll finally overcome a bead/rim seal that has defied the application of full bodyweight and more…

    Anyway, just in case anyone is thinking of doing similar, be aware that there are road and mtb versions of the tool and various listings on eBay, amazon etc, don’t specify which is which. My pretty reasonable guess is that the mtb version is significantly larger than the road one. Anyway, if it shifts that bloody tyre, I will be ecstatically happy 🙂

     

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

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