How does the Game of Thrones thing go? ‘Spring is coming!’? Not quite… Doesn’t have the same foreboding, perhaps, but it is a sentence that brings hope to mountain bikers. We have one more full week of darker evenings and pints of mild in the pub. Next week will be the momentous FGF 750 edition and the final FGF before British Summertime Begins. So, get out and revel in those dark nights, as it’ll soon be light until midnight, we’ll all be drinking rosé on the terrace and walking around in flip-flops, right? Right?
Anyway, we’re going to move on regardless and bring you a not-yet-sunbleached edition of FGF with the bits, bikes and pieces that have been clanging through the letterbox at Singletrack Towers.
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Giant Reign 1
- Price:
£3,999£2,799 - From: Giant UK
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Much like its rival behemoth brand Cube, Giant is discreetly producing some really rather progressive mountain bikes these days. And for decent prices too. The geometry on this Medium sized Gianr Reign 1 ticks a heck of a lot of boxes: 63.5° head angle, 78.3° seat angle, 445mm chain stay length, 425mm seat tube length, and hods of standover. Suspension is Performance Elite stuff from Fox. Stopping and going stuff is from Shimano. Maxxis tyres. Decent length dropper. And we’re fans of Giant’s own brand finishing kit too.
Favero Assioma Pro MX-2 Power Meter Pedals
- Price: £501.46
- From: Favero
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Remember when He-Man belllowed “I HAVE… THE… POWER!” as he played with his weapon? With these dual-sided power pedals you will have to do something similar to He-Man’s outbursting at the start of every ride you do. Shimano cleat friendly (cleats are also provided). Bluetooth and ANT+ comms. Integrated rechargeable batteries. Charging takes place via a magnetic system, so without battery compartments or power ports that can be opened and closed, water, mud, and dust shouldn’t easily enter.
Galibier Atlantic Changing Robe
- Price: £79.25
- From: Galibier.cc
Be a DryRobe W*nker without being a DryRobe W*nker. Ideal for watching your sprog’s perma-chilly soccer matches. Or for flashers who feel the cold. Probably not both. 100% recycled outer shell. Front and internal pockets. Two-way zipper with New Order-tastic baffle design. 100% soft spun recycled polyester lining. Massive embroidered logo on the arm.
NO BRAND Outdoor Braces
- Price: £12.99
- From: Decathlon
Magnificently described as “Resistant braces to keep any trousers on your waist”, these beauties can make you resemble an angler at the drop of hat. They are also good for those delicate souls who don’t like to have their trousers held up by trad waist-cinching methods. They are also also good for trousers that won’t stay up, whether that be due to slipperiness or the sheer weight of them when they get drenched.
Shimano CUES 10speed Transmission
- Price: Rear Derailleur £59.99, Shifter £34.99, 11-48 Cassette £59.99, Linkglide Chain £29.99
- From: Freewheel
Shimano CUES is its new catch-all, 9, 10 and 11 speed affordable groupset that has replaced Alivio and Deore. It features Linkglide technology which uses the same chain regardless of 9, 10 or 11 speed operation. More details on it are in the Singletrackworld Shimano CUES story. We’ve got this in to replace a problematic old 9-speed setup and are looking forward to the clutch retention mech and whole other new gear, along with the 11-48T cassette, which sounds a good ratio for non-extreme terrain.
HoverAir X1 ProMax
- Price: £639.00
- From: HoverAir
One of those follow-me drones. I am no so well-up on the techspeak of these things so I’m just going to slap a screenshot from the website and move on. Here you go…
Bikey birthday cards
- Price: N/A
- From: Relatives
It was my [Benji] birthday this week and we all know waht that means; bicycle-themed birthday cards! The one on the left is a classic example of ‘what? all bikes are the same yeah?’ from an Aunty. The one on the right features actual mountain biking. Judging by the shorts (Royal Racing?) and bike (Orange 224?) this must be classoc noughties era Steve Peat, right?
Forum Thread Of The Week
Congratulations go to anorak for this thread:
As before, the winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. So anorak please email editorial@singletrackworld.com for your random prize (possibly a mini cowbell). Don’t forget to include your postal address, as it really speeds up delivery logistics like. Goodbye!
Get issue 159 of Singletrack Magazine for just the price of P&P
- Price: £2.82 (UK address)
- From: The Singletrack Shop
Buy the current mag and use the code TRYSTW and the price of the mag becomes zero and you just pay for the postage.
Featured Subscriber Reward of the Week
- From: Singletrack Subscriber Rewards
- Reward: Up to 40% off Garmin
About Garmin: “Save up to 40% off selected products now. We make products that are engineered on the inside for life on the outside. We do this so our customers can make the most of the time they spend pursuing their passions.“
Singletrackworld Podcast Episode 8
Listen with your ears, or add your eyes into the mix. It’s this week’s STW podcast.
Stale Goods Friday – 2014 Banshee Phantom
- Price: £1,529.99 frame only inc. RockShox Monarch shock
- From: Fresh Goods Friday 220
Here’s what we typed in 2014: “Black! Short travel gnarly 29er from Banshee. This narrowly missed out on out grouptest last issue. Dan’s looking forward to giving it some beans around Calderdale. Short travel, Max fun. 105mm of NEEEOW!”
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That is an optimistic title!
Fingers crossed it’s an accurate weather prediction
Nice to see a black anodised Banshee on the retro fresh goods – now if only there was a V2 frame and shock in the classifieds for those that are interested….;->
Many Happy Returns for earlier in the week! Hope you had a good day.
that Giant is a cracking looking and value bike. could fancy one of those, some comfort for my old joints.
I must be getting old. Those braces are the most appealing thing on the list.
I am old and I like the Banshee more than the Reign by looks. Thereby confirming I am old.