Actual stuff in this week’s edition. Sponsored by Yellow Jersey.
After last week’s heavily redacted edition of FGF, here’s a decent amount of shiny, new, bike flavoured kit and clobber. Includes ‘shrooms, cats, frogs and a bit of camo.
Dig in!
*Discount is subject to T&C’s, which can be found at yellowjersey.co.uk/terms. Coverage is subject to T&C’s. Please refer to the policy wording for full details.
Latest Singletrack Merch
Buying and wearing our sustainable merch is another great way to support Singletrack
Cotic Rocket
- Price: from £7,599
- From: Cotic
This is not the first time Cotic’s first ever ebike has been on these hallowed webpages. But we needed to get it back in for various reasons. The main one being we want to spend more time on it (we only really had one day on a test sample in time for the press launch at the end of last year). I’ve ridden a lot of Cotics and I think this may well be the best one ever. It’s takes everything great about full-sus Cotic’s, steepens the seat angle a bit, improves dropper insertion a lot and adds a motor. I mean, what’s not to like? And yes, I am big fan of external batteries. I always thought it was a shame when they went internal. Better frame feel, more practicality in terms of recharging and spare batteries. Again, what’s not to like?
Madison DTE Waterproof Primaloft Thermal 1-1-3 Gloves
- Price: £59.99
- From: Freewheel
Rejoice! Someone has finally made ‘trigger’ gloves for cycling. These take the lobster-mit design but instead of a Mr Spock-style ‘1-2-2’ split, these have a sniper style ‘1-1-3′ digit allocation, where your inde finger and thumb are free to do braking and gear/dropper actuation whilst the remaining three fingers have a cosy little time in their sleeping bag wrapped around the grips. These Large size do feel like they may be a tad oversized for me (I often fall between sizes with gloves), but I’ll give ’em a go and get some Mediums in if need be. Review soon!
Liv Pique Advanced SL
- Price: from £5,299
- From: Liv Cycling
You may have read our first ride review of one of the male siblings of this bike (the Giant Anthem X Advanced SL) but we also got out to the launch of the XC racey Liv Pique Advanced SL the other week. There’s one due to be delivered through the letterbox any day now so we’re delaying Heather’s first ride thoughts until that arrives and is ridden on UK shores (not literally).
Topeak Turboflow Valve Kit & Combo w/ RapidHead
- Price: £34.99 (valve kit, £29.99 (valve combo w/ RapidHead)
- Frim: Extra UK
Moar flow. Not Floe by Philip Glass. Air flow. Air flow from a pump, through a valve and into a tyre on a rim with sealant in it. These are Topeak’s latest Turboflow valve stuff. Before you ask (like I had to), you don’t need the special RapidHead pump head, any existing presta valve-fitting pump head will work with these (the RapidHead will just offer mo’ flo’). Anyway, the basic idea is to replace the trad presta valve core/top thingy with Topeak’s new wider bore core/top. Three times the airflow is claimed. The RapidHead will fit on any track pump with a 10mm hose diameter by the way.
Topeak E-Booster Digital Mini
- Price: £109.99
- From: Extra UK
Don’t like CO2 cartridges? Had enough of mini track pumps that either take ages to get up to pressure or just.. don’t work. Still want something small enough to take out on rides with you? Well, that’s what these rechargeable electric pumps are all about. This has a digital pressure gauge and evz. Wit-woo. Seriously though, as pathetic and First World as it may sound, one you’ve used one of these things to save the day on a ride, you really don’t want to go back.
WTB Rocket Ltd Ed Camo
- Price: £95.00*
- From: Saddleback
*camo version not currently available in the UK.
As one of planet Earth’s biggest fans of WTB saddles, I’ve been sent this camo version of the new WTB Rocket. Reading between the lines, the Rocket sounds like it’s at least partly aimed at e-bike riders. WTB: With generous curvature cradling the pelvis of riders who prefer to stay seated … Backstop near back of seat for pelvis to brace against on extra-steep climbs … Integrated handle for lifting heavy bikes during hike-a-bike sections.”
Smartwool Merino socks
- Price: £TBC
- From: Smartwool
Made with merino wool: “Manages sweat, stink, and body temperature.” Smoothed out toe seams for fit and comfort. Cushioning adds warmth, impact protection and durability. Designed with Indestructawool™ Technology no less. “Performance-oriented fit with flex zone” at ankle.
Cyclus AS2 Pro Max Bicycle Tire Inflator
- Price: £99.99
- From: Cyclus
Yep, another one of them. They’re like buses etc. This is one lacks the rep-set PSI target mode of the Topeak one and is generally just a bit larger and heftier – which may be an advantage in terms of heatsinking and battery capacity.
Atherton A.150M
- Price: £4,999 frame only, complete builds from £7,299
- From: Atherton Bikes
We know you lot like Atherton bikes. So although we haven’t actually got one of these in (yet), we thought you’d like to see it and comment about it below. Atherton Bikes: “A new member of the family: the A.150.M. What’s the M for? Mixed wheel. MX. Mullet. Whatever you call it, the A.150M runs a 29-inch front wheel and a 27.5-inch rear. The result is a shorter rear centre and tighter wheelbase that boost agility and add more rider-to-tyre clearance when things get steep, while keeping the A.150’s trademark balance and composure. A slightly slacker 64.5° head angle boosts confidence and control at speed, while steep seat tube angles between 77.5° and 79° keep riders centred over the pedals on the climbs.”
Forum Thread Of The Week
This week’s deserving winner is colournoise for the aromatic Fungi 2025 – Let’s See Them! thread:
NB: the winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. ‘Sup!… colournoise please email editorial@singletrackworld.com for a random prize. Don’t forget to include your postal address, as it really speeds up delivery logistics, boss.
Sub-in-a-Box / Gift Subscription
- Price: £59.00
- From: The Singletrack Shop
We have developed our gift subscriptions specifically to allow you to be able to actually hand over a physical ‘thing’ to the recipient on their birthday, special occasion, Christmas etc. This is why we normally send the subscription to you (the giver) directly, so you can wrap it up and stick it under the tree for the lucky recipient. We can send it directly to the recipient if you prefer – they may live a long way away or they could be infectious. If you would prefer this as your delivery option then follow the instructions at checkout and make sure you enter the recipient’s details in the Shipping Address section.
Member Reward of the Week – 20% off Osprey
- Reward: 20% off Osprey
- From: Singletrack Member Rewards
About Osprey: “Osprey was born in California 1974, with a head full of ideas and a desire to design & build innovative backpacks to the highest quality. Today, Osprey products continue that pioneering spirit, being used on the highest mountains to the remotest islands and everywhere in between. The Osprey Europe programme offers you the opportunity to promote an extensive range of innovative packs and accessories.”
Stale Goods Friday – 2014 Zealous Division
- Price: £500 frame only (inflation adjusted = £694.96)
- From: Fresh Goods Friday 217
Back when folk though short AF chainstays were a good idea, we wrote: “That back end looks rather short. The idea is to anchor the steamrollerability of 29er wheels to the taut snappy riding of a smaller bike, by making the chainstays supershort and ‘playful’.”
FROG
AKA a Full Round Of Golfie. From a niche corner of the Internet, Dylan (Sausage to his mates) from Huddersfield sets out at ticking off all 48 trails at Innerleithen’s Golfie”. A demanding and impressive feat. Reflects the true Spirit of Enduro and all that.
Fresh Goods Friday is sponsored by Yellow Jersey
You’re just not used to steel being used correctly in certain places. They’re 16mm stays, which is same as our hardtails, but it’s a pinned beam, so they are in pure bending which is very easy for a tube to withstand. Bearings are the same shock bushing at the seatstay end we have used on every Cotic suspension bike since the Rocket in 2012. Super compact, super reliable, super cheap to replace when they wear. The other end are double row, full compliment Enduro MAX bearings. Higher static load rating than the main pivot bearing.
Weight of that bike (it’s actually my bike/the demo bike) is 21.7kg without pedals with the 504Wh battery. Add 0.7kg for the 630Wh battery.
Frame hand built to order in the UK out of really expensive material in much expensive than mass produced bike from Far East shocker.
We did look at that idea, but you lose the easy swap ability of the external battery because it swings out sideways. Then you get into the complexity of making, and how to mount the batteries and it all gets a bit out of hand. Plus it’s much heavier than the single down tube, and weight saving is one of the big advantages of the external battery solution.
Thank you. We’re lobbying Shimano hard on the battery shape, but as you can imagine we don’t have much sway there!
Thank you.
Looks are subjective, but although the Rocket isn’t cheap, I would challenge you on value. For similar price to a Vala you get a bike with similar or better spec, more configurable in terms of battery/range, lighter, hand build to order with custom paint of your choice. We’re never going to be competing with Specialized on price, but then we never have with any of our bikes. The Rocket’s about the same as some of the more bougie brands. However, whilst I’m sure none of us sell many of these, if we’re talking Specialized or Cannondale et all, their top of the range mad spec bikes are all are way over £12k, and a Rocket Platinum Build with all the toys with easily equivalent or better spec is a couple of grand cheaper.
We build the best, high quality, highest performance bike we could that was true to our brand.
That’s one of the big wins of the external battery; the charge port is on the battery, so you can charge it away from the bike. Makes storing the bike safely and charging safely super easy. Plus you can carry an extra battery in your pack for really huge rides and swap in mid-ride in about 10 seconds. It’s mint.
There is very little difference between Rocklink and droplink in terms of kinematics, and most of the pivot hardware is the same. It’s looks way more different than the reality of the ride feel is. Even if it has a battery a Cotic has to ride like a Cotic. And you’re right, it’s a direct result of the battery choice/placement. I did an earlier geometry mule with the battery on the underside of the down tube and droplink suspension, but Shimano mad it clear than under no circumstances was I to build a production bike with the battery there. Which is fair enough.
I love those Smartwool socks. Since ST are too lazy to actually find out what they are and how much they cost, £25 btw: https://www.smartwool.co.uk/uk/hike-light-cushion-soaring-mid-crew-socks-1-18266.html
Orange Ebike with a made in Yorkshire frame and a better spec is a lot less money
No one is shocked by the cost of UK manufacturing but it doesn’t make my salary any higher. I always need to buy the bike I can afford to ride and this isn’t it by a long shot.
Luckily my mass produced bike is awesome and I’ve been having loads of fun on it.
Sorry Cy, to shame your child. I genuinely think that the droplink bikes are very elegant and my pink BFEmax (Magenta) is a real looker, I always get compliments on her.But no, I’m still of the view that this is above averagely yuck.I’m not against an industrial look – Nicolai makes a gorgeous bike and the Marin Attack Quadlink bikes (Even the Quake!) had a fierce, purposeful look to them.But if you are going to ride something that costs close to 10 grand, it isn’t too much to ask for it to look nice.I suppose we’ll see. If they sell like hot cakes, you’ll be laughing and mine will be a niche opinion.Good luck. My next full sus likely to be a FlareMaxAlex