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!
Fresh Goods Friday is sponsored by…
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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
|That Cotic might be the rarest of unicorns – a good looking eBike. The battery is unavoidable, but it’s not that bad at all.
People will still criticise it for “looking old fashioned" or whatever, and will likely think that the internal batteries are better sealed for weather, but I think they’ve done a fine job .
I bought a mini inflator as it was recommended by Sam Pilgrim and cheap. I’ve had it two months now and it’d still working. It’ll pump up a 2.4 tyre from flat a couple of times and seem to work fine for road pressures too. I’m not sure what paying 5 times the price gets you.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008201168679.html ?
Not even a mother could love that Cotic – and I think the full-suss Cotics are good lookers – it’s a total eyesore I’m afraid.
I believe the general consensus was “cheap like Carrera from Halfords” rather than old fashioned. Not sure if it’s the paint job on that one, or if my eyes are just getting used to it, but it’s slowly growing on me… until I get back to the price
The Cotic looks better second time around. I can’t, however, get over how spindly those seat stays look. What size bearings are at each end of those? And is the photo of the seat stay bridge/brace intended to look like there is zero clearance to the tyre?
Also, for any e-bike, the actual weighed weight should be given.
Now I have got used to the Cotic ebike’s looks I quite like it. What I am curious about is the different suspension lay out & the differences in ride betweem their usual layout. I guess they had to do it that way to fit the battery in.
I like the Cotic. I get the logic and I like what they’ve done with it.
Unfortunately I just checked the price and it’s £6099 for the frameset and an extra 300 if you want the paint fade.
That’s a whole thousand quid more than I just paid for a brand new Levo SL.
Praise Taiwan.
The colours definitely help that Cotic look better – a brighter coloured frame makes the battery stand out. It even looks a bit “Batman". If I was eBike keen and had the money, I would.
Zee rear mech is the best thing from this week’s offerings!
I do really like the look of those athertons.
The Cotic has grown on me as well. I actually think it’d look pretty good with a smaller motor – though a more bottle shaped battery pack would help too.
As a direct replacement for my current mountain bikes, the Cotic & Atherton would be spot on.
I wonder if they will be dusting off that zealous design for 32ers?
I’m still in the cotic looks hideous camp. But that’s purely because of the motor. If they did a to version it would look much better x the skinny tube and bottle cage” battery style would look quite neat.
Now if they did a version with a dual downtube with the battery slung in the middle… I reckon that’d look really good (kinda like the recent Yamaha?)
The Cotic looks like a skinnier version of my 2017 Trek Powerfly ebike which was outdated back then. Add the Shimano motor to the equation and it’s a resounding “No!" from me.
The Atherton looks bloody lovely though.
I generally like the look of Cotics but the ebike is truly awful, and terrible value with it
The zealous was cool, always wanted to try one.
Personally still like quite short chainstays on a hardtail.
I flip flip on the cotic, although external battery must surely make charging easier? At 43 not looking at eebs and hoping by the time that changes they’re significantly more reliable than they are at the moment!
Ebikes for me can look like ebikes – and I love ebikes. If I want a nice looking (skinny tubed) bike it won’t have a battery attached
I’m not sure many survived that long. No bracing and quite a severe angle where the seat stay joined the seat tube, things got a bit cracky
Thank you. That’s what we think too. Obviously others disagree, but there are plenty of fat tubed internal battery bikes for them. The battery being there also means it’s super easy to take off for washing the bike, charging it away from the bike, hot swapping mid-ride, easily having different capacity options. Lot’s of good things even before you get to the ride feel and the low weight. Really appreciate you popping the comment up. With other people hating it so much, I know it can take a bit of courage to be positive about things. Cheers, Cy
Incorrect. I’m it’s father I suppose and I think it’s brilliant. Personally I think big bellied ebikes are ugly, so it’s all opinion. It’s also possibly the best bike I’ve ever designed in terms of ride dynamics. I’m glad you like the droplink bikes though.
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.