I’m on a train. Can I complain? Not really. I’m on me way to Capital City for the Bespoked Bike Show. Where many, many shiny and skinny bicycles will be on display.
Will any of them float my particular boat? We shall see. There’s usually a couple there that do. Fingers crossed. It gets me out of the house anyway dunnit. Feel free to keep your eye on our (@singletrackmagazine) Instagram channel for piccies today (2FA depending!)
As my laptop balances precariously on the fold-down tray in front of me, I present to you this week’s Fresh Goods Friday. You’re very welcome.
Fresh Goods Friday is sponsored by…
Most riders insure bikes through home insurance.
Pedal Cover builds home insurance specifically for cyclists
Shimano Deore Di2 M6250
- Price: £379.99 mech, £129.99 shifter, £44.99 battery
- From: Freewheel
The (slightly) more affordable tier of Shimano’s new (ish) wireless Di2 – Deore Di2. You’d be hard pushed to tell much of a difference between this stuff and the XT (or even XTR) tier Di2 stuff. Low Shadow-ES profile, moves-out-of-=the-way-then-returns ‘crash recovery’ feature, same battery. The shifter may lack a tweaky feature or two (you can’t adjust the angle/dangle of the shifter buttons) but arguably less-is-more with such things. Anyways, we’ve lobbed all this Deore stuff at ex-Singletracker Amanda to see how it fares doing millions of miles in all kinds of weathers/rides/races.
Shimano Deore Cranks & Cassette
- Price: £109.99 cranks, £99.99 cassette
- From: Freewheel
There’s nowt inherently Di2 about these items. They don’t mind if you still have metal strings (ugh) operating your gears. As with anything Deore form Shimano, this stuff will work as well as anyone realistically needs it to work. It just weighs more. The crank arms will get scuffed by the end of the second ride – as with all Shimano tier cranks seemingly – but if you can live with that (or can be bothered to helitape things) then Deore has got your back, as they say.
Shimano Deore M6120 disc brakes
- Price: £129.99 (not inc. rotor)
- From: Freewheel
Quite possibly Shimano’s best all-round brake? I think they even look cooler than the XT/XTR chi-chi offerings. 4-pot calipers. Levers that look classically Shimano but without the excess bells and whistle distractions of the higher tier levers. Still using the mineral oil of days of yore (not the LV thinner stuff of XT/XTR), which is testament to the solid reliability of the Deore brake design system. You’ll find no wandering here (that’s cursed it).
OChain R Active Spider
- Price: £339.00
- From: SRAM
Anti-kickback device? Chain flail calming devices? Enduro placebo? The original and arguably still the most all-round effective item is O-Chain. This ‘R’ one has a dial on it that you can select just how much you want your engagement to be de-coupled: 0, 3, 6, 9 or 12° (don’t forget that your rear hub will have a few degrees of float too). I’ve been using some of the rear-hub-based designs from rival brands and haven’t been overly enamoured with them (mainly how clangy the engagement is when it occurs) so I’m intrigued to get on this O-Chain, with its elastomery softened0impact engagement, to see if/how it differs on the trail.
SRAM XX T-Type Chainring
- Price: £94.00
- From: SRAM
Chainring for the O-Chain R above. Features: “XX design aesthetic pairs with all Eagle Transmission components, architecture optimized for use with all Ochain spiders, T-Type compatibility for use within Eagle Transmission Ecosystem of components, E-MTB compatible, aluminium, 32/34/36T, mounting hardware included.”
Lezyne CLIK Valve Cores
- Price: £11.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
Just cannot live one more day with the existing valve standards? Schwalbe have got your covered with its new Clik system. “Quickly replaces Presta valve cores. Innovative quick connection with compatible bike pumps. Machined aluminium construction. Increased air flow connection. Reliable, long lasting bike valve cores. Includes bike valve core tool.” Genuine question: is anyone interested in these things?
Lezyne CLIK Floor Drive HP
- Price: £75.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
I deliberately photographed this in a William Eggleston stylee? Ahem. You like. Features: “Professional grade, bike shop quality floor pump. ABS Pro CLIK™ Chuck with air-bleed system. Easy-to-use CLIK™ Valve® inflation system. Increased air flow connection. Constructed from high-strength steel and aluminium. Durable, rebuildable design. Classic style wood handle. Extra-long, industrial strength hose. Highly efficient inflation for triathlon and road bikes.”
Lezyne ABS Pro CLIK Chuck w/ Clik Valve Cores
- Price: £30.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
How much wood would a Clik chuck chuck if a Clik chuck could chuck wood? The truth is out there. Features: “CLIK™ Valve compatible Lezyne floor pump chuck. Innovative quick connection with Schwalbe Clik Valve® cores. Easy-to-use Clik Valve inflation system. Increased air flow connection. Ergonomic 90° design. Machined aluminium and Composite Matrix construction. Industrial-strength rubber compression ring. Air bleed valve button. Reliable, long lasting Schwalbe Clik Valve® core connection. Includes two Schwalbe Clik Valve® bike valve cores. Includes bike valve core tool.”
Lezyne CLIK Drive HV Mini Pump
- Price: £35.00
- From: Upgrade Bikes
Say what you will about Clik valve, but Lezyne do know how to make mini pumps properly. Features: “Extremely compact high volume bicycle hand pump. CLIK™ Valve compatible Flex Hose with bleed valve. Easy-to-use CLIK™ Valve inflation system. Increased air flow connection. Constructed from CNC machined aluminium. Lightweight and rebuildable design. Highly efficient inflation for MTB and gravel bikes. Composite Matrix frame mount included.”
DT Swiss XM 1700 Wheels
- Price: £419.99 rear, £309.99 front
- From: Freewheel
Rejigged fourth generation 1700 wheelset from DT Swiss. Spinnin’ on 350 hubs with the 72 tooth Ratchet DEG DF anti-pedal kickback adjustment with 20, 10 or 0 degrees of float (yes, like I mentioned above in the O-Chain blather). Asymmetrical offset ‘usage-tuned’ alloy rims. Swiss made Straight pull Competition Race butted spokes. Hand built in Europe. Weight: 1,881 grams a pair (claimed, we’ll get our Designer Jim to weigh these ones). Centre-lock brake mounts with 6-bolt adaptors in the box. Taped and ready for tubeless – tubeless valves included too.
Singletrack World Padded Jacket
- Price: £98.33
- From: The Singletrack Shop
A seriously lightweight and totally snuggly padded jacket. This is premium gear and 100% recycled and sustainably produced. Tested by Singletrack staff and we wouldn’t put our logo on it if we didn’t love it.
Forum Thread Of The Week
This week’s winner is [checks notes]… Harry_the_Spider (yes, AGAIN) for the So… I’ve got this mask thread:
The winning FTOTW in FGF gets a prize. Yeah like so, Harry_the_spider please email editorial@singletrackworld.com for a random prize AGAIN. Don’t forget to include your postal address AGAIN.
Stale Goods Friday – 2010 Ghost AMR Lecter 7700 Carbon
- Price: £2699.99 (or £4,722.07 in today’s money)
- From: Fresh Goods Friday 54
Back in the era of 26in wheeles, non-dropper seatposts, ridden-into-a-wall head angles and front mechs we wrote: “With 120mm travel front and rear, Ghost say this bike is ‘your perfect companion in any scenario: steep uphills, speedy downhills or longer tours alike.’ The tapered headtube is fitted with a Ritchey Pro tapered headset holding the Fox Forx 32FIT-RL 120 mm Tapered 15 QR fork.”
Covered by the crew
Insurance handled by people who ride, wrench and understand mountain bikes.
When something goes wrong, your claim is handled by people who genuinely understand how mountain bikes are ridden, repaired and put back together after a bad day on the trails.
From blown suspension to cracked frames, decisions are made by cycling specialists – not general insurers.
We also keep key bike parts in-house and work directly with trusted bike workshops, helping reduce delays and get riders back on the trails sooner.
What this means for you
- Cyclist-first decisions focused on getting you back on the trails
- Claims handled by people who ride and work with bikes
- Experience with real mountain bike damage, including off-road riding
- Repair-first approach using specialist cycle workshops
Fresh Goods Friday is sponsored by Pedal Cover
“Genuine question: is anyone interested in these things?”
Yeah, me. I have them on both of my tubeless bikes. The connection with the proper pump chuck is flawless and having had cause to remove one this week, can confirm no nasty cloggy sealant build up around the internals.
Just need a compatible mini-pump and to convert the tubed bikes now, not sure if they have removable cores.