Hannah is back from the USA in body but not mind. She keeps waking up in the night convinced she’s still camping out in some California woodland, or j …

By amandawishart

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Fresh Goods Friday 598: Bluebell Search Edition

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Logging off to go practice my dancing.

Don’t get me wrong but shorts that short are not for folks concerned about their bum hanging out (or at least no more so it having out the top than the bottom).

I can see a high waist band is beneficial for reducing trail muck ingress though.

Will you look at the weather in these photos? Ace.

Those Hayes brakes interest me…

Ok I’ll be the first to say it, how much(!) for the Rapha t-shirt! It’s a t-shirt for gods sake, not even a very nice colour. It’s a £20 t-shirt with a £40 badge, I don’t care how light or technical it might (?) be. This mornings news was little apart from stories about families who can’t afford food, pets being taken to shelters because their owners can’t afford the food or vet bills, oh and something about Keir Starmer doing Sharon Stone impressions (might of been another politician) and Rapha think its ok to launch a £60 t-shirt.
Ok rant over, feel a bit better now, perhaps it’s time for lie down 🙂

Sorry, Rapha, but I will never buy anything from a company that markets clothes as ‘apparel’, because I know that using that word immediately adds at least 10% to the retail price of every product they make.

@matt_outandabout Ha! The jorts pics were taken after nearly 2 weeks in California, and I was still as pale as I was when I landed – that was one of the only days I wore short shorts. It turns out that northern California is quite damp, and whipped by a biting cold wind that comes in off the ocean. The thermal dungarees in last week’s FGF got a lot more wear!

@dangeourbrain They’re not all that short, I’d rolled them up a turn or two. Mid thigh shorts make me look like a soccer mom, IMO.

They’re not all that short, I’d rolled them up a turn or two. Mid thigh shorts make me look like a soccer mom, IMO.

I think they’d make me look like John candy doing his best kylie impression.

No wonder bike prices keep going up when brands keep sending out freebies to every journalist and utuber they can find.

the Garbaruk Jockey wheels seem to come with quite a bit of packaging, that’s not so cool.

I’m slightly disturbed by the thought of a ‘wee slot’ in a garlic press…

I was wondering what a garlic press has to do with mountain biking and if the mag is eyeing up the good home readers with the recipes

I think what shocks me most about Rapha pricing is the fact that there seem to be an increasing number of brands charging as much and more. Where are all these cyclists who are happy to shell out hundreds on bib shorts? You know who you are.

Take a look at the price of high end surfing boardshorts. They make these things look like amazing value.

@chrismac – have you not been following Charlie’s excellent mountain bike cookery column in the magazine? We all need to eat, so might as well do it properly, eh? 🙂

mountain bike cookery

Vertically compliant, laterally stiff and tastes wonderful flash fried with a little brandy, garlic and some cannellini.

Isn’t using a garlic press a bit of a no-no in cheffy circles? I thought they all chopped it using a stupendously expensive knife then squashed it using a different but equally outrageously priced knife? Perhaps their knives come in almost authentic jute bags too.

Oh and why do so many clothing companies assume that mtb tops don’t need zips? Some of us get hot on the climbs!

The Ripton link takes me to the Trucker Breeze hat site.
Will the “jorts” (WTF??) be available in the UK?

As for pricey kitchen gadgets, I am all for them. Husband is the chef in our household, the more techy gadgets he buys, the more MTB kit I can buy 😉

Those Hayes brakes are meant to be great according to reviews – including the previous STW review of them.

@chrismac – have you not been following Charlie’s excellent mountain….

Yes that’s my point. If I want to read about mountain bikes I read a bike magazine. If I want a recipe I look in a food magazine. I don’t pick up a food magazine to read about bikes so Iwhy I would want to read a recipe in a bike magazine

What makes the ride wrap steel specific or is it just like the others?

have you not been following Charlie’s excellent mountain bike cookery column in the magazine?

Nope, I flip past it with an eye roll and a underbreath mumble of “FFS”.

is Ross in mourning or is he team captain?

have you not been following Charlie’s excellent mountain bike cookery column in the magazine?

Nope, I flip past it with an eye roll and a underbreath mumble of “FFS”.

Me too ☹️

Can’t say I go so far as a mumble but yeah, the cooking column isn’t my thing any more than articles on camping bike packing don’t either.

Different strokes for different folks isn’t it?
(I seem to recall various coffee related items popping up in FGF over the years and very little complaining about those despite their having no more to do with bikes than a garlic press)

Glad you liked the picture of Julie with her new friend, it was very keen on the 510s !

I assume those moaning about the non MTB content never look in the chat section of the forum?

If you go into the chat forum you expect to see non biking related threads. If you subscribe to a mountain  biking magazine you don’t expect to see a recipe section. You expect to see articles about mountain bikes and riding them

Personally I don’t like seeing articles containing curly bared bikes either because it’sa mountain bike magazine not a gravel or camping magazine

Should there even be a non bike chat forum on a mountain bike website?

Well, i for one like Charlie’s recipes. So, there. Huw FW has a challenger 🙂

As for the Hayes brakes, I’ve had a set for 2 years and they are utterly glorious. Due recent massive price drop to about 80 p/end, thanks to the PSA on here I bought another set for the other bike. Happiness.

If you subscribe to a mountain biking magazine you don’t expect to see a recipe section. You expect to see articles about mountain bikes and riding them

Maybe the magazine needs rebranding to reflect it’s current day content, ‘Singletrack’ doesn’t really cover it as a name. Yes, a fresh new launch with a less pigeonholing name. How about ‘Fathom’?

Ive just returned from a weekend of motor-bike-packing to learn of the “garlic gate” scandal.

We have always thrown in random other things in FGF. Amanda got some new wheels for a car. I got a dog. Did Chipps add a wife to FGF?

I like the recipies