Fresh Goods Friday 620: The Harnessing Cyclists Edition

Reassuringly just about lunch time. Chant your ‘how much!’ mantras and feel that feeling of calm descend upon you.

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By ben_haworth

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Fresh Goods Friday 620: The Harnessing Cyclists Edition

The SWAT jacket is apparently named as such because it fits into the downtube SWAT compartment on Spesh bikes. It’s also rather good at what it does too. I hope this helps?

Those wheels…Are somehow simultaneously uber desirable, and yet fascinatingly; cheap-tat looking.

Also, Specialised clothing looks really good, they are annoyingly good at this stuff (like helmets and shoes as well) I could be head to toe in the stuff…

Is it not a fail to have silver hubs and black rims? Spoke colour, and yes I’m a sad magpie king of bling, I quite like.

Industry Nine Trail 270 24H Wheels

How much!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Mainly as there’s no price.

But seriously, 24 spokes? **** stupid, as there’s barely any 24h rims if you knack one.

Somehow extremely colourful yet not gawdy

I dread to think what gawdy looks like. Those wheels are on par with https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/house-sales-pictures-we-have-a-new-pinnacle-%f0%9f%98%b3/

Is it not a fail to have silver hubs and black rims? Spoke colour, and yes I’m a sad magpie king of bling, I quite like.

If they’d done the fade from the gunmetal/blue/silver/whatever colour of the hub, through to match the black of the rim, that could have looked pretty good (might still have looked awful just a bit less like unicorn vomit)

Half man half biscuit. Who knew, that’s persistence for you..been a long time since the trumpton riots

Those wheels are very cool!

Is it not a fail to have silver hubs and black rims?

Almost definitely. Answering with near conviction as I have a set of silver Pro4s with black DT rims, and I ain’t cool.

Silver hubs and black rims look good on a shiny silver Pike.

I like the wheels, and I like everything about that Z1 other than the price…. In my head Marzocchi forks are still the good value cool bits you bought because you couldnt afford Fox 🙁

Sorry but if Bomber Z1’s aren’t nail varnish orange I don’t want to know.

Also, I’m in the push on grip camp. I stopped using lock-ons years ago because the trends were for ever thinner, less comfortable designs. ODI Longnecks slipped onto a Renthal Fatbar with GT85. They never, ever move.

In my head Marzocchi forks are still the good value cool bits you bought because you couldnt afford Fox 🙁

In my head Marzocchi are the company who made the first suspension forks that ever really worked in the way you would expect quality suspension to work, long before Fox forks existed. The first Bomber forks were a revelation and left everyone else playing catch up.

Channelling your inner Irvine Welsh – malibou stork nightmares with the football scores there

In my head Marzocchi are the company who made the first suspension forks that ever really worked in the way you would expect quality suspension to work, long before Fox forks existed. The first Bomber forks were a revelation and left everyone else playing catch up.

Yea, it’s a bit of a shame they lost their way sometime after the first iteration of the 66 and 888. Simple forks with simple to understand (RC2) dampers that just worked well. Then it all became TST-Micro-sl-air-ride’s-like-its-made-of-wooden-leaf-springs-made-by-suntour.

I basically want to see a detailed comparison between the Bombers and the equivalent Foxes- how the core chassis varies or is the same, what the compatibility is, etc. Cos I have some 36s with coils in which are fantastic, but if I was buying today I suspect I’d buy Bombers and maybe upgrade the damping… So I reckon their most direct competitor might well be an upgraded coil Fox rather than anything else? And if they’ve kept the compatibility good, then a Bomber with a grip2 or a 36 with a bomber coil in could be basically the best fork you can buy.

(why the **** don’t Fox do a coil or a coil kit? They can surely see people spending £300 for aftermarket, and they presumably have all the bits, just stick em in a bag and sell it!)

Love those wheels btw. The absolute ****ing hubris of a logo on a spoke is amazing. Love that frame too.

Yea, it’s a bit of a shame they lost their way sometime after the first iteration of the 66 and 888

The 44 and 55 RC3Ti were both wonderful forks (some years later I think) . (but yes, I wasted a load of money on a few sets of TST junk).

Does anyone make super simple open bath coil sprung, simple to service, forks any more?

Love those wheels, apart from being 8 spokes short and the impending rigmarole of a dinged rim replacement, their options don’t tick all the boxes for me, everything of interest in 27.5 rear was 28 hole, but I suppose if you can only send the wheel back to them for a new rim it sorta makes sense, I just don’t trust anything under 32h and 24 just scares me, especially at that price.

Push on grips. Start with hairspray, cheap, extra hold. And when that stops working, doesn’t work for long enough discover that Renthal make Grip glue, and when that still doesn’t last quite long enough find they do a quick setting version. Bit like super glue. Still on the standard.

b33k34
Full Member

The 44 and 55 RC3Ti were both wonderful forks (some years later I think) . (but yes, I wasted a load of money on a few sets of TST junk)

I thought my 44 tis were divey and uncontrolled tbh, I lusted after them for ages and I was so disappointed. Incredibly supple, yeah, but that was all they did well imo. But then they were pretty much in a class of one since nobody else had a modern trailbike coil fork at the time I think? I went back to my coil-converted blackbox-damped Revs and tbf they made the 44s look a bit rubbish.

noeffsgiven
Free Member
I just don’t trust anything under 32h and 24 just scares me, especially at that price.

See, I totally thought that but I’ve started to think that a strong rim and less spokes is a better way to do it. If you’ve got less spokes you can put more metal in the rim where it’s really needed the most, and have a same-weight wheel with better overall strength. I’ve got a 24/28h setup in the trailbike now and I was skeptical but it’s been really good.

Except for the lack of rim choice obviously! But luckily I could get what I wanted in 24 and 28.

First bike upgrade was replacing some deeply mediocre RS Dukes with some MX Comp Etas. I loved those forks

Ive still got a pair of those TST-Micro-sl-air-ride’s-like-its-made-of-wooden-leaf-springs-made-by-suntour forks, now propping up the front end of an old Kona hardtail. When I say propping up, that’s one one side of the fork. The other leg is a bit lower, and clunky and full of stiction, and the forks go up and down in a stuttery ‘yourheadset is loose and your through axle isn’t tightened up’ sort of way.
They were shiiite about 20 miles after new. And haven’t improved any with age.

Lower spoke count wheels IME go out of true more easily and are harder to straighten once they get a bit wonky. Plus they require higher spoke tension which results in a harsher ride, suppose this doesn’t matter then they’re on a full sus bike.

32 spokes in all my wheels (except my cross bike but that’s because they were cheap/light and a stop gap till I buy something better.

I do like the rainbow look. Would look great on a black bike.

Agree that there should be a simple coil open bath fork out there, I’d be interested in a pair.