This is the bintro… the intro that actually got written on bin day (which is Thursday round here).

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By ben_haworth

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Fresh Goods Friday 626: Silver Serfing Edition

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If you care about rock and roll, guitars, music in general or just awesome people, you should read about Sister Rosetta Tharpe. It’s criminal how thoroughly forgotten she was by the music industry and media. I’ve only known about her for a few years. If she was a man she’d be up there with Chuck Berry and Elvis and she predates both of them.

Hefty batteries but I really want to try riding around with 12000 lumens on the front!

Wait a sec…

HOW MUCH?!?!?!?!

Rosetta Tharpe was the bizness! Even in a wet and broken Manchester. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-27256401

Wait a sec…

HOW MUCH?!?!?!?!

Same as I paid for Lupine’s Wilma 5 system back in the day – 700 lumens!

Think I also paid the same for their HID light before they switched to LEDs…..

They are serious lights, up to 12 hours on full 2000lm. 12 hours!! 😮

The price of the head torch isn’t even that bad when compared to the RRP of an Exposure Zenith.

They are serious lights, up to 12 hours on full 2000lm. 12 hours!! 😮

Yeah, at 20°C. Not often that warm at dark in the UK!
Impressive even so.

True, still 3.5hrs at -5 though, so probably at least 5-6 hours at normal 5-10 degrees UK winter temps. Quick is damn impressive Vs the 1-1.5hr max of most MTB ones.

Does that bottle of Irn Bru say FANNY on it?

Also, ref. the sticker on the Stif, does anyone else find those “Designed in <place where people get paid decent wages>, made somewhere else” stickers a bit grating for some weird reason? I think it’s because it just seems a bit condescendingly colonial… yes, we trust you to make the thing on the cheap, but no, no, you leave the design to us.

Does that bottle of Irn Bru say FANNY on it?

Yep, was a thing apparently…

I think it’s because it just seems a bit condescendingly colonial… yes, we trust you to make the thing on the cheap, but no, no, you leave the design to us.

Strange, when I read them I read it as “we’ll do the stuff the requires minimal capital investment, very little specific staff training (so it can be done by someone else or at the employees expense), and can reasonably be done on the IoM or similar before being signed off by a UK mainland based middle manager and slapping a sticker on it. We’ll leave you to do everything else”
But yeah, it grates.
(not suggesting stif etc are necessarily guilty of this, quite possibly its dave in sumerbridge does the whole lot)

@thenorthwind

Yes it does indeed say what you think it does? It was from the campaign they did when Coke were doing their named bottles……..

Well spotted!

Still trying to work out if the article title is some kind of peasant-related pun.

If you care about rock and roll, guitars, music in general or just awesome people, you should read about Sister Rosetta Tharpe. It’s criminal how thoroughly forgotten she was by the music industry and media. I’ve only known about her for a few years. If she was a man she’d be up there with Chuck Berry and Elvis and she predates both of them.

this times x10000

Also, ref. the sticker on the Stif, does anyone else find those “Designed in <place where people get paid decent wages>, made somewhere else” stickers a bit grating for some weird reason?

No? Wages aren’t low in Taiwan, lower than here yes but cost of living is lower by about the same proportion. And the standard of living there is much better than some would think. From what I’ve seen and at recent/current trajectories it’s wouldn’t suprise me if it were better than the UK. Property is more expensive there though.

Well there you go.

Point is it’s still cheaper to get a frame made in Taiwan, presumably. I realise it’s not China, but, again presumably, if it cost the same to have it made in the UK, they would.

No introduction necessary….

Glad you went with the Stif, I feel like a proper influencer now. ;⁠-⁠) Ribollita is my soup discovery of the year – ridiculously tasty for something made almost entirely from worthy ingredients.

 

Good frame choice Benji, I’ve had mine for coming up 2 years and love it. Interested to hear how you get on with the 140mm fork, I’ve been considering upping the fork travel.

Point is it’s still cheaper to get a frame made in Taiwan, presumably. I realise it’s not China, but, again presumably, if it cost the same to have it made in the UK, they would.

it is probably cheaper in taiwan than the UK because there are no comparable factories to do the work, rather than penny pinching on the part of stif.

i think the “designed in uk” or where ever thing comes from a time when lots of mountain bikes had poor mud clearance around the back wheel and designed in uk let you know/made you believe that your bike was designed for the conditions that you rode in.

silver components: i would love it if someone made a silver dropper and rims

So…. is this Stif build going to be a Christmas raffle prize then ?.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe – I found her through the blues many, many years ago. So glad I didn’t miss her.

Point is it’s still cheaper to get a frame made in Taiwan, presumably.

Sure – what I was getting at was just about ‘decent wages’ rather than the cost to get it made.

The Lumen Wars are still on then?

@ben_haworth maybe add to the silverware with some Hope 155mm cranks for testing purposes. Love my Squatch but the BB really is proper low. I suspect the low BB contributes to the excellent handling right up to the moment I’ve been spat off by a pedal strike. Again.

@Rubber_Buccaneer Unfortunately we already have (black) Hope 155 cranks on test on someone else’s bike at the mo. I’ll just have to get 165 eWings then I suppose. (not really, will be transferring the drivetrain parts off my NS :))

does anyone else find those “Designed in <place where people get paid decent wages>, made somewhere else” stickers a bit grating for some weird reason

Not really, but the STIF sticker on the downtube is gratingly ugly.