Bloody hell there’s a lot of misinformation and crap being bandied about on this thread.

Okay. First up, my bona-fides. Before I started doing this writing malarkey (and yes, I also write sciencey stuff too; I don’t just write about bikes) I was a research scientist, studying brain and spinal cord injuries, neuropathic pain and what have you. I have an MSc in molecular neuroscience, a PhD in neuroscience and I spent 6 years as a post-doctoral researcher in Bristol and Leeds. To a limited extent, I know what I’m talking about.

There’s a load of data to suggest that the *majority* of bicycle accidents actually contain substantial rotational forces, as either hitting the ground with a glancing blow or carreening into it head on generates rotational forces:
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1.  Otte D, Injury mechanism and crash kinematics of cyclists in accidents, 33rd Stapp Car Crash conference, (1989) SAE paper 892425.
2.  Larsen LB et al., Epidemiology of bicyclist’s injuries, IRCOBI conf., 1991: 217-230.

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There’s also plenty of data to suggest that the brain is actually quite good at weathering direct linear impacts (essentially, the brain is 80% water; water isn’t very compressible); it’s the shear forces caused by rotation that create issues within the delicate substructures, and physical analogues for the symptoms of concussion (it’s not all homogenous blancmange, you know). For example:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263935897_Why_Most_Traumatic_Brain_Injuries_are_Not_Caused_by_Linear_Acceleration_but_Skull_Fractures_are

In a nutshell, helmets that dissipate rotational forces are A Good Thing. The only reason that loads of helmets don’t is that the testing mechanisms currently in place don’t look for them – they’re designed to pass tests, and protecting your head is only secondary. The closer we can get to replicating actual injuries when it comes to helmet testing the better, and at present the tests that have been done all cite helmets with rotational protection as better than ones without (surprise surprise).

https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/bicycle-helmet-ratings.html

Which one is better? Well, I’ll leave that to you to decide. But IM (reasonably well informed) O, any helmet is better than none. One with a system to mitigate rotational forces is better than one without (based on all the evidence).

I’ve actually been to see MIPS, and I wrote an article about it in the magazine (it’s here: https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/singletrack-issue-121-mips-youre-twisting-my-melon-man/). The following is based on my knowledge having been there, and not necessarily as an endorsement of MIPS over its rivals – not least because I haven’t ridden them enough, and I’ve not studied their evidence in enough detail.

MIPS is a system that can be retrofitted to loads of helmets, although they’ve now started to make MIPS specific ones with (eg) Bell and Giro. The pads that interact with your head sit over the plastic, so theoretically it should make no difference to helmet feel (although having ridden them, it certainly can do, but I don’t know why). If you have to torque the helmet down to stop it moving about then either the helmet itself is the wrong shape (try another) or MIPS isn’t for you, and you need to try an alternative. Clearly a helmet you hate isn’t going to help anyone.

But by torquing it down I suspect you’re getting rid of the precise thing that MIPS is designed to do, and if you do crash, you’ll simply be transferring the rotational impact to your skin (which has a limited amount of elasticity) and thence to your skull and brain.

MIPS and their co-horts are a good thing, and we will undoubtedly see more of them in the future as test become more stringent. This is to be encouraged. I don’t think it’s just a marketing scam.

Anyway, that’s my (substantially more than) 2p. As you were :-)

Colin9 – if that Dartmoor feature is the one I’m thinking of, then I’m glad you liked it :-D

MalvernRider – bloody good call! Personally I think this one. Miles better than the studio version:

Cheers NW.I think there are a few avenues for fiddling – the links, as you say – heightening the main (straight) one so it clears the gear case and then increasing the servo lever. I like the idea of the more powerful servo too. Tempted to play around with 4ws too, but that’s a bit spendy, so maybe further down the line :-D

I *may* have just bought one of these Remo crawlers, which was RTR £130ish from China on the Bay. Escaped import stuff, too. Initial impressions are very good – turning circle is dreadful, though – even worse than the Axial SCX10 it’s a clone of, so I need to remedy that. Otherwise, the kids (and I) love it ;-)

<span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>As stated above, you’ll be fine running your help gear in a car if it’s 2.4ghz.</span>

Sorry to hijack – but if I was looking at getting hold of some new RC 2.4ghz gear – not too spendy, mostly for bashing and the occasional track meet – what would you lot recommend? Is Futaba still the shizzle? Ideally I’d like some sort of model memory (doesn’t need to be more than about 3 or 4) and it’s for cars, so I don’t really need more than 2 or 3 channels… Not bothered about stick or wheel, but wheel feel should be nice and not plasticky. Thoughts? :-)

Yes – went to Chilean Patagonia a couple of years ago for a SantaCruz launch. Writeup in issue 105 I think. To cut a long story short, it’s ace, but very dusty and as expected really quite empty. There are some amazing trails if you know where to go – from a MTB POV your best bet is trying to find a guide, and weirdly people who fish (and can also ride, natch) are often the best bet as they know the backcountry. Friendly place, lots of dust. Wide open spaces, dust.

Some other photos from the trip here: https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/behind-the-lens-patagonia-barney/

and here

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/first-ride-the-santacruz-hightower-patagonian-adventure/

And there’s a VERY cheesy promo video here:

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/video-aysen-rally-patagonia/

I’m unsure what Argentinian Partagonia is like, though – and whether the infrastructure is any different. For what it’s worth, though, I think it’s much like many other South American countries, in that it’s very friendly, welcoming and curious, and has a much worse reputation than it deserves. I think he’ll have an amazing time, and I’d not be worried if I were you :-)

Also, don’t confuse ‘being highly educated’ with being intelligent ;-)

That’s the one, Pete68

Bawbags. Thanks all.

Barney

What Cougar said. I own a PS4 (and GT Sport). In most other instances (ie exclusives that appeal to me) I’m very happy with my choice – but if you’re just after a driving game, IMO the Xbox and Forza/Horizon is a much better bet.

The same as anyone else, ST has a need to generate readers. People like, and read these stories, so they will carry on publishing them; it’s not rocket science, whether you agree with it or not.

If you don’t like the stories, it’s easy enough not to read them. There are plenty of other stories knocking around that are for ‘real people riding real bikes’ – whoever they are. Actually, what’s the definition? As I write for the mag occasionally I guess I’m not ‘real’. What about some of my riding mates? The ones who work in actual industry in actual factories and get most of their kit off eBay? I think they’d qualify as more ‘real’ than most people on here. They still want to hear about the shiny stuff occasionally… They’ve got nice bikes too.

And just for clarity I’ve never reviewed a Tallboy LT. I used to own one though – great bike.

What an incredible woman. She sounds like my gran.

In that context do you want to protect your ears? Where do you think your tinnitus comes from? Is it spontaneous, or as a result of injury or other treatment? What form does it take? High pitched? Continuous? Pulsed?

For high-volume situations (gigs etc) I bought some ACS Pros, which are spendy, but fantastic.

https://www.acscustom.com/uk/products/hearing-protection

Cheaper alternatives are available, but IMO they’re not quite as good (block out different frequencies etc).

FWIW I’ve habituated to my tinnitus to a greater or lesser extent (after several years). Naturally, it’s worse when I’m tired!

Good luck! :-)

Love mine (I bought it; it’s not a review one).

I’m running 29er dropouts and 27.5+ wheels and tyres – Stan’s Flow rims, Speccy Butcher 2.8 on the R and Nobby Nic 3.0 on the front. To counteract the somewhat low BB running the chubbies with the 29er dropouts (especially running SS with 180mm cranks) I’ve got a 140mm Pike up front. Which brings the BB up as well as making the bike that little bit slacker.

It’s a complete and utter hooligan :-)

Check if your mate can get a boost adaptor for his wheels – if he can this would widen the scope considerably. I think you can get them for DT hubs (or hubs with DT internals, such as Specialised), Hope, Industry Nine and White Industries. Not sure of any others… Specialized and Hope make proprietary ones, of you can get them from Wolftooth. https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/boostinator

You’ll need to re-dish the rear wheel, but it’s a 10 minute job on a decent jig.

As for frames, there’s a good-looking NS on Chainreaction at the moment for cheap: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ns-bikes-eccentric-djambo-evo-frame-2017/rp-prod152978

Is it heck finished – it’s all a contrived narrative, innit?

Fred’s also a mountain biker fwiw :-)

If you hunt around you can get a brand new 7 on a 2 year contract and the only extra cost above buying the phone outright is £30 or so. I found one with mobiles.co.uk. Best of luck :-)

I rode with a cold in my twenties once. Got viral myocarditis, atrial arrhythmia and a week in a hospital cardiac ward…

just sayin’

Kate Bush

*drops mic*

:-)

The second hand ideas are good ones. You can get a so-so guitar new, but a much better one second hand for the same price – they don’t wear out as catastrophically in the same way as bikes… The best thing to do would be to take someone with you to look at them who knows what they’re doing. But check the nut, check the frets to see that they have no obvious ‘dimples’ in them. Check that the action is neither too high, nor so low that the strings buzz against the frets all the way up the fretboards (this isn’t critical, as it’s usually easy to sort, but you might be able to negotiate a lower price). Sight down the neck from the body end and look the the neck isn’t bent or screwy. Plug it in and check the volume and tone controls.

All of these things can be remedied (at least relatively) cheaply. Cheap practice amps are also the way forward, at least initially. But if you’ve got an iPhone or an iPad, as Roter Stern says, amp emulation is really very good and not expensive, even when you factor in something that lets you plug your guitar in and listen at the same time (google the iRig).

Choppersquad – Saw Cardiacs many, many times I’m happy/smug to say. And I’m not sure if it make you feel any better if I tell you that Is This The Life was not the best thing I’ve ever seen them play live – Signs, Dirty Boy, Ideal and Stoneage Dinosaurs all spring to mind. But you may or may not know that Tim Smith has actually been in the studio recently (gasp) and there is new (to us, at any rate; it was recorded in the nineties) Sea Nymphs material inbound imminently :-)

But back on topic, stuff I love I’ll never get a chance to see live would include tunes by Elliot Smith and Phil Lynott, maybe some Gabriel era Genesis and Led Zep with Bonham on drums. Now THAT would be a festival lineup :-)

Oli – The ones I liked best are the ones I picked as the best ones (AM9) :-)

Rik – goes to show what a difference individual foot shape can make – I’m a 46 in most cycling shoes, but I can squeeze into a 45 in Specialized and one or two others…

The DMTs are available from UK distributor Paligap – which most shops will have an account with. They’re a pretty middle-of-the-road fitting; I’m a comfy (slightly narrow) 46 in most things including these… but your mileage may vary – shoes are a pretty personal fit.

But if the shoe is very wide or narrow (i.e. the Northwaves – which are amazing if they fit you) I think we’ve mentioned it. The others are pretty much on the money.

You look lovely when you’re asleep.

Yes.

Baffled that no-one’s mentioned Cardiacs yet – I know there are a few Pondies in here apart from me:

It’s what was on the packing slip, Stevied… but according to Maxxis’ website you are correct.

Crashtestmonkey:

Fresh Goods Friday isn’t journalism, no. It’s photos of the new stuff that came into the office, with some pointless and occasionally meaningless waffle written by me to go with it. Incisive and investigative it frankly ain’t.

People like to look at the pictures, and (to a lesser extent) read the waffle.

Feel free not to read it – thousands already don’t :-)

Here is one of the adverts (unashamedly – it’s a bike launch) which I assume Mark wants paying for?
So they want the Manufacturer (who I assume has footed the bill for this jolly) to pay to have it published AND the readers to pay to view this advert?

Wrecker – I wrote the story on the FP, and the mag article it alludes to in the latest issue.

I’m not going to wade in on this thread overmuch, except to say that yes, Santa Cruz paid for me to go to Patagonia. But I wrote and photographed this (as well as the story in the mag – well, some of the photos in that); it’s not advertorial supplied to me by Santa Cruz (the pics may well be of a higher quality if it was TBH, and some of them might actually have been of the bike in question).

But in terms of paying to view it, there’s also a free version on the front page as well as the Premier version (the Premier one has hi-res photos in a nicer format).

There’s a debate here, clearly – but I think there’s a difference between manufacturers sending you written or video material and inviting you to go on a launch where you’re free to make your own decisions.

Neither in this *nor* the mag piece – which the story you mentioned is much more of a promotion for, to be honest – do I (for example) mention anything about the bike at all apart from its name – that’s elsewhere on this site under ‘reviews’. Feel free to search.
But it’s a trip to Patagonia which we wouldn’t have been able access otherwise, unless perhaps we were sent a version of it by a Sant Cruz sponsored rider – which of course wouldn’t have had the editorial freedom I’ve been able to exercise.

It’s a question of where the line is I suppose. But I don’t think a story of my photos of an amazing place qualifies as an advert personally. Your mileage may vary.

Back in now – there’s a story on the FP here[/url]

Shucks, thanks guys – means a lot.

It’s all I ever wanted etc :-)

These threads are only peripherally about Fresh Goods Friday these days, aren’t they?

Last I heard they were expecting more stock at the end of April…

An happy afternoon’s proof reading awaits the OP.

Especially when he realises it’s not the only thing on the site I’ve wroted ;-)

HtS – I hope all’s well…

Given that use of ‘an’ ideally depends on how yer English is spoked (whether the ‘h’ is pronounced or not) you’ll just have to get used to it. I’m surprised you’ve not picked up on the others ;-)

http://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/hopes-new-carbon-hc-211-bike-exclusive-pics/

…we have more pics and a video in the story.

It’s not even a prototype – it’s a concept bike. Hence all the weird new dropouts, chain guide etc. They’re just trying stuff to see if it works, which is the cool thing about concept bikes – I love the fact that I can’t think of many other companies at all, worldwide who could pull this off, and this one isn’t in SantaCruz, or Osaka – it’s in Barnoldswick :-)

*rolls eyes*

OK. You can still get bikes which are short and steep, believe it or not. The long, low, steep thing is a modern development I’m hugely keen on, it still works for the majority of people, but not everyone cleaves to it – or if they do they have different interpretations.

I totally get this but do we really need top be told that a contemporary bike has contemporary geometry?

Well, I’ve got to write something. Would you rather I just said “Yeti has released a new bike. Here’s a link”? LLS is a shorthand. I assume most of the readers know what it means, and to take the numbers on their own merit – I did, after all, provide a geometry chart so you can make your own minds up.
If you read further down the article, by the way, I mention that it’s not actually all that long. I mean ‘long, but not that long’ – what does that even mean anyway?

I guess you’ll just have to figure it out.

Mikeep – I wasn’t actually deliberately commenting on your grammar; I was telling you where I got the weight from. We’ve got two of those tyres in for Fresh Goods, and I went downstairs and I weighed one of them :-)

thepodge – first-glance slackness awards? Set it up with the appropriate sag, and ride it. The Yeti will be a teensy bit slacker. Your novel concept of ‘steeper per mm of travel’ is nonsense, like measuring digestion by turd length.