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Fresh Goods Friday Podcast 2025 ep9 - SRAM EAGLE 90
Mar 28, 2025
Plus tyre pressure calculators and British Summer time nonsense...
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0:21
hello welcome to this week's Single
0:23
Track World podcast i'm Hannah Dobson
0:25
managing editor and here we have
0:27
Benjamin Howeth technical
0:29
editor at
0:31
large means that's what I stick it on no
0:33
one knows what it means at large just
0:35
means you sw out around you've been
0:36
pensioned off
0:39
you said that not me
0:41
heyo okay uh in the news this week we'll
0:46
start with Happy Mondays on the website
0:49
we have a story on a Monday yep which is
0:52
all like good vibes stuff no doom and
0:55
gloom in there correct and uh one of the
0:59
things that I put in that was the new
1:03
Victoria tire pressure
1:06
calculator cuz I was Oh yeah for people
1:08
in That's where I went was to near
1:12
Burgamo is it not secret that bit's not
1:15
oh I found that no that bit's not went
1:18
to near Bergmo in Italy where Victoria
1:21
have their labs and a bike park more on
1:25
that in a minute um and so they've used
1:29
their bike park and their labs that are
1:33
full of machines that we weren't allowed
1:35
to photograph as they're machines that
1:38
they've invented right
1:41
to kind of add data to things that you
1:46
might normally have as feel some kind of
1:49
sense of like oh it's more comfortable
1:52
or okay so like measuring vibration
1:57
um or the transmission of vibration and
2:00
some of the wear on tires and that kind
2:03
of thing they've invented machines to do
2:06
different bits and pieces and then they
2:08
also date your tires out on the on the
2:11
track on this bike park so there's a
2:15
tarmac track that goes around oh right
2:18
okay there's a whole Vela Solutions um
2:22
pump track and then there's a little bit
2:25
of mountain bike stuff as well and then
2:27
they've got rocks that they can that
2:30
have sprinklers so that they can make it
2:32
wet rocks as well so they can test the
2:34
grip that's what they're doing in the
2:35
World Cup so what they they sprinkle
2:38
them to make them wet yeah they took an
2:40
absolute jive that would be the next
2:42
Olympics though can you imagine having
2:43
to have the equivalent test set up
2:44
though in the UK you'd have to have like
2:46
hair dryers to dry the rocks yes much
2:49
easier to make rocks wet than it is to
2:51
make them dry just make it more and more
2:53
like a garden center it does look a
2:56
little bit like that cuz it's got the
2:57
samples of paving as well and gravel so
3:00
it's got different like sorts of like
3:04
grade of gravel i've not used it yet
3:06
this for the calculator thing is it the
3:07
online calculator and they've got a f
3:10
they've got like a copy of the Forest
3:12
Farenberg and then a copy of the of the
3:15
Flanders sets as well or
3:17
cobbles because they're different sorts
3:19
of cobbles right so yeah so all that's
3:22
there anyway all of the data that
3:25
they've recorded on like how grippy
3:27
things are and
3:29
transmission of vibrations and things
3:31
has gone into making this
3:34
tool so you can put in Have I got a tire
3:37
liner what size tire how hard do I ride
3:41
and you can do it for all different
3:44
disciplines of cycling as well and it
3:46
will give you recommended pressures is
3:48
it an Appleong or a web page it's on a
3:51
on their website yeah okay my impression
3:53
is if you don't trust your thumbs
3:55
anymore which I wouldn't recommend no um
3:58
so my impression is that the gravel
4:01
recommendations are are good like I
4:04
think those are pretty accurate right i
4:06
think the mountain bike ones might be a
4:09
little soft can you use it if you're not
4:13
on the Victoria tires yes
4:17
yeah cuz it doesn't ask you like which
4:19
brand of which model of tire it asks you
4:21
like what sort of sidewall you've got or
4:24
whatever oh a calculator off against who
4:27
else does them wtv definitely do them
4:29
schwelby do one mhm but I think the
4:32
other ones don't have all the different
4:34
permutations of
4:37
uh being able to select different
4:38
terrain or being able to select
4:42
different um like conditions um or tire
4:45
liners cuz I think that's more one of
4:47
the more Yeah I would
4:48
imagine in inventions
4:52
particularly theirs is there is much
4:53
more um XC tire liner friendly things
4:56
they do don't they and gravel tire
4:58
liners i know everyone does but there
5:00
Well and so they have more of a
5:02
reputation for road gravel and then XC
5:04
riding although they do have uh T-ID
5:07
Deprella don't they on their tires i
5:10
don't know actually right okay well I've
5:12
got that right
5:14
i think I've got that right there you go
5:16
i might have to double check
5:19
mazro i don't know many of the other
5:21
ones rock is that right rock racing is
5:24
that what this called oh gosh I don't
5:26
know now you're asking oh damn it i'm
5:29
gonna have to
5:31
pause yeah T-Bird Depella and a bunch of
5:35
people don't know about okay okay right
5:38
so they are like more well known for
5:42
road and gravel tires and cross country
5:45
tires I think but they do have TBO
5:48
Depella and the Rogue Racing team racing
5:52
um on their tires so okay perhaps we
5:55
will see more like gnarly things in
5:57
future um from them but yeah so that's
6:00
my impression so far try out the uh tire
6:05
calculator pressure calculator and see
6:07
what you think folks yeah a lot of
6:09
people might be on the PSIs they've been
6:10
on for all their lives tires were vastly
6:14
different in all kinds of regards yeah
6:17
size volume diameter casing
6:21
etc
6:23
so it's been and then so yeah I
6:26
mentioned that they've got this bike
6:28
park and I've been to a couple of things
6:30
recently that's made me interested in
6:33
bike park design
6:35
okay
6:37
so kind of until quite
6:40
recently by trails were something that
6:43
you kind of had built in the built in
6:45
the woods probably in a coniferous
6:47
forest with loads of hard pack um or mud
6:52
and like on a steep hillside or
6:54
something like that it's like fairly
6:56
consistent kind of geology in a way okay
7:00
water running down the hillsides that
7:01
kind of thing yep but um these like per
7:08
urban is I think the term like on the
7:10
edge of towns and things where people
7:12
are building bike parks on golf courses
7:14
or in the case of Victoria they
7:16
basically built a bike park in an
7:17
industrial estate okay
7:19
um things like the the well the geology
7:23
is different and so how you build it and
7:26
the water management that you have to do
7:28
is completely different and so people
7:32
are having to learn like a whole new way
7:35
of building and designing and that kind
7:39
of thing so yeah I thought it was kind
7:41
of interesting that people kind of been
7:44
building trails for years and then
7:48
the designs that you are used to doing
7:50
don't work when you're doing it in a
7:52
sort of urban setting or Yeah and also
7:55
that the pattern of use is completely
7:56
different so basically people will ride
7:59
it every day all the time no matter what
8:02
the conditions are like um whereas a
8:06
bike trail in the wilds of Wales you're
8:11
not going to get that many people riding
8:12
it when it's really grim weather or
8:14
whatever or locals can go "Oh we won't
8:17
ride that trail today cuz we'll trash
8:19
it."
8:21
Durable like that do you well that
8:24
doesn't avoid mud that avoids mud oh no
8:27
i think there's definitely things that
8:29
like stuff on the moors you don't Yeah
8:32
you don't go and ride cuz you know it's
8:33
just going to I don't think Yeah
8:35
miserable as well as I think I think
8:37
that's my point not cuz you're being
8:38
altruistic it's just some bits are
8:41
just crap and slow and horrible
8:44
interesting so yeah I thought and so
8:46
there's like various bits of like Ember
8:49
training and things that are happening
8:51
to help trail builders have kind of
8:56
right paperwork skills you know on paper
8:58
skills like Yeah I know how to build a
9:00
trail and I know how to dig a drain in
9:02
these circumstances and that kind of
9:04
thing all pump trucks what's happening
9:06
all of them yeah there's loads of them
9:08
what else is happening one each right
9:10
now we're gonna take a break
9:14
okay we're back and this week there's
9:18
been a big product launch that you've
9:21
been working on so Straming Dong Stram
9:23
House of Stram uhhuh what have we got
9:25
from them we
9:27
have new
9:31
drivetrains eagle it's been around for
9:33
ages isn't it that basically means
9:34
single ring I think doesn't it uh and
9:36
it's the TType transmission okay where
9:41
it fits on the
9:42
UDH back end instead of your derailia
9:46
hanger so you pull your DUDH out put
9:48
this new rear mech in transmission blah
9:51
blah but it's not powered
9:54
by batteries okay and servos it's just a
9:58
normal cable actuated
10:02
okay this is their first Eagle TR Type
10:05
12speed
10:07
520% rebuildable neck it's called the
10:10
Eagle 90
10:13
and the Eagle 70 is a slightly lower
10:15
version right i've got the 90 so this is
10:18
the like direct mount kind of uh
10:22
derailer
10:24
with no electronic things but it still
10:30
lets you do that shifting under load
10:32
that you can do on transmission yep so
10:35
yes and no yes when it's a meat powered
10:38
biobicycle analog acoustic get them all
10:41
just to annoy everyone okay um but if
10:43
it's on an ebike you are strongly
10:48
recommended to get the single click
10:51
shifter
10:52
right rather than the one that clicks
10:55
it's only two all right so that you
10:57
don't kind of shift through loads all at
10:59
once yeah because I'm a bad lad I've
11:02
been using the double shift lift double
11:04
shifter on an ebike to see what happens
11:06
and what does happen i don't really
11:08
double shift very often anyway by you so
11:10
it's been fine
11:12
so it's arguably better than the
11:14
electric one because it's quicker cuz
11:16
it's a cable and it's not waiting for
11:17
the teeth gate to uh and you don't have
11:19
to remember to charge it sure so I I
11:23
think that this is interesting because I
11:26
was sort of like okay is the world
11:28
wedded to electronic shifting and
11:32
electronic dubberries everywhere but if
11:36
Stram's then doing a a mechanical
11:40
transmission yep is this because they
11:43
see the apocalypse coming and think "Oh
11:46
we might want to move away from
11:47
batteries after all."
11:49
I think it's it's a price point thing
11:51
isn't it they won't do any high-end
11:54
mechanical transmissions anymore
11:56
wouldn't they have thought this is like
11:58
GX level and below but when you say
12:02
high-end like high-end previously has
12:04
meant
12:05
electronic so not really yeah what's
12:08
what what else could be like good what's
12:13
what
12:14
uh user experience are we experiencing
12:17
that is so much better to that would
12:20
make it high-end like I just feel like
12:24
does it work yes
12:26
i like electronic shifting mhm
12:30
why do you like it rest your thumbs
12:35
yeah when you get a good shifter and um
12:38
it's just better it's better i don't
12:40
know you can't rationalize it it's more
12:43
accurate when you're shifting manically
12:45
and things lots going on it doesn't miss
12:46
shift it just you don't have to go
12:48
hang out i know you don't do it like
12:51
that but there is a definite who hang on
12:53
shifting it's gone you can just rag
12:56
right
12:59
okay and if you can't in the year 2025
13:02
if you're not used to charging things
13:03
it's a poor do
13:06
in it really i've reached capacity on
13:08
charging things
13:12
i do I do just where your bikes are as
13:14
well isn't it my I'm going to the garage
13:16
all the time mainly for recycling
13:18
reasons so every now and then I go Yeah
13:20
it's still fine that uses up a bit more
13:22
battery y Yeah I know and then and then
13:26
that would make me paranoid that it's
13:27
more likely to be worn out and dead by
13:30
the time I get to it don't have to have
13:33
it but I do think if you want like
13:34
really light which is what it's about uh
13:38
high-end transmission you're not going
13:40
to be able to use cables for very much
13:41
longer from anyone
13:43
yeah but Stram's just brought out what I
13:47
would consider to be a high-end
13:49
mechanical transmission it's not
13:52
high-end high-end as in performance oh
13:55
yeah yeah it's fine yeah i don't care
13:57
about the price tag i care about the
13:59
performance and if the performance is
14:01
really good then it's high-end depends
14:04
if you're going to get involved with the
14:06
weight equals performance ah which
14:09
arguably it does when you've got a
14:11
massive rear mech and a big cluster of
14:14
metal hanging on your rear wheel i think
14:15
when you've got a massive rear ass like
14:17
I have it doesn't matter about the
14:19
weight of the neck sprung like your ass
14:20
is sprung mass definitely sprung
14:25
but in terms of how things shift I do
14:27
think there's very little difference
14:28
between a low end and a high end nothing
14:30
everything bloody works it's not like Do
14:32
you ever It's not even that old where
14:33
you used to have to for a while you be
14:35
you get into the habit you realize I'm
14:37
shifting twice and back once to get it
14:39
to shift once the cable drag and all
14:41
that bagginess in your
14:44
Okay well I I for one am glad that our
14:48
overlords have created a a new
14:50
mechanical shift and that I would like
14:53
still doing it everyone to come down in
14:56
chain ring size which requires a frame
14:58
rejection which has a full suspension
15:00
pivots and things and then we can get
15:02
back to smaller cassettes on the back
15:05
but still have the range and smaller
15:08
rear
15:09
mech hangers hang on short cage mech
15:14
i'd want less stuff on the back wheel
15:17
okay in terms of dia and the amount of
15:19
metal teeth
15:21
so oh so you want a little tiny what 28
15:25
to Oh that's about 24 okay
15:29
imagine the clearance as well
15:32
less chain it'd be quite a considerable
15:35
saving and I wouldn't be surprised if
15:37
that's where we go oh I like the
15:39
prediction yeah okay
15:42
gearboxes ain't going to happen guys on
15:43
mechanical bikes so you know ebikes they
15:46
will we're just going to have a little
15:48
twiddly front chain rings okay no it
15:50
won't be twiddly cuz you have bigger you
15:52
know tougher gears at the back okay your
15:54
range will be the same i rode a bike on
15:58
Friday with what we've also new brakes
16:01
from Shramm oh yeah we'll come to that
16:04
yeah i rode a break bike on Friday
16:05
though that had
16:07
like it basically looked like it had a
16:10
cylinder for for his gears for the
16:13
bottom end oh yes I saw that they were
16:15
so close together like super close ratio
16:19
it was like flat sprint or downhill
16:22
chase someone downhill gears and then
16:24
flat sprinting gears and then two gears
16:28
for going up a bit of a hill yeah and I
16:31
had to go up like a I don't know 20%
16:34
cobble climb on them i did it though but
16:37
I wouldn't wanted to do it in the wet
16:38
cuz they were round like like pebbles
16:41
like things from the beach things
16:45
good
16:47
anyway
16:48
prices so prices for this for high-end
16:52
performance you say i'm going to say
16:54
it's
16:55
GX/ LX that even exists anymore doesn't
16:58
it okay sub XT level the rear mech is
17:02
185
17:04
quid the cranks you don't really need
17:07
but you can get them if you want 150
17:08
quid shifters 50 quid I think yeah and
17:11
the whole group set mhm well I don't
17:14
don't have a price for the chain
17:16
actually do I i've seen a price for one
17:18
of them 30 well it uses the same
17:20
cassette and chain as GX so that's 55
17:23
quid chain right and a 270 quid cassette
17:28
get the whole groupo as I've written
17:30
there cuz I was feeling continental
17:32
uhhuh 695
17:34
squid that's including cranker
17:37
anchors which really loads of length
17:40
options I think
17:44
on this might involve ebikes ebikes
17:46
might go down to 150 or something but
17:49
normal ones are 155 to 175 I think okay
17:52
so if you've already got an
17:55
electronic rear mech
17:58
yes you could just swap it out for this
18:03
one could you and you'd need a different
18:04
shifter obviously but if for some reason
18:06
you were like I'm done with electronics
18:08
you mean you
18:12
depends if your rear mech is because you
18:14
might have an old original GX old
18:18
original GX axis rear mech that's on a
18:21
normal hanger oh so it needs to be So if
18:23
you got a UDH bicycle you would buy
18:26
right okay oh yeah and then they
18:29
released something else as well stoppers
18:33
yes
18:34
brakes yes avid codes gone avid levels
18:40
gone much like when guides went and were
18:43
replaced by the DB range right master
18:46
Martins DB4 things like that great great
18:49
so what have we got now move to mineral
18:51
we have motive
18:55
so does that mean we've got the Motive
18:56
and the Maven is it the Maven yep motive
18:59
Maven and DB for your entry level okay
19:02
fourpart only motives right uh mineral
19:07
oil they moved to those uh which is good
19:10
so these are sort of replacing
19:14
codes you get codes and everything on
19:16
test bikes and things like that oh no
19:18
more i thought that the
19:22
um the other one beginning with M I've
19:25
just forgotten that they were Mavens i
19:27
thought the Mavens were the codes no
19:28
Mavens like a brand new holy break your
19:32
neck anchors level of breaking okay well
19:35
you've never done anything as powerful
19:37
as that before ah right there so this
19:39
these motives yeah not quite Maven up
19:41
Maven double but I've only got them with
19:43
180 rotors and I have asked for larger
19:46
rotors to unleash a bit more it's not
19:48
really like for like but I think they're
19:50
uh really good funnily enough okay and
19:52
do they come in crazy colors like I've
19:55
got the Motive Ultimate Expert Kit which
19:59
is two 160 rotors two 180 rotors front
20:03
and rear brake extra pads well you got
20:06
organic pads and center pads and a bleed
20:09
kit
20:10
okay and that's in teal splatter oh it
20:15
does come in a splatter one half of the
20:17
caliper the outer facing half is teal
20:20
splatter the other half's black on the
20:21
levers they're black but it says motive
20:24
in teal in teal
20:27
you can just get silver
20:28
ones on look it would match my shirt and
20:32
I've just bought some glasses i've got
20:33
some glasses on the way well I've got it
20:35
on a on a lavender sorry satin indigo
20:38
bike with uh pink spoke wheels and teal
20:43
calipers and I think it actually looks
20:46
good you just need something purple on
20:47
there and then you'll look like a
20:48
tracksuit from the early 90s that's the
20:51
vibe I'm going for
20:54
yeah I like it put brakes yeah I don't
20:57
have a great deal to say about them i
20:59
mean it's like the big thing about
21:01
Transmission was like when it came out a
21:02
year or so ago wasn't it like whoa this
21:05
is the UDH reason all along mhm
21:10
okay be interesting to see what Shimano
21:12
do
21:15
well I look forward to having a go on
21:18
some gears without batteries cuz I do
21:20
quite enjoy not having to remember to
21:23
look after my
21:24
bike that's basically it
21:28
yeah the good on the battery i think one
21:31
of the problems is the batteries last
21:32
that kind of amount of time don't they
21:34
where it's quite long
21:37
so you do forget about it it's not like
21:39
it lasts two rides cuz you'd be on it
21:41
then wouldn't you because it lasts like
21:42
a month or something it's like it's
21:44
quite easy to go well phone's on charge
21:47
every day ain't it
21:50
okay and what does the weekend hold for
21:52
you oh god mothering Sunday well
21:57
remembered
21:58
cuz I had no idea actually don't know
22:02
uh I posted mine again regardless
22:08
I've left my parcel in the kitchen
22:10
clocks change Saturday night get in so
22:14
it will be the best weekend of the year
22:16
so you can ride as a mother you're now
22:18
allowed to ride from Sunday onwards only
22:22
until I don't know 8:00 or something we
22:24
do lose a lie in in the morning on on
22:26
Sunday that is true but we get in the
22:29
evening don't it's loads better makes my
22:31
life loads easier to be getting out
22:34
for uh spins and things spins and picks
22:37
in the golden hour oh god I've just
22:40
remembered that I've got to take my kid
22:42
go-karting on Sunday morning at Why are
22:45
you saying that like a bad thing why
22:46
well no no I like doing that but it's
22:49
going to be earlier than even early
22:52
isn't it yep balls what I would do there
22:55
is embrace the lack of sleep and just
22:57
get totally shedded
23:00
Saturday night anyway cuz you're going
23:02
to feel rough and then drunk driving in
23:05
the morning
23:07
no that's a really bad idea
23:13
anyway uh go and uh do emergency
23:17
Mother's Day yeah don't forget on your
23:19
WhatsApp chat groups you have to
23:21
rearrange your start times now or you
23:23
know make sure people the dozy one knows
23:26
that clocks are changing yeah okay uh go
23:31
and change the clocks on everything
23:33
except the oven and your car just leave
23:35
that where it is correct see you next
23:37
week bye bye
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