And so another bank holiday befalls the unwary. What now, oh weary traveller? A few days to languidly sip metaphorical piña colada by the rippling pool of mental serenity? Or is it a mental trip to the inlaws with screaming kids in tow? Or an *actual* piña colada? Or *actual* inlaws?
Whatever the long weekend has in store, it’s sure to be massively enhanced by checking out some pics of the gear that came into the office this week – it’s Fresh Goods Friday!
Specialized Rhyme FSR Expert Carbon 6Fattie
Price: £4,800
From: Specialized
It’s carbon, yup. 135mm of glorious travel, and those voluptuous and curvy 27.5+ tyres. Mmmmmmmmm
Because it’s essentially a Stumpy, it comes with Specialized’s SWAT tool/lunch-storage system. Personal experience tells me it works better with wraps and baguettes; M&S soup, not so much.
Just above the Fox shock, a teensy little multi-tool is secreted. Handy.
It is, as one would expect, 1x. Horst linkage FTW.
For 34 up front to keep things stiff enough, with 150mm of travel.
Here’s that whopping rubber. A 3.0 purgatory on the front, and…
a wiiide Ground Control on the back.
Speccy’s proprietary Command Post takes pride of place keeping the saddle aloft, and
…of course, it’s Boosted.
Islabike Creig 26 Pro Series
Price: £1499
From: Islabikes
Very blingy kid’s smaller racer’s XC hardtail, this, which was
released this week. Lots of proprietary kit, and things to maximise lightness.
1x drivetrain, with Ti axled and carbon shelled BB.
Narrow bars and grips for small hands
And apparently gripshift is easier to use.
Wheels and tyres are tubeless-ready, and a RockShox 30 fork was apparently chosen because the narrower stanchions mean you can use lower pressures for lighter people.
Very narrow q-factor there. And short cranks, too.
SRAM GX drags the chain across a Shimano XT cassette.
CiliaryBlue Adaptive Mirrored lenses
Price: from £105
From: Reglaze-glasses-direct.com
Not the glasses themselves per se, these lenses have had a unique mirrored coating applied which reacts to light – more mirrored in bright light; less so in gloom. It was chucking it down when this pic was taken (hence James’ gloomy expression – although maybe he’s just very relaxed), but they really do work. They’re available in plain non-prescription, prescription or varifocal flavours, too.
SunRace MX8 11-46
Price: £84.99
From: Ison Distribution
An 11-speed sub-500g cassette, in so-hot-right-now (when is it not?) black.
OneUp Components 50T + 18T SHARK sprocket and cage
Price: $125 USD
From: One Up
This little nugget will let you upgrade your XT or XTR 11 speed cassette to a whopping 50-11T range. Comes with a new mech cage which makes sure that everything plays nice. But if that’s not enough…
OneUp Components SHARK 10T Cluster and DT compatible Mini Driver
Price: $45 USD and $40 USD respectively
From: One Up
…then this little lot will let you fiddle with the top end of the cassette too, so you can run a 50-10 range. Spinning your 11T out? This could be just the answer. Only works for the moment with DT Ratchet-drive hubs, mind.
Struggling to keep everything on the straight and narrow at the front? Sir or madam might require one of these:
One Up Components Bash Guide ISCG 05
Price $79 USD
From: One Up
It’s a chain guide! It’s a bash guard! It makes ice cream! 2-in-1 versatility, in black or fetching green!
SDG Saddles
Prices: Clockwise from Top Left:Duster P RL, £69.95, Bel Air 2.0 Cromo £49.95, Fly MTN Ti £69.95, Circuit MTN Cromo £49.95, Allure Women’s Ti (ltd ed.) £69.95, Bel Air 2.0 Icon Ti, £69.95
From: Silverfish
Lots and lots and lots of saddles – some of them in – uh – interesting patterns. That Duster top left is quite the thing. Reminds me of the patterns they used to use on warships in WWI and II. The upshot is that you’ll not be able to identify the range, speed or heading of the saddle. Except, of course, that it’s likely to be attached to a bike and rider which won’t be covered in dazzle camouflage.
I desperately hope.
The thought of Chipps out on the moors, covered head to toe in Dazzle, is made all the more terrifying by the prospect that I won’t be able to tell which direction he’s riding, how fast he’s going, and how long I have until he arrives and nicks my chocolate.
Race Face Women’s Khyber Jersey and Shorts
Price: £49.95 and £69.95
From: Silverfish
The thought of Chipps in Dazzle has finally dawned on Hannah. Race Face riding gear for women. Nice spotty top, reflective bits, and apparently it’s reversible! Does this mean you can wear it twice without washing? Commendably long shorts too, made from Tweedster fabric (we approve of that bit). The website calls it the Little Black Dress of downhill. But does the average Little Black Dress also have ventilation zips up the thigh, eh?
Rex Low Friction Chain Lube
Price: £10
From: Broken Rider
Maker of fine t-shirts Broken Rider is distributing this low-friction lube from Finnish company Rex, who apparently do all sorts of lubricant things on skis.
That’s it for this week! One thing left – this is fairly recent in that it only came out I think last month. It’s long, but it’s hugely awesome though, I promise. I’ll pick something guitarry next week. Enjoy!
ST out
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Awesome – love my existing Race Face kyber jersey – great to see no pink 🙂
Which bits of Hannah (other than the glasses) are reflective? Or was that the shirt?
Nice bit of binners artwork on show too I see..