Welcome to yet another instalment of the webpage your phone screen was made for: Fresh Goods Friday!
To paraphrase a common internet catchphrase of MTBers: pick a bar and be d*ck about it. Or don’t. Just ride your bike.
Fresh Goods Friday Sponsored By Yellow Jersey
15% Off Travel Insurance*
*Discount is subject to T&C’s, which can be found at yellowjersey.co.uk/terms. Coverage is subject to T&C’s. Please refer to the policy wording for full details.
Giant Reign Advanced E+ 1
This bike is simultaneously very mainstream and very atypical. Which is often the way with Giant. Visually it’s rather mainstream. Ostensibly it looks like any other Giant eeb from the past few years. But having a poke around reveals some relatively rare things. It’s got a lot of suspension. 180mm up front, 170mm out back. It’s a Yamaha motor. The battery is ‘only’ 560Wh. But it comes supplied with the 280Wh range extender. There’s flipchips in the rocker (as well as anther middle setting chip supplied). There’s no angle-adjust headset cups but there are reach adjust offset headset cups supplied. There’s a titanium(!) bash guard plate and an elastomer-damped bashguard from MRP. Keener eyed folk will notice that the Maestro lower linkages pass through the seat tube now (not either side). This does mean that the dropper post insertion is potentially compromised on smaller models; this is a Large size and I (185cm tall) have had to shim the 200mm dropper down to 190mm. Will I miss the longer dropper insertion of the previous Reign E+..? I’ll let you know.
DMR ODub 65mm risers
A pair of the new higher-rise DMR Odub bars. Same general spec as the rest of the range, with DMR’s unique spiral butting process. 7075 aluminium. 8 degrees back, 5 degrees up. Approved by Nice Guy Olly Wilkins. And most importantly, now in a ‘holy heck that’s high’ 65mm rise flavour.
Ritchey Comp Bar Ends
Bar ends baby! Yeah! Only perhaps they shouldn’t be called bar ends anymore; we’re going to mount these prongs inboard of the brakes on our handlebars. By my reckoning, this should do things: it’ll put them in the same sorta width apart that bar ends used to do in the 90s (when handlebars were sub-600mm wide and, secondly they’ll also be in the same sorta place as the hoods are on gravel drop bar bikes. We shall see…
Madison Flux E-Sweep saddle
I featured this in My 15 favourite things from Madison Icebike show the other week and I’m very pleased to see one delivered to the Singletrack HQ. Absolutely the comfiest saddle I’ve had the pleasure of perching on. What does it weigh? Don’t care. Some things are more important than grams. (I don’t think it’s actually that heavy TBH)
Madison M:Part Thermal Handlebar Mitts
Yet more Icebike bounty. If you’re not willing or able to splash out on the Mutha of Mitts (classic HotPogs) then you may wish to have a try of these more affordable versions. 3mm thick Yulex foam, “reducing CO2 emissions by at least 80% compared to Neoprene” apaz. Waterproof and windproof material is flexible enough to be fitted over brake levers, cutting out drafts and keeping hands warm without gloves. Not bar-end compliant. Dang.
Wheels Manufacturing Fork Axle
Why would you need a replacement fork axle? I’ve never broken a fork axle. Rear axle yes. Not fork. What I may have done (ahem) is left a fork axle in a car park. Or a hotel room. Or somewhere in the shed. Should you find yourself in need of a fork axle, Wheels MFG do some typically well made aftermarket ones. Designed, machined and tested in Colorado, USA. 5mm hex on both ends of the axle for installation/removal. Hard anodised finish for improved durability. Captive rotating axle washer “reduces friction on bike frames and forks during installation, preventing potential damage.” And it’s a smidge lighter than most OEM axles. Hey, unsprung mass is important.
Cateye Cadence Magnet
Ebikes, hey. Despite being plastered in technology they all rely on a 1970s-style magnet and sensor to communicate the rear wheel to the motor. These days the magnet isn’t mounted on the spoke anymore (mainly because ebike designers’ aesthetic sensibilities are offended by this), the magnets are mounted on the rear disc rotor in various ways. This can make it tricky for bike testers who often feel the need to swap bikes/brakes/wheels around. Long story short: I’ve got this in to make it easier to bodge different wheels/brakes on to eebs. Zipties FTW.
Ride Wrap hardtail frame & fork kit
- Price: £50.00 (tailored fork), £110 (tailored frame)
- From: Ride Wrap
We’ve partly got this wrap combo kit in to boot our Ross up the arse and get his Stanton built back up and ridden. Ride Wrap are currently doing a bit of campaign about using wrap material on bikes that aren’t brand new. In other words, applying it to a slightly battered and worn bike to make it look nicerer (and prevent it from getting any worserer).
OneUp Components Goldstone Grip signed by Jackson himself!
Single inner clamp. Raised palm pad. Knurled grip body. Core cutout under thumb (rubber runs straight to bar) for added comfort and damping. Dual durometer construction (20a main, outer flange 45a). Diagonal thumb ribs. Finger ridges underneath. Palm bulge with mini cushion pads. Offset grip has more material on top for extra cushioning. And we’ve got a signed pair to give away. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning if send us your Reader’s Ride…
Reader’s Rides
- Price: £0.00 – but you could win the aforementioned grips (and some other stuff too)
- From: This form right here
The rejigged online form and pic uploader makes it clearer, quicker and simpler than ever to ‘share with the group’. We’ll be rewarding any submission published with a piece of STW merch. NB: they don’t have to be new bikes. Or expensive bikes. Or even clean bikes. We want to see real bikes from real riders.
Singletrack Merch Returns
All of these items have been returned as incorrect sizes – there’s nothing wrong with them, and we don’t have space to store them, so pick up a bargain!
Forum Thread Of The Week
This week’s winner is Joe for the How many of you own a £8000 bike thread:
The winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. Hey, Joe please email editorial@singletrackworld.com for a random prize. Don’t forget to include your postal address.
Stale Goods Friday – 2017 Giant Full E+ 1
Back in the e-arly days of E, we wrote: “An e-MTB from Giant, in the form of the Full E+1. It’s a 27.5in wheeled alloy plus bike, though as it comes with 2.6in tyres it’s the ‘new plus’. Plus-lite? Plus-minus? Hannah will be riding this full sus e-MTB with 140mm travel front and rear. Actually, truth be told, she’s already been out on it – with assist to help her up the hills it gives her time to squeeze in an off road commute. Much nicer than the valley bottom.”
Fresh Goods Friday is sponsored by Yellow Jersey: Insurance for cycling
Team Profile: Hugh
- Favourite Bike: MTB: Transition Patrol carbon. I also LOVE my Cannondale System Six for when I do road rides (which is alot less than I use too)
- Favourite trail: I mostly ride locally, so I’ll go with ‘Bridge Track’ in the Smilog Woods, Llantrisant, South Wales.
- What do you do at YJ?: I work as a Marketing Executive. This mainly involves creating blog and social media content and working with our partners and influencers.
