How tight is too tight?
Bike industry vibes: sponsorship money’s still tight in MTB, and riders are getting… creative. Rampager Carson Storch signed a title deal with construction equipment brand Kubota (yes, tractors), and will run Kubota-branded frames while funding trail-building projects. Which actually sounds quite cool really, dunnit?
Fresh Goods Friday is sponsored by Yellow Jersey.
Fresh Goods Friday Sponsored By Yellow Jersey
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Sprindex
- Price: £125.00 (inc. spring)
- From: Sprindex
This unique – and excellent – product has been out a few years now but if you’re not aware of it, and you’re coil-curious, it’s worth highlighting again. What does it do? It enables you change the effective spring rate of a coil by up to 40lbs. You turn the outer part (with Sprindex in red on it), it’s clicky indexed, and the cut-out ‘window’ displays what spring rate you’ve dialled in. Whilst most Sprindexes are used to fine-tune (and then set-and-forget) a set-up that otherwise falls between two spring rates (eg. 350 too soft, 400 too hard), I’ve got this Sprindex in to highlight another usage for it. Basically, you can use a Springdex to quickly change your bike’s handling for the conditions or terrain. Doing some hucking? Dial up the rate. Trying to not slide-out across slopey root filth cambers? Dial off the rate. Used this way, Sprindex has the upper hand over air sprung set-ups in fact; a quick two clicks on the Sprindex is way simpler/quicker/feasible than faffing with a shock pump.
Peaty’s Monarch Knurl & Monarch Mushroom Grips
You may know we love the Monarch Knurl. We gave it a Recommended rosette in a recent Grinder. And it really is the only lock-on grip that I get along with. We’ve got another pair of Knurls in (black ones) but we’ve also got the Monarch Mushrooms in (gum). As the name suggests, this replaces the diamond hatching of the Knurl with mushroom gill ribbing. I’ll be surprised if they knock the Knurl off my top-step. but I’ll give ’em a go.
Peaty’s Pubwear Tee – Sunrise
Peaty’s is a brand that has quickly developed something of a fanbase. Making decent products is all well and good, but it seems folk really like the cut of Peaty’s jib. In plain English this means: Peaty’s have a good graphic design team. Similar to Burgtec in a way. And there’s room for both. Many are the times you see Peaty’s stuff alongside Burgtec’s stuff. Anway, Peaty’s makes some very nice T-shirts too.
Peaty’s LinkLube Premium All Weather
Looking something like a poppers x vape refill combo, this is actually lube. No. Stop it. It’s chain lube. We’ve tried Peaty’s Link Lube Wet before and got along well with it. No too sticky. Nice applicator bottle. Lasts a complete ride. This bottle is the Premium All Weather. I’ll be heading out on a bike with a chain coated with this stuff very shortly. Let’s hope it’s windproof.
Peaty’s Speed Grease
Are you absolutely fed up with your bike’s grease slowing you down? What do you mean, you’ve never even thought about it?! This faster running grease is “for use in race wheel bearings bottom brackets and fast moving parts”. For use in fully sealed parts only. It may sound rather OTT but if you’ve spent four-figures on some bling wheels, it would make sense to do all you can to improve/maintain their swift rolling, no?
Peaty’s x Fidlock Lockin’ Bottle + Mount
Another one for Peaty’s fans. Available in 450ml, 600ml or 750ml. Fidlock’s magnetic attachment system (locking base included). New flip-top dirt cap. High flow cap. Soft BPA Free plastic is easier to squeeze. Dishwasher safe up to 50°C (does anyone know how hot their dishwasher gets?)
Peaty’s Bottle Opener
Can you get Stella in bottles? Yes. Yes you can. A little piece of ‘media schwag’ that we will promptly give away to the winner of next week’s Forum Thread of the Week.
Tailfin Hydromount
The Tailfin HydroMount lets riders run water bottles, cargo cages and more, anywhere on their bike frame – with no bottle bosses required. Not enough bottle cage mounts, especially on small frames, older bikes, full-suspension frames, and heavily loaded gravel or bikepacking setups. Load capacity: 1kg with 2 straps, 1.5kg with 3 straps.
SRAM XO Eagle EMTB Cranks 150 & 160mm
- Price: £160.00
- From: SRAM
Short cranks are where it’s at. Well, if you have a tiny chainring, massive cassette or – better yet – a motor to help offset the reduction in leg leverage. But yeah, short cranks make a whole heap of sense when riding off-road. But is it possible to go too short..? Let’s find out.
Fox Ranger 2.5 Layer Water Jacket
2.5-layer construction is designed to be water-resistant and breathable (10k/5k). Stretch material for added mobility. C0 DWR for added weather resistance. Over helmet hood. Zipped hand pockets. Hood and hip adjusters. The dog botherer above is wearing a size Medium.
Nevis Range Downhill Endurance 2026
Who remembers a previous incarnation of this brilliantly insane race idea? Some time in 2010s I think. I ‘raced’ it on the original Sracen Ariel trail bike. The bike survived. Myself – and my spokes’ tension – were rather haggard by the end of the six hours. This new version of the event is four hours longer! “Downhill Endurance is a 10-hour challenge on the iconic World Cup Downhill Track at Nevis Range. Riders will aim to complete as many laps as possible within the time limit, making this a test of speed, stamina and strategy.” Date: Saturday 20 June 2026. Race Time: 10:00 – 20:00. Minimum Age: 14 years.
Raaw Madonna V3.2
- Price: £2,050 frameset
- From: Raaw
Any excuse to feature what is arguably one of the nicest looking mountain bikes of all time, the latest Madonna from Raaw has had few tweaks. Mainly the dropouts. Raaw: “The Madonna now features the interchangeable dropouts found on the Raaw Yalla V2. This allows you to tinker with chain stay length while maintaining compatibility with SRAM’s full mount derailleurs. There’s also a pinch bolt to secure the rear wheel axle from coming undone during hard cornering or flexing.” In a nice touch, the updated seatstays, featuring the new dropout design, will be available as a retrofit kit for Madonna V3 and Jibb V2 frames too.
Forum Thread of the Week
The winner this week is redthunder for the Knitting – I decided to have a stab. thread:
The winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. So redthunder please email editorial@singletrackworld.com for a random prize. Don’t forget to include your postal address.
The Return of Reader’s Rides
Last week we kickstarted Readers’ Rides back up. We rejigged the online form and pic uploader to make it clearer, quicker and simpler. And we’ve had a few excellent submissions already. Keep an eye for those appearing on the front page next week. 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.
Stale Goods Friday – 2011 BMC Trailfox Carbon
Back in the olden times we wrote: “Look, a carbon fox! Actually is a Trailfox from BMC. All new for 2012 (yes, in bike world it’s next year already) but based on last years alloy version with a few modifications to make it a little peppier for its target market.”
Fresh Goods Friday is sponsored by Yellow Jersey