Do you know that meme of the “This Is Fine” cartoon dog calmly drinking from a mug while his house burns down all around him? Anyway. Welcome to this week’s fresh produce!
Take a few minutes from the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse forecast to admire shiny parts and bikes. And listen to some rare grooves.
ProBar protein bar and meal to go
Packed with plant-based protein, chia, and yadda yadda yadda flax seeds. The big question here is, which is better… peanut butter or chocolate?
Biggest question: What’s the best combo… peanut butter and chocolate or salt and vinegar or cheese and onion?
Giro Merit Spherical Helmet
Released for the unwashed greats this week, Giro’s new two-lid Merit Spherical helmet in one packs a whole slew of hat tech. We haven’t had a chance to crash wearing it yet (hopefully), but it’s incredibly compact and comfortable. Time will tell if it remains squeak-free during wear. Learn more here.
DigiBike Beer
As a welcome and a dank reminder that UK cycling distributor Madison has their DigitBike* ‘online trade show’ starting this week, they have sent a parcel of cans to the Singletrack team.
They know us too well.
*the asterisk doesn’t mean anything, sorry!
RockShox Air Hostess
To quote Gordon The Gekko: green is good
PiggyBattery
“Intelligent” self-adjusting suspension damping from RockShox. Pictured integrated into a RockShox Zeb Ultimate and Super Deluxe Ultimate rear shock.
It launched a few months ago – read our RockShox Flight Attendant report here – but this is the first chance we’ve had of having a good, extended go at it.
How will this compare to the Fox Live Valve stuff that came out a few years earlier? We’ll let you know.
YT Capra Uncaged 6
Just as the YT Izzo Core 3 leaves us completely tested, YT bods drop this Capra Uncaged 6 Flight Attendant-ed with us.
It is definitely a Very Mountain Bike. AXS transmission. AXS Reverb dropper post. Self-adjusting flight attendant damping. Carbon frame. Travel 170mm. The big Zeb fork at the front. Crank Bros Synthesis wheelset.
Now. Where to take it..?
Pink zipper shears
Have you ever cut yourself with a cut zipper? I [Benji] can tell you, although it doesn’t hurt much, zip cuts on your calves are bleeding. Many.
Ceramic Speed SLT headset bearings
Solid bearings. There are still traditional metal ball bearings hidden inside the white stuff. It’s the white stuff that’s the thing here. The solid white matter acts both as a seal and as a lubrication.
You’ve probably heard of these before, but it looks like they’re close to actual production. We don’t expect to ever see them used in wheel hubs or bottom brackets (mostly because they don’t spin freely enough), but we do think we’ll see them used for some suspension frame pivots and , in our case, helmets.
This particular pair of bearings was a custom request to go in a Works Components angle-adjust headset (on Benji’s bike, natch).
Truflo Mini-Pump/Shock
Double function: pumping the tires and the suspension. Switch between high volume and high pressure by twisting the handle. Natively suitable for Schrader valves, supplied with a separate Presta adapter. Inflates to 100/300 psi, depending on which knot it is in.
Hannah: “[Non-digital] because I’m tired of the batteries always going flat just when I want to tune my bike.
Yarn of the week
This week’s TOTW goes to @tthew for the perfectly furry fractal “Has anyone ever bought their dog a pet?” Publish…
This week’s #STWFGF winner
Tag us on Instagram and/or Twitter – and win prizes!
Every week we run a contest on Instagram and Twitter to win a free Singletrackworld subscription (or other merchandise item if you’re already a subscriber/member).
Simply tag your driving photos with #STWFGF on Instagram or Twitter and… that’s it.
We sift through tagged contestants at the end of each week and choose a winner. The winning #STWFGF photo is proudly displayed in Fresh Goods Friday.
Congratulations to @els_shreds for this winning shot. Email editorial@singletrackworld.com, we’ll sort you out with your price.
Cycle City Vancouver Kickstand Cutting Service
Our Mark went on vacation to Sun Peaks in British Columbia earlier this month to hone his mediocre snowboarding skills. Unfortunately, he was taken out by an out of control skier on Day 5, leaving him with a fractured right fibula. After getting proper forearm crutches to spec from his wife Vic (she’s a physio), he managed to hobble around Vancouver for a few days. It turns out, however, that the people who break their legs in Vancouver are apparently a bit taller than Mark and so he went to a local bike shop to get help modifying them. 5 minutes with a steerer tube cutter had them sized perfectly. Tip in the pot, t-shirt bought and Mark was ready for three days of crutches around town.
Another service you don’t get from online stores. Support your LBS people.
Singletrack Wisecracker Helmet Spacer Bottle Opener
- Price: £17.99 / £15.99 for members
- From: STW Shop
Check out what legendary ATV designer Joe Murray says about our nifty beer bottle spacer tool…
Huvasti!
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