Hannah is back from the United States in her body but not in her head. She keeps waking up at night, convinced she’s still camping in a California forest or waking up with a start as the dry ground slips under her tires. Maybe she needs a new mattress.
Charlie is here in spirit but not in body, because he’s doing pretty badly. He is now working hard to regain his lost body weight.
As if all that wasn’t confusing enough for the STW team, there’s the shenanigans of the local election and public holiday timing, with extra school training days just for fun next week – will does anyone know when our kids are supposed to be in school? We have lost track.
Bike fit book
Including information on why most riders would benefit from shorter cranks, an in-depth look at saddle health with special consideration for female riders, watt saving tips (what? watt?) and how to make indoor cycling more tolerable. This book went straight to Rhys, our local enduro-racing watt-chasing cross-country-endurance time trial ganger. Who better to sum it up for us?
Specialized Power Pro mirror saddle
We featured this new 3D printed saddle earlier this week.
36 comments and rising…
Garbaruk transmission tips
- Price: Cassette £289.99, jockey wheels £67.99
- Since: cyclorise.com
The lightest Micro-Spline freewheel MTB cassette on the market? At 335 grams, the Garbaruk Micro-Spline compatible cassette is not heavy. The jockeys—sorry, the pulleys—are CNC machined from a single bar of 7075-series aluminum and anodized.
Rapha Hiking Clothing
- Price: £110 Fast+Light Trousers, £60 Lightweight Tech T-Shirt
- Since: rapha.cc
New collection of lightweight MTB clothing from Rapha Performance Trailwear. “Designed for riders looking to go faster, further and cooler while relishing in the haze of summer dust. Built for hot laps, all-day singletrack sessions and everything in between, the Fast+ Collection Light will improve your driving season as the mercury rises. Over to you Ross.
Bussani Garlic Crusher Press
Charlie says… When I recently lost my garlic press, I went looking for something a little awesome. You know, just like those roadies who buy $100 titanium bottle cages that weigh 3g (and then add a bottle and 700g of heavily marketed electric water to it).
It has a very large capacity, more than double that of a normal garlic press, which will save me a lot of handling when cooking. The hinged plunger gives a nice vertical pressing action and its spikes push the garlic through efficiently.
The ergonomics are excellent… if Ergon made garlic presses. It comes with two unblockers. It’s almost like they know you’re going to lose at least one of them. The handle has a small slot where the unblocker can reside until lost.
All presented in a “Cute Jute Bag”…which has a more authentic rustic charm than a fake Italian restaurant, serving microwaved pasta, in Euro Disney Land, served by Luigi, whose real name is Keith and he is from Bognor not Bologna… just, just more authentic than that.
Ride Wrap Covered Protection Steel MTB Frame Kit
Protect high-risk areas of the bike. The Covered Protection Kit offers a generic fit per frame category (Dual-Sus, eMTB, etc.) to cover high wear areas. This is for steel frame bikes.
Ride Wrap: “Paint protection offers great benefits, from aesthetics to functionality/durability. Our paint protection vinyl is a high gloss or satin clear polyurethane film that is applied to bicycles to protect them from scratches, rock chips, small dents or swirls caused by trail debris, rocks, cable blowouts, ankle scars or rubs, chain slaps and other environmental elements that are added to the mix when on the trails or roads.
Included in the box: squeegee, cleaning wipes, installation solution concentrate, microfiber, installation key.
Hayes Dominion A4
Mo’ brakes for our next 4-piston disc brake groupset test. Adjusted for the shortest possible dead stroke and a sharp bite point (who doesn’t like biting chips?) Cold forged caliper. KingPin structural cushion retention bolt that increases rigidity. Two-stroke dual port purge system. DOT 5.1 fluid. Kevlar hose. D-series rotor. Cross caliper alignment.
Shimano crankset
Hands down the most exciting delivery for Benji this week (there were some real screams when he opened this bundle of highly sought after rare goods). Hopefully that means he can say goodbye to his bike’s cranky drivetrain (for a while).
Wild 3/4 jersey
3/4 sleeve jobber in polyester. The design is called “Meadows” (presumably after Shane Meadows, director of This Is England and Dead Man’s Shoes?) Zipped pocket on the left hip.
No UK distributor at month. Watch this space though…
Tommy Breeze California Poppy Special Edition Hat
This is the special flat brim trucker California poppy edition of this hat which means it has additional hand stitched embroidery by Kelsey Ruggaard. The company – and the design on the front – is indeed very good guy Tommy Breeze, son of mountain bike legend Joe Breeze. You can choose from a huge range of his designs on an even wider range of cap styles, or just have one of his patches to put on something you already own. Hannah dropped by Tommy’s workshop while she was in California and wore this hat pretty much every day after that. And now that she’s back in the UK, she’s a little worried her children will laugh at her.
Women’s Diesel Joggers
Super-stretch denim shorts designed for cycling. The concept works surprisingly well in sunny climates, and Hannah hasn’t yet tried them while going through puddles. This is the hemmed variety, although there are frayed cut versions as well. It’s cut with a high waist, so there’s no room for your butt while you ride.
Merida 50th Anniversary Coffee Gift
Merida turns 50 this year, and to mark the occasion, they’ve sent out mini enamel mugs and a tiny little coffee maker, along with the suggestion that they’ll bring a little luxury to your next bike trip. Hannah isn’t sure she has the energy for it, and thinks that in addition to this luxury, perhaps a bicycle butler should also carry said items and deliver freshly brewed coffee to her bivvy in the morning. And maybe also re-inflate his air mattress all night.
MET Veleno MIPS Helmet
In a modest statement, MET says the Veleno MIPS helmet is “made for any bike and none in particular.” By that, it means it’s a MIPS equipped visor helmet for mountain biking, but it also has a fairly short visor that you can still see when you’re in the drops of your gravel bike , or you can take it off completely and take it to the tarmac.
It is available in sizes S/M/L and six different color options. Peak on or peak off – it’s up to you, right? But leave it on, okay?
Yarn of the week
No contest this week. Congratulation to @jonnyrobertson
Winner of the #STWFGF!
Every week we run a contest on this Instagram to win a Singletrack Forum Bottle Opener. Whit-woo etc.
Just tag your driving photos with #STWFGF on Instagram and…that’s it.
Congratulation to for this photo of madness.
Until next time…
Hyvasty!
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