It’s oh so quiet. There’s just me (Mark) in the office today. That’s not actually unusual as we run a hybrid home/office deal at Singletrack and Friday’s are my usual days in at my desk. But apart from me there’s just Zoe on duty today. The entire rest of the team are on leave, either going on holiday or just coming back. This is all totally fine by me as I get to use the loo without locking the door and making as much coffee as I like.
The mag arrived this week. At the office at least. It’s not due with you guys until next week. It is, as you would expect me to say, a belter of an issue. You can pre-order from the shop, subscribe to our digital version and get it as soon as it appears online and in our app next week. And for those unsure of committing to a sub you can now opt for our bi-monthly sub and pay just £7.99 every 2 months for digital or upgrade yourself for a quid to £8.99 and get the mag delivered for less than the £10 cover price.
Ponder: Bi-monthly… Shouldn’t that mean twice a month? Anyhoo.
Do you like the featured image for this week’s FGF? Turns out our new server comes with some built in AI tools. It offered to create an image for this weeks FGF so I gave it the following instructions…
“The icelandic singer Bjork cleaning her bike in Iceland next to a lake with a volcano in the background”
Marks out of 10 in the comments for our resident robot artist? There’s a full version at the bottom of this page.
What have we got this week.
And another thing! How in the name of all that is Icelandic is Bjork 58 years old?
Remember when Benji told you all about the new Maxxis High Roller 3 tyres last week? Well now we actually have a pair in our hands. These are the Maxxgrip DH casings in 2.40 size and they are certainly beefy. We haven’t weighed them yet because there’s only Mark in the office and workplace regs state we need two people to handle heavy goods.
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Nope, it’s not that stuff your mum used to spray on the windows at Christmas. This is a tin of magic cleaning foam for your bicycle. Now, I went downstairs to ur workshop to look at this, and the chain brush that follows in order to get a quick grasp of the details and the claims, but they are not in the building. I guess the fact someone has snaffled these and taken them home is a good sign. Whoever has these items will undoubtedly be sharing their thoughts with you in the future.
It’s a clever shaped brush for cleaning your chain. Probably works well with all the Tru-Tension ablutions available. I wouldn’t know as I can’t find this thing in the office to try.
What I do have here in the office are these riding goggle from Fox. Just normal enduro googles they are not. First glances can be deceiving for these goggles are more of a blend of goggle and sun glasses. Goggle up top and around the back but open with a standard nose bridge at the bottom, wot glasses do. The pads lower foam pads sit comfortably on your cheek bones – well they did for me in the office just now. Come with two lenses, in a natty padded case.
Developed in close collaboration with Mavic Team riders, the Deemax Park 29 is the close cousin to the Deemax Enduro SL and DH, but built to withstand the heaviest impacts and for landing big jumps or double jumps. What I like about these budget rings is they come not only with a spoke key-come-tyre lever and a tubeless valve but also two spare spokes per wheel. Solid wheels, tubeless and ready for a beating down the park with the kidz.
Subs copies due to land with you later next week.
Just look at that trim. Isn’t that just perfect? Better right angles than an Ikea Billy Bookcase
Excuse the rich terminology but it’s what my wife calls my coffee paraphernalia.
So here’s the thing. To make really good coffee from beans you need to get the grind just right. The grind sets the tone for the machine do do it’s job of blasting hot water under pressure through the basket of coffee. Ground coffee straight out of the grinder can form clumps in the basket – you still with me? Ok. good. Those clumps can cause the hot water to create channels in the coffee which prevents the rest of the coffee from brewing properly and the extraction can then be weak. If you use a bottomless basket in your espresso machine then these uneven clumps can cause the flow to be erratic and splattery. Still paying attention? So that’s where this device comes in. It’s a coffee distributor. You sit the needles in the coffee when it’s sat in the basket and you twiddle the handle. This stirs up the coffee and breaks up the clumps. ergo. better espresso.
You can really taste the difference too. Well I think I can. I may be biased because I bought this thing and to say otherwise is to accept I’ve made a buying mistake. So. to conclude. This thing really makes your coffee come alive and it’s really great. The pressure adjustable coffee tamper is smooth through the midstroke and really squashes coffee good.
So here’s our latest raffle in support of our efforts to keep the website in tip top shape.
It turns out that these raffles have really helped keep is going. A lifeline in fact along with your amazingly generous donations. But we are not out of the woods yet – there’s a lot of work to get done and things to build and the clock is ticking towards our next big server bill in October. So, if you can afford to then here’s your chance to buy some tickets to win this bike. Draw takes place on Wednesday 21st August at lunchtime and we’ll be beaming the draw live on our socials. We’ll tell you more later to the time but there will likely be some live extra prizes for those who buy tickets and tune in to watch. We want to make a bigger deal of the draws to these raffles – You know? Cos they’re meant to be fun and that.
Support us if you can and do spread the word and get your friends to join in.
Our Hannah’s weekly word newsletter made to the finalists list of sports newsletter of the year at Publisher newsletter Awards 2024.
We think that’s the best ad for our newsletters we could show off to you. So, sign up if you haven’t already and see what the fuss is about.
No Readers Rides this week as I can’t login to our insta account because Hannah has all the codes. She’s jet lagged right now so I’m not going to push it.
Readers Rides is our Instagram competition. You just take a side on shot of your bike and post it to your instagram account with the hashtag #stwreadersrides , tell us why you love it so much in your post and we’ll pick the one we like the look of the best that also has the best story. That’s all you have to do.
The moderators have picked a thread of the week so I’m going with that this week.
For the love of lunch!
Congratulations to Mattyfez who started this one. get in touch with us at editorial@singletrackworld.com to claim your small token of our appreciation of your wit.
Members, members, members… It’s all about you isn’t it? Every flippin’ week some new deal pops up in our discount pages just for you. Do you not get bored of being the centre of attention here? Do you? Eh?
This week those clever rings you see loads of athletes and influencers wearing are £40 off just for you. The Oura ring is a smart ring that monitors your health vitals 24 hours a day. It’s clever tech, like a smart watch that doesn’t tell the time or need charging up every 18 hours, like.. you know who I mean. There’s thousands of other deals and offers available to all our subscribers. Join us from just £7.99 to get full access.
It’s Singletrack’s long running, weekly roundup of all of the new products that have been sent in to the magazine.
They’re sent in by bike companies and marketing agencies
They’re featured and then some are reviewed down the line in either Singletrack Magazine or in online reviews and photoshoots.
They’re usually sent back after review, or kept on long-term test bikes. But no one ever asks for shorts and shoes back. Trust us on that. Once we were asked to return some brake pads.
Nothing. Nil. Zero. Diddlysquat. Sod all. Just send all ‘next big things’ to us at – Fresh Goods Friday, Singletrack Magazine, Lockside Mill, Dale Street, Todmorden. OL14 5PX. Please note that if you require the products back after they have featured then you are responsible for arranging collection at your cost. While it is our policy to feature everything we receive in FGF if we decide your product is not suitable for publication we won’t do it. Publication is at our discretion. Whether a product goes on for publication as a review is at editorial discretion. Beer, coffee & spirits will ALWAYS be tested.
The post Fresh Goods Friday 716: The Icelandic Edition appeared first on Singletrack World Magazine.
