Fresh Goods Friday 740: The Grindstone Cowboy Edition

Welcome one and all to the latest – and some would say greatest – collection of New Bike Related & Bike Adjacent Items that we used to call ‘Fresh Goods Friday’.

I mean, we used to call it Fresh Goods Friday, we still do but we used to too.

Enjoy the show!

Orbea Wild M10

• Price: £7,599
• From: Orbea

After a single week of affordable analogue bikes in Fresh Goods Friday, it’s back to the galling grind (to some, not us) of expensive carbon fibre pedal assist bikes. Hey, it could be worse – this isn’t the most expensive Orbea Wild out there. But as ever, we will point out that there are cheaper models also available. There’s the alloy frame Orbea Wild H10 for £5,799. There’s also the slughtly less travel Orbea Wild ST H30 for £4,799 (NB: we said “cheaper” , not “cheap”). Anyway… it is what it is, and this Orbea Wild M10 has a lot going for it. Full power Bosch with a 750Wh battery. 170mm of Fox X2 damped suspension. Typically well rounded geometry. Good dropper post insertion. And it looks pretty much as good as full-power Es can look, despite the thru-headset cable routing.

TAGRY earbuds

• Price: £165.00
• From: Amazon

We get sent earbuds. We’re not exactly sure why. It’s probably because we’re a popular website visited by lots of tech-centric nerds (no offence). The world of audio has always been a weird and expensive place. Sure, you can get wireless earbuds from B&M for under £20 which are fine for watching YouTube on your phone in bed without disturbing your other half. But if you want something a bit… ‘more’ than that, there’s usually a big leap up in price tag. Which is the case here. What more moreness do you get for your £165.00? Well, there’s the LED battery panel info on the outside. There’s the 470mAh battery capacity charging case that can fully charges both earbuds six times. Each earbud claims to last 5hrs on a single charge. IPX5 waterproof (a “nano-coating” prevents water and sweat from penetrating). “TAGRY X08 headphones’ structure is the study of thousands of people’s ear canal before design.” Comes with three different sizes of ear tips. In terms of audio performance: “the 13mm speakers and triple-layer composite diaphragms provide powerful bass, stunning treble and clear mids.” Also available in other colours (to help you find them in your bed duvet in the morning).

RaceFace Chester pedals

• Price: £49.95
• From: Silverfish UK

The previous Chester composite pedals we’re fine. Not great, but fine. Race Face has gone back to the drawing board for these new ones. Claiming more concavity, better grip and feel. And they now come in two sizes: Small (105 x 100mm) and Large (115 x 110mm). The Chester now has nine metal pins and two molded plastic pins for a total of 11 pins per pedal side. Threadless pin tips also make pin removal easier. In good/bar news (depending on your physionomy), Race Face has eliminated the wrench flats from the pedal spindle to reduce Q-factor, meaning the rider’s feet will sit closer to the cranks. Eight colours: black, red, orange, green, turquoise, blue, purple and magenta.

Endura Women’s MT500 Waterproof Bib Pant

• Price: £199.99
• From: Endura

There’s every chance you’ve noticed Rachel Atherton sporting these on her laps of Dyfi Bike Park. Also available in a men’s version, this women’s MT500 dungaree has a zipper down both sides that allows you to drop the rear flap for toilet stops without the need to remove all your upper clothes. We’re pleased to see the bum fabric is somewhat reinforced – always the point that works hardest on any waterproof MTB gear. They’ve got elasticated straps that you don’t unclip to get into, and ankles you can cinch up tight. Hannah is wearing the size Large.

Race Face Turbine Handlebar

• Price: £79.95
• From: Silverfish UK

Alloy bars from Race Face are usually pretty good. Certainly its Atlas range of alloy bars have been some of our go-to bars through the 31.8mm years. This is the new 35mm Turbine alloy bar: “fully redesigned, narrowing the stem clamp area to allow both a quicker taper and an earlier rise to hit our meticulously researched Goldilocks (GL) tune. GL tune is the sweet spot for compliance … Less trimming. More comfort. Trimming bars makes them stiffer and ultimately, less comfortable. Instead of making only 800mm lengths and expecting riders to cut them down, we made six alloy bars for your size and rise, all hitting our GL tune for reduced fatigue.” Rise options: 10, 20, 40mm (this pair). Bar widths: 760, 780 or 800mm (this pair). The usual sweeps from Race Face: 8° x 5°.

Race Face Turbine Stem

• Price: £99.95
• From: Silverfish UK

We’re seeing a lot more blingy/costly stems of late. Which is fine if you want that sort of thing. In these times of not-buying-complete-bikes, we feel that a lot of folk are turning their attentions to tweaking the bike they have. Particularly the cockpit. Going higher, going shorter, going cuter. To be frank, this new Turbine R 35 stem hasn’t seemingly changed much, it’s just now available in more “vibrant ano[dised]” colours. Lengths: 32 (this one), 40, 50, 60, 70mm. 0° rise. Stack height: 42mm. Nicely machined and crisply etched with info.

Fox Speedframe Pro

• Price: £164.99
• From: Fox Racing

The new Proframe comes in a little lighter than the previous one – 357g on our (t)rusty kitchen scales compared to 390g for the previous version (both size M). The overall shape and feel is familiar if you’ve used the previous version, just a bit sleeker, and the retention system has been refined and upgraded to a BOA system and feels less intrusive across the top of the ears / side of the head.

The BOA system works well and is easy to use, one handed, and with gloves on and the small incremental adjustments let you get the fit just right with no hot spots or pressure points. The visor has also had an upgrade and feels much more solid and positive when moving between the three fixed positions. There’s also a new glasses storage system so you can now safely store glasses or goggles under the peak when not using them. Once you know where the glasses arm slots are, it’s easy to get your glasses stowed and so far they’ve stayed put when I’ve put them there. 

Given that it’s been winter for the short period we’ve been using the helmet, it’s hard to comment on breathability but it certainly feels airy enough and has remained comfortable even when getting a sweat on on steeper slogs. So far so good for the new Proframe. It looks good, is comfy and so far we’ve had no issues.

STW Tea Towel

• Price: £13.98
• From: The Singletrack Shop

This isn’t the first teatowel we’ve produced but this one is the best we’ve ever produced. The Pimp Daddy of tea towels. Made in the UK. Thick cotton, hemmed all the way round.

Featured Member Reward of the Week

• From: Singletrack Members Rewards
• Reward: 55% off your first Gousto Box

About Gousto: “Change the way you eat with our easy to follow recipes. We deliver fresh boxes of ingredients and delicious recipes 7 days a week.”

Forum Thread of the Week

Congrats this week goes to dave_h for this oiece of retrobike-by-the-back-door winning thread right here:

As ever, the winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. So dave_h please email editorial@singletrackworld.com for your random prize (it will probably be a Singletrack Forum Bottle Opener). Don’t forget to include your postal address, as it really speeds up delivery logistics like. Peace out.

Singletrack Magazine MTB Podcast Season ’25, Episode 2

Also available as pure audio perfection via your Podcast service of choice (Acast, Spotify, Apple etc…)