Fresh Goods Friday 761: The So Longing Edition

Well, here we are. My last day, and last FGF. When I started at STW Towers, Thursdays were largely taken up with taking increasingly ridiculous photos of whatever products had landed. I landed at STW with a near-phobic horror of having my photo taken, and leave with no sense of shame left. Friday mornings were spent with the Forum drumming its fingers in anticipation of Fresh Goods Friday. Sometimes Barney would catch you all out by launching at 10am, and others you’d be impatiently climbing the walls right through lunchtime and into early afternoon.

Quite often, somewhere in the midst of the Friday morning coffee and chaos, Barney would call across the room ‘Hannah, give me a word’. Whatever I threw back at him became the basis for the intro to Fresh Goods Friday. I have just attempted the same with my teenager, and he has said ‘Timber’. To which Barney might say something like:

Timber. Such a strange word. The product between tree and lumber, or the warning cry as a tree is felled? On its way between tree and lumber. How long is a tree timber? As the lumberjack cries in the woods? Do lumberjacks cry, or do they curl their lips, twitch a fulsome eyebrow, and get back to timbering? Are lumberjacks limber? Do they do warm up exercises? Are the overweight ones carrying extra timber, or is that only a thing in the UK? As we at STW Towers ponder the lifecycle of a tree, naval gaze at our surplus timber (not wood, fnar, because we are in Barney’s head, not Hannah’s), and think of plaid-clad peoples in far off forests, let us lumber forth into the trail-centre plantations of the mountain bike world. Plaid shirts optional. Eyebrows raised in fear. Fresh Goods Friday 761 is here.

Or something like that. Maybe. Anyway, that was a long time ago, and we are so much wider now. Here it is, Fresh Goods Friday 761.

S-Works Turbo Levo 4 Carbon

• Price: £12,499.99
• From: Specialized

Mega tricked out tippy top of the range bike. This even has gold tyre decals. More normal specs are available. This one has the S-Works 3.1 Motor – 720 Watts, 111 Nm, 840 Wh battery, up to 4.75 hour range. The battery is removable, and comes (very sensibly) out of a side door – not a downwards trap door that’s constantly working against gravity and the spray from the trail. Carbon everywhere, including the mullet wheels. 160mm FOX 38 Factory GRIPX2 fork, 150mm GENIE FOX Float X Factory shock. And ours has the FOX electrickery dropper too. The first one we’ve seen of those at STW towers.

Endura SingleTrack Knee Pads

• Price: £69.99
• From: Endura

Knee pads of the take them on and off easily variety. Velcro straps allow you to completely remove them without taking them over your feet, like the sleeve variety of kneepad. Substantial foam padding protects your knees, but designed to be plenty breathable so they don’t get all nasty and stinky. These will be being worn, but hopefully not actively deployed, in the Alps this weekend.

Endura Pro SL Glasses

• Price: £89.99
• From: Endura

Full frame glasses with vents around the lenses to help prevent steaming up, and a choice of lenses for different conditions. All have a coating designed to make water disperse, so you can see where you’re going in the rain.

Endura SingleTrack Gloves

• Price: £29.99
• From: Endura

Rufty tufty gloves with plenty of grip on the hands and fingers, and protection on the uppers.

Endura MT500 D30 Ghost Baselayer

• Price: £169.99
• From: Endura

Is Mark hench or is he all padded up with D30? This stretchy baselayer has D30 shoulder, chest and back protection inserts. It also has pockets, so you can stash your bananas in there. And a zip, so you can get it on and off even when you’re so tired from shredding the trails that you can’t lift your arms in the air. It’s a new item from Endura and while Mark will be hoping not to need it, it’s a nice piece of reassurance for his Alps trip.

Endura HumVee Mips Helmet

• Price: £59.99
• From: Endura

This is a new helmet for 2025, and has a Virginia Tech rating of 5. The visor clips on and off, and you get bug mesh to keep the wasps out. MIPs handles the rotational forces, and if you’re unlucky enough to deploy the helmet, you can get a new one for half price from Endura.

Endura MT500 Burner L/S Jersey

• Price: £64.99
• From: Endura

Mark is very excited about the prospect of deploying the lift pass pocket that’s in this jersey. He’s less excited about making use of the sticky shoulder patches to help keep his massive heavy bag of camera gear in place.

Endura MT500 Burner Lite Jersey

• Price: £54.99
• From: Endura

Floaty light with loads of ventilation, this jersey strikes the balance between tough enough for bike park fails, but cool enough for endless laps in Alps summer sunshine. It never rains for long, does it?

Endura Loop S/S Tech Tee

• Price: £44.99
• From: Endura

Made with ‘drirelease’ fabric, this is a casual styled T-shirt for riding or just hanging out in.

Endura Loop Cargo Short

• Price: £70
• From: Endura

These are lightweight and synthetic but feel like the fabric should be tough enough to resist abrasion – although the finish looks a bit like tough cotton. The waist is adjustable using what Benji describes as ‘school trousers’ – a button and loop system inside the waist band. Benji likes to ride in trousers, but he was already planning his apres-bike activities in these as we shot the photos.

Endura Loop Full Finger Glove

• Price: £29.99
• From: Endura

These have a touch of gel padding in the palm, to keep the bumps at bay.

Endura Engineered Boxers

• Price: £29.99
• From: Endura

We have spared your blushes, and Benji is displaying rather than modelling these boxers, with a built in chamois and antibacterial properties.

Endura Hummvee Windpoof Shell Jacket

• Price: £69.99
• From: Endura

A floaty light jacket that you can stuff into the front hand pockets. Designed for riding bikes, or hanging out on your local high street. Benji is embracing the hanging out look here, like some sort of moorland Liam Gallagher.

Reolink Altas Solar Powered Security Camera

• Price: £139.99
• From:Reolink

This was secret when it landed, but isn’t secret any more and the review is already up. Far too organised. The camera has a built in battery, so it stays charged for ages even if the sun doesn’t shine. It’s got a built in PIR light too, and it allows you to chat to would be intruders over the built in microphone and speaker. Easily operated via a phone app, no subscription needed, just supply your own memory card.

Thread of the Week

Endorium gets this week’s thread of the week, which unfolds into a good vibes ‘just do it, you’ll have a lovely time’ happy fest. Everyone out in Morzine that spots a solo rider this summer, please give them a cheery wave, and maybe call out ‘Are you Endorium?’.

As before, the winning TOTW in FGF gets a prize. So endorium please email [email protected] for your random prize. Don’t forget to include your postal address, as it really speeds up delivery logistics, like.

STW Merch This Week:

Singletrack Magazine Weekly Podcast

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Good grief. Benji has apparently dug in the archives to rub in the passage of time. Galibier still make good gear. I do not look much like this.

Stale Goods Friday – 2016 Galibier VentUltra Gilet

• Price: £36.00
• From: Fresh Goods Friday 347

“A wind proof lightweight gilet with asymmetric zip to keep your core warm in cold winds. Weighing a claimed 59g, it can be easily stuffed away in a pocket or bag when you don’t need it. There are two access panels in the rear so that you can get to your jersey pockets for you mid ride pies, and you can wash it in the machine at 30degC – which is just as well since it’s only available in white.”

Driven By Creativity

Have yourself a dose of Manchester/Macclesfield lad, Lando, with this new video just out today:

And that’s it! STWhannah, OUT.

Hit me up for all your future pumptrack and trail needs: [email protected] or follow along for general life nonsense @1fishonabike