Yes, that's a Santa Cruz VP-Free and no, it's not new. It appears here to accompany news of lower Santa Cruz prices for 2006 - the VP-Free frame has seen a considerable price cut, with a powder-coated one with a 5th Element shock now costing £1,449 rather than £1699. That's a whole £250 cheaper. All the single-pivot frames have had another fifty quid knocked off, so Superlights, Julianas and Hecklers are now £849 (powdercoat/Float R). And the V10 drops a hundred notes to come in just under £2,000 at, er, £1,999.

SC's range of complete bikes has also been expanded. As well as the existing Superlight and Jackal packages, you'll be able to get a Heckler Mountain (£1,949 with LX groupset, Avid Juicy 5 brakes and RockShox Revelation 409 fork) or a Chameleon Trail (£1,349 with a Deore disc groupset, Race Face bits and a Revelation fork). In other changes, there'll be no more Trans Blue, Apple Green, Navy Grey or red colour options, but in come Liquid Blue and Black Chrome. DHX Air shocks will also be available on Blur LT and 4X, Heckler and VP-Free frames, the build kits have more SRAM in them and there's a new All Mountain kit with beefier wheels and brakes.

Find out more at www.santacruzbikes.co.uk.

We know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "That's just a water bottle". Well, yes it is, but it has hidden depths. The Hydropal is fitted with a filter in the top that sifts out various chemicals. It's mainly intended for filtering tap water, but it'll also trap Giardia and Cryptosporidium so it's of some use out and about. It won't do anything about viruses or bacteria, though. The Hydropal is £14.99 and the replaceable filter is claimed to last for up to 250 refills. For stockist information Hi Gear on 0208 847 4422

This lovely-looking device is Charge Bikes's Duster Ti. Like its 853 brother, geometry is classic 71/73 XC, corrected for a 100mm travel fork. And like the Blender Ti jump/slalom bike it's built from Tange double-butted titanium tubing. Did we mention that it looks lovely? Because it does. The frame'll set you back a grand - test soon, have a look at www.chargebikes.com for more details.

This isn't technically a bit of mountain biking gear, but The North Face's Nuptse down jacket is a campsite favourite so we reckon the new limited edition Quantum Nuptse is worth a mention. It's a super-light version of the jacket, made of 15 dernier ripstop Pertex and 900 fill power down from "a limited number of Hungarian Grey geese", it says here. 900 fill power means that 1oz of down will fill a volume of 900 cubic inches, which is pretty impressive. Apparently it's "extremely difficult to obtain". Well, you know how aggressive geese can be, and that's before you start trying to relieve them of their underfeathers... A medium Quantum Nuptse weighs 623g and will cost £200 - you'll have to be quick, though, only 585 of them will be available across the UK. For stockist information telephone 01539 738882 or visit www.thenorthface.com.