For your most treasured friend, relative, or loved one who just happens to be a cycling nut, there is only one type of gift that will be welcomed under the tree, and that is a cycling item.
We've put together a gift guide to provide you with a pinch of inspiration if you're looking to blow the budget.
1. The Peloton (Hardback)
The Peloton is a five-year labour of love by Berlin-based photographer Timm Kolln. Kolln travelled the length and breadth of Europe attending every major race on the calendar to photograph the entire professional peloton and capture their images just moments after crossing the line. The results, as previewed in Rouleur issue 4, are the most hauntingly insightful portraits ever seen in the cycling world. Interviews accompany each portrait, every rider giving their very own taken on life in the saddle, and the trials and tribulations of a sport in turmoil.
2. Garmin Edge 800 GPS Computer with Heart Rate and Cadence
The ultimate touchscreen bike computer with GPS. Follow a sportive route, monitor your training, speed, calorie burn, height, and distance, navigate, and record your ride - it's all in the Edge 800. Perfect for commuting, competitive cycling, touring, mountain biking, and cyclo-cross. Link to your PC or Mac for a finely tuned analysis of your ride.
3. Assos iJ.HaBu5 Jacket
There's a breaking point when the weather gets cold enough that thermal jerseys alone don't provide enough warmth. The Assos iJ.Habu jacket is designed to take you beyond that barrier. It wears with the weight and feel of a jersey and is ideally used over one of Assos' three different Interactive base layers to vary the total effect of its warmth. Antonmically cut, using the same wind proof material as Assos' proven winter range, but with a lot less bulk.
4. USE Exposure Joystick Front Light
The original and the benchmark for winter riding, Exposure's joystick is small and lightweight, but packs a serious punch. Ideal for off road at dusk and dawn on a cyclo-cross or mountain bike, or dark lanes on your road bike when the lights of a town or city are just a distant glow. It has three strong light settings to create a beam out in front of the rider. Recharge is merely a few short hours.
5. Brooks Barbican Bag
For those who want to cycle in style and want the functionality of a bag designed for cycling. At home on the shoulder of a rider but equally suited to walking around town. In 1910 John Boultbee and his son, Wilfred Mason Brooks, filed two patents related to improvements in satchels, knapsacks and the like. Both these patents guaranteed more equal distribution of the load over the straps and more stability of the bag whilst cycling. This season Brooks have recreated the bag known now as the Brooks Barbican Bag.
6. Assos T FI.Mille Bibshort
The ultimate bibshort. The short we recommend for your longest ride, hardest sportive, and perfect day in the saddle. For years Assos bibshorts have been tried and tested and have kept our customers on their rides. Tailored for total comfort, the full ergonomic pattern and four-pattern construction guarantees optimal muscle compression with plenty of freedom of movement. Worn in the summer or under winter tights, we can safely say these are our #1 cycling short.
7. Rapha Breton Sweater
Sophisticated cycling wear for the city. Constructed from fine merino yarn, made using a traditional process of knitting pieces together rather than stitching. The jersey is soft, insulating, breathable, and odour resistant. Featuring a three button shoulder packet with fine rib, the jersey can be worn as a mid-layer under a jacket or outer layer in milder weather.
8. Campagnolo Corkscrew
If you can't drink your Côtes du Rhône in the Rhone Valley itself, uncorking a bottle of big red in the comfort of your kitchen with this gorgeous Campagnolo corkscrew is the next best thing. As you'd expect from any legendary Italian component maker, this is a gem of beauty and is functional, too.
9. Lezyne Alloy Floor Drive Pump
The highly polished aluminum barrel and varnished wood handle make the Alloy Floor Drive pump look as if it belongs on display. The large wooden handle lets you get a good grip on the extended length steel piston, which snugly fits the CNC'd barrel to let you pump your tyres up to operating pressure with ease.
10. Condor Cycles Gift Voucher
Does your Gran not know her Assos from her elbow, or her Campagnolo to her Rapha? Decrease the chances of unwrapping a Rubik's Cube this Christmas when you were hoping for Roubaix tights. Suggest a Condor Cycles gift voucher, available for any value and are valid for a whole year. Simply call or pop in to the store.