15 of the best birthday presents for cyclists, priced from £15 to £260

What do you get the cyclist in your life? Aside from the obvious—the bike—there’s so many gadgets, accessories, subscriptions that cyclists are saving up to buy. If you’re looking to buy a present for a cyclist, here’s a selection of gifts the road.cc team would be delighted to receive themselves.

There’s no wishy washy products, yes those ones with bikes just printed all over (trust us your friend already has drawers full of this), these are ideas for gifts that your cyclist friend or family member can use as they ride, or to talk about with cyclist buddies, or to give inspiration for future rides.

Whether they’re a day-in day-out commuter, off-road adventurer, city rider, all about blasting it as fast as they can or just in it for the café stops, there’s something for all and every cyclist here.

From under £15 up to £260, all budgets are catered for and there’s also some ideas for custom presents that require a little more thought but will certainly go down very well.

Aftershokz OpenMove Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones, £79.99

These are light, effective comfortable wireless phones that don’t block traffic noise. They have no problem wrapping around helmet straps and cycling glasses at the same time – they're well shaped to loop over specs and sit comfortably without touching them.

The battery life of around six hours is very usable, and the two-hour charge is OK too.

While they still can't handle heavy bass or wind roar as well as noise cancelling headphones, these are attractively priced given the quality and having your ears free to hear what’s going on around you feels far safer on the road for many.

Read the full review over here

Custom Oakley sunglasses, from £117 for Custom Half Jacket 2.0 for example

Oakley recently expanded its customisation programme with a claimed over 40 million different combinations to choose from, so you can get your friend or family member a truly unique finish for some sunnies. Here’s the design I choose for some custom jawbreakers for example.

Sport models including the Sutro, Radar EV, Radarlock, EVZero and Flight Jacket can all be customised, as well lifestyle models such as the Holbrook, Frogskins and Turbine.

> Review: Oakley Sutro Lite

There are up to six customisable components including the frame itself, lens tints, icons, earsocks and stems.

Koo Billy sunglasses mount, £22.41

This is a useful accessory for mounting sunglasses to a bike mid-ride and Koo says it works with all types of framed sunnies. The mount is easy to use, weighs just 4g and is basically an ideal alternative to stowing glasses in your helmet (as not all helmet designs can hold sunglasses).

Read the full review here

Premax Recovery Cream Sour Cherry, £21

This restorative and smoothing cream designed by Australian Sports Physiotherapist Randall Cooper helps the skin and body recover from exercise which can be tough on the skin.

With ingredients such as niacinamide, allantoin and arnica, the Premax Recovery Cream promises to help soothe distressed skin from the sun and wind, while the sweet almond, shea and cocoa butter helps restore skin hydration and resilience for getting back out there again.

Premax has also slipped in some Tart Cherry extract to help boost the body come back faster from intense workouts.

Find out more about cherry supplementation in our recovery guide over here that details how to recover effectively and optimise the body’s training adaptation process.

Premax sent us a bottle to try and we can confirm it effectively moisturises the skin and the scent is great.

Garmin Edge 530, £260

This is a handy, good value GPS unit for all sorts of riding. “The colour screen and range of integrations make it futureproof for all cycling disciplines, while it maps well and is great for navigating routes and finding secret trails – it's a solid, reliable partner for off-road adventures,” said reviewer Rachael Wight.

> 13 best cycling GPS units — get ride data and bike satnav from £50

Battery life is great, it can cover you for up to 20 hours on a single charge. There are lots of regular data fields to choose from, including time, distance, lap and so on, plus cadence, power and heart rate should you have sensors connected.

More interesting features include 'ClimbPro' which gives you an elevation screen so you can see how far you have left to go, ‘Grit’ which rates the difficulty of a ride using GPS, elevation and other data, and ‘Flow’ which measures how smoothly you descend a trail.

Read the full review over here

Hustle City, £14.40

Combining exercise, game play, and storytelling, this is the world's first open world video game made specifically for using with cycling smart trainers. Basically, it looks to be a great distraction for packing in a serious workout.

Created and developed by real bike messengers in California’s Bay Area, Hustle City is a story-driven messenger game, and the first season consists of five episodes. Using a smart trainer players can power on the pedals to race round the virtual streets, and twisting your bars allows you to ace corners and cut through traffic.

Find out more about how the game developers trick you into doing an intense interval workout, that’s also fun, over here in our interview with Hustle City’s Project Lead Marcus Cheek.

Miss Grape Moon Handlebar Bag, £65

The Moon bag is a high quality, weather-resistant two litre handlebar bag that’s a useful size and holds its shape well thanks to the plastic sleeve. Suitable for almost all styles of bike, the narrow design means the bag fits between drop-bar hoods easily, and still leaves space for holding on at the tops.

The bag is simple and quick to mount, and is stable, even on rougher terrain.  The position of the zip means that access on the go is quite easy, and the strong puller really helps with this. The zip isn't waterproof, but the fabric (including the zip-covering flap) is water resistant enough to keep all but the very worst weather out.

Read the full review over here

AeroPress Go, £31.99

Cyclists love coffee, it's a well-documented fact. The AeroPress Go brews hot coffee in about 1 minute and it is designed to ensure everything sits inside the 444ml drinking mug so it’s convenient and easy to take wherever you go, ready for your next adventure.

With one pressing, the AeroPress Go delivers up to three servings of espresso style concentrate and promises a smooth, rich coffee without the bitterness and high acidity you may find with a French press brewed coffee.

All of the accessories including the scoop, stirrer and the 20 micro-filters that can be stored in the travel filter holder, fit inside the mug for travelling.

Sox Premium Print Socks, £11.99

These 16cm high cuff socks keep your feet cool on mild or warm days and very comfortable no matter how long you wear them. They're well made, very resistant to smells and look great—maybe this pair is not what you consider stylish, but there are others to choose from…

The seamless build is extremely comfortable and the fabric's easy stretch means they absolutely stay put. Light, comfy, airy and secure – it's hard to ask for more.

Reviewer Steve Williams tested these socks in the Scribble pattern, but there’s other designs including geo, mono botanic, space and unicorns.

Read the full review here

Apidura City Backpack, £159

Bikepacking specialist Apidura has brought over its precision crafted technical to the urban environment with a stylish functional backpack that is designed to transition seamlessly between a commute, the working day and any evening social activities.

Made from a bespoke waterproof and abrasion-resistant marle fabric, the backpack has a zipless opening that promises to maintain waterproof while still being easy to open with one hand. There’s an internal zippered pocket, an external side pocket for quick access, reflective screen printing, as well as a light attachment.

Read more about the launch over here

komoot Premium, £59.99 for the year

komoot is a route planning app and website that has lots of cool and helpful features for riders and adventurers within its Premium offering.

> Getting started with Komoot

There’s sport-specific maps for relevant info highlighted on the map and the weather forecast feature allows you to see the conditions at each point of your route so you know what precisely what kit to pack for the adventure ahead.

Longer adventures can be planned in multi-day planner, while your favourite tours and highlights can be bundled and organised together in your Personal Collection.

Rapha Rainproof Essentials Case, £25

This waterproof coated essentials case keeps everything neatly together and also looks stylish as you wipe it out your jersey pocket when you’ve reached the midway point in the ride, aka. cafe stop time.

There’s a soft divider for keeping cards separate from your smartphone, as well as a zipped pocket for smaller valuables including keys and coins. For plus-sized smartphones, Rapha has an alternative larger option.

End to End by Paul Jones, 16.99

This is an excellent read that covers Land’s End to John O’Groats in depth with a clever mix of narratives. Jones interviews past and present record holders, with equal weight given to the women’s and the men’s—the book is not just about cycling its about the people.

Reviewer Dave Atkinson said: “It's beautifully written and full of fascinating insight into the UK's signature long-distance challenge, but it's not just that: part travelogue and part confessional, Paul Jones' book is both about him and not about him, about cycling and not about cycling.”

Read the full review over here

Artisanal coffee, from £5.50

Proving just how much cyclists like their coffee, three Olympic track cycling champions—Philip Hindes, Owain Doull and Callum Skinner—set up their own shop, Five Rings Coffee. The focus is on delivering great tasting coffee that’s sustainably sourced. Try their Blind Faith Single Origin Brazilian Coffee with flavours of Ferrero Rocher, milk chocolate and Brazil nut.

Hand roasted by former offroad.cc Editor Rachael Wight Boost Coffee Co.’s Brazil/Peru blend has nutty hints, alongside treacle and juicy fruit notes—we particularly like it prepared as a caffè macchiato.

For a darker roast, Rave Coffee's Burundi Izuba blend has notes of black cherry, candied lemon and brown sugar. We opted for a medium fine grind and it made for a wonderfully smooth cup when prepared with an Aeropress. But for a full-on kick, the more concentrated brew of a Moka pot was a perfect pairing.

Lindfield Coffee Works is a cyclist friendly café in West Sussex and we’ve found their Boliva roast with notes of pineapple, jasmine and boiboos tea truly delightful.

And last but not least… custom painted cycling shoes, from £125

 

 

 

 

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If you’re looking for something truly unique, and know the cyclist rather well, custom painted cycling shoes are one of the hottest things right now so gift your friend or family member some personalised wearable artwork. Often bought in white or black cycling shoes are just waiting for funky decoration to be added.

For example, with North East based artist jarpz prices start at £125, and depend on the detail and size of the design. Contact Charlotte at hi [at] jarpz.com to kick off the process.

> Custom-painted cycling shoes: a look at the coolest and a guide to the best artists