Last year’s TBL affordable gift guide went down quite the storm (or so my analytics told me) so here’s a updated combination of affordable gift essentials for your loved ones.
DISCLAIMER.
HELL NO have I been paid to promote any of the following products. All the below is based on things I’ve used, own or love. Nothing has been paid to promote.
Park Tool Pizza Cutter
Pizza essential. Wether you’re a cyclist or not, pizza is life. Don’t be miss guided by hipster pizza cutters, you need the original and best pizza cutter on the market – Park Tool Pizza Cutter.
Aero Press
For any coffee lover, this is an absolute must. Makes brewing a great tasting coffee super simple. But why? What are the benefits of an aero press?
- Total immersion of the grounds in the water results in quick yet robust extraction of flavour.
- Total immersion permits extraction at a moderate temperature, resulting in a smoother brew.
- Air pressure shortens filtering time to 20 seconds. This avoids the bitterness of long processes such as drip brewing.
- The air pressure squeezes each granule of coffee enabling a rich flavour.
- Because of the lower temperature and short brew time, the acid level of the brew is much lower than conventional brewers. Laboratory pH testing measured Aeropress brew’s acid as less than one fifth that of regular drip brew. The low acid is confirmed by coffee lovers who report that Aeropress brew is friendlier to their stomachs.
Coffee Beans & grinder
If you’re going down the road of coffee, it’s essential to get great tasting coffee beans that can be ground upon use. My personal prefrence is either North Star or Thomsons coffee. I use and electric Krumps coffee grinder for mine.
Wacaco Minipresso
If the addiction is already strong and you don’t quite have the crazy crash to invest in a coffee shop machine, why not get a hand pump espresso maker? I recently purchased a Wacaco Minipresso which produces a surprisingly good espresso, this is equally an amazing item to take camping or bike packing!
Rapha winter hat
One of my first Rapha purchases was this particular marino winter hat, essential during the winter months.
Restrap Frame Bag
Through the entirety of The Trans Continental, from training to the actual race, I came to realise how important it was carrying tools, kit and most importantly food. It also dawned on me how impractical it was carrying equipment/food in your back pockets. The Restrap frame bag solves all these problems, tools, race cape, food, valuables and money all in one place.
Mug
You need a descent mug for your coffee right? Everybody does. Gillian Kyle mugs have got it on point.
KPP draws
Kitty Pemberton-Platt, based in London, loves to cycle and illustrate about it. Enough said! In this particular piece, rules of the road, it mimics many cycling ‘rules’ that you may already be familiar with.
Invest in art people, not enough folk do it, Art is for life, not just Christmas.
Buff
Again, a winter essential, keeps your neck warm through the bitterly cold winter rides.
Cleats
This might seem a tricky one to figure out but if you invest the *subtle* time into finding out what pedals your pal/loved one/friend has then it’ll actually be a really useful gift. Cleats wear out pretty fast in my experience, and when they do I personally never have a back up ready to replace them with.
Chances are the cleats will be eather Shimano, Look Keo or Speed plays, all identified below.
Shimano Cleats
Look Keo Cleats
Speed Play Cleat
Maap Apparel
An Australian brand that was only brought to my attention late summer, admittedly I’ve only been able to purchase socks as I’m yet to find that pot of gold under the rainbow. None the less these garments look high quality & well designed – If their lycra is as well designed as there socks then it’ll be amazing!
Beryl by Maxine Peake
One of Yorkshires unsung hero’s, Beryl Burton, OBE was an English racing cyclist. She dominated women’s cycle racing in the UK, winning more than 90 domestic championships and seven world titles, and setting numerous national records. An eye opener into the world of an extremely incredible & committed cyclist.
Daniel Mather
Art. Invest in Art. ALWAYS. Daniel Mather is a screen printer from down south, his work never ceases to impress me. Much of his work is cycling related but he also has a body of text related illustrative work too – a worth while life investment in my opinion.
Subscription to Bone Shaker
“Boneshaker is a perfect-bound, advertisement-free quarterly publication celebrating bicycles and the people who ride them. From all around the world, we gather stories, photographs and illustrations exploring the wonderful things that happen when people and bikes come together. From wild alleycats to weird wanderlust, we’re about freedom, friendship and adventure – the human side of cycling.”
Boneshaker Magazine is a light hearted easy read that’s always enjoyable. This is a great idea for any one remotely into cycling. I’ve been inspired by many articles that have been written for the magazine.
Thug Kitchen
I’m slowly delving into the vegetarian world so getting some inspiration helps a great deal! This is also on my christmas list as I’ve heard nothing but good things about it!
Tickets to see the Cycle Revolution at Design Museum
Cycle Revolution at London’s world leading Design Museum celebrates the diversity of contemporary cycling in Britain from every day commuting to Olympic level competition and looks at where design and innovation may take the riders of the future.
If you’re not in London it’s a good enough excuse to visit… there aren’t many other good reasons!
SOCKs
A cyclist can never have enough socks, cycling socks that is. FACT. Below are a few options, my personal preference is the MAAP apparel socks, but I’m sure who ever you’re purchasing for will have their own style or preference.
