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The Cycling Family’s Christmas Gift Guide

By Christopher Ashley

If you’re leaving it this late to find Christmas gifts, you’re cycling very close to the gutter. Obviously, a new bike is the best present – but if you’re just looking for that extra something, here’s a little help in guiding you towards the right decision.

For the boy

Target Velo are a company based in Surrey, UK, that offers a broad range of bicycles to build in miniature. These bikes are freakishly functional for their size – even the brake callipers close when you squeeze the levers. Your little one may even draw inspiration from this article we wrote about TARO_0628.

If your son already shares your passion for getting on a bike, why not look at broadening his horizons? Models teach young cyclists the practicalities of putting a bicycle together in a playful setting. This gift will provide many teachable moments – and introduce your child to bike mechanics.

For the girl

There’s never a wrong age to get rollers for training. At least, you can’t be too young to start working on rollers. As my grandfather used to tell me – If you’re old enough to pedal, you’re old enough to train. And that’s why we love the truly inspirational Ruby.

If you really want to push the envelope of your daughters’ balancing skills, play a game of “Simon says” with the young lady in your life. “Simon says touch your nose” or “Simon says touch your right shoulder” are great ways to make roller-training fun. Then you can work up to that dismount.

For the husband

If he doesn’t own a bike stand, get him one. The B’TWIN 500 is perfectly fine for metal frame bikes – if he’s going to be using carbon, you may need to do a little more research. Art’s Cyclery do a very good job of explaining all the factors you should take into consideration.

A bike stand makes cleaning and working on your bike so much quicker and easier which, ironically, means he’ll spend more time working on the bike. With a bit of luck, he may catch the maintenance bug and offer to work on both yours and the kids’ bikes. He’ll look at it as good practice.

For the wife

If you’re sick of trying to wash the skunk stripe plastered up your wife’s Segra Segra jacket then you should buy her a mudguard. And if you want to save her the fuss and bother of installing and removing full rain fenders on Christmas day, look no further than the Plume Mudguard.

Handsome enough to have attracted the attention CYCLECHIC, the Plume is a very reasonably priced at £24. So it’s practical AND chic enough that your wife may think you spent more than you did. If she remains unimpressed, you could always buy her a Segra Segra parka for her next birthday.