BikeRadar\u2019s guide to the best cycling gifts<\/a> lists a pair of socks as the very first entry.<\/p> \u201cWho doesn\u2019t like getting socks as a present?\u201d it says. I must be the exception that proves the rule.<\/p> When it comes to socks for cycling<\/a>, there are only two acceptable types, as far as I\u2019m concerned. Long and white for dry weather and long and black for wet weather. That\u2019s it.<\/p> On the face of it, that seems pretty simple, but the unfortunate reality is that most brands aren\u2019t so tastefully restrained with their designs.<\/p> In what I can only assume are attempts to stand out in a crowded market, many embellish their socks with overly large text, logos or, worse, gaudy designs.<\/p> Sock length is also a tricky topic. Each brand seems to make its socks in a slightly different length, and what\u2019s perfect for me \u2013 long but not too long \u2013 is hard to judge, whether buying online or in a local bike shop<\/a>.<\/p> Having dealt with socks, I\u2019ll go one further \u2013 any kind of cycling kit is in dangerous territory.<\/p> It probably won\u2019t come as a surprise to anyone that I\u2019m the kind of person who cares about their kit matching and looking \u2018good\u2019.<\/p> A cycling jersey<\/a> without a set of matching bib shorts<\/a> is, therefore, practically useless to me.<\/p> Fit is the real minefield, though.<\/p> Everyone naturally has different tastes when it comes to the fit of clothing, but as a committed road cyclist and aerodynamic evangelist, I prefer my cycling kit to be made from stretchy, technical fabrics and to hug my rake-like figure tightly.<\/p> To look at one of my time trial<\/a> skinsuits on the hanger, you could be forgiven for assuming it was made to fit a small child, not a 183cm-tall adult.<\/p> Given my height, I suspect most non-cyclists would assume I wear a size medium or large jersey. In fact, I usually pick a small.<\/p> This isn\u2019t a guarantee of a correct fit, though, because every brand cuts things differently, and many even use different cuts for the different ranges within their collections.<\/p> As I wrote in the introduction to this article, the odds of getting all the details right are incredibly long \u2013 longer than my long-term review of Giant\u2019s TCR Advanced Pro 2 Disc<\/a>.<\/p> Just as it\u2019s tricky to know what cycling kit will fit me just right, the ever-increasing use of proprietary parts and integration<\/a> on bikes means parts are also a big no-no.<\/p> There are some parts that remain (near) universally compatible, such as pedals<\/a>, tyres or bottle cages<\/a>, and there\u2019s something to be said for upgrading the ones you already have.<\/p> But even things as simple as pedals, tyres or bottle cages are subject to a surprising amount of personal preference.<\/p> It might seem hard to go wrong with a set of road bike tyres<\/a>, for example \u2013 they\u2019re slim, made from rubber and have slick tread, so they\u2019re basically all the same, right? Wrong.<\/p> I have my favourites and shudder at the thought of using anything else.<\/p> Likewise, whichever member of BikeRadar\u2019s staff contributed Silca\u2019s Sicuro titanium bottle cages<\/a> to our gift guide felt bold enough to suggest \u201cthere isn\u2019t a roadie on the planet who wouldn\u2019t delight in these\u201d.<\/p> Well, again, perhaps I\u2019m the exception that proves the rule because I don\u2019t like them one bit.<\/p> Their classic style and round tubes would also look woefully out of place on my Giant TCR Advanced Pro \u2013 a modern, angular, carbon fibre race bike.<\/p> What\u2019s more, it\u2019s not as if any of my bikes are assembled from random parts.<\/p> Each component has been analysed, assessed and approved or discarded. The idea that they could be improved by anyone but myself is insulting.<\/p> Books are a timeless Christmas gift in all walks of life and understandably so.<\/p> However, I\u2019ve read enough books charting the lives or careers of famous cyclists to know the story is nearly always the same.<\/p> Our eponymous hero discovers cycling at a young age and the joy it brings. Eventually, they enter a few races and shine (but not too much). They love it, so they work hard \u2013 harder than anyone else, in fact.<\/p> There are challenges and setbacks along the way, but eventually they overcome all the odds and triumph.<\/p> Naturally, this success does not change them, though \u2013 deep down, they\u2019re still just the same kid who loves riding bikes.<\/p> It\u2019s a classic Hero\u2019s journey<\/a> (as set out by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em>).<\/p> There are, it\u2019s fair to say, many excellent books about cycling<\/a>.<\/p> They tend to be written about more esoteric subjects, though, and I don\u2019t expect any of my friends or family to know I\u2019d like to read Paul Jones\u2019 End to End<\/em><\/a>, Andy McGrath\u2019s God is Dead<\/em> or Daniel Friebe\u2019s Jan Ullrich, The Best There Never Was<\/em>.<\/p> Without fail, you\u2019ll see them recommended on every cycling website, every single year, but I really do not need any more Allen keys<\/a>.<\/p> Even as someone who isn\u2019t a tool fetishist (I\u2019m no Oscar Huckle<\/a>), I have at least two sets of L-shaped Allen keys, two torque wrenches<\/a> (one big and one small) with associated bits and at least four or five multi-tools<\/a> scattered around the house. Then there are the countless examples that seem to have spontaneously generated from the primordial soup of accumulated bikes and parts.<\/p> As many experienced cyclists do, I have a general tool kit<\/a> with the essential tools required to adjust and maintain bikes<\/a>.<\/p> There are many tools I don\u2019t own, of course, but usually for good reason \u2013 they\u2019re either prohibitively expensive or the jobs they\u2019re designed for are too complicated for my limited skills.<\/p> While they have some (extremely limited) novelty value, I would like to make it very clear that I do not want a bicycle-shaped pizza cutter.<\/p> Not for Christmas. Not for my birthday. Not ever.<\/p> I love bikes and I love pizza (who doesn\u2019t?), so I can understand why people make the connection.<\/p> That fact is, though, bike-shaped things do not make ergonomic handles.<\/p> In reality, such trinkets typically sit unused in a drawer until eventually being discarded into landfill. No thank you.<\/p> If you\u2019ve made it to the end of this rant, you might be thinking something along the lines of \u201cWow, what a Scrooge\u201d, and perhaps that\u2019s fair enough.<\/p> Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m always grateful to receive gifts on any occasion \u2013 it\u2019s the thought that counts \u2013 and, ultimately, this is simply meant as a humorous counter to the multitude of gift guides populating the internet at this time of year (which I also contribute to, naturally).<\/p> Nevertheless, I stand by every word.<\/p> Of course, many won\u2019t be as fortunate as I am, or will simply be much less fussy than me. In that case, don\u2019t take my petty grumbles as a sign you shouldn’t get the cyclist in your life a bike-related present this year.<\/p> But if they’re a seasoned rider with years of accumulated stuff and very particular tastes, then it\u2019s also fine to get them something completely unrelated.<\/p> If the cyclists I know are anything to go by, we will always appreciate simple things such as nice coffee or chocolate \u2013 and you can never have enough of those, especially at this time of year.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Simon von Bromley Published: Monday, 18 December 2023 at 16:00 PM While I appreciate every effort made by my wonderful friends and family, I don\u2019t want to find any cycling-related gifts under the Christmas tree this year. Aside from the fact acquiring and using new bikes, parts and kit is a major part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":57775,"template":"","categories":[1,36],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"8"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/12\/simon-says-these-are-the-worst-cycling-christmas-gifts.jpg",2400,1600,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/12\/simon-says-these-are-the-worst-cycling-christmas-gifts-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/12\/simon-says-these-are-the-worst-cycling-christmas-gifts-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/12\/simon-says-these-are-the-worst-cycling-christmas-gifts-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/12\/simon-says-these-are-the-worst-cycling-christmas-gifts-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/12\/simon-says-these-are-the-worst-cycling-christmas-gifts-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/12\/simon-says-these-are-the-worst-cycling-christmas-gifts-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Simon von Bromley Published: Monday, 18 December 2023 at 16:00 PM While I appreciate every effort made by my wonderful friends and family, I don\u2019t want to find any cycling-related gifts under the Christmas tree this year. Aside from the fact acquiring and using new bikes, parts and kit is a major part of…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/57774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/cyclingplus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Hi-vis](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2021\/08\/Falke-socks-5-b2c4597.jpg\")
Any kind of cycling kit<\/h2>
![\"Cycling](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2023\/12\/Cycling-jerseys_20231212_SvB_X-E3_DSF2733-scaled.jpg\")
![\"Rule](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2023\/04\/Rule-28-Aero-Base-Layer-and-Neo-Suit20230419SvB5DSRMG0642-735b5f4.jpg\")
Bike parts<\/h2>
![\"Bike](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2023\/12\/Bike-parts_20231212_SvB_X-E3_DSF2743-Edit-scaled.jpg\")
![\"Silca](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2021\/11\/Jack-Luke-First-Look-Friday-19th-November-2021-6-6a03ba4.jpg\")
A book by a champion cyclist<\/h2>
![\"Cycling](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2023\/12\/Cycling-books_20231212_SvB_X-E3_DSF2737-scaled.jpg\")
Tools<\/h2>
![\"Allen](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2023\/12\/Allen-keys_20231212_SvB_X-E3_DSF2716-scaled.jpg\")
Bicycle-shaped pizza cutters<\/h2>
![\"Bicycle-shaped](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/39\/2023\/12\/Bicycle-pizza-cutter_20231212_SvB_X-E3_DSF2725-scaled.jpg\")
How the Grinch stole cycling Christmas!<\/h2>
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