If this year you’ve got someone on your office secret santa list who happens to be a cyclist, here are some of our top recommendations from £10 to £40.
Haggerston leather d-lock holster – £30
D-locks are very often considered the safest form of lock, but they can be a pain to lug around. To combat the problem, Born and Bred (wallets/belts) met with Primal Fixed (urban bicycling) to create this remarkably beautiful but functional D-lock holster. For £30, you get a carefully crafted leather holster which fits to any belt up to 1.5 inches wide (or you can order one specially from Born and Bred). When not in use, it flattens to the wearers belt, and is available in ‘whiskey’, brown and black.
Chapeau! Mug and Coffee Pack – £14.99
Cycling and coffee, cycling and coffee, go together like… well, nothing like a horse and carriage, but every rider deserves a good cup of coffee in a lovely mug when they reach their destination. This Chapeau! set has been around for a while, and it’s a classic beauty.
The brew provided is 125 grams of 100% Arabica coffee for a cafetiere or filter paper, whilst the mug has “Chapeau – The People’s Bicycle Club” with a Chapeau logo, and a moustache on the bottom. The set is £14.99, and for a little more Chapeau will also throw in http://www.chapeau.cc/chapeau-gift-sets.html
Vulpine CC Dogtooth Merino Silk Socks – £25.00
Merino wool is the creme de la creme in cycling socks – it’s incredibly warm, and has anti-bacterial properties so smells don’t accumulate. You can wear merino items multiple times before washing, though it might be nice to wash your socks after each wear. Silk is an amazing material for retaining heat, and pulling moisture away from the skin. The mixture of merino and silk, then, makes these socks fantastic for cold and wet conditions – so much so that Vulpine list these as “rain wear”.
The Dogtooth design is subtly smart, and will look great at work or poking out from beneath your roll-ups as you ride. Available in red, sage, or grey, these are priced at a reasonable £25.
Full Windsor “The Nutter” Multi Tool set – £39.99
It’s never fun when something goes wrong with your bike, but for £40 this set might just make hold ups seem less troublesome in the future.
Housed in a beautiful recycled leather pouch, you’ll find a nylon tyre lever, 15mm box head spanner, spoke key, 3/4/5/6/8 hex tool bits (which fit the the main tool, so you’ve always got enough leverage not not destroy bolts!), a Philips head screw driver, flat head screw driver, T25 torx bit (no excuse for over or under tightening now!), and magnetic tool bit extender. Oh – and a bottle opener, as well.
The pouch is available in black or brunt brown.
EDZ Merino Glove – £9.99
At just £9.99 these are the perfect liner gloves which provide warmth where it is needed. Wear them either on their own on a slightly warmer day, or beneath your waterproof gloves and you’ve got the perfect combination. These are one size fits all so they’ll go down well for any secret santa gifts.
Any other tips for someone’s secret santa list for cyclists? Leave a comment below.
I know it’d be ungrateful, but hanging three pounds of lock weight from your belt? Really?
I hear you MJ Ray – definitely not for everyone. I have ridden in the past with a bike lock attached around my shoulder and neck, I doubt it would be the best news for me in an accident. 95%+ it’s in my backpack. Another thing that’s a personal choice really.
I have it on my rear rack but the world would benefit from a really good bike mounted holder.
Agreed, the ones I’ve used so far always tend to slip. You’d think it would be an easy one to solve!
Apart from the lock holder, there’s the lump of useless metal sticking out from one side of the lock as well, which is a pain to deal within the dark- I had to slip a sleeve of inner tube over mine to stop it taking divots out of my paintwork.
What lock’s that? Mine came covered with plastic that stops it chipping the paint – the keyhole is an I-key in the middle of the bar because I understand that’s slightly more secure than having a keyhole on the end of the bar.
It’s a Kryptonite New York 3000; an excellent lock ( when kept operating smoothly by GT85 ) with the central key like yours, but with this lump of metal which is supposed to engage with the useless bike-mounted holder on one end of the ‘u’.
I see what you mean. It is annoying to have the lock made less user-friendly by the attachment for the inadequate hanger. On mine, at least I was able to bend the holder-hanger into the U, pointing away from the bike.
Wow, that’s a more generous secret Santa than the one I know! Any suggestions for under £5?
I have found my lock holster really useful. You don’t feel the weight. It also means I never forget my belt on my commute to work. I’ve got one from Restrap.Co.uk. Only £10.
Glad I don’t work in an office where forty notes is par for Secret Santa!! I thinking more a chain tool or at best a pair of Wooly Booly socks
What is the green bicycle light in photo? I know there was a review earlier in the year but I can’t find it now.
It’s called a “Blaze” Bike light. Lot of fuss for something that is questionable in use.