BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
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Crankbrothers’ Multi 10 Tool (£17.99) is a compact and light tool with the most common 10 tools needed and lifetime warranty to boot.
Jimi Wallet (£11.99) is pitched as a wallet for people who hate them. Being compact, colourful and water resistant they’re engineered in the US from 100 per cent recycled materials.
Lizard Skins’ Peaty Lock-on Grip is a shade under £20 and the best selling signature grip is used by the man himself and the Santa Cruz Syndicate. For Christmas lights, the NiteRider Cherrybomb 1/2 Watt Tailight costs just £19.99 and carries a reflector meaning riders are seen even when the light is off.
Pedro’s Pro Brush Kit (£17.99) features bicycle-specific brushes. A new and improved back allows for easier storage and faster drying. A boon for winter riding.
Silverfish
Where would Christmas be without socks? SockGuy has a wide range available for virtually every taste, style and kit. For pre and post ride use, Spiuk Personal Creams (from £5.95) help keep athletes performing well, while Rock n Roll Lube (also from £5.95) is pitched as the king of lubes: Extreme, Gold, Absolute Dry and Cable Magic will all slip perfectly into an Xmas stocking and will keep your bike running smoothly right through the winter.
EVOC’s £13.95 Saddle bag has a sealed zip, reflective print and additional mesh pocket to keep tools in check when out on the trail.
01752 843 882
Buff
Buff’s wide range of headwear would surely be a welcome addition to the stocking of any cycle fan, or indeed anyone braving the winter weather.
One such Buff offering is the Pink Buff. The High UV Protection Buff Pink designs raise funds for cancer charities in the UK. It’s all pretty democratic too – every month three charities will be chosen from nominations from Facebook friends of Bufflite and The KitShack and then put to the vote. The winning charity then nets the profits from sales of the designs that month. Offering 93 per cent protection from all UV rays, the Pink Buff can be worn in all the usual Buff-style ways – as a scarf, balaclava, and maybe as a Santa-style disguise, with a bit of imagination.
01707 852244
Upgrade
Mugs make classic stocking fillers and Upgrade offer the DMR mug (£6.99), which comes in a variety of colours and is crafted from bone china, no less. The same brand has a number of grips available under £20 too – including the
£15.99 DMR Muta Grips, full ‘lock-on’ grips for an easy and secure fit.
Lezyne’s heavy-duty, shop quality pedal wrench costs £17.99 and is designed with two 15mm offset wrench openings positioned for optimal leverage and ease of use. Lezyne also offers a Two-way tool for £12.99. It integrates an external bottom bracket and cassette tool into one dual-purpose tool. Lezyne also offers a shop quality Y-wrench (£15.99) and a Smart Wallet (£17.99), purpose-built for cycling and sized to fit jersey pockets.
Green Oil’s Bicycle Brush (£9.99) is not only a fine bike brush, but also great for the environment – with no petrochemical based plastics in its construction. Perfect for eco-conscious cyclists.
Clee Cycles
Clee Cycles is the UK distributor for KCNC, a brand offering a host of sub-£20 upgrades. It offers up valve caps for Presta and Schrader tubes at £4.99 a pair, and Jockey wheels with stainless bearings in six colours, at £15.99 each. KCNC’s coloured seat clamps also leave enough change for a mince pie, starting from £13.99. Headset Top Caps are available for £8.50 with a star nut (or £12.99 with Carbon steerer bung), while Shimano Cranks Bolts are available in many colours for £4.50. 01746 712882
Turbospoke
Aimed at the younger end of the market, Turbospoke is a bicycle exhaust system that is roaring into stores and neighbourhoods. Based on the mantra that if anything’s worth doing it’s worth doing noisily, Turbospoke fits to 95 per cent of bicycles and uses no electronics or batteries, because it is 100 per cent pedal powered.
With a £17.99 price tag, it makes a child’s bike look and sound just like a motorbike and helps encourage healthy active outdoor play. It is, we’re told, the re-imagining of the classic cards-in-the-spokes idea but brought right up-to-date with long lasting cards, acoustic science and a realistic look.
www.turbospoke.comsales@ernestthebeartoys.co.uk
Zyro
As another sizable distributor in the market, Zyro has much stock to offer in the under £20 category, including socks (hurrah). Altura’s highly technical Supplex Socks (£8.99), coming in black or white. The brand also offers Children’s Sprint Mitts (£7.99), ideal for the aspiring cyclist, and the all-year-round roadie essential Team Race Cap (£7.99). Fenwick’s offers a range of sub-£20 products, from the deep cleaning FS-10 (£7.99 for 1L) to the Foaming Degreaser (£7.99) – the latter a biodegradable wet degreaser with rich foam qualities designed to stay in place while working on the affected area.
Granger’s 2 in 1 cleaner proofer (300ml) is an energy efficient single-wash cleaner and proofer for £8.99, while CamelBak’s revolutionary 710ml Podium bottle costs just £8.99.
For a Christmas boost, Powerbar’s Energize Sport Shots cost just £1.99 for nine bite-sized liquid filled energy chews, while the 600g IsoActive drink retails at £9.99.
For protection from seasonally wet weather, Tortec’s rear mudflap (£1.99) serves the purpose, while £20 would buy you four aluminium bottle cages for £4.99 each.
01845 521700
Raleigh
Raleigh is offering a very reasonably priced cycle computer, retailing close to 15 quid – RSP CX1.0 – at £15.99. The compact offering provides speed, distance, total ODO and more. For £19.99 the Moon Gem 1.0 is a compact rechargeable (via USB) light, while Outland offers Lock-On Grips – Endure 12 and Slopestyles – for £11.49 each.
At only £18.99, Outland’s D25 Four bar and grip combo consists of a 6061-T6 alloy, 680mm x 25.4mm bar (in black or silver) and Enduro 24 dual density grips.
The rubber bar ends are another value offering from Outland. The ergonomic products come with a black or white rubber coating making them extra grippy and super comfy, all for £15.99 a set.
0800 096 9060
SealSkinz
Battling the elements needn’t cost an arm and a leg this Christmas. SealSkinz has a Windproof Skull Cap, priced at £18, designed to be worn under protective cycling headgear and is warm, windproof and extremely comfy, we’re told.
With a microfleece lining for warmth, the skullcap also has stretch panels for a close, comfortable fit and all important ear perforations to aid hearing.
01553 817990
Condor Cycles
Fifteen quid might not go as far as it used to, but it can give you an insight into one of the best-known British shops in the bike industry – namely Condor. The history and present of the shop and brand are covered in Past Present Future, a book from the makers of the prestigious Ride Journal. You’ll get change for a twenty too, with the 148 pages costing a mere £14.99. Past Present Future is pitched as a perfect stocking filler for cycle enthusiasts and trade aficionados.
Endura
There is clothing and eyewear on offer from Endura, starting with the baa-rilliant Endura BaaBaa Merino accessories. The high wicking, highly breathable, non-itchy, warm when wet and low odour products come from a renewable source – sheep – rather than oil and include the Skip Beanie (£19.99 for the black version), Arm Warmers (£16.99) and socks (£14.99). Endura also has colourful eyewear on offer, including Spectrum Glasses (£14.99) and Rainbow Glasses (£14.99).
You can reach Endura by telephone 01506 497749.
Rough Ride Guide
Bike enthusiasts can show off their fashionably nerdy credentials with a Bike Trumps 36-card game, published by Rough Ride Guide. Choppers, Shoppers, BMXs and even Rickshaws face-off for a mere £4.99.
For more off-bike entertainment, the firm brings ‘UK Breaks with Bikes’ to the trade too. Ideal for any cyclists that likes MTB’ing and exploring the UK, the book is as stuffed as the proverbial turkey with over 100 great OS mapped off-road rides in the UK’s best cycling and holiday spots.
01189 010371 www.roughrideguide.co.uk
The second part of the stocking fillers guide, with even more socks, can be found here.
You can see the whole lot together if you read our digital edition here. It’s on pages 55-57.
