Bike riding can be about adventure, it can be about freedom and it can be whatever else we want it to be – that’s why we love it. There’s a fairly large constituency of cyclists who love a race. Everything from a club 10 to a hundred mile road race. For them, riding a bike is all about one thing and one thing only, speed. Whatever kind of racer your gift recipient is, time trialist, crit legend or sportive superstar we’ll have something perfect for you to stuff their stocking with on Christmas morning.
Aero lights
CTT (the governing body for time trialing in the UK) have recently ruled that anyone taking part in a time trial must have a functioning front and rear light in order to race. While many took to Facebook to argue about this others hit the online marketplace searching for the most aero lights available. Seasoned time trialists are often very particular about their front end so we’ve checked to find the most aero looking front light we could find.
After literally minutes of thinking, we decided that a strip light, such as the Lezyne Strip Drive 400 mounted to the base bar was best. Mounting the light centrally is probably best, but we have not tested this.
Inner tubes
Tyres roll faster or slower depending on what is keeping them inflated. It’s a well-established fact amongst bike racers that latex tubes are faster than almost any other setup. Switching from regular butyl to latex inner tubes can reduce rolling resistance by 10-15W. Imagine how much training it takes to put that amount of power onto your FTP? Tredz have a great selection of latex tubes, if racing on deep-section wheels you may also have to buy a valve extender – however, these are cheap and can be bought alongside your tubes.
Shades
Bike riders love sunnies – a fresh pair of shades can have you on the start line looking and feeling pro. If you feel pro, you ride fast. Pedal Cover customers get 20% off at Oakley. They are the original sunglasses brand and still the favourite and seen as a gold standard amongst cyclists.
A faster chain
Everything from UV treated chains to ceramic lube is available. There are a few routes to go down if you’re looking to buy someone a bit of drive train efficiency:
- Waxed chain
- Ceramic speed chain and lube
- Oversize pulley wheels
All of these options have a demonstrably average W/£ ratio (at least compared to latex tubes) but the mental impact of knowing you have the fastest (and quietist) chain is massive. On top of this, bike races are won and lost by tiny differences – marginal gains and such…
Sports nutrition
There’s an explosion in sports nutrition currently brewing. In the cycling world, it first came to force with Chris Froome’s famous 2018 Giro winning solo raid on the Colle Delle Finestre. He was seen slugging gels and bottles constantly. We now know that top triathletes can consume up to 120g/hour of carbs (roughly 5-6 gels) during iron-distance racing. Fuelling training and racing properly can have a two-pronged impact, improving both performance on the day, and speeding up the recovery process.
Precision Hydration have recently started producing gels and Pedal Cover customers get 20% off orders – login to your account to access your Pedal Cover Perks. These gels contain exactly 30g of carbs per gel making it easy for you to keep track of your nutritional intake on the bike.
Pedal Cover offers specialist home insurance for cyclists to give you peace of mind this Christmas.
