Features

With more and more people buying smartphones and the proliferation of training apps now available for them, it’s never been so easy to accurately keep track of your training. Gone are the days when you kept track of your training in a notepad, with careful handwritten notes.

The latest generation of training apps makes it far easier to record and analyse your training, as well as setting goals and targets and reviewing previous performances. We’ve chosen 10 of the most popular apps so you can kick start 2013 with a digital thump.

Cycling books are always a delight to unwrap on Christmas morning, or to treat yourself to at any time of year, and the growth of interest in cycling as well as the success of British riders means that bookstore shelves – plus those in the warehouses of online retailers – are groaning under the weight of them as never before.

Not all that long ago, most road bikes were custom built to order by your local frame builder. Times have changed and today most are produced on a mass scale in the Far East where advances in manufacturing and production processes have seen all types of road bikes become both more affordable and more technologically advanced than ever before.

We've already given you suggestions for Christmas gifts for performance minded cyclists, gifts for female cyclists, and a quick rundown of books for cyclists. Now it's time for VecchioJo to pitch in with his ideas for presents that are suitable for discerning cyclists... you know, cyclists who appreciate the finer things in life.