Gifts for cyclists — money-no-object Christmas presents for the cyclist in your life

The women’s Assos Dyora RS Spring Fall Jacket might not be suitable for Christmas Day itself – unless we have a mild one – but it’s near-perfect for mid-season training, offering warmth, breathability, quality and style.

Reviewer Suvi praised the jacket as a combination of a thermal jersey and a softshell, and the fact that it offers enough breathability for some more intensive efforts.

The fabrics and build quality are exceptional and there are a few neat touches such as the pocket ‘tops’ that help keep things inside and reflective details at the back. This is a real beauty.

With their super-stiff soles and supple uppers, the Specialized S-Works 7 Lace is among the best road cycling shoes. It puts in a top all-round performance and oozes class.

The soles of these shoes don’t flex at all while the upper, which combines engineered mesh with areas of TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), conforms easily to different foot shapes.

On top of all that, a raft of Specialized Body Geometry features help to avoid pain and injury and maximise power.

If you think the lucky gift recipient would prefer on-the-fly adjustability, Specialized offers plenty of shoes with Boa dials, including the new S-Works Torch. 

Exposure’s Strada Mk11 SB Aktiv is among the best front bike lights. It has been upgraded for 2023 to offer a 1600-lumen output – so it’s bright enough for any road riding, even for tackling dingy lanes in the dead of night.

AKTiv is a cool feature that senses oncoming light sources and automatically dims when a vehicle approaches to avoid dazzling other road users. It’s clever stuff that allows the rider to keep their hands on the handlebar and their eyes on the road.

The Strada also offers a range of settings, a low-bulk mount, great build quality and good run times. 

The Fizik Vento Stabilita Carbon road shoes are among the most innovative, adjustable, and comfortable out there.

The carbon sole delivers exceptional stiffness but what really sets these shoes apart from the crowd is that they offer fully adjustable arch support. This comes courtesy of a section cut out from the sole, with the top Boa Li2 dial connected to a strap that tightens from the middle of your foot over the top and around your instep. It’s a clever system and superbly effective. 

The mesh uppers provide tons of ventilation making these an excellent choice for riding indoors as well as outside. 

Everyone loves a cool paint job, especially if it’s bespoke, so how about treating the cyclist in your life to a refreshed frameset?

You could go for a straight colour swap but the possibilities are endless. Kustomflow, for example, offers finishes in special effect paints such as metal flake, pearl and metallic. You have an initial consultation, agree on a concept, cost and timeframe, and Kustomflow will get cracking.

It’s not just framesets that can be customised, but stems, handlebars, seatposts… even helmets, shoes and sunglasses.

The Hunt 44 Aerodynamicist Carbon Disc wheelset would make a great present for the performance-minded cyclist in your life. 

The 44mm-deep carbon rims provide an aero advantage without feeling unstable in crosswinds, and this wheelset is still light enough to feel nippy on the hills.

The hubs stood up to an enormous amount of abuse during testing, and the overall build proved to be solid too. On top of that, the tubeless setup is straightforward and they feel great over harsh roads. There really is a lot to love about these wheels.

Indoor training has come a loooong way over the past few years and Wahoo has been at the heart of this, helping to make it a much more fun experience with some of the best turbo trainers. 

Our review of the latest Wahoo Kickr isn’t quite ready but when we reviewed the previous version we described it as one of the benchmark direct drive smart trainers. It’s a very good design that’s easy to use. It offers a realistic ride feel and accurate power measurement.

The new model offers features including wifi connectivity for faster data transfer and an odometer to track mileage. This would make a great present for anyone who regularly rides indoors. 

You just need to look at the Fulcrum Speed 40 CMPTZN DB wheelset to see that it’s a class act, and the performance is even better. The wheels are hugely responsive and they maintain plenty of stiffness for powerful or heavy riders. They’re a great all-round choice: quick on the flat and descents without getting battered around by crosswinds, while still being light enough for hilly rides.

The build quality is high and the CULT (Ceramic Ultimate Level Technology) bearings are incredibly smooth.

Sure, there are plenty of cheaper alternatives out there, but these look beautiful and back that up out on the road.

Cannondale’s Topstone is one of the best gravel bikes we've ever reviewed with this Carbon Rival AXS coming with Kingpin rear suspension and a SmartSense daytime-running light system that automatically adjusts to ambient light conditions and other road traffic. 

When reviewing the Cannondale Topstone Carbon Lefty with the same Kingpin suspension Dave Atkinson said that his long-lasting impression was of a bike that's a lot of fun. It's both light and fast enough for you can keep up with roadies on the tarmac with the advantage of being able to shoot off on the gravel. The simple suspension system is a real bonus for riding on mixed surfaces at speed. It works superbly well.

Cervelo’s R5 is an outstanding all-rounder. Whether tackling long and steep mountain ascents or riding over dodgy local road surfaces, it always feels fantastically fast and incredibly comfortable.

It offers plenty of stiffness for direct power transfer and the spot-on handling makes technical descents a joy. Cervelo has produced a gem here.

We reviewed the R5 in a SRAM Force eTap AXS build but it’s hard to get hold of that model now, so the version with a top-level SRAM Red groupset will have to plug the gap!