BUYER'S GUIDE

21.06.15

Best cycling (and non-cycling) Father's Day gifts

Make Dad happy this weekend

by John Stevenson

Mon, Jun 15, 2015 14:31

Stuck for a present for Dad for Father's Day on Sunday? Here are some ideas from the road.cc brains trust.

We've tried to steer away from the obvious. Sure, everyone likes Rapha gear, you can't have too many boxes of Clif Bars, we'd love a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and we're still lusting over Hunt Wheels, but there's more to life than cycling. So here's a selection to remind Dad of riding when he's stuck with doing something less important.

Official road.cc day pass

One for dad to print out and keep for a day when he really, really, really needs to get out for a ride even though the lawn needs mowing, the car needs washing and the tumble dryer's melting through the kitchen floor. The gert big printable version is here.

Road.cc cap — £14.99

We're really pleased with our caps. Made for us by Primal, they're comfortable and absorbent with a built in sweatband and crushable foam brim. They're thin enough to sneak under a helmet and will keep the sun off if you go lidless.

Howies Life tee-shirt — £20.00

Handprinted on 100% organic cotton, here's the answer to everyone who observes Dad's cycling obsession and says he needs to get a life.

I'd rather be cycling mug — £4.49

eBay sellers have a huge selection of cycling mugs including this one. You can also choose homages to retro jersey design, Victoria Pendleton's famous nude, vintage Raleigh posters and lots more. Great for Dad's office desk.

Father's Day chocolate selection — £6.99

Post-ride treats for after those long, hard days in the saddle when the hills have been mysteriously steeper and the weather's turned foul. Spoil yourself, Dad; you've earned it.

Paniagua EPO coffee and 'Perfect Shot' espresso glass — £12.50

The greatest legal stimulant and the right way to drink it: pure and straight. If Dad's working on perfecting his espresso technique, a Perfect Shot glass tells him exactly how large a single shot of espresso should be.

Velo print by Anthony Oram — £36

Artist Anthony Oram offers a wide range of cycling artworks and slogans. We love the simplicity of this design which unostentatiously evokes the curves of the velodrome.

Velolove Equipé 'Rouleur' Organic T-Shirt — £25.00

Let the world know what sort of rider Dad is with these shirts from Velolove. There are 'Grimpeur' and 'Sprinteur' designs as well.

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gift guide

Father's Day

John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.