Bidon bidding war – Wiggins water bottle going for £60-plus on eBay

A bidding war has broken out for a Team Wiggins water bottle being auctioned on eBay with the highest bid currently standing at £64.21.

Described as “unique” the bidon, which is not signed, is far from that – the team itself will get through thousands in the course of a season, many jettisoned at the roadside and scooped up as souvenirs by appreciative fans.

Moreover, one was sold on eBay just last week – and went for around a quarter of the price bidding on the latest identical bidon has reached.

The eBay user selling the latter, who has the user name WiggoWiggoWiggo on the auction site, is also offering for sale a set of Team Wiggins racer cards from last month’s Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic.

Bidding for those has reached £26.05, and with both auctions closing this afternoon the vendor stands to make close to £100 for both items, if not more.

In recent months, according to the vendor’s feedback on eBay, they have also sold a number of items connected to Wiggins’ successful attempt on the UCI Hour Record at the start of June, including at least five Rapha caps celebrating the event.

Of course, eBay and other websites have united potential buyers and sellers of items worldwide in a way that was simply not possible before the advent of the internet, and if someone wants to fork out more than sixty quid on a Team Wiggins bidon, so be it.

It's also a way for people who can't be at an event in person to be able to get a souvenir, as with those Hour items. And given the seller has 100 per cent positive feedback, there are some very happy buyers out there.

But arguably it has also made it more difficult for those who for example want their favourite athlete to sign an item as a souvenir to obtain that autograph – with access to star names becoming ever more restricted, even impossible, in some sports.

Many cycling fans will hope that their sport, which enables them to get closer to the big names than is the case in any other sport – and also to ask for and often get promotional items at the team bus – doesn’t follow suit.

What do you think?  Let us know in the comments below.