Your CX-Mas Gift Guide - Something special
The festive season is almost upon us, and no matter whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or the year-end office party, we can all agree that the REAL reason for the season is CX-Mas - a celebration of all things cyclocross!
This is the second of a series of articles to help you with your CX-Mas shopping. This one’s about more expensive options, but if you want something a little more budget-friendly for the friend or family member you can check out our range of stocking stuffers here.
If you or your loved ones are looking for things to buy for the cyclocrosser in your life and aren’t afraid to break the bank, look no further!
Muc-Off Pressure Washer
Price: $299.99 AUD from Bicycle Superstore, $419.99 NZD from My Ride.
Buying your significant other a household appliance at the holidays is either poor form or a hackneyed sitcom plot, but if your loved one is an avid cyclocrosser a power washer could be the exception that proves the rule.
A personal power washer is perhaps the ultimate luxury for your cross riding loved one, and will save valuable post-race time cleaning a filthy bike and (if they’re okay with others borrowing it) allow them to make a few new friends on race day. This one from Muc-Off has been specially designed for use on bicycles and motorbikes, and has an option for a lower pressure output to protect sensitive areas like headsets or bottom bracket bearings.
There’s one other advantage - seeing as you’re buying it for a loved one, you might even be able to convince them to clean a few other things around the house!
Feedback Sports Omnium Portable Trainer
Price: $600.99 AUD or $657.99 NZD, both from ProBikeKit
There are certain sounds that will echo all throughout a cyclocross race day. The ringing of cowbells, the heckles from spectators, clipping into pedals and - especially for higher grades - the whirr of riders warming up on Feedback Omnium trainers.
There’s a reason that the Omnium is a great trainer for race day warm-ups. It combines the pedalling fluency of rollers while not requiring a dead flat surface for setup - handy indeed if you plan to warm up in the middle of a muddy field. They’re much more portable than a traditional home trainer, and come with their own carry bag to make them easier to take to and from the side of the course.
Each trainer also comes with interchangeable end caps for the fork mount that will allows you to switch between quick releases and thru-axles, allowing the Omnium to be paired with road and mountain bikes of all sizes.
CX Down Under has had an Omnium on test for a while now, so keep your eyes peeled for a more detailed review shortly.
Velo Mats Indoor Training Mat - Dirt Look
Price: $140 AUD from velomats.com
If you’re going to be spending time training indoors for next season, who not do it in style with a custom-printed indoor training mat?
Velo Mats are an Australian company that will make you a specially designed mat for under your indoor trainer, providing a personal touch to all your indoor training rides. The mats are also produced using eco-friendly printing methods, which is always nice to see.
The mats are fully customisable, with options to add your name, country flag and a motivational tagline to give you that little bit of extra motivation the next time an indoor workout is pushing you to the limit.
They’re also available in a range of patterns including tributes to historical cycling teams like Mapei and La Vie Claire, as well as more basic mats depicting tarmac, cobblestones and a velodrome. We prefer the dirt pattern, for obvious reasons.
Terske Titanium Tubeless valves
Cost: $70 AUD (44mm) or $85 AUD (60mm) from cxminded.cc
Wait, a set of tubeless valves for the same price as three race entries, plus the pizza afterwards? Made of titanium? Surely that’s unnecessary!
Three things about that:
These valves are made by Terske, who promise that they’ll outlive several of your wheelsets while clogging less often and featuring fully serviceable moving parts.
They’re distributed Down Under by cxminded.cc, and we love supporting those who support the sport.
It’s CX-Mas. Treat yourself.