Holidays during a pandemic are different. You might not have a big gift exchange with extended family or your group ride buddies, and stay-at-home orders might make shopping challenging, even when local small businesses are desperate for your dollar and support.
Gift-giving this year is different. Timing matters less, gifting experiences is fraught with uncertainty while material goods are making a comeback. Thankfully, we've got a few great last-minute gift ideas and stocking stuffers for the cyclist in your life that may be available from your local bike shop or online retailer. They're also great cycling essentials that can keep you riding into 2021 in comfort and style.
Here are four items that have brought joy to our cycling lives and kept us prepared, warm and safe. See Part I of our gift guide here.
Note: None of these items are sponsored or paid, and we've tried them all. We might earn a small commission via related product affiliate links.
2020 Last-Minute Gift Ideas for the Cyclist
Bottles by Elite: Fly Bottle, Nano Fly 4h Thermal, $10 Byasi Tool Bottle
The Elite Fly bottle family. © Cyclocross Magazine
A water bottle is a good stocking stuffer. The Elite Fly water bottle is unique for its light weight at 54 grams (actual weight is as advertised). A more typical water bottle of the same 550ml volume is a whopping 7 grams heavier! Elite shaved the grams by making the mid-body of the water bottle thinner. Those seven grams will keep the stocking from falling into the fire, and just might help the rider reclaim KOMs.
Elite Fly 550 ultralight bottle with the dust cover removed: 54 grams, 550 ml. © Cyclocross Magazine
The Fly uses less plastic and gives the advantage of pliability, making it easier to squeeze that much-needed liquid into your mouth. Add to that the new soft high flow valve. The valve closed tightly, something other bottles don’t always do, leaving an annoying sticky mess if you use a sweet hydration drink. The mouthpiece is removable for cleaning too. An MTB version of the Fly bottle is also available. It adds a flip-top dust cap, but adds 11 grams to the weight. Our sample is transparent, giving the appearance of a baby bottle.
Elite Fly MTB bottle with 11-gram valve cover on. © Cyclocross Magazine
The Elite Fly bottle is available with 750ml and 950ml volume, as well as in 2 thermal variants. Elite claims the Nano Fly thermal bottle will keep 500ml of beverage cold for up to 4 hours and is only 109 grams. We are going to test that claim. Elite also has a version of the Fly bottle made from a biodegradable polyethylene called the Jet, available in the same sizes.
Nine dollars seems like a lot for a water bottle, but we have already seen this discounted in the real world. The Elite Fly bottle certainly has some cache, as you see the bottle used by a majority of the ProTour teams.
Should you find yourself with a plethora of bottle cages or hydration, but a shortage of on-bike storage, Elite also has its Byasi tool-carrying bottle. It comes in two sizes, with a $10 750ml model (tested) and a 1000ml version that averages $1 more.
Elite’s Byasi tool bottle has room for your cycling essentials. © Cyclocross Magazine
Both feature two storage areas for organizing your small and large survival items. We’ve squeezed a multi-tool, tube, patch kit, chain breaker, tire levers and tire plugs into the smaller version, but our mini-pump was left out in the cold. Opt for the larger one should you want to include a small mini-pump.
Want to really delight the cyclist in your life? Grab an extra set of tools and essentials, pack up the bottle and then stuff her holiday stocking. Then kickback knowing you’ve done everything to avoid the dreaded “can you come pick me up” phone call.
More info: Elite-it.com
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