The 2024 ORCC Christmas gift guide!

Our top pick of the best gives that'll please those who have everything.

Liam Mercer

Dec 2 2024

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Christmas is the time of giving, but we all know a cyclist who's either super fussy or already has it all. We've teamed up with Hunt, Granite, Schwalbe and more to help you make any cyclist smile this Christmas.

Granite Design Duet Hex Bit and Socket Ratchet Tool Kit

£59.99

First up is the perfect father's present. The Duet Hex Bit and Socket Ratchet tool promises to be one versatile bit of kit as it boasts a full range of Allen and Torx bits, including a PH2. There's also a selection of sockets ranging from six to 13mm.

That means that it's primed for all kinds of bike tweaking but thanks to its socket set, it's also got specialist adjustments sorted. It's ready and waiting to build your favourite flat-pack furniture, too.

granite-design.com

Granite Design Juicy Nipple tubeless valves

£19

Another product from Granite is the Juicy Nipples tubeless valves. Tubeless valves are an inexpensive way to up your bike's bling factor, which adds neat features that easily fly under the radar.

These valves are ideal for modern tubeless setups as they're compatible with tyre inserts – there's also valve-core tool built into the caps. They're also available in 17 different colours and colour combinations to colour-match your valves to your bike.

granite-design.com

Acid Towing System Mountain Explorer

£29.95

If you're trying to get your kid into cycling, you'll know it's not the easiest of endeavours. With hills being particularly arduous for little legs, Acid's Towing System Mountain Explorer is a 1.9-metre tow rope that sits underneath the leading bike's saddle. The other end hooks around the stem of the bike it's towing.

It can tow up to 120kg. So, if you're an e-biker riding with regular bike riders, you can give them a helpful tow up a hill.

www.cube.eu

Cube Trooper helmet

£129.95

A helmet is the most important bit of cycling equipment you can buy and Cube's Trooper helmet is built to cope with the rigours of trail and enduro riding. It gets 21 vents for all of the airflow and a Mips liner that boosts protection further.

Built into its shell is a place to store eyewear, a magnetic Fidlock buckle and a neatly integrated X-Adapter and X-Lock mount that makes for the perfect spot for action cameras or lights. The Trooper is available in four colours and three sizes.

www.cube.eu

Hunt XC Wide 29 wheelset

£359.26 (at time of publication)

Although a pricier present in this list, Hunt's XC Wide MTB 29 wheelset makes an excellent upgrade. It's cross-country focussed, although we're told it will easily cope with heavier trail-style riding. Despite its aluminium build, the sub 1,700g weight makes it a real upgrade.

These wheels get specific rim profiles for the front and rear wheels with the front being a bit wider to increase traction and the rear being a little narrower to reduce rolling resistance. Better still, they benefit from Hunt's five-degree RapidEngage freehub.

www.huntbikewheels.com

Gtechniq Ultimate Bike Care Kit

£140

Throughout the winter months, keeping your bike clean takes extra work but Gtechniq's Ultimate Bike Care Kit has that completely covered. Included in the box is everything you need to keep your bike clean, such as cleaners, degreasers, brushes and clothes but importantly, there's the ceramic dirt-repellant coating.

Once applied, this coating adds a hydrophobic surface to your bike frame, so after a muddy ride, mud, water and dirt should slide right off with a blast from a hose.

www.gtechniq.co.uk

Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero balance bike

£220 - £300

Is there a better present than an actual bike? The Kids Ride Shotgun balance bike is a boiled-down enduro bike built especially for budding rippers. However, it's built to grow with your child as it can accommodate 12- and 14-inch wheels. Those wheels are home to fat tyres that provide grip and comfort.

It can be purchased with Magura's MT4 brake, which is a powerful stopper. However, the real benefit of this brake is its mega-adjustable lever that'll work well with little hands and can be adjusted as your child grows.

kidsrideshotgun.co.uk

Topeak Dualside Bottle Cage Pro with Toolbox N11

£59.99

There are two things cyclists can never get enough of – bottle cages and multi-tools. Topeak's Dualside Bottle Cage Pro with Toolbox N11 is both. First off, there's the reversible bottle cage that allows for left and right-hand entry. It's also built with a very low profile – the idea behind that is to fit a wide range of frames, be it full-suspension bikes or small frame sizes.

At the bottom is Topeak's Nano 11 multi-tool that hides within its own little holder. Adding some repair power to the otherwise humble bottle cage, the Nano 11 boasts all of the Allen and Torx bits you'll ever need.

www.topeak.com

Crankbrothers Stamp Lace shoes

£130

Crankbrothers has become known for creating some of the most comfortable mountain bike shoes on the market and the Stamp Lace is one of them. Using a lace closure, there's a cool pouch to hide tied laces in while riding and the sole uses Crankbrothers' Match system, so it's shaped to pair perfectly with the brand's flat pedals.

These shoes use the MC2 rubber compound for traction and there are plenty of TPU areas for extra protection.

crankbrothers.com

Schwalbe Albert Gravity tyres

£80

With its Radial technology, Schwalbe has recently set the tyre market alight with an interesting new carcass layup designed to be more supple while providing superior protection. In fact, the brand says that at the same pressure as a regular tyre, the Radial technology offers a 30% larger contact patch.

However, this new Albert tyre has an all-new tread pattern designed to work in a mix of conditions. This tyre is available in Schwalbe's full range of rubber compounds and casing builds and we recommend the Addix Ultra Soft compound and Trail casing at the front paired with an Addix Soft and Gravity casing at the rear.

www.schwalbe.com

Lost Summer and Half-Forgotten Afternoons - A Mint Sauce collection by Jo Burt

£35

Mountain bike-based coffee table literature doesn't get much better than this. Lost Summers and Half-Forgotten Afternoons is a retrospective of the Mint Sauce comics from the mind of Jo Burt. Since becoming a permanent fixture of MBUK in 1987, Mint Sauce has gained a cult following among UK mountain bikers.

In this collection, you'll find tonnes of comic strips that starred in MBUK from 1987 through to 2023, not to mention calendar prints and a six-page story by Jo himself.

www.isolapress.com

Oakley Sutro sunglasses

£159

Ok, so it's not particularly sunny at the moment but Oakley's Sutro sunglasses will come into their own once the temperatures rise. These riding specs feature a large lens for all of the coverage that uses the brand's Prizm technology to provide plenty of clarity. Additionally, there's an unobtainium nose piece to keep them firmly in place as you tackle the trails.

www.oakley.com

Trek Cambion shoes

£250

Trek's Cambion shoe is ideal for any gravel riders or MTBers out there and it's built to eke out all of the efficiency possible. That's thanks to its OCLV carbon and fibreglass composite shank that's mega stiff, so every watt should be transferred straight to the pedals.

These riding kicks benefit from METNET relief zones to eradicate discomfort and there are two Boa dials per shoe to help get that fit absolutely perfect. On top of that, the GnarGuard coasting protects against abrasion and damage, so although these are high-end boots, they'll last.

www.trekbikes.com

Author block

Liam Mercer

Since beginning his mountain biking career while working as a resort photographer in Greece in 2014, Liam became a freelance contributor at off.road.cc in 2019. From there, he’s climbed the journalism job ladder from staff writer to deputy technical editor, now finding his place as technical editor.

Partial to the odd enduro race, heart rate-raising efforts on slim-tyred cross-country bikes, hell-for-leather e-MTB blasts or even casual gravel jaunts, there’s not a corner of off-road cycling where Liam fears to tread. With more than 40 bike reviews under his belt and hundreds more on MTB, e-MTB and gravel parts and accessories, Liam’s expertise continues to be cemented and respected by the industry.