Whether you’re tackling technical trails on a mountain bike, exploring green lanes on a gravel steed, hitting the hills on a road bike or even just commuting to and from work, cycling experiences have the power to transform an otherwise ordinary weekend morning or weekday evening into a truly life-affirming experience.
You don’t need to be on an absolutely top-of-the-range bike to make the most of such moments – it’s enough to simply be in the saddle, with friends or on your own, out amongst the elements with the wind rushing past your ears.
Good gear can, however, massively enhance your enjoyment of a ride in all sorts of ways, by making it more comfortable for example, or enabling you to push through the crux section of a particularly challenging climb. Some smart accessories can record your achievements and experiences as you notch them up, or help you to maintain and protect your bike so you can ride further and more often. Most importantly of all, certain gadgets have the power to actually safeguard you while you’re out and about.
And some kit is so smart you don’t even know how much you need it until a bike-minded genius dreams it up, and you realise you have been using or carting something far inferior around for all this time. Take the following six sensational accessories that have been blowing our bike-addled brains.
Seatylock Foldylock Compact Folding Bike Lock
Forget about dragging a great big, heavy D-lock around with you on your travels – take this tough little anti-theft device with you instead. The svelte Seatylock Foldylock Compact Folding Bike Lock is an ingenious, virtually indestructible security system for your bike that weighs just 1kg, has an open circumference of 85cm and folds down smaller than an average banana. It even comes with its own tidy little frame bag.
RRP £64.99, available for £58.49 right now from Tredz.
Garmin Varia RCT 715 Camera and Tail Light
A brilliant device for commuters, roadies and any cyclist that shares cycling space with motorized vehicles, the Garmin Varia RCT 715 Camera and Tail Light simultaneously keeps you safe by making you more visible to drivers via a rear-facing red light, and captures the actions of others by recording vision of everything that’s happening behind your bike while you ride. Capturing clear video in 1080p at 30 fps, the Varia RCT 715 automatically saves footage before, during and after events if it detects an incident. The device is equipped with a rearview radar, and you can pair it to your phone (via the Varia mobile app) or integrate it to your Garmin bike computer so it alerts you about traffic approaching from behind as you ride.
Buy now for £349.99 from Tredz.
Garmin Edge 1040 GPS Bike Computer
Ideal for gadget gurus and detail-focussed performance-oriented riders, Garmin’s first dedicated bike computer with multi-band GNSS technology, the Edge 1040 GPS performs perfectly even when you’re riding under thick tree cover or amid the dense skyscratching concrete giants in the inner city, so you can get accurate stats no matter where you roll. Super simple to use straight out of the box, the Edge 1040 has a plethora of performance features and power targets to help you really analyse and optimise your riding efforts. Connectivity comes via ANT+ and Bluetooth, and the unit has a large screen and ride-type-specific mapping and navigation, so you can cycle new places with confidence. The Garmin Edge 1040 is also available in a solar option, which vastly expands its battery life and makes it perfect for multiday tours and bikepacking adventures.
With an RRP of £519.99, the Garmin Edge 1040 is available from Tredz now for £479.99.
Muc-Off X-3 Chain Machine Cleaner
Keeping your bike (or bikes) well maintained means each ride will be smoother and better, and improves the life expectancy of components and the entire bicycle, but there are few less-enjoyable jobs out there than cleaning chains. The Muc-Off X-3 Chain Machine Cleaner takes the terror out of this task, making it quick and easy to give your chain a proper deep clean. The little machine’s teeth and rotating brush wheels boast 120 contact points, thoroughly scrubbing all areas of the individual chain link, and the dirty fluid drops into a lower reservoir to keep it separate from the clean chain. What’s more, the Muc-Off Drivetrain Cleaner included in the kit is fully biodegradable. Alternatively, if you're looking for a slightly cheaper option, the Tredz Chain Cleaning Machine does pretty much the same job for £10 less.
RRP £36.99, available for £29.99 right now from Tredz.
Garmin Rally RS200 SPD-SL Power Meter Pedals
Packing a far more impressive punch than the average pedal, the super smart Garmin Rally RS200 SPD-SL Power Meter Pedals boast dual-sensors that monitor how you apply power throughout the pedal stroke. The intelligent Rally RS200s also measure cadence, left/right balance and total power, and feed back via the Garmin Connect app on compatible Garmin devices and/or smartphones, so you can adjust, analyse and fine tune your action to get the best results possible. It’s also possible to view and share your data on Strava, TrainingPeaks and TrainerRoad.
Giant Control Tank Pump
When you’re changing tubeless tyres, it’s essential to give them an initial blast of air in order to seat the tyre properly within the rim of the wheels, and the ingenious Giant Control Tank Pump is the perfect tool for doing exactly that. Once loaded, which is done by using a conventional track pump, the ‘Control Tank’ delivers a 1450cc shot of air instantly to seat a tubeless tyre on the rim. You can simply swap back to the conventional pump action to get to your preferred final pressure. The Control Tank comes complete with a pressure release valve to prevent over filling, and the Auto Head valve switches between Presta and Schrader for use on road and MTB tyres.
