Cyclist
Cyclist’s Gear of the Year 2023: Other stuff
Don’t think we’re just about bikes and cycling up faraway hills here at Cyclist. We have many other interests, with food and keeping warm foremost among them judging by our selection of miscellaneous items in our Gear of the Year picks.
We regularly get offered a range of different items to review that don’t easily fit into one of our other Gear of the Year categories of bikes, clothing and tech, so this miscellany is a handy place to park all those items that we’ve got excited about this year, but which don’t quite fit in elsewhere.
We’ve even bought items ourselves (or our partners have bought them for us).
Sam Challis, Tech Editor
Clif Bloks energy chews
If nothing else, cycling is great because you can legitimately eat sweets and call it ‘fuel’. À la Peter Sagan (the only time I’m à la Peter Sagan about anything cycling-related), Haribo gummy bears are a personal on-bike snack favourite, but when I’m feeling flush I’ll opt for Clif Bloks instead.
Each pack is comprised of six Bloks and Clif says three equate to one gel in terms of energy provision. I think of them as Haribo on steroids: they’re squidgier, so are easier to eat, they’re more energy dense and taste nicer too, with personal flavour preferences being the zingy and salty margarita flavour and the classic strawberry flavour. There are options with caffeine in too, for when ‘fuel’ won’t cut it and ‘rocket fuel’ is required.
Will Strickson, Deputy Web Editor
Bivo bottles
It’s hard to get excited about bottles, or at least it used to be. Plastic bidons are so boring, low quality, cheap etc., but they’re useful for drinking, that sadly cannot be denied. I’ve tried to find Actually Very Good bottles by choosing the array of thermal options and ones with special lids, but I didn’t truly find one until this year.
This collaboration between Bivo, clothing brand Velocio and charity 1% For The Planet featured in the Pick ‘n’ Mix section of Cyclist magazine and I made my claim when they arrived in the office (it helps when almost everyone works from home). Bivo bottles are stainless steel and have a special silicone nozzle that produces a strong flow without the need to squeeze, which apparently comes via NASA engineering. It’s very clever, works really well and is easy to clean.
They have insulated and non-insulated versions – this particular one isn’t insulated – and either come in the raw stainless steel or with a more grippy silicone covering. It’s my New Year’s Resolution for 2024 to get a larger pair.
On top of all of that, Bivo is very environmentally conscious, hence the collaboration this model came from. The American brand says it offsets its emissions, is still working to reduce plastic, uses recyclable materials and packaging, and puts 1% of its revenue towards charities aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
And they just look about 8,000,000 times better than other bottles.
- Buy now from Bivo ($44)
Emma Cole, Features Writer
One Good Thing bars
A wrapper free energy bar for the bike? A hugely exciting innovation for the cycling, and wider outdoor industry, and anyone who likes a snack, One Good Thing launched what it claims are the world’s first wrapper free snack and protein bars.
Packing 7.5g of protein per bar and 18.4g of carbs, the bars have a natural and edible coating that acts as the wrapper. The coating is made from natural ingredients (it’s mostly beeswax) and is completely safe to eat. One Good Thing says simply give the bars a quick rinse and chomp away. Clever.
There are plenty of flavours to choose from, including butterscotch, mango and passionfruit, berry burst, cherry bakewell, sticky ginger, banoffee, apple and cinnamon… you get the vibe.
I’ve been munching away at these bars on the bike and I absolutely love them. The edible wrapper reminds me of those little edible icing discs for personalised cupcakes.
I am super excited to see a wrapper free bar – the less plastic in this world the better. I hope we see more of this next year.
- Buy now from One Good Thing (from £1.54 per bar)
James Spender, Deputy Editor
Passenger Offgrid 2.0 Fleece
I was given this by my partner for my birthday, and here is a much more attractive man modelling it (an image I have stolen from Passenger’s website, but I hope free publicity means its lawyers will stand down).
This is my alternative GOTY pick for two reasons: one, because heating is well expensive these days, I work from home and so warm clothing is both great and necessary; two, the Offgrid is made from recycled polyester; three, I moved to Bristol this year and became a dad, so such garments are uniform; four, and most of all, getting a genuine surprise gift of clothing that you actually like Is totally brilliant. So thanks darlin’.
- Buy the Offgrid fleece from Passenger (£74.95)
Matthew Loveridge, Website Editor
Affordable hygge
These are dark times and while we can’t fix the world’s problems, we can make our own surroundings better in small ways.
Last winter my wife got me this delightful little incense burner that looks like a North American log cabin. It comes with its own incense ‘logs’ that smell like a wood fire on a cold winter’s day.
I can’t tell you how cosy this makes a room feel. Light a couple of candles too, and let the hygge vibes flow.
- Buy the Paine’s Log Cabin Burner from The Hendersons (£14.99)
The post Cyclist’s Gear of the Year 2023: Other stuff appeared first on Cyclist.