Hope and Glory coffee

Hope and Glory are two sensations which fans of the Italian Androni-Sidermec team will unlikely have see much of in 2015, but since ‘despair and dopage’ coffee doesn’t yet exist, you’ll have to make do with this.

They have a bunch of Christmas gift ideas, but our favourite might just be the Hario V60 Coffee Dripper gift pack (£12.50) which takes things back to the old school with a rather nice espresso mug, bag of your choice of coffee and 40 filter papers. These papers are to filter the coffee, not for a sneaky post-ride smoke. You are not Mario Cipollini.

Price: Various
www.hopeandglorycoffee.co.uk

Pro Cycling Trumps

Top Trumps are a classic Christmas gift, so naturally Pro Cycling Trumps are a great choice for any cycling fan.

There are four sets available: Legends, Women, 2015 and 2014, so you’ll be able to while away Christmas afternoon arguing about the ratings on the cards rather than what to watch on the tele.

You can also buy posters wth the cards on and even get your own personal card. Don’t lie about those ratings now, are you really 99 for climbing?

Price: £7.99
www.procyclingtrumps.bigcartel.com

Defeet Socks

Socks for Christmas are a classic crap present. Cycling socks for Christmas, on the other hand, are not. Especially when they come in a variety of fantastic designs. In fact, we’ll dedicate a whole Christmas gift guide to cycling socks in the not too distant future, but here’s one pair for starters.

Socks are the one area of your bike kit where you have total license to go crazy so pick the wildest set you can and stick them on your list. DeFeet can always be relied on for crazy socks and, personally, we’re big fans of the zigzags and also the Sako7 socks. They also do a pretty awesome line in neon oversocks that are a staple of our winter wardrobe.

Price: Various
www.defeet.com

Supacaz handlebar tape

Because I’m a little bit sad, I really love ‘bar tape. And of all the bar tapes, Supacaz might just be my favourite. Not only is it super durable, but it looks great too and comes in a whole variety of different colours.

They don’t do a Christmas version though, which is probably for the best as the novelty would have well and truly worn off by the end of January, and this stuff lasts a lot longer than a month, so you’d be committed to until until at least July. They do, however, do a Mark Cavendish special edition which is pretty cool although, for some reason, they didn’t call it SupaCav which was a bit of an error.

Price: £27.95-£35.95
www.silverfish-uk.com

Vulpine Softshell Gloves

Sticking with the winter theme are Vulpine’s rather plush softshell gloves. I don’t buy myself nice gloves because I tend to ruin them, but if I had nice ones like these I’d probably be tempted to treat them much better.

As well as weather resistance, these are designed to work with your smartphone’s touchscreen, have reflective strips on the back and look rather smart as well. What more could you want? Other than a Santa generous enough to buy you some £50 gloves, that is…

Price: £49
www.vulpine.cc

Skratch Labs Apples & Cinnamon (Hot) Exercise Mix

On-bike nutrition comes in many shapes and sizes, but usually only comes in one temperature: cold. That’s mostly because it’s hard to keep food or drink warm on the bike, but on a cold day out something to warm you up a little wouldn’t go amiss.

Being based in Boulder, Colorado, Cannondale-Garmin sponsors Scratch know a thing or two about tough weather, and have come up with this apple and cinnamon flavour hydration mix to put in your bidons. And if you happen to have a bottle designed to keep your fluids warm, even better. What better way to warm up on a cold winter’s ride.

Price:  £13.95 (454g)
www.silverfish-uk.com