cycling related birthday present ideas

magicbastarder

a friend of my wife's is trying to think of presents to buy for her father, who is a keen cyclist and is facing a significant birthday soon; he's been cycling since the 50s AFAIK. apparently he's not keen on the idea of reaching the age he's reaching, so explicit references to that are out.

i was suggesting some vintage jerseys in modern materials (e.g. https://steel-vintage.com/clothing/jerseys-shorts/retro-jerseys-and-shorts ); i did show her a picture of the la vie claire jersey and she remembers seeing her dad wearing it when she was a kid.

any other good ideas? i think he's well stocked for general supplies like good quality jackets and bits and bobs for the bike, so it may be a question of what you get for the man who has everything, so it'd need to be slightly unusual or have a little rarity value i'd guess.

De Bhál

flights and accomodation for the world champs in Belgium this September

hesker

De Bhál wrote: »

flights and accomodation for the world champs in Belgium this September

Wouldn’t buy vintage stuff unless you know he’s into vintage stuff. If they are then loads of scope. Would buy genuine old stuff rather than stuff that is made new to look old.

Really good quality clothing would I imagine always be welcome.

magicbastarder

yeah, i don't know the chap so i'm conscious that he mightn't be all that fussed about that. was half thinking of suggesting a voucher for a wheel upgrade (none of his kids are cyclists and would have a clue what wheels he's currently using)

Fann Linn

A nice pair of new shoes with a smart new helmet thrown in for good measure.

WOT

If his family can’t successfully mind read and understand what he wants what chance have you got MB?

Cash in hand and an offer to help find exactly what he wants or needs will be way more valuable and appreciated than spending the world on a hit and hope “special” gift.

Maybe he hasn’t got the skills to find that specific xyz part to finish a build but he’s been looking for it for years etc etc.

If you get that dialog going you’d probably be better able to contribute even if it is a complete needle in a haystack search.

magicbastarder

WOT wrote: »

If his family can’t successfully mind read and understand what he wants what chance have you got MB?

what i'm trying to offer is suggestions for them to consider; as mentioned, none of them are cyclists, and his christmas/birthday presents till now have tended to be decent jackets or cycling clothes, so they were conscious of just repeating themselves.
i'm going to suggest they sneak a photo of his bike so i can see the wheels, it might be that i can tell them whether their budget would or wouldn't make for a useful upgrade.

secman

magicbastarder wrote: »

what i'm trying to offer is suggestions for them to consider; as mentioned, none of them are cyclists, and his christmas/birthday presents till now have tended to be decent jackets or cycling clothes, so they were conscious of just repeating themselves.
i'm going to suggest they sneak a photo of his bike so i can see the wheels, it might be that i can tell them whether their budget would or wouldn't make for a useful upgrade.

Photos of all 6 bikes ?

8valve

A vintage bike.

mamax

Garmin varia radar rear light, if he has a garmin already of course, I recommended one for a friends dad and he loves it

magicbastarder

cheers, that was something i wasn't aware of.

A watch with a bike chain strap!!!!! If these exist I want one.

I got the father ortlieb panniers last Sept. He hasn't used the car since for grocery shopping and swears by them

Mr. Cats

They could offer to support him on a Mizen-Malin or Wild Atlantic Way or any other tour. Arrange for him to get to start with bike, have his gear moved from hotel to hotel each night etc or even offer some on the road support. Could do something abroad also if they were aware of something he always wanted to do. They could get involved themselves or arrange via a tour company.

As it sounds like he’s an older gentleman, I think an “experience” gift might be better appreciated than more “stuff”. Anyway, just a thought.

magicbastarder

Mr. Cats wrote: »

As it sounds like he’s an older gentleman

cheers yeah, he'll be turning 80.