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If you’re searching for a great gift for someone who loves indoor cycling, then you’ve come to the right place. Whether your cyclist is an occasional exercise biker, or a passionate spin class lover, or a diehard Peloton rider, there are some fantastic gifts at a range of difference prices to suit every budget. Let’s take a look.
Indoor cycling is a funny old form of exercise, isn’t it? It’s got plenty of positives. You get to do it inside, so you stay warm and dry no matter what the weather is doing outside. It’s in the privacy of your own home, so you don’t have to reveal any ‘wobbly’ bits to random strangers with perfect bodies. And you can listen to whatever tunes you want (mid-80s Euro pop, anyone…?) or watch re-runs of cheesy 90s sitcoms (Fresh Prince of Bel Air, any time 😉 ).
Of course, it’s also got quite a lot of negatives. The main one being that it hurts an awful lot and you will feel, in the middle of a workout, as if you’re going to die. Actually, you’d really, really like to die, because then the pain would all end…
All that pain, suffering, and “My life got flipped turned upside down” aside, if you’ve got an indoor cycling fan to buy a gift for, then you’re in luck. There are loads of great presents that they will really appreciate and be really useful for them. If you’re looking for gifts for a spin instructor, then you’re also in luck. Check out my gift ideas for them here.
I’ve done some research to see what the best value gifts for indoor bike riders are. So, I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there… and we’ll take a look, shall we?
Gifts for indoor cyclists: | ||
Insulated water bottle Chilled hydration |   Popular Hyperice massage gun Ease sore muscles |  
Gym towels multipack Keep the sweat at bay |
  Wireless headphones Just wait till the bass kicks in! |  
Workout tank tops 3pk Flowy racerback athletic tops *or Men's |  
Wahoo Fitness KICKR fan A refreshing cool breeze |
Gifts for spin class lovers
Gifts for indoor cyclists fall under two major themes. These are (1) Sweat and how you manage it (and re-hydrate after you’ve been sweating), and (2) Gifts that make indoor cycling (which is very tough) a little easier to cope with. Let’s take a look now at some of the best gifts in each of these categories.
(1) Gifts to help manage sweat
When you’re out cycling on the open road or cruising along a gravel trail on your bike, you’ll find that it’s relatively easy to manage your body temperature as you’ll generate a nice cooling breeze as you pedal along. In comparison, when you’re cycling indoors on a stationary bike, there’s no breeze flowing around you and you’ll therefore tend to be much hotter. More body heat translates into (if you’re anything like me) a tomato red face and copious amounts of sweat.
This is tough for the indoor cyclist, but gives us lots of opportunities to get them gifts which help them keep their cool.
The first place to start when dealing with sweat is how to mop it up. Here we have lots of options for great cycling gifts. My main go-to when cycling indoors is a multipack of microfiber gym towels. Why a multipack? Well, I tend to have one draped around my neck and a second hanging over the handlebars – to catch the dripping sweat that the first towel doesn’t deal with. You can also get clothing which will be a great help to the indoor bike rider – tank tops (for women and men) that are looser than a standard skin-tight cycling jersey allowing more air to circulate. If you were around in the 80’s (all the best people were 😉 ) then you’ll have seen a couple gift ideas that were perfect for an aerobics class back-in-the-day and are even better for a spin on the spin bike today: headbands and wristbands.
Of course, once you’ve sweated all that moisture out, you need to replenish and rehydrate. That’s where a new water bottle comes in. But. I’m not talking about just a standard water bottle here, because it’s even better to buy your cyclist an insulated water bottle that will keep their drink chilled throughout the spin class and through onto the couch afterwards.
You might think that your giftee will already have all of these things and the truth is that they will. Here’s the thing though, no-one buys themselves new workout gear and water bottles. They think, “this old tshirt I bought in 1982, the one with all the holes in it, will do just fine” and “my sports bottle has only got a little gunk around the spout…and it probably won’t make me THAT ill if I drink out of it…. will it…?”
So, yes, they will have all of these things and you know what? They’ll be delighted that someone has bought them some new gear so that they can finally throw out those threadbare shirts and moldy old water bottles.
(2) Gifts to make indoor cycling (slightly) easier
The entire point of indoor cycling is that it’s hard work – “no pain, no gain” and all that. Indoor bike riders know this and generally accept it. Though you may find yourself in the unfortunate situation from time to time of having to listen to them complain about how tough it is.
They are gluttons for punishment though and only have themselves to blame for taking up such a physically exhausting leisure activity. But the toughness of the activity gives us some good opportunities for choosing gifts for them to make their leisure time a little more leisurely.
We’ve seen already how sweaty an activity indoor cycling can be (because you don’t generate the breeze that you do by cycling outdoors on a bike). Now they could open windows and doors to help with this, but unless there’s a strong wind outside it won’t translate into much of a soothing breeze on their tomato faces. Open doors aren’t necessarily that practical either as they allow pets and small children to potentially wander out and burglars to wander in. A far better option is a powerful electric fan that will deliver a breeze towards the hottest parts of the cyclist’s body cooling down their aching limbs.
This specialist indoor bike fan from Wahoo is great for the job as it can deliver 30mph headwinds and will increase the wind speed (and therefore the cooling effect) as the cyclist’s heartrate increases when the going gets really tough.
Music is one of those things that makes the world go round. It also makes turning the pedals on an indoor bike easier too. Some indoor bikes come with built in speakers. These are, almost universally, rubbish sound quality. A much better option is a pair of over ear headphones like the Skullcandy ANC Crusher headphones. Sound quality is amazing. The Bass is literally jaw-dropping. Plus, they’re comfy to wear for long workouts and block out any ambient noise with a fancy bit of tech called ANC (which stands for “Active Noise Cancelling”). Headphones like these pair wirelessly with either the bike (in case of a bike like Peloton) or with a cellphone or other music device. You can use them to play music and you can also use them with indoor cycling apps like Zwift or TrainerRoad.
Indoor cycling is a funny old business really. At the time, when you’re on the bike pedaling hard, you think, “Wow! I’m in agony!” Then, you get off the bike, have a sit down, and your muscles cool and start to tighten up. That’s when you think, “OMG! That wasn’t pain before! THIS is pain now! Arrghh!”
But, weirdly, it’s not till about two days later that the pain REALLY kicks in. Cycling is out of the question. Even walking and standing up take a great deal of support from your hands and arms (and possibly helpful bystanders). At this point, the indoor cyclist needs to break out the big guns. There are exciting new sports massage guns available (such as the Hyperice GO massager) which help to reduce muscle stiffness and give some much needed pain relief. All packed into a device which is easy to carry and has long battery life from its rechargeable Li-ion battery. Allowing them to get back on the bike faster and give themselves another dose of pain.
Best gifts for spin class
Indoor cyclists need lots of accessories to help them get through a workout. Everything from mopping up the sweat coming out, pouring rehydrating liquid back in, all the way to soothing aching muscles with massage guns. Here are some of the best and most stylish pieces of workout kit that every spin class lover will love.
I hope this list of some of the best gifts for indoor cyclists is useful? Happy shopping!
