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Zipvit Sport Elite Water Bottle
by carlz2001uk
A few months ago when I bought my road bike, I bought absolutely loads of accessories. I obviously bought a cage for my water bottle but wanted to ensure that the water bottle would actually fit in it securely. I couldn't visualise the one I already had at home and whether or not it was the correct size so I figured for the £3.99 they ... were charging in the shop, I'd buy one from them anyway.
My husband is more into cycling than I am and had used a few of the ZipVit products before. They mainly sell protein drinks, energy bars, that kind of thing and he had been using the Recovery Drink by them,ó so when I saw the water bottles and how many different ones they sold, I grabbed the ZipVit one as I was familiar with the name.
It wasn't till I got home and started inspecting my haul that I realised this isn't any ordinary drinks bottle! It's actually what the manufacturer calls 'an innovative bottle concept', as the plastic construction is made with bacteria resistant plastic to prevent the bottle from smelling or holding the colour of the liquid in the plastic. I like to drink energy drinks when I'm on my bike but sometimes I'll prefer just plain water so although I didn't actually intend to buy a bottle with this benefit, it's actually really important to me! I hate when I start drinking water from a bottle and it smells of orange juice and has a slight taste to it. Yack!
The valve to drink from is made from a soft material so isn't uncomfortable to drink from. It's also easy to hold and you can get a solid grip on it while still riding as the ergonomic shape with indent to grip near the top make it easy to hold. I had used another bottle which I found very difficult to grip and keep hold of when I was riding. I often had to stop to take a drink, which isn't ideal and this bottle allows that I can easily take it out of the cage while riding, but also don't have to worry about losing my grip of it.
Its safe to pop in the dishwasher and is also BPA free, which is actually really important. Given that Canada have now classed it as a Toxic substance, and it has widely been banned in the use of baby bottles, it's amazing how many adult drinks bottles and food containers actually contain this hazardous for our health substance.
The translucent bottle means to easy to see how much fluids you still have left on your ride. Something I struggled to gauge when I used a bottle with a solid colour. I used nearly all of my water and I wasn't even half way round my 15 mile circuit so this bottle allows me to ration myself a little easier!
Fits in all standard sized cages.
For 3.99, it's easy to see why this is popular with Pro riders.
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Oxford Bumper Cable Lock
by carlz2001uk
Me and my husband have, over the last few months, massively got into cycling. So much so, we sold one of our cars, bought a bike each and a newer car and vowed to take it in turns to cycle to work while the other drive in luxury! It's had it's ups and downs (literally!), and the snow has put us in a bit of a pickle, but so far it's been ... beneficial to our health and our pockets.
When we first bought the bikes in September time, I must admit that we did go a bit mental with buying stuff. The bike shop literally had a field day, but when my husband chose a bike lock that was £70, I literally nearly passed out, had a strop and vowed I would buy the cheapest one I could find out of principle! Not the brightest idea when you've spent nearly £500 on a road bike but never the less, I refused to back down! Looking on Amazon, I was pretty pleased with this one although I must admit, this was led more by the price than anything. At £2.90 I wondered how they could even make it that cheap let alone sell it, and when it arrived I was still fairly happy. It didn't seem particularly heavy or very thick but as my workplace is secure I wasn't worried too much about this. I work at the local hospital but my office isn't in the main building and I am quite lucky that I can bring my bike inside, I did however want a lock that was more for 'just in case'.
The plastic coating around the cable is pretty standard, but is absolutely essential if you don't want to take off half your paintwork on the frame of your bike! I mentioned that the lock seems light, I didn't mean this in a negative way (the lock is actually sold as lightweight). I'm sure most cyclists try and ensure their bag is as light as possible to ensure the ride is as comfortable as it can be and so the need for a lightweight lock for me starting out was particularly important. I do wonder though with lightweight locks, how secure they would be against a hefty set of bolt cutters!! I can't comment on this lock as surprisingly I've never tried it, but I would be nervous about leaving an expensive bike secured in a public place with this lock. In comparison, my husbands super duper all spangly expensive lock would take a bomb to get through it (but it weighs a tonne! Hehehehe!).
The length is much the same as the majority of bike locks at around 60cm.
The lock is supplied with two keys which is a godsend as I can be quite forgetful!
I would say this bike lock is, as the title would suggest, a handy back up bike lock. Acting more as a deterrent rather than a fail safe method of securing your bike. If someone wanted to nick your bike and you used this lock, I think you'd end up without a bike! It's simply not robust enough to withstand any force. I am currently looking for another more secure lock (and expensive, Grrr!) and will be letting my girls use this lock for their much much cheaper bikes!!
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Abus Blaster 850
by purplekimmy
When I bought my bike 5 years ago, I bought all the accessories to go with it, the lights, bell, pump, bike lock etc. I left no stone unturned with what I needed to buy, I was uber efficient and most of the items I bought have been used, well at least once anyway.
Where I live, a bike lock is an essential piece of kit when ... owning a bike, I once had my Hoover stolen while I was propping my door open with it to help the removal men when bringing in a new sofa!! I bought the Abus model of bike lock as it looked sturdy and thick enough to withstand attempts to cut through it. The flexible cable is 14mm thick and isn't horrendously heavy either. It is a spiral shape and has a lock mechanism at one end that you need the key to unlock. Abus is a shortened version of August Bremicker und Sohne who started making padlocks in 1924.
I paid £12.99 for this from Halfords roughly 5 years ago and didnt think that was too expensive, my bike cost more than that and I would rather pay that little bit more to guarantee the security of my bike, than have to pay for another bike. This came in a plastic wrapping that was almost impossible to get into. I had to use scissors, welding torch etc just to get into it, nightmare. I believe now these just with just a cardboard sleeve attached over the coil, much easier!! The cardboard packaging shows the security level of the lock as well. There is a Level System that goes from 0 to 15 and each lock is measured on a scale of how secure it is, this lock comes in as a 7 which is half way, that's good enough for me.
The lock came with two keys on a ring; I very soon lost one of the keys so am down to one now. I have this coiled round the saddle pole of my bike and having it there it doesn't get in the way while I am riding. This bike lock is 150cm long which I have found to be plenty long enough to wrap round, fences, trees etc. I have also managed to chain up two adult bikes and my sons BMX with my lock so it does stretch quite a long way. The keys are easy to insert and turn in the lock, also when doing the lock up, you just have to push one side into the other until it clicks and the self locking mechanism firmly holds it in place.
I would highly recommend this lock as I have tried other thinner ones, although the actual coil itself stood the test of time, the keys did not. I have had two keys break in the key hole of the lock, luckily it was while I was trying to remove them from my bike rather than from round a tree or fence. This may have something to do with the fact that I leave them on the bike and my bike is kept outside, I should probably remove the lock from the bike and store it inside rather than letting it be battered by the elements. The Abus lock however has not had this problem and fingers crossed is still going strong.
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