Gift Ideas for Endurance Athletes Buy Local!

Endurance athletes can be hard to buy for. Their wardrobe consists primarily of race T-shirts. They don’t spend enough time on the couch for a Snuggie or slippers. It’s unlikely they’ll appreciate an electronic singing fish or iguana (Does anyone?). And cookies and sweets are out because you never know when they’re on a gluten-free, lactose-free, vegetarian diet of raw beets and organic kale.  

Fortunately, ATC has a variety of goods that are as appealing as they are utilitarian, making even the most unusual and extreme partisans of the endurance persuasion happy on Christmas morning.

For stocking stuffers

With a quick stroll through ATC you can find enough small and inexpensive paraphernalia to fill a stocking to the bursting point. Some of our favorites: tubes; tires; nutrition like Clif Shot Blocks and Gels, Hammer Gels, Honey Stinger waffles, salt tablets, and Beet Elite; flat kits and CO2 cartridges; socks; saddle bags; auto emblems that tell the world you've tallied up everything from 13.1 to 70.3 miles; and $1, individual packets of chamois cream.

For laughs

A bike toothbrush, Chamois Butt’r, or “The King of Lubes” (chain lubes, that is)...some bike goods make excellent conversation starters. And how cool is it to buy someone a crack pipe for Christmas? (No one in the history of the world has ever really called it a “disc wheel adapter.”)

For the ATCer

Nothing says fast and fashionable better than a scaly little armadillo. Find the ATC dillo on all types of gear, from hats, saddle bags, and jerseys to water bottles and tri suits. Our favorite is the dillo bar tape (available in white and red).

For kids

Girls' Zoot tri suit

Everyone knows the cutest stuff comes pint sized. The ATC 360 store in Westlake carries kids’ bikes in stock. At both stores you can find kids’ tri suits and other apparel, including swim gear.   

For any brand of bike lover

Find the perfect gift for cyclists of all stripes. ATC has a wide selection of bike pumps, tri and road helmets, bike lights (check out the new Light & Motion lights), bike locks, bike tools, bike shorts and other apparel, and of course Cannondale, BMC, Cervelo, Boardman, Litespeed, Fuji, Quintana Roo, and Focus bikes.

The Garmin Edge 510 ($329) makes an excellent holiday gift; it functions as a GPS device, providing distance and speed, as well as a head unit for power meters, heart rate monitors, and other ANT+ devices. Stravaholics can upload their workouts in real time.

2XU compression pants

For a creative gift, consider surprising your cyclist with coaching or a bike fit from Rothe Training.

For the all-weather cyclist

Tis the season of cold and miserable weather conditions. Easy to size without exact personal measurements, arm warmers, knee warmers, leg warmers, gloves, compression pants, shoe covers, and hats make great gifts.

A cyclist can never really have too much warm clothing, especially since arm warmers and leg warmers tend to fall into the same black hole as missing socks. Check back later this week for a full post on winter cycling apparel.   

For the aero-obsessed

Go all out and all aero with specialty water bottles, chainrings, bottle cages, or helmets like the LG Course and Giro Air Attack. Read our Aero Tune-Up post for more tips and ideas.

For runners

Visit the ATC 360 store in Westlake for the latest and greatest in running shoes (check out our shoe post on brands in stock). ATC also has a treasure trove of compression socks, sunglasses, fuel belts, and other gear to get you by on foot.

For swimmers

ATC’s recent renovations are worth seeing, especially the new swim center. You’ll find a robust collection of swim accessories like swim caps, goggles, flippers, training boards, pull buoys, hand paddles, and more, as well as ATC’s famously awesome selection of wetsuits. 

For triathletes

See above. ATC also carries a variety of tri-specific brands in apparel, bike shoes, and other gear.

To really impress

If you want to go all out this holiday season, ATC has plenty of high-end options. Get your cyclist a Garmin Vector ($1,695), the pedal-based power meter that’s making waves. The Zipp Super 9 Carbon Clincher disc wheel ($2,374.99) also makes a very exciting present beneath the tree. A new bike, however, is probably the ultimate gift—buy a big red bow and put it on one of ATC’s many top-of-the-line road, time trial, mountain, or cyclocross bikes.

For easy shopping

Gift certificates, always simple and always appreciated, can be used for anything in the shop. Available online and in store.