Live: Best Black Friday cycling deals as they happen – 50% off Wahoo, Vittoria, Garmin, Apple and more!

Back in the mists of time, in January this year in fact, I had one of my all-time bad days on a bike. In appalling weather, I set out on a ride around the Mendips south of Bristol. Soon after leaving town, I got my first puncture. Then, just twenty minutes later, I got another, as I descended a horrible hill, and I almost quit there and then. 

Somehow, I stuck at two punctures, but it reinforced my desire to get new tyres. I did just that, buying some Panaracer Agilest Duros for my bike. Since then, I’ve done over 4,000km on them, but I don’t think I have had more than two punctures since then. So it was worth the investment!

I just wish I had know I needed them on Black Friday last year, as I would have bought them in the Japanese brands sale. Everything on Panaracer’s site has 30% off for Black Friday, which seems like an excellent deal.

Don’t stop at road tyres, then, given the sales. You should also think about looking at the brand’s famous Gravel King tyres too.

Sadly, the Panaracer Black Friday sale is only available to UK customers, so I’ve included a similar puncture-resistant tire deal below for our friends in the USA.

My colleague James might have just drawn your attention to the top deals on the Wahoo Kickr Core, but its older brother the Wahoo Kickr V6 is also subject to some good offers both in the UK and US this Black Friday.

In fact, I’ve written a whole piece about the best Wahoo Kickr V6 deals for you to read, which might just be quite necessary considering how cold it is getting outside now. 

Hi there, Adam Becket here taking over for a bit of time this afternoon. The light is fading in the UK as we march into deep winter, so why not just stay inside and take a look at a few more deals?

Looking to get into indoor training this winter, or perhaps make the step up from your old-school dumb trainer? You could do a lot worse than this, the Wahoo Kickr Core, which is reduced by more than a third by Sigma Sport this Black Friday. It got four out of five stars when we reviewed it too. We said: “In use the Wahoo Kickr Core feels pretty realistic, just like the Kickr it’s virtually silent and the only sound you’re likely to hear is from your drivetrain.”

If you’re gravel rider there’s a good chance you’re still using either road shoes that aren’t quite rugged enough or MTB shoes that are just a bit overkill. These occupy that middle ground that means they can fend off a bit of mud (and walk in it if necessary) without making you feel over (or under) dressed.

The Giro Aether MIPS has consistently been one of our top rated road cycling helmets, and for good reason too. It’s super comfortable, with quality padding, well-ventilated and weighs just 260 grams for a size medium.

GP5000 are my some of my favourite tyres at the best of times, so add into the mix a lovely tan wall version, and I’m totally sold. Before it was stolen, the bike above was my favourite ever road bike, complete with these tyres, which are now up to 48% off at Jenson USA!

Can you believe it’s now six years since Tubolito hit the market with their TPU inner tubes? It didn’t take too long for everyone from Pirelli to Schwalbe, Revoloop to Vittoria to come out with their own – but all those alternatives are quite similar in their lofty prices.

For me, I don’t think that TPU tubes are good value for everyday riding. They might offer a little more puncture protection over a standard Butyl tube, but I find it’s not enough to justify their cost. 

If you’re getting a super lightweight model for the gram savings and rolling resistance gains, that’s another story – but in that context what constitutes ‘value’ is really quite different!

But although I don’t rate TPU tubes highly for day-to-day riding, they are truly excellent as emergency spares. The pack size is so much smaller than a standard tube, I’m happy taking as many as three on my rides when I would baulk at squeezing in just two Butyl tubes – and that’s proved a lifeline on several occasions!

The front and rear lights which were winners of our bike lights grouptest are still both on hefty discounts – we spotted these deals on Tuesday and so far it seems the stock levels are still holding up.

Image 1 of 5

Hello! Stefan back on here – just woken up to the first hard frost of the year, looks like winter has properly arrived!

I get really cold hands really easily, so ‘lobster’ style gloves are my immediate go-to. You essentially get (half) the benefit of mittens, with your fingers able to warm each other – whilst still being able to control the bike!

But my tribulations on the cold finger front really pale into nothing compared to those of Hannah Bussey, CW’s longest serving Tech Writer. Suffering from Raynaud’s syndrome (decreased blood flood to the extremities) Hannah’s hands really get cold – though a pair of heated Seal Skinz gloves might be a saving grace this winter.

My favourite bib shorts: now 45% off!

There is a huge smile on my face in that photo above, and it’s probably at least 70% because I was riding a very nice bike in the sun, rather than being down to the bib shorts, but point proven – the Le Col Pro Bib Shorts II are my go-to cycling shorts.

For size reference, I am 184cm (6ft) and around 67kg, and the size small shorts fit me so well, in fact I am still yet to find something more comfortable.

More light deals in the US

We have only seen large discounts on CatEye lights in the UK, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t deals to be had in the US too! Jenson USA has some pretty sweet deals on Specialized bike lights.

Up to 54% off on CatEye lights

Good morning all, from the UK, where we have been treated to our first truly chilly night of the year! It really does feel like winter, particularly this early in the morning, and in true wintery spirit we have found some brilliant deals on Cateye lights – perfect for the shorter days!

It’s worth noting too – CatEye products have a two year warranty, but I can vouch for their quality beyond that, having sold hundreds of these lights in my previous job (at Summertown Cycles), with almost zero warranties over 3 years!

As the evening is setting in on the west coast of the U.S., I’m going to leave you with some of my go-to items for fall and winter riding here in the Pacific Northwest.

$2000 off a SystemSix race machine and other Cannondale deals

One brand we haven’t talked about much yet in all our sales talk is Cannondale. So here are my top picks for those lusting after a SystemSix race bike, a Topstone gravel steed or the Compact Neo urban e-bike.

Boutique vs Budget – Round #3

Fenders or mudguards. We need them but they’re not exactly a fun item to spend money on. You can opt for a cheap clip-on fender or go full metal. 

Budget:

This face-off is a tough one as it almost seems like an unfair comparison. The clip-on fenders are certainly a breeze to mount and do an adequate job at keeping you dry. The Ass Savers Win Wing in particular is one I use a lot. However, the full-coverage and more expensive PDW fenders do provide more protection — not just for yourself but for your those riding behind you as well. Plus, with these killer deals on full-coverage fenders it’s hard not to go with boutique option here.

An Air Compressor: a great nice-to-have tool

Hello. Anne-Marije here taking over from Stefan. We’ll certainly continue playing the Boutique vs Budget game here in a bit, but I first wanted to share an item with you that is totally worth to #treatyourself with: an air-compressor.

Sure, it’s more of a “nice to have” purchase than a necessary one but if you run tubeless tires, an air compressor with its consistent, higher-pressure airflow makes tubeless tire setups so much easier – and less messy! Every professional bike shop has one and if you’ve got space for one, they’re really not that expensive to add to your home bike shop as well.

I use mine all the time, and what’s more, my friends come over to use my air compressor to set up their tires. So do yourself and your tubeless tire buddies a favor, and check out the following deals:

U.S.:

U.K.:

Boutique vs Budget – Round #2

I was ready to give this to the budget option – functionality ahead of form, price ahead of prettiness. 

But actually, I really like how Wolf Tooth has squeezed all those different tools into such a sleek design. It looks good, it’s compact and it’s going straight on my Christmas list – though that might be all that I get! 

Round #2 goes to Boutique. 

Okay, let’s play what I’m going to call: “Boutique vs Budget”

Essentially, comparing the best deals on extravagantly overengineered products versus the cheap, cheerful and heavily discounted – which discount would represent the best buy? Let’s kick things off!

Boutique vs Budget – Round #1

Weighing up the two pumps, despite the existential ruminations courtesy of Silca Super Pista, I think it’s a clear win for the ‘Budget’ in this round with the Topeak takes the JoeBlow Urban EX.

With 31 days to go till Christmas, ’tis the season for dubious cycling-themed stocking fillers! 

Some ideas a genuinely good, others are as much as of a stretch as they would be if you actually tried to fit them in a stocking… 

Rapha’s currently got 25% off sitewide with the code BF2023, so let’s take a run through some of what they think is fair game!

Now for a particularly special Black Friday deal… our own!

Right now you can subscribe to  Cycling Weekly for just £54.99, saving 34% – that’s just £2.16 an issue!* 

Not only that, we’ve also thrown in a FREE CatEye 500 Amp Light Set, worth over £59.00 – that’s more than the cost of the subscription itself!

*T&Cs: Offer ends 28th November 2023.Your gift will be delivered separately within 60 days after your first payment has cleared. Gifts are only available to subscribers on the UK mainland and are subject to availability. Gifts are not available with Digital only subscriptions. For full terms and conditions, visit here. 

This is a blissful reminder of how simple indoor training can be. Wheel-on trainers like this are slowly going extinct, but the fact is they are still absolutely fit for purpose! If you are looking to get riding indoors this winter and have a compatible rim brake road bike, then this trainer is by far and away the lowest-cost route to turbo training you will see all year – I’d even guess that it would undercut most similar trainers on Facebook Marketplace too!

Black Friday is a great time to pick up more expensive items that you’ve thought about buying for a while… like a torque wrench. If you plan on only using it once in a while, then you’ll probably be wise to look for lower price points. But if you have a few bikes, for example, or like to do plenty of wrenching at home, then durability is vital. Other factors to consider are the size of the wrench, given that some bolts on your bike are in tricky places to get to – this Topeak wrench is nicely sized, giving you enough leverage but also being small enough to work in those tight spots, such as disc brake calipers – it even comes with a handy finger bit for such places.

One of the standout deals this Black Friday is a record-setting price on Apple’s AirPods Pro 2 at Walmart. 

When we reviewed these headphones earlier this year, we gave them 4.5 out of 5 stars, concluding: “The sound quality is superb, whilst the noise cancellation and transparency mode are useful features in a range of environments.”

Hello! Stefan here steering the live blog. Let’s take a run through the good and the bad of Garmin’s latest deals…