Five of our favourite products to get riding this spring

The Spring weather may not have arrived quite yet, but that hasn't stopped us from getting out on the bike almost every opportunity we have and trying to summon that sunshine with a good old dose of pedalling. The weather has to get better soon, right? But whether it does or not, we've compiled a short list of a few of our favourite products for this time of year. Check them out below. 

Madison Stealth Glasses

Cycling sunglasses are like pretty much everything: they come in cheap, moderate and very expensive varieties. It used to be that the cheap end of the spectrum, while they got the job done, really did feel cheap but these days the gap in style and quality is nowhere near as vast as the gap in price. 

Enter the new Madison Stealth glasses. If you want some sunnies for a sensible price (£39.99 single or £69.99 for a three lens pack) then you'll really struggle to beat these for performance x value. They use polycarbonate lenses with UV-A and UV-B as well as being impact and scratch resistant housed in TR90 flexible, lightweight and durable frames so there's no compromise on quality.  

Premax Sports Sunscreen

Sports sunscreen sounds like a funny idea, until you remember that doing anything outdoors for an extended period of time and sweating profusely is a really good way to wash off any generic suncream brand you applied before you started. Premax is designed to withstand exactly that - tested with World Tour cyclists, it'll still be there forming a barrier between your skin and harmful UVA and UVB even after hours in the saddle. 

It's also SPF 50+, and it's special, non-greasy formula means it doesn't sit and make your skin feel horrible and oily - one of the main complaints people have about applying sunscreen. 

Knog Blinder Rear and Blinder Road Rear

It might seem a bit strange to have bike lights on a riding list for Spring, but we're big fans of riding with lights no matter what the time of year or conditions. The Blinder Rear takes a 100-lumen rear light and mixes things up a bit with a fun of patterns like the skull, X, squares or grid. On top of those four patterns, there are 8 flash modes that give you between 2.5hrs run time on max brightness and a steady light up to 55hrs on eco flash. It's a very smart little light indeed, and if you're after something even smaller there's always the Blinder Mini Rear which packs 30 lumens into an even smaller package. 

On the flip side if you want something with some real punch, the Blinder V packs a massive 150-lumens into a neat, rectangular package that is no wider than your 27.2mm seatpost and looks super sleek when installed on the bike. This one also comes with a fun twist because as well as the standard light there's the 'lightning bolt' option where the LEDs look like, you've guessed it, a lightning bolt. Pretty cool. 

Finish Line Super Bike Wash

Spring is definitely that strange time of year when you're never quite sure what it's going to be like outside. One day it can be clement and sunny, the next pouring down with rain (or is that just living in Britain, generally...?). Either way, it means that if you end up going there's a really good chance that the bike's coming back dirty. We're not at those halcyon days of summer yet where the bike is just as clean post-ride as it was at the start. 

Most bike cleaning can be done with just water, but for those stubborn bits that just stick to the frame and drivetrain something like Finish Line's Super Bike Wash is far better than scrubbing until your arm feels like it's about to fall off. Simply spray it on, wait a few minutes for it to break down that clogged up mud a grime then rinse off. It's simple, cheap and saves a lot of time and effort. 

ODI bar tape and grips

Rightly or otherwise, spring often feels like the time to get something nice and new on your bike. Probably because after months of pedalling in miserable, low light conditions it feels like things are really opening up again and the days are longer. Obviously most of us aren't looking to break the bank - especially at the moment - so one way to give your ride a fresh, new feel is new bar tape or a nice set of grips. 

ODI has a reputation in the MTB and BMX world as being one of the very best around and for good reason. They have a vast number of different grips in different colours, textures and designs to suit almost any style of riding or comfort preference. They also happen to make some really nice bar tape for road bikes, too, which is definitely worth taking a look at if you fancy a re-wrap.