Christmas bike (Flickr - pedrosimoes7)

Cycling bargains start Christmas Day

Christmas bike (Flickr - pedrosimoes7)It may be Christmas day – but this could be a great time to pick up some cycle to work bargains! Any other time of the year you can always check our cycling bargains section for more bike discounts.

All the large bicycle chains, such as Chain Reaction Cycles, Evans, Hargroves, Halfords and Wiggle , have started their January sales online already, with discounts being rolled out to shops on Boxing Day.

Many independent bike shops will also be going into sale mode in January too.

Most will be offering large discounts in an attempt to shift unwanted stock.

Prices on 2011 model bikes are likely to be heavily discounted. In recent years the cost of building bikes has increased year on year, so strangely the 2011 models may well have a better spec than the 2012.

Second hand

Likewise, the second hand market is often well stocked for cycling bargains in January. There is a lot of kit on the market as those who have received upgrades and new bikes as gifts try to sell on their old stuff.

However, with the short days and bad weather, not many people are really thinking about cycling to work, or riding a bike at all, so there are plenty of good deals to be found.

Check out eBay, gumtree and other online auction sites, as well as the local paper and free ads.