If you’re practising rule nine this winter, you’re going to be racking up some serious mileage over wet, gritty, salty roads. You’ll be spending countless hours cold, wet and tired on bleak misty hills in the middle of nowhere wondering how you got there and how the heck you’re going to get back, but you’ll come out the other side of winter feeling positively supersonic.

Winter roads can take their toll on your best bike; expensive drivetrain components covered in dirt and grit, bearings filled with water and rust, not to mention road salt attacking the very material your frame is made from. This is why a lot of riders have a dedicated winter training bike.

The ultimate winter bike has full-length mudguards, cheaper, more reliable components, robust wheels and tyres and is a fair bit heavier than your race bike. It will be comfortable for long distance rides in all weather conditions, the mudguards keeping you and the fellow behind you warm and dry, and the puncture-protected tyres keeping you rolling along steadily. You may not have thought much about it before, but I’d wager your winter bike quickly becomes the most important and most frequently ridden bike you own, and come summer when you jump back on the racer it’ll feel turbo-charged by comparison!

With Ride it away you could ride a new winter bike out the door immediately. Spread the cost, keep turning the pedals and it’ll pay dividends come race season!