By Brett Ratner and Yasmeen Schuller

It’s felt an awful lot like Christmas at Chainlink HQ the last few months.  For a little context, while attending the Interbike trade show last September, we sought out companies we believed were truly making products that could improve the cycling experience in a meaningful way. And to be honest, we didn’t have to look very hard. There’s a lot of really nice gear being made these days. When we returned from Vegas, we narrowed the list down to products we wanted to feature in our holiday gift guides and started reaching out to companies we connected with at the show. Soon after that, the UPS guy seemed more like Santa Claus, making near daily visits to drop off seriously cool stuff for us to test.

Armed with some great weather, miles of hilly country roads, and a few choice mountain bike trails at our disposal, we’ve been busy putting everything through its paces. The end result will be four holiday gift guides. This week we’ll feature our Gift Guide for the Commuter, Urban Cyclist and Casual Rider. We also recently shared our favorite Women's Cycling Jerseys which would make the perfect holiday gifts. Next week, we’ll do a Gift Guide for the Road Cyclist, as well as a Gift Guide for Mountain Bikers and Adventure Cyclists. The guides have gift recommendations for both women and men.

With the Gift Guide for the Commuter, Urban Cyclist and Casual Rider, we tried to focus on stuff that will help you get to work every day, run errands, and better enjoy those weekend adventures to the Chicago Botanic Garden, Two Brothers Roundhouse and even Midnight Marauders.

First Gift: Swrve Milwaukee ES Hooded Jacket

Learn more about Chainlink product reviews (and FTC-related things).