Times 2 - UK (2020-11-26)

the times | Thursday November 26 2020 1GT 5

times

verdicts before you splash out

Cycling

Cycling outside in the winter not for

you? Attach your bike to a smart

trainer and stay fit from the comfort of

your living room or garage. The Elite

Drivo Direct Drive has 40 per cent off

and connects to a wide range of virtual

platforms, such as Zwift and

Sufferfest, keeping you entertained

and motivated. (Was £1,199, now

£670 from sigmasports.com.)

Meanwhile, Fizik, supplier of

saddles and shoes to Team Ineos,

will reward everyone with a 30 per

cent discount code when registering

online and cycling for two hours. My

pick would save over £110 on the new

Vento Infinito knit road shoe (£369.

before discount; fizik.com).

Stock up on summer kit at the

height of winter to save a bundle.

Assos has a wide range of women’s kit,

including jerseys and shorts at up to

50 per cent off. Grab one of the UMA

GT jerseys in a bold print and let it

hibernate until spring. (Was £85, now

£42 at assos.com.)

Rapha will offset your spending guilt

by donating 1,000 bikes to those that

need them most. Sign up to help to

ride over one million kilometres in aid

of World Bicycle Relief (rapha.cc).

Luke Sikkema, cycling writer

to stay competitive, other consoles

are down in price. A Nintendo Switch

Lite bundle from Currys PC World

comes with two of the most popular

games for children, Animal Crossing

and Minecraft, and at £239 is roughly

10 per cent cheaper than buying

separately — a steal for stumped

grandparents.

With Amazon being the originator

of Black Friday in the UK, it’s little

wonder one of the best deals is its

Fire TV Stick with 4K and Alexa

(usually £49.99, now £29.99). This

small USB stick, plugged into your

TV, can be voice-activated, accessing

all major streaming services. Want a

new TV instead? Do your research.

Some of the biggest discounts are on

TVs with poor viewing angles

or tinny sound. If you can

afford to, get an OLED TV,

which has sharper images,

from a reputable brand

name. The LG

OLED55CX5LB television

has £300 off at Currys

PC World (down to £1,299).

Out of your budget? The

50in Philips 50PUS8555, also

at Currys PC World, is £449,

down £100.

Chris Stokel-Walker, technology

writer and author

Tech and home

entertainment

Beware the overstated saving. Prices

can fluctuate wildly and may have

been cheaper in back-to-university

sales. For laptops you want to look at

the processor inside: think of it as the

beating heart keeping the machine

going. Intel’s Core i5 is a strong one,

making the Huawei MateBook D14 a

steal at £499 from ao.com (usually

£699). The Samsung Galaxy Book S

(£849 at Amazon, usually £999) is a

bargain for a top-range laptop.

Getting a PS5, the year’s hottest

console, is nigh-on

impossible, but

Interiors

Black Friday is different this year. In

normal times we would be planning

to shop for the basics for the home

— beds, mattresses, sofas — in the

post-Christmas clearances. However,

retailers (like their customers) have

lost all sense of time and have been

offering bargains since the summer.

Meanwhile, homeowners have a new

set of lust objects born of our new

ways of living since March.

Black Friday offers the chance to

pounce on home office kit, quality

oven-to-tableware, luxury bed linen

and, fingers crossed, a posh barbecue.

So what’s on my wish list?

My fantasy desk is, frankly, too

expensive for my home office budget

— the Orson by Matthew Hilton for

De La Espada at £3,282 in the oak

finish. It’s 10 per cent off for Black

Friday at Heal’s (heals.com), and now

might be the time I’ll buy.

Piglet in Bed has some prettily

coloured 100 per cent linen bedding

at 20 per cent off until November 30.

I’d go for sage or raspberry

(pigletinbed.com).

I’m a big fan of the snazzy African

prints by Bespoke Binny. BB oven

gloves are top of my list, with

discontinued prints on offer at Etsy

(etsy.com). I also intend to add to my

basket some African-print bedding.

I will be looking out for discounts

on everyday luxe kitchen items such

as cast-iron pans from Netherton

Foundry and TerraCotto casserole

pots. And I also fancy the Oslo oak

storage console table from Cox & Cox

(reduced from £295 to £175,

coxandcox.co.uk) and the rounded

wicker dining chairs (reduced from

£225 to £125). Cox & Cox will run its

“Blacklist” sale until December 1.

And more in hope than expectation,

I have my eyes open for a bargain

barbecue. They were in hot demand

this summer and I missed out on all

the reasonably priced options. I’m

hoping I can find a deal on some

top-of-the-range designs. Anything

from Parrilla Gaucha would make

my month, or a Heat & Grill from

Chesneys, or something from the

Everdure by Heston Blumenthal range.

Katrina Burroughs, interiors editor

at The Times

Middleham

trim coat

£161,

30% saving,

boden.co.uk

UMA GT jersey;

£42 (was £85),

assos.com

Cox & Cox

dining chair,

£125 (was £225),

coxandcox.

co.uk

I

B

n

to

— p r l o M s w

Samsung

Galaxy Book S;

£

(was £999),

amazon.co.uk

Pizza oven

£399.

20% saving,

uk.ooni.com