We’ll start this off by being upfront and honest with you: bicycle insurance is boring. In a mountain bike market driven by carbon fibre superbikes, electronic drivetrains, and gold-coated suspension dampers, in comparison bike insurance is a little … ‘unsexy’.
Much like degreasing chains, post-ride laundering and replacing worn-out gear cables, bike insurance is one of those things that we’d like to forget about, but is becoming a very important aspect of our sport.
While we may not all own a £10,000 carbon fibre race whip, most of us invest a significant amount of money in our freedom machines. Whether it’s high-tech suspension upgrades, carbon fibre wheels or simply keeping the bike serviced and maintained, we’re all guilty of sinking a few pounds into our hobby.
But what about when things go wrong?
It’s mountain biking right? So by its very nature, things go wrong. We crash. We bail over the handlebars. We clip tree stumps on the side of the trail. We scratch things when loading bikes in and out of our car. We stick our arm out in a crash and we dislocate our shoulder. Shit happens, though the chances of it happening when mountain biking go up dramatically. As a result, our bikes (and our bodies) take a beating.
Depending on how those accidents happen, the results can vary from mildly annoying, to downright scary. And in a lot of cases, fixing you or your bike can be an expensive and highly stressful experience.
To help alleviate that financial and emotional stress, Bikspoke has launched a bicycle specific insurance service to look after you and your bike. Just like you would insure your car, or David Beckham insures his legs, Bikspoke offers tailored insurance for your mountain bike or road bike. You can have up to four bikes covered on the one policy, and the insurance covers you for things like accidental crash damage and theft.
Unlike regular household insurance however, Bikspoke covers you and your bike for outside the home too, and recognises that you are going to be riding, taking risks, and sometimes crashing. That means if you have a crash and destroy your frame, you’re covered. Not only are you covered, but Bikspoke can also cover the cost of a rental bike to keep you rolling in the meantime while your bike is in the workshop.
Bikspoke offers a standard ‘Core’ coverage, and then you can add on specific levels of coverage to tailor the policy to your needs. So if you want to travel with your bike overseas, you can add on Travel Coverage to help cover you in the event where your bike is damaged in transit, or for damage incurred while you’re on holiday. Travelling with bikes can be a nerve-wracking experience, so a little peace of mind that any issues can be rectified can go a long way to making the whole experience less stressful.
If you want to learn more about the coverage that Bikspoke provides as part of its bicycle specific insurance service, then check out our interview with Ian from Bikspoke in the video below. And for further information, head to bikspoke.co.uk.