Is a £250,000 gold bike the perfect Christmas gift for cyclists?

If you’re struggling to find a unique gift for your pedal-head friend or the Mamil you’re married to, we think we’ve found the perfect present – a 24k gold-plated racing bike.

It was brought to our attention by cycle insurance firm PedalSure, which received a request to insure the glistening racer.

At first PedalSure thought it was a joke, but someone really was interested in getting a quote. And we’re not surprised, considering the bike costs £250,000. To put that in perspective, the average bike PedalSure covers is worth about £2,200.

If you are interested in buying the ultimate swagged out bicycle you can expect a £15,000 insurance bill, according to PedalSure.

But that comes with the territory if you’re willing to own one of the world’s most expensive bikes. In fact, the only one we can find that’s worth more is the Butterfly Trek Madone, which was designed by Damien Hirst and features real butterflies. It was sold at auction for $500,000 after it was ridden by Lance Armstrong in the final stage of the 2009 Tour De France.

The 24k bike is available for anyone (with a big enough bank balance) to buy online from Firebox. And it appears to be fully functioning, if you are brave enough to take it for a spin. According to the description it looks “awe-inspiringly beautiful when in fluid motion”.

If the fact that almost every inch of it is covered in gold isn’t enough of a selling point, it also has a San Marco suede saddle and SR4 racing tyres.

We think it’s the best luxury gift you could buy for anyone obsessed about cycling, or perhaps an inspiring Bond villain.

If you do buy it, or a less pricey machine, you might be interested to read our cyclist’s guide to insurance. And you already know PedalSure are happy to insure most types of bike, whether they are made of a precious metal or not.