Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Dealing with rain...

As I ride in the Pacific NW, my last half-dozen rides have all been in the rain and all drenched myself and the bike. Any tips for the following?

1. My month-old shimano SPD bike shoes smell up a storm after being soaked/dried repeatedly. Any tips to remove the mould smell and dry them out correctly?

2. My Roubaix's chain and cassette are orange in places with rust - simply re-oil or is there another product to lube/protect the drivetrain from the rain?

3. The bike is caked in mud after each ride - should I hose it off? LBS says no but it is covered in road grime/mud after each wet ride.

Any ideas much appreciated....:)

2- I just re-oil and go. Really that's all you can do, a little light rust will come off no problem.

3- Low pressure water should be fine, it's already wet so any damage from that is already done. The problem comes when you shoot water in at high pressures where it would not normally get in to.

1) Stuff them with loosely wadded newspaper to soak up the water rapidly. Change the paper after the first 2 hours to really get them dry quickly. Use Gold Bond foot powder to kill the funk on 'em.

2) Egads, how does that happen? Replace the rusty chain, clean the rusty cassette. Although most chains are factory coated with GLEITMO (tm) or some other such bonded lubricant, give a drop of Finish Line Wet or other wet formula lubricant. Clean the chain once a week and re-lubricate. I ride year 'round up here and have never seen a spot of rust on my drivetrains.

3) Get some Speed-EZ or RaceBlade fenders to keep from getting so much road grak on your bike, for starters. Second, don't hose it around bearings and seals if you're going to spray it down. Or, as subligar suggested, stick to a low-pressure spraying. Wipe down the drivetrain afterwards, and re-lube the chain.

1. After rain I put my cycling gear on my boot/glove dryer. The dryer works great on winter gear, but also is good at getting the moisture out of shoes from Spring through Fall rain. Who knew it would be a 4 season tool...
2. After trying a few different lubes (mostly ice wax types), I've had the best luck with Pedro Syn lube for Fall through Spring riding. In the Fall and Spring we get frequent rain, and during the winter I can get daily rides in salt laden road slush. The syn lub is tacky and get get the chain a bit dirty, but it seems to do the best job at keeping rust at bay. I now use it year round. In the Winter it is hard to find a weather window that allows for a good bike celanup so I just keep applying more lube weekly till we get a bread in the deep freeze. During the Summer I make sure the wipe down all extra lube after application.
3. I'd definitely rinse the bike. As subligar mentioned use LOW water pressure. You want the rinse the crud off the bike, bnot wash the lubricant out of the bearings. During the Winter I have put my bike on the bike rack before and gone to to hand wash and then use the low pressure setting to get the bike clean. That worked, but only because I didn't want to create an ice rink in front of the house in the middle of winter.

Happy riding,
André

As I ride in the Pacific NW, my last half-dozen rides have all been in the rain and all drenched myself and the bike.

NW = North Wet


1. My month-old shimano SPD bike shoes smell up a storm after being soaked/dried repeatedly. Any tips to remove the mould smell and dry them out correctly?

I put mine in front of the heater built into my bedroom wall, which turns on and off to control the room temperature. I set it to low, and put the shoes a foot or two away. I also rotate them, so that the warmth is hitting mostly the front for a while, then the back. Newspaper sounds like a great idea, though - I've already learned from this thread.

I used to worry about this, but apparently the shoes are made to take a lot of water, mud, and grime. Not that it helps with your problem ... but don't worry about killing them with water, apparently. I even rinse mine out with clean water when I get home, if I get them really nasty.

This won't help with the smell, either, but do you wear wool socks? If you're getting wet, they might be more comfortable than other fabrics. Wool keeps its insulation when it's wet, and even when it's saturated ( up to about 1/3 its weight ) it feels much closer to dry than cotton does. The last time I got my feet thoroughly soaked, it was pretty cold out, and since I kayak all year round, I'm always nervous about hypothermia. Anyway, that isn't an issue this time of year, but it's been cooler than normal lately...

Thanks for all the great suggestions and tips. Good to know that I am not "trashing" my shoes with repetitive wet rides. I really have no choice but to venture out in the rain as weekend is the only time I can get a 20+ mile ride in. As luck would have it its been torrential rain every weekend for the last month.

The rust isn't "deep rust" as such - its more of a rust coloring where hours in the rain have washed off the lubricants and let the water in. I re-lubed my drivetrain last night and it looked good as new afterwards. I will try the recommended lubes and see if they are a little more hardy.

I also picked up some Gold powder for the shoes - at least to take the smell away (or mask it). I like the newspaper idea - thanks!

Thanks again all!

I take my shoes off and set them in front of a fan on low. After a couple of hours they're dry and no smells.