I won the most arguments with my ex by simply remaining quiet and letting her get verbally overboard. Later on, she would find the need to apologize. The Mrs's chatter about your pedals sounds like typical defense by changing the subject and putting you off balance.

Can we assume that she will never do that again? Can we assume that the sweater suffered either black stripes from the rubber and grease or a hole from friction. Then the punishment has been meted. You can probably expect an unasked for favor soon as her way of apologizing without apologizing. We can only hope that its pie.