How to take care of your cycling gear

Inspired by a listener question, Kristin and Steve discuss how to take care of bike gear that is not the bicycle. Helmets, gloves, jerseys, shorts and shoes - cycling equipment is expensive, and the best way to save money is take good care of it all. They also discuss why ai-generated flyers about e-bikes are generally wrong, and Steve answers questions about brake fluid and waxed chains.

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Kristin 0:00

On this episode of Cycling Together, we are gonna talk about how to care for your cycling gear that's not your bicycle.

Steve 0:06

Oh, good topic.

Kristin 0:07

Other stuff. Why the AI-generated e-bike flyer in your feet is probably wrong. Likely wrong. And we have at least one question about caring for a wax chain. Okay. We got from a listener. You ready?

Steve 0:21

I am ready.

Kristin 0:22

This is Kristin.

Steve 0:23

And I'm Steve, and you are listening to Cycling Together, a podcast about all things bikes, riding, and riding together. But first. First? What's up first?

Kristin 0:31

Um, we are we we have wrapped our 2026 Pan Mass Challenge year. Huzzah! We did the PMC Unpaved last weekend.

Steve 0:41

Here we are in October, and now we're saying we wrapped it, and that's only because we were saying we wrapped it because you did the triple.

Kristin 0:47

I did the triple, which started near the beginning of the year. February. Right. I actually don't remember what month winter cycle was in, and then did the summer PMC, and then you and I did PMC Unpaved. Right. This is our fifth year. Um, let me just say, together, including our our son, who did Winter Cycle, the three of us raised over $9,900. $9,900.

Steve 1:14

Wow, we were $100 short of getting that $10. Close.

Kristin 1:17

There's still time.

Steve 1:18

When did you check? Because I just got a donation days ago. Yeah.

Kristin 1:21

Um, I think it was yesterday. Okay. So for the Dana, but that all goes 100% of those donations go to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. So thank you to everybody who helped us. Um, and this was our fifth year of PMC Unpaved on the Berkshires.

Steve 1:38

And it was spectacular. It was spectacular. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It it was um it I think we only started out in the 50s, and everybody was like, oh, you know, I was like looking for arm warmers because I forgot armor arm warmers.

Kristin 1:54

And 80 degrees when we left our house, and that's how you dress. Yeah. That's how you packed.

Steve 1:58

It did go from 80 Friday to what, 55 when we started or something the morning. But because it was going to like the mid-high 60s, there was all this energy in the air. And I got out and I was ready to go, and I was like, oh, I don't need arm warmers. Yeah. I was wearing the PMC vest, and that's it over basic lycra kit. And it was perfect. Like I was never, you know, it was one of those cases where you were not cold and you were not hot.

Kristin 2:26

Can I just say, uh, for the Jeff in the audience, who always says, um, I don't understand what temperature you need knickers for, it's about 55 degrees. Right. That's um, I I wore my knickers. That is that is this is the time of year where I wear those those pants. And someone on the route said to me that when it reaches that 55, 50th um degree, you actually want to keep your knees warm because it helps keep the fluid warm in your knees. Um, so to answer that question, when you wear knickers, it's it's around this time of year. And I was I was the same way. I had a very modular take to my dressing, right? I had the arm warmers, I had the vest. I think at some point all of those pieces were on or off in some sequence during the day.

Steve 3:17

But yeah, because it I mean, by by afternoon, I mean, even though it was just in the 60s, it was warm. I mean, there was so the sun was really nice. So it was just it was warm.

Kristin 3:26

Yeah, and for the first time, you and I did not ride together. Yeah. Um, so I did the 30 in part because I've been having some issues with my hip flexor, and you did the 50 um with all all of our friends. Yes, and I will say, um, I had no plan. Like I had no, oh, I'm definitely riding with this person, or I'm I'll be meeting people at this place. So I really was like going out kind of solo and I was never alone. It was such a great day. Just so many friends that I saw on the route, um, people from the shop, other riding friends. And if I didn't know anyone, there was someone always there, generally going, Who's Steve the Bike Guy? That was on my shop, on my kit. And so I would we would chat for a while, and then we so there was just always someone. It is such a great event from that standpoint, so you know, open friendly. But you went with our crew on the 50.

Steve 4:22

I did, yeah, and um we did a little side adventure. So Because the man Steve's Tower Adventure.

Kristin 4:33

Steve's Tower Adventure.

Steve 4:34

Yeah. Um so I was looking at the course and I was like, okay, well, we we turn left off of gravel onto pavement, and we do, I think there was like this two and a half miles of pavement, and in and it was sort of this V shape. And I was like, well, we could cut straight across that V on gravel or unpaved. I was like, why am I gonna go onto a paved section when I can go straight across? Now it did shorten the route by like 1.2 miles, but I was like, but it's dirt. So so now it wasn't entirely unfamiliar to me. I had been in this area before. I had stopped here on my way home on a drive home from Syracuse. Okay. I don't know what made me stop there. When? Oh, it was 2022. So I was I had my mountain bike with me. I was like, where can I stop on the way home? That's somewhere new to mountain bike. Okay. So I had stopped here, and it is a it is a state forest, it is a popular hiking destination. Okay, and at the top of the of the till is a fire tower. Okay. So I'm looking at this and I'm and I and of course I do use all my techniques of of planning routes. I'm like, okay, well, this the heat maps are there. I'm looking at the you know, the open street maps and the trail system. I'm looking at the state forest maps. I was like, this is this should be doable. And then and then I looked up the now when I was there, the fire tower was closed. And a lot of fire towers are like, you know, you're not supposed to climb, right? There might be a chain across them, and you know, you're legally climbing if you go up. But I'm like, oh, wait a minute. Like and I looked this up and I found a blog on it. I was like, oh, they redid this fire tower, it is open to the public.

Kristin 6:15

Right. Okay.

Steve 6:16

So I'm like, we are we are gonna ride this either this road, and we will never even remember any of this, or we can ride up this mountain to the top. Go up the fire tower for a spectacular view, and we'll all remember that.

Kristin 6:31

Right.

Steve 6:31

So I did, we got to the spot, most of us were all still together. So, all right, and then you know, I I think Doug was like, okay, this is Steve's thing, he's gonna lead us. And that's kind of where you hope. All right, I really hope that this is free and clear for gravel bikes to ride through. And it was, it was a little bit more single-tracky. I wouldn't say overgrown, double-tracked old force road. Yep. Um, but we had one really, really, really steep section. Okay. And it was just me and one other person, I think, who actually rode it. Um, and it was when I was riding it, I was like, It was Ty. Oh, I don't know. Oh, Ty probably did rob it. It was Ty. Yeah, okay. It was Ty.

Kristin 7:19

I was given a full report by other riders.

Steve 7:21

So yeah, and it was one of those cases where you're like you're barely moving with each pedal stroke in one in one particular case. Yep. But everybody just walked that section. We got up to the top, uh, we walked up the fire tower, and and the the top was like enclosed with with sort of glass uh walls, right? And we pop our head up into the top, and then we hear this hello, and we like it's almost yeah, scared us out of our shoes. And it was a ranger up there who's just basically up there on a on a really nice Saturday, sunny day because there was gonna be a lot of hikers. And I mean, it was spectacular, just spectacular view. She and oh, and then she kind of yelled at me because I wasn't paying attention to her uh uh showing how the triangulation worked for fire towers.

Kristin 8:08

Our friends was like, Yeah, she's giving us all this information, and then she yelled at Steve for not paying attention. And I was like, was there a test afterwards? Like, did you have to answer some questions to leave the tower?

Steve 8:20

Yeah. Um, but by the time we were heading down, yeah, I mean, there were another dozen hikers who were there. So we really like most of us timed it perfectly.

Kristin 8:30

A few who had ridden up there late had to kind of wait with the hikers, but it does always make me a little nervous when you go off track at someone else's event, like at an organized event. This was fine. It wasn't that far off track that we weren't gonna find you should anything happen. I did also warn anyone who would listen to me to just be like, when Steve says it's rideable, that doesn't mean it's ridable. Like, just know when you're going after Steve. Uh that, and sure enough, so uh, you know, I said to you, I was like, How how was it? You're like, oh, it's great, totally, totally rideable.

Steve 9:08

Right.

Kristin 9:09

And I turned to our other friend and I was like, How was it? And he goes, Oh, it was terrible. I mean, once you got up there, it was great, but the the the the the little up the mountain, he's like, Yeah, no, uh, it absolutely wasn't. I talked to another woman, she's like, It wasn't rideable.

Steve 9:24

So it was totally rideable.

Kristin 9:26

Sure. So I was like, you know, I I have just ridden with you for many, many, many years. And so um, you're right, you you give new meaning to rub some dirt on it, which is just like you're always on the hunt for more dirt, right? And your definition of ridable just by, I mean, you're just an excellent rider, you know, is is and I think when you but when you follow you, you just have that sense of adventure. Like I I think everyone, I think you're absolutely right. Everyone had an amazing time. It was, I did have a little bit of FOMO when I heard what you were gonna do, but I really knew I couldn't do the 50, and I had a wonderful, I had a wonderful day. But um I mean the 50s on the standard course.

Steve 10:08

I mean, we that that course has brutal. You did say I mean high teens to low 20% grades. It's brutal.

Kristin 10:15

I remember it being that climby, and we I mean, yeah, I don't know what it to last year and the year before.

Steve 10:22

I remembered one climb and it wasn't as bad as I thought, and I just completely blocked out this other climb in my head.

Kristin 10:28

I don't it's definitely you know, it's one of those those gravel rides that has that extreme climbing where really gearing can make so much of a difference. Like I was we were I was talking to a friend of ours who rented a gravel bike because um, you know, he had a road bike, he had talked to you about gravel bikes, about the gearing. He ended up renting one, and he said to me afterwards, like, I'm so grateful that I did. There's no way my bike would have made it up there. So it's really acknowledging um you can be very strong and still not be able to get up these climbs without a gravel bike.

Steve 11:05

So yeah, we there are there are walkers, yeah.

Kristin 11:07

So it was a fabulous day. I we want to give a shout out to Derek Collins Pan Mask Challenge, and the we will say Unpaved was his brainchild, and he's actually leaving the PMC going on to further adventures. So just wanted to say thank you to him because Unpaved's fabulous, and here's hoping it continues. Right. Um, all right, so let's let's go on to our topic. This is actually a suggestion from our friend Tiffany, who sent me this message. As I was washing 50 miles of dirt, grime, and grit out of Ellie's bike stuff. That's her daughter. I was thinking how to take care of your bike stuff might be a cool idea for your podcast. I found out today how well a Daunt dish soap soak and everything your washer can do, plus OxyClean, can take even a light peach fox raincoat and make it look like new. However, I'm still at a loss on how to make Ellie's riding shoes not smell like a decaying body. They smelled that way before the VT50. So to be fair. And the timing on this is really good because we are in shoulder sweater weather, people. Um, we're in shoulder season. This is when we start to transition from our summer gear into our more fall and winter gear. And I find this is also the time where I start like putting stuff away, cleaning stuff, and and so I thought the timing of this was actually really good. Um, we're gonna take this from the top to the bottom. Okay. From the head to the toes.

Steve 12:31

You are the expert on this.

Kristin 12:33

I am I am the cleaner of the stuff. Yep. This stuff's expensive, guys. Like, that's my big thing. This gear is expensive, and it is worth taking the time to take care of it. Yeah. Um, and so my first piece, my biggest piece of advice before we get it to anything is do not wait to clean your stuff because we were looking around for your kit yesterday and realized we had not taken the laundry out of the van from unpaved. And as I'm digging the clothing out of the laundry hamper in the van, the smell emanating from the back of the van was oh. So, like, number one tip, regardless of your gear.

Steve 13:23

I know, because we moved the laundry in the van to sort of a tuck hidden spot, yes, which we'll have to evaluate. But yep. Easier to forget there.

Kristin 13:33

Yeah, and you have a bad habit of leaving your gear in a paper bag. Oh. Right?

Steve 13:39

Yeah, but that absorbs the moisture.

Kristin 13:41

Yeah, but then you forget where it is because it's just this random paper bag sitting in our van. Um, all right, so let's start at the top.

Steve 13:48

Head or let's talk about our helmets. Helmets.

Kristin 13:51

Number one, I guess, is like at the end of the season, what should we be looking at for a helmet to make sure she's still in good shape?

Steve 14:01

Well, so helmets all have a so the they all have a manufacturing date. Okay. But remember that's not really the date you want to go by for its its lifespan. Because it's not a good thing. You really want to go with sort of in service when you put it in service, but just have that sort of the back of your mind. Like, how many years have I really had this helmet? And we've talked about this before that what three to three, four, five years. Five years is probably tops for a helmet.

Kristin 14:28

We just had this conversation too, because I realized the helmet I was wearing this year at Unpaved, I was wearing year one. That clocks it.

Steve 14:36

Yeah, but there's years, but no, because while it's the fifth year of the Unpaved, that only means it's been four years since the first Unpaved.

Kristin 14:42

It wasn't brand new the first year I wore it.

Steve 14:45

Yeah, okay, good.

Kristin 14:47

It wasn't like I broke it out of the box and put it on my head from the case.

Steve 14:50

But I mean, you know, also you just take a look at the styrofoam, right? So the the the expo the areas that are exposed styrofoam, and you're just looking for any cracks in that. Often uh you might see at the very forehead, right underneath the brim where the there's exposed uh styrofoam, that's particularly where you're looking for any cracks in this in the foam. Yeah. And you know, just just in terms of make sure that it looks is still intact. Yeah. Um, and then you've got your your foam pads, which usually come out.

Kristin 15:21

Yeah, and those you can clean. So I've done that where I've taken the foam pads out and I've soaked them. You're gonna hear the word oxy clean a lot in this show where I've soaked them. Um I've even the straps can get really gross.

Steve 15:35

Straps can get gross. Yeah, those are constantly sucking in sweat.

Kristin 15:39

Yeah, so those I might actually put the helmet on top of a bowl with the straps hanging down into the bottom.

Steve 15:46

Yeah, but you can fully scrub and wash your helmet.

Kristin 15:48

Right, but like I want to soak it.

Steve 15:50

Yep, you want to soak it.

Kristin 15:51

Especially the strap, just the strap. So yeah, I'm just giving that all a wash. And the other thing is I do notice with our helmets that sometimes um we don't we don't put them away as well as we should. Like either we're we should hang them after a ride so that they have time to air out. And because sometimes we shove them in the top section with our the the insulated window pads for the van. Um, they get knocked around a lot. So I think we could definitely do a better job of just being a little more careful with our helmets, a little nicer to them.

Steve 16:25

One thing to note is that most um most helmet companies do make replacement pad sets. Oh so a lot of people don't realize that. Um, but yeah, you can get a replacement pad set for most helmets. If you're someone who's real sweaty, yeah, and and but those replacement sets go away pretty quickly once that helmet's been discontinued. So just keep that keep that in mind as that it might not be available if your helmet, you know, you got like the last year of your helmet.

Kristin 16:52

So all right. Um Tiffany mentioned a jacket. Yeah. So let's talk about jerk jerseys, jackets, vests. Um, I think she's on the right track, which is to um when they're really bad, like say after a muddy cycle cross race, if they were really the white stripe has turned brown.

Steve 17:11

Oh, yeah.

Kristin 17:12

Then I find an oxyclean soak or the dawn um is a great idea. And then I've you know, I think it's kind of mixed on whether or not you're supposed to use a washing machine and a dryer, but I'm gonna tell you, I I put all of our stuff in the wash on a gentle cycle with warm water, and I do, I do put them in the dryer. I know a lot of people don't think they should put their lycra in the dryer. I put it on gentle, so it's a low heat. Um I just feel like it could maybe kill I don't even know if it's hot enough to kill anything, but it just makes it I like it, you know. Um I do have yes, this stuff is expensive, but also I'm not so precious with our clothing that if it doesn't survive see what I'm saying? Like it's it's not I'm I've tried hanging at all.

Steve 18:01

Yes, our clothing has to be conveniently washed, otherwise it's just not a full piece of clothing.

Kristin 18:08

Exactly, exactly. So it's just not it's not the amount of athletic clothing we go through to hang it every time, we would have a full hanging set of cloth, like it all the time. So it's just that's not just re reasonable. I have not cracked the code on how to get grease out of stuff, I will say.

Steve 18:26

Well, Dawn is where you know can definitely help with grease.

Kristin 18:29

So, yeah, and I think the important thing on this one is before you throw your stuff in the wash, do an inspection to see if you have grease on it because that's when you're gonna catch it. Once you've kind of started it through its wash cycle, it's it's really hard to back up to get that grease out. You know what I'm saying?

Steve 18:46

I do, and I guess it's important to say here if you use something like Dawn or another detergent on your clothes for a soak or a screw, you know, hand scrub, make sure you rinse that out before you put it into a washing machine. Because if you have all of that residue, if you have if you have a lot of of Dawn residue on your clothes before you go in the washer scene, it's going to suds up like crazy in your machine.

Kristin 19:15

I actually hadn't really thought of that because I've never used Dawn. I've used OxyClean, and OxyClean does not foam.

Steve 19:21

Especially because almost everybody has a high efficiency of the HE washing machine now. But a little Dawn would go nuts. Right, and the the whole thing about that whole remember when you used to have to look for HE detergents, it was because you couldn't have a detergent that suds up too much on front loading washers. Yeah. So that's yeah.

Kristin 19:39

Um, okay, speaking of lycra and um uh oxyclean, yeah. Um let's talk about lycra shorts. So I generally just wash them regularly, you know, in the wash machine. In the wash, throw them in the wash, throw them in a dryer. But there reaches a certain time in the course of a year where I start to notice I'm getting some saddle sores. And that is usually my sign that my shorts need to be detoxed, which means to me is I put them into a long soak in a in a basket uh or in a pail with oxyclean. Um, and that's because what what's happening is, you know, between the sweat and the chamois cream and the grime, like the chamois cream doesn't necessarily rinse away. Right. Right. Right. So there's a little bit of buildup, you may not even be able to see it. Um, that once or twice a year I find that if I'm starting to have some sensitivities down there, um, I will soak. And then I generally just pull any of yours and I give them a soak at the same time. I'm doing that now. Um, and I just dumped out the pail and it was not clear. It was there's definitely stuff like your washing machine's really good at general grime, but there is just a level. I've also done it on your t-shirts where like the the deodorant can build up the aluminum and and the washing machine's just not getting to it. Never did I think I would be this domestic.

Steve 21:15

Um so I find that if you're if if I'm having again, if I'm having some issues, that it's generally because the shorts are not as clean as I think they um you know it might be good to mention the detergent for the washing machine as we were just talking about that too, because uh like regular regular tide affects my skin. Right? And so we we have to use a free and clear um detergent. We use a powder.

Kristin 21:46

Yes.

Steve 21:47

Um and uh so that could be something to think about because if it you know, especially that that's probably a more sensitive area of your skin. So if you're using a heavily perfumed Uh detergent, you actually might have issues from that that you don't realize it's just from that kind of detergent.

Kristin 22:06

Yeah. Plus, I find the the pods and all this stuff. I I'm not convinced it's fully dissolving, right? I like the powder because I just know that stuff is gone. Yeah. You know? Right. But like that. Plus it comes a cardboard, so we don't have to get a big plastic tub. There is that too. Yeah. Um, but I'm not convinced, yeah, that that those little pods that have all the dividers and stuff, I'm not convinced that they're not putting more plastics into my clothing. So um I think it's just the idea, the reminder that even though we wash things regularly, I mean gloves is another one. Like this is the time of the year, and I and we don't wash our gloves every time.

Steve 22:45

No, no, I it'd be interesting to know. Does everybody wash their gloves every time, or are they just take them off, peel them off, throw them in the bin, and rewear them the next time?

Kristin 22:53

We don't. We don't wash them every time. So I will a couple of times a year um detox all of them. Yeah. Because I'll watch because even if I just wash them, that's not gonna be enough for all the boogers and the grease and the sweat.

Steve 23:07

Oh okay, you're right. You're wiping. Come on, you know, you're like, Yeah, you are wiping your your your thumb on your nose with the terry cloth.

Kristin 23:15

Yeah, it boogers. Okay. Exactly. Can't always do a snot rocket. I know. All right, um, I want to talk about shoes. Um, you got me new shoes. Look at these are my shoes. You got me these tan scots. I really like them.

Steve 23:30

Yeah, because they're those are the gravel line.

Kristin 23:32

Yeah, it's interesting. They're the same shoe. Pretty much the same shoe, just different soles. But the soles are different.

Steve 23:38

One is rubber and one is sort of that hard plastic.

Kristin 23:41

Um, here's one bummer though. These are a light tan, and so they are already filthy. So I think I'm gonna use a magic eraser. A nice little scrub brush and just and then where my red ones are probably filthy too. Oh no, they're definitely filthy.

Steve 23:57

They're definitely filthy, yeah.

Kristin 23:58

It's just harder to see. But I did have a question about the outside, which is should I do anything to care for my cleats? And what if my cleats get rusty?

Steve 24:08

Oh, okay. So in this case, we're talking about mountain SPD cleats. Yes. The metal cleats. It is very rare that I see these rust. Okay. They will, right? They are just bare steel, but they have to really sit wet. And so that's the only and and it's and it's just hard to, even if you were out in the rain when you put your c your your shoes away, right? Usually it dries fast enough that it doesn't sit wet. Yep. Um, so I mean, you actually you have a little rock stuck between your cleat and the plug. Yeah. So that's something to always pick out because that can affect your uh your release. Yep. So there's not a lot to do there. One thing though to remember when you're installing cleats is always, always, always use grease in those bolt threads. Oh. Do not just do them dry.

Kristin 25:01

Right.

Steve 25:02

Yeah. That's a good thing.

Kristin 25:03

And you should maybe check their tightness on occasion.

Steve 25:06

Uh and um I would say yes, but but if you used grease. Yeah, but for the most part, uh, it is I find that it's kind of rare. Okay. Um, it's definitely happened where people have lost a bolt, right? And that and what happens is the cleat can is able to pivot back and forth, and suddenly you find you can't unclip it.

Kristin 25:30

I was gonna say, and then you're stuck.

Steve 25:31

Yeah.

Kristin 25:32

It's no fun.

Steve 25:33

So, I mean, just you know, you can look. You I mean, you would notice if your cleat, if your cleat was either loose or one of the bolts was coming up. Right. Because it would sit, it would sit high.

Kristin 25:42

Okay. All right. So then for the stinkiness, short of performing an exorcism.

Steve 25:47

Well, obviously, you have an insole that comes out.

Kristin 25:49

Yeah. I was gonna say, number one, if your shoes get wet, the minute you can take them off and take the insoles out and try to dry them.

Steve 25:58

Yep, and shoving them with stuff stuffing with newspapers always the the classic way.

Kristin 26:02

Except who has a newspaper anymore? Who has a newspaper anymore? This is exactly right. Yeah, I have we rarely do that. I will say, I have even after a really muddy ride, I've actually gotten them wetter. I have I have I'll just hose them out. So at least there's no it's just clean water that's been in them. So it's like the inclination is just take them out and let them dry. But I would actually get them wetter. Yeah. I would I soak them and then I put them out in the sun.

Steve 26:29

Yep. Um, or you put them on a towel with the fan blowing on them.

Kristin 26:33

Yes. Yeah, that was always my trick too with the the kids lacrosse stuff, is the minute they came inside after a wet game, we took everything out, hung it on a drying rack, and had a fan pointed right at him.

Steve 26:47

And if you're a big skier, I suppose you might have one of those boot dryers. That would work too.

Kristin 26:51

That being said, if they stink, it's because of bacteria.

Steve 26:54

I did look.

Kristin 26:56

So I saw a video from this guy called Clean This Up, and he recommended taking a quarter cup baking soda, putting it in a coffee filter, and then sealing that with a rubber band, and then putting one of these little packets in each of your shoes, because the baking powder will um suck up all the smells. Um but or baking soda. Yeah. But if that doesn't work, or in addition to the other thing I read was if you take a one-to-one mixture of white vinegar and water and you spray them thoroughly, you're gonna kill all the bacteria in them.

Steve 27:35

So well, let's talk about a side reason why they might smell.

Kristin 27:41

You stepped in poo.

Steve 27:42

No, socks. Socks. And and I just and I want to go, I want to talk about socks only because this is something I had told both the kids before they went to college. And and because and and and this become all right. So this stems from the fact that when I went to college, there were two particular rooms on my floor that you could not walk into these rooms. They smelled so bad. Okay, and the reason they smelled, and you you you knew, right? You cannot you cannot re-wear socks. I this is the one that's like this is one of the most important things that you just cannot rewear. Okay. Because of the bacteria. Okay. All right, okay. So uh, yeah, and so it so if you if you're do if somebody's doing that, then of course your that bacteria is gonna build up in your shoes and it's gonna make your shoes smell.

Kristin 28:41

Okay, I'd like to back up to the I talked to both the kids about this. So you pulled them aside at some point and were like, hey guys, before you go to college, you want to practice safe socks?

Steve 28:52

Pretty much.

Kristin 28:53

I mean, so we'd already had the other coverage.

Steve 28:56

Everybody on my floor, and of course, the one particular person who had to live in one of these rooms. I mean, it was so bad, right? That I think everybody was scarred from it.

Kristin 29:05

I do also think the fabric of your socks makes a big difference. So wool socks seem to be great, like natural fibers versus a blend.

Steve 29:13

My everyday sock is a wool blend. Yes, even in the summer, you were wearing those, you were wearing those socks.

Kristin 29:19

They're not very exciting, but phenomenal. Um, okay, so better socks, don't rewear them. I love that this is a conversation you had with the kids. Yes. All right. Um, let's talk about repairing some of the gear. Okay. Because, you know, at some point, as we said, this stuff's expensive. And it's it it is really tempting to the washing is a good this this process is a good opportunity to just check all your gear and see what's broken. I think the only thing that I have not been able to fix really is a rip in lycra shorts.

Steve 29:58

Yeah, it's tough.

Kristin 29:59

That's really tough. I mean, it's like you can patch it, it's never gonna be the same. Like there are, you know, there are iron on patches. Um, certainly if there are also um shorts you wear under something, you might be able to patch it more easily. Um, the big thing on lyro shorts is double check how thin the butt is getting. Yes, because that's a great one.

Steve 30:22

Because the butts get thin. And so, yeah, you need to almost put them on and sort of shine a front look. Yes, shine a flashlight, have like shine up, have someone shine a flashlight and say, Can you like think you're seeing my skin?

Kristin 30:38

We have definitely been on rides behind someone where like you cannot just see skin, you can like see skin texture. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and it's just because they've gotten so old, they get so stretched out. Other stuff, like when we have rips, I've used either uh iron on patches or I have a pair of pants. Zippers keep breaking. That's my biggest complaint. Is zippers keep breaking. So I have a pair of pants that I stole from you that the zipper broke. I can't fix a zipper to save my life, but I put some snaps.

Steve 31:11

Yeah, snaps are easy. So that was a tiny little fly zipper, and it wasn't even like a with a flap. With a flap, so it didn't even, yeah. It was more to close it than it was for like P access.

Kristin 31:24

Yeah, no, I mean it was functional. If I was standing there, you could tell it was open. Yes. So that was annoying, right? But um, and then your vest, I still need to look at that. You have a vest that the zipper's broken at the bottom, and all I did is stitch it closed, so you have to step out of it, which is a little annoying, I will say. But it was a really expensive vest. So um, I have to figure out how to fix that. But I'm a big fan of fixing.

Steve 31:49

Yeah. Now the boas on shoes, a lot of times those are replaceable. So before you were saying chuck a pair of shoes, just check to see if you can replace your boa.

Kristin 31:59

Buckles. That's the other thing.

Steve 32:01

I lost the buckle on my um buckles are always replaceable.

Kristin 32:04

Yeah, but you well, the funny thing is they are on the I mean they are like I had my fanny pack, it lost its buckle, and it has a big velcro strap, so I thought, oh, this will be fine, but the buckle keeps it secure. It's finding the other half that fits the half I think. Well, you might sometimes you might have to replace it. So I just replaced both because I had uh taken them a buckle off of something else. And so not to encourage people to hoard, but if you save buckles from other things, you can use them. All right, where do we store our gear? How should we store our gear?

Steve 32:41

Well, you made me build a closet in this in the spare bedroom, which only had it only had a little tiny closet, or some shelves, and aka. And you made me basically take across the whole wall where that little closet was and make it into one gigantic closet. It is, it is such a wonderful luxury closet of athletic clothing and our spare blankets and yeah.

Kristin 33:07

I mean, I so we store our clothing here in that we're looking at it right now in the podcast studio, aka our guest room. I do like it, A, it's easier to see all of our gear versus like if it was in drawers. I also find um bib shorts are impossible to store in any way other than in a big jumble or hanging with their matched jersey. Um, but what we don't keep up here are shoes, helmets, gloves, pads. Those are all downstairs in our mud room. I will say there's only one downside to that is uh the dust and grossness comes in from the garage, and I notice it sometimes settles into the bins that the that the gloves and stuff are in. And so sometimes I have to detox them at the beginning of the year just for all the grime that has come in. I'm also thinking of getting rid of the bin that has all of our fingerless gloves because I don't think we've worn fingerless gloves in years. And we have a whole bin for that.

Steve 34:09

That can probably get stored into the closet here.

Kristin 34:12

But I have zero interest in fingerless gloves. Okay. Anything else about caring for our gear at this time of year? Anything I missed? Keep your glasses in glass cases.

Steve 34:24

Keep your glasses in glass cases, yes. That's a huge one. Yeah, yeah.

Kristin 34:27

So we always forget. I think the problem is you get to the end of your ride and you just kind of fling your stuff aside. Yeah, it's easy to do.

Steve 34:34

So it you really have to kind of think take that minute to find your glass case, put the glasses back in. Yeah.

Kristin 34:41

I know we do have friends who wash their shoes after every ride, but I will never be that person.

Steve 34:46

No, no, I will not.

Kristin 34:49

All right, moving on. We done with caring for our gear. Okay. Moving on. AI generated flyers.

Steve 34:58

Why is it now that every AI flyer post so far, I mean, you you they all look the same. There's some sort of there's some aspect of how these things look that you go, oh, that's AI generated. Oh, that's AI generated.

Kristin 35:10

Yeah, and I think the issue is you and I, well, you don't make flyers, period. Um, I'm in marketing and refuse to make flyers with AI. So I haven't even tried, I haven't even tried to figure out what tool is being used to make these. Well, it's obviously the same tool because they look exactly. I don't know if it's the same tool. It might all be different tools. I really have no idea, but you're absolutely right. They all look the same, regardless of what the communic the information is, right? Whether it's for a yoga retreat or e-bikes. Um, they are overly complicated every time. They do not believe in white space at all, right? Like there's just like it's just how much information can we shove into a flyer? The issue we're having right now is that communities and police departments uh are existing in a vacuum of information, and they're trying to fill that vacuum with AI generated flyers. And the real issue is they're generally wrong. They're generally wrong.

Steve 36:16

There are correct is correct information on them and wrong information. Right. And when you put wrong information on a flyer, then how you can't trust anything on the flyer, especially if you're not familiar, you know, the information is fairly novel to you.

Kristin 36:33

Right. So we have a flyer. I'm gonna I'll put it in the show notes and in the video. Um, we have a flyer that that uh you and I had were in a meeting. This flyer was put up on the screen by a local police department and it was in support from a local bike shop. Yep. And um I was twitching by the end of it because I was like, I don't think, I don't think that's right. So let's break down what's wrong with this flyer.

Steve 36:59

Okay.

Kristin 37:00

All right. Yep. We're gonna we're gonna start with actually I'm gonna I'm gonna mark this. Um, we're gonna start with the term maximum speed, because they all use the term maximum speed is 20 miles an hour, 20 miles an hour. What's wrong with saying maximum speed?

Steve 37:16

Well, because that's not the maximum speed it can go. That's the speed at which the motor cuts out. Right. But the the but you could obviously go way faster.

Kristin 37:25

Yeah, if you're going downhill on one of these machines, you're gonna go more than twice. So I just I mean, this is that's more of a vernacular question. Like, I understand what they're trying to say. The assisted speed cannot be greater, exactly.

Steve 37:37

This should this should say not maximum speed, it should say assisted speed. Right, yeah, motor it should say a motor assisted speed.

Kristin 37:45

Exactly. All right, on this one, the second column says motorized scooters.

Steve 37:51

So these are the standard the pictures of uh of a stand-up scooter standard of the stand-up two-wheeled scooter that you also see in cities. What was that uh company Lyme that did that?

Kristin 38:03

Yeah, okay. And the number one issue is this top one.

Steve 38:08

Yeah, driver's license required.

Kristin 38:10

Yes.

Steve 38:11

No, no, that's wrong.

Kristin 38:14

It's it's completely wrong. Yeah, okay. Um, then number three, this picture is of a moped, but the issue on this third one is they are confusing I or or merging category three bicycles and mopeds. Yes. What is the difference between a category three bicycle and a moped?

Steve 38:43

Well, a moped doesn't either doesn't have pedals at all.

Kristin 38:47

There you go.

Steve 38:47

It's a th has a throttle.

Kristin 38:49

Yes.

Steve 38:50

And um, and here they're saying up to 30 miles per hour. Well, a class three e-bike is actually motor assisted to 28 and doesn't have no throttle.

Kristin 39:00

Right. So this one's just complete. This third thing is a complete disaster.

Steve 39:05

It's a disaster, yeah.

Kristin 39:06

Then we have um, well, first of all, all of them say know the law three times. It's really hilarious. Oh, yeah.

Steve 39:12

Know the law, know the law. Here's and the yes and no in the column against all of these aspects.

Kristin 39:16

But the problem is, and and they talked about this at the event where we saw this there, the police chief was there. He was like, we don't have laws. There is like they we don't the laws have not kept up with the technology. Right. And so when we say know the law, the there's no law to know at this point for a lot of these things.

Steve 39:37

Yeah, there's some there are a few helmet laws, and there's a right, but there's really there's a lack of a lot of laws.

Kristin 39:44

And then in here it says where you can ride. Okay, and then now suffice to say this is really hard to read because it was a fuzzy picture of a picture, and I could not find this same one online. But it says on recreational bike paths, no. But then above it says, yes, for one and two, no for scooters and no for mopeds, which meaning like they're c they're contradicting each other. Yes, right? Um, not uh night riding, no. Night riding over here, yeah, yes.

Steve 40:24

Well, you can ride any bicycle you want at night. You do need lights, but you're allowed to ride at night.

Kristin 40:31

Yeah, and I'm not aware I could be well again, I don't think there's a law. I don't think there's a law that prevents someone from using a motorized scooter at night as long as they have lights. Right? But it says night riding allowed, no. What does that mean? So here's the problem. Here's so so I thought let's let's let's do two things. I want to break down the categories. I want I want to talk about what they are because there are three categories and they have been defined by people for bikes. Largely one and two, I think, are uncontested. Yep. Category three is kind of all over the map, right? So, what is a class one e-bicycle?

Steve 41:14

Pedal assist only. The motor is only active while you're pedaling with a maximum motor assisted speed of 20 miles per hour. You want to pedal faster than that? Go ahead.

Kristin 41:24

You can dry. Yeah, like mine. I will say, you're going downhill, you're you're riding, mine's a class one, you're riding, and you're like, whoo, I'm going so fast. And the minute it goes over 20, it just stops. So it goes, yes. Like you're like, oh, I'm not going for that.

Steve 41:40

Yeah, it's not like a like your standard, like say road bike, whatever, where you could just pedal up well past 20 miles per hour and it feels like it just wants to do that. You're absolutely right. That bike, once the motor kicks out, which is actually about 19 on that bike, yes, it just like you're like, whoa, just what happened?

Kristin 41:56

Exactly.

Steve 41:57

Yeah.

Kristin 41:57

All right, class two.

Steve 42:00

Basically the exact same thing as class one, except there's a throttle you can use instead of instead of pedaling as well. Right. So if you want to stop pedaling and use the throttle, it'll do that.

Kristin 42:10

Yeah, and one explanation I've heard of of how that can be helpful is say you are on a loaded cargo bike, right? It lets you get it started, it helps you get it started easier than just pedal assist. That's my that's my most generous on the throttle.

Steve 42:27

That's a that's a very generous, in my opinion, throttle shouldn't exist for e-bikes. That's that's my opinion, but I just don't I don't think they're necessary.

Kristin 42:35

You're not alone in that opinion.

Steve 42:36

Yep.

Kristin 42:37

Um, all right. So and class one and class two, those seem to be generally accepted in most states. Class three gets a little more complicated, but what is class three?

Steve 42:46

Class three is basically class one, except the motor assist is up to twenty-eight miles per hour. Most specialized um are class three. Okay. Um, many cargo e-bikes offer both the class one or the class three. Yep. Um, and so I do find that class I like class three better if I were to be on to be using an e-bike. I find that 20 is just shy of where you want to be for speed in most cases on roads.

Kristin 43:15

That's important on roads because I take mine through the woods, and I'm gonna tell you Oh, mountain bikes. I am never going 20 miles an hour. Right.

Steve 43:23

Yeah, I'm I'm talking about on roads, and I and I find that you it actually, in order to be safer, I think you need to go a little faster. And because many of these, I mean, especially if a cargo e-bike, you know, when you're talking about 50, 60, 70 to pound bikes, again, that's why they sort of they just slow down. But I I find that if you can get them faster than 20, you actually are safer because riding in traffic and it feels like you're going the appropriate speed to get somewhere.

Kristin 43:54

Okay. And where parents in particular are running into problems is where. When you Google buy an e-bike, you found one the other day. It was marketed as an e-bike.

Steve 44:09

It was. What was the name of that?

Kristin 44:10

I don't remember. We can look it up.

Steve 44:12

So I went to their website and right on the top it said e-bikes. Yep. Right? E-bikes. Okay. This particular had no pedals. So I don't even know why they were calling it a bike. And they well, one of their proud things was it goes up to 50 miles per hour. Yeah. But called an e-bike.

Kristin 44:31

Well, because I think in part they are putting a limiter on them that keeps them at 20. No, no. Well, this one, this one may not have.

Steve 44:40

This is right on their website. This does up to 50.

Kristin 44:42

I think others I've seen, so that's one of the problems, right? So not an e-bike.

Steve 44:46

Not an e-bike.

Kristin 44:47

That's a e-bike. E-moto, out-of-class vehicle. Yes. The other I had I feel like I've seen somewhere they say 19 miles an hour. Yeah. But it's capable of doing more as long as you remove the limiter. Yes. Right. So, um, and of course, people are going to remove the limiter. The kids are going to, you know, they even said it again at this event. The police officer was like, they have YouTube, they have the technology, and they have the curiosity, and they have the desire. They are going to turn those limiters off. They're going to turn the limiters off.

Steve 45:18

And and sometimes it's software, sometimes it's um tricking things with with the speed with magnets, um, the speed sensor. Yep. Um, it is uh so for a lot of the name brand motors, um, I know Shimano in particular, if you try to basically drill jailbreak that and and remove the the speed limitation, you brick the motor system. And Shimano has even said it's bricked. We can't even fix it. Right. You're done. So keep that in mind.

Kristin 45:54

Why does it need the limiter? Like, why can't they just make it? To meet class one. I know, but why can't they just make a motor that stays at class one? Like, why, why see what I'm saying? Like, why have a motor that goes faster? Okay. Can we just design it so it's that's the maximum and it doesn't okay? Motor's just gonna motor. Yes. Okay. Yeah, exactly. So what is this what does this mean? How does a parent know what to do? Um, I'm gonna say number one, ignore I keep saying um nature abhors a vacuum. That's why these these um flyers are are coming out. Yeah. Um part of it is because there are not laws yet. Massachusetts is working on coming up with some good solid regulations related to micromobility. Other states have lost their minds, like New Jersey.

Steve 46:53

I guess don't ask AI.

Kristin 46:55

Don't ask AI, it's gonna be confidently wrong. That's the problem. It's be because it's also being fed wrong information.

Steve 47:04

Because it is the wild west of laws and regulations on e-bikes, and therefore AI is going to Yeah.

Kristin 47:11

And I hate I hate to say it, you can't necessarily even go to your local police. No, you can't because they don't unfortunately they don't know either. They're still learning. Um, I think they they as has been pointed out, they don't have the laws on their side to even, you know, there's nothing for them to enforce. Like the cops just can't go out there and start pulling people aside because they just don't like what their bike looks like. Like there aren't necessarily the laws and rules yet.

Steve 47:41

No, that's true. And I will say there are, I have seen videos in Europe because because they don't have class three in Europe, it's only class one. And um, well, I'd say everything's speed limited to 20 or even sometimes less.

Kristin 47:54

Yeah.

Steve 47:54

And they actually will, if they saw somebody going a little faster, they will pull them over, and then they have a sp a special sensor where they basically lift up the rear wheel, and that can they can tell at the maximum speed the wheel's going, um, what that what that translates to ground speed and and ticket or not.

Kristin 48:14

Yeah, and we may get there. We're just we're just we're just not there right now. I mean, I had a lovely meeting with our local police about this. You know, some of it was just learning. They're still learning what all these types of vehicles are. They're trying to figure out how to enforce it, they're trying to figure out how to talk to parents who don't want to hear it.

Steve 48:33

And at the same time, we don't want sort of over enforcement in this police state of these things.

Kristin 48:38

Well, and we don't we as they even said, he's like, Do they do you do the par do you really do people really want me chasing down a child on a bike on the cruiser? Like that could be dangerous. So um, so you can ask your local bike shop, as evidenced by this. I I don't even want to say that this flyer means that the bike shop who worked on it doesn't understand e-bikes. I don't think they're reading them. I think this just gets I think this just gets chonked out. Clearly AI generated. Yeah, I think it just gets chonked out. People think it looks pretty or whatever. It looks informational and they send it out. I don't think it's being fact-checked. So I have to believe that your local bike shop will have some idea what they're talking about. But when in doubt, you can go to people for bikes, they have good information. Um, you could talk to your state advocate. I don't know the secret.

Steve 49:35

Okay. Yeah. So even they have people who don't know what's going on.

Kristin 49:40

So unfortunately, there's just it's it's still the Wild West. Um, but these I guess uh what the takeaway is look at these flyers, read these flyers, um don't necessarily trust these flyers. Because again, they're just wrong. There's just there's a or articles. I mean, we read an article in the Ducksbury newspaper a couple months ago, and it was just flagrantly wrong.

Steve 50:08

But but she was clearly getting her information from sources like this, right? Which which had correct and incorrect parts.

Kristin 50:16

Exhausting. All right, well, speaking of information, okay, let's wrap this up with uh a question. Okay. Question or two questions? What do you up for? We'll see what we okay. So a few episodes ago, we shared um a rider's tale of woe that had been shared with me on a ride. And I should say now that um we probably need to wear a warning label on our shirts that said um warning, this conversation may end up on our podcast. Right. Uh, because he found us. He found the podcast, he wrote us and set up famous. That's me. Good news is I mostly got it right of what he had talked about. And then he had two questions. Okay. Ready? The first, I have hydraulic disc brakes. If they're functioning properly, do they require any special maintenance like bleeding the lines? I know pads need to be replaced. Is there a way to tell you've worn out your brake pads without periodically removing them and looking at them? I find it hard to tell with a flashlight if 0.9 millimeter of pad is left on both sides.

Steve 51:21

Um, I I want to keep this really short, even though this could be a really long answer. Yes. So uh here's the thing. Um I know just because I've seen it and every shop has seen it, where brakes come in working perfectly fine, and they probably have not been bled in a decade. Okay. But that's not the good way to keep maintain your brakes.

Kristin 51:45

Okay.

Steve 51:46

Um brakes with mineral oil, I mean, I'm gonna I'm gonna go beyond the annual thing and say three years, bleed those out is probably good. You know, when there'll be times where I bleed out a Shimano break and the fluid's supposed to be red and it comes out black, basically. Right? Even though it was actually functioning okay. Felt fine. Felt okay, it felt okay, but there was some reason I felt either it needed to be bled or I was like, it just seems like it's time. Okay. Right? Because I don't think this person has done this if has ever done it.

Kristin 52:22

When when you say it feels, I mean, there's your gut that it's time. Yeah, I mean I'm not gonna try to explain it.

Steve 52:28

A solid bite point, basically, where the lever pulls back and the pads contact the rotor and it stops nicely at that point without any sort of too much squish. Okay, right? Or it and it of course it's not the lever's not pulling all the way to the bar and that kind of thing. Okay. Um DOT fluid really you should do every year if you can. Go every other year, you'll probably be fine. But that's because that's um hydroscopic, and so it absorbs water, which absorbs through the lines, and it basically, I mean, technically it reduces the it reduces the boiling point, which so you could boil your fluid if you're overheating your brakes. Oh, okay. Most people do not get to that point where they would do that, but it also kind of plumps up. So on those brakes, you'll often find that instead of the the lever starting to pull towards the folds of the bar, they actually barely pull. And it's because your volume of your fluid is in has increased because it's absorbed water. Okay. All right. So, but it it's it's important to periodically plead your brakes. Okay. To keep everything running nice. Um, and when that's done, also cleaning the the the pistons. So cli cleaning this the sides of the pistons, because the way they go out and retract is basically just by a square-edged rubber seal in inside the calipers. Yep. So any grit that gets in there, then when you do that, you check your brake pads. Checking brake pads. Okay, so he was mentioning checking your brake pads without like removing them. Yeah, I can shine a flashlight down there even with the wheel in, and I am then I'm looking for make sure I am positively seeing the backing of the pad, and then I can see the actual pad friction material. And just by looking at it, I've sort of developed an eye, and most mechanics have. Oh, that's fine, right? You can kind of tell. That's I guess harder for everybody who's who you know who doesn't look always looking at brake pads every day. So is is that is that too thin? Is that too thick? Uh or not too thick, thick enough. Um, so that's a that's a tough one.

Kristin 54:38

Do they make a sound when they start wearing to a point of wearing?

Steve 54:44

Well, you don't want to like when it's time to replace them, there's still a layer of pad material, right? Because you go past that, and most disc brakes have a little clip spring retainer that goes in between the two pads, you're literally down to the thickness of that metal, right? So, yeah, then you've gone too far.

Kristin 55:05

So if you hear it sound bad.

Steve 55:06

You've gone too far. Right.

Kristin 55:08

How often do you I've we I know we've talked about this in the past, but like is brake pads once a year normal?

Steve 55:14

No, brake pads, you people say how often should I change them when they're thin? But the thing is when they're too thin. But you cannot, there is no determining factor of when that is. It is totally riding and conditioning dependent. Yep. So when they're thin, they're thin in that.

Kristin 55:34

Yeah, I mean, we've heard stories of the putting new brake pads on and doing a couple of really bad days and suddenly needing new brake pads, right?

Steve 55:43

Like it's like it if Oh, you can go through a set of organic, so there's different compounds. The organic is the softest. You can go through any brand new set of organic pads on, say, a 50-mile gravel ride in the rain.

Kristin 55:58

Okay.

Steve 55:59

Yeah. All of that grit will just it's just sandpaper, and it will just take those pads right down. Yep.

Kristin 56:05

All right. Next question. You mentioned now remember in this tale of woe, he had a wax chain that got cleaned inadvertently. Oh, right, yes. He he led to that conversation. But anyway, you mentioned rinsing and wiping your chain, letting it dry, and in my case, hitting it with the drip wax. Yes. I've also read you should wipe the chain with a microcloth and then apply the drip to drive the remaining water out because you don't want flash rust. Thoughts.

Steve 56:34

I'm not sure actually where he's what he's talking about in this case. You do want to make sure your chain is dry of water before you lube it.

Kristin 56:46

Well, I think that's literally what he's saying. So he's saying, You I've I've wiped down my I've washed my bike. I haven't like washed my chain, but I've washed my bike. Sure. So my chain is wet. Yep. Should I um wipe it with a rag, let it dry in the sun, and then put on drip wax? Or should I wipe it with the with the the towel and then use the dripwax right away because the dripwax will drive out any water that remains in the chain because it might have a little bit of rust to pair.

Steve 57:21

I think that's how like drying the chain and letting it then continue to dry and then applying rather than trying to drive water out, displacing water with wax. With wax. Yes.

Kristin 57:33

Okay. There you go. All right, I guess that's it for this show. We were short last time, so I felt we had to make up for it this year and a lot of other stuff.

Steve 57:43

If you have an idea for a topic or questions, you can drop us a line at infotstevet guy.com, or you can send us a message through our social media channels at Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Kristin 57:55

If you like the show, please leave a review on your favorite podcasting app. And if you don't like the show, I don't know how you made it this far.

Steve 58:02

Right. Anyway. Well, thanks for listening, and we'll see you next time.

Kristin 58:05

Bye.