taking care of your kit
Cycling Kit Maintenance
You are just in the door after a long ride. All you're interested in is peeling the sweaty kit off, dumping it on the floor or laundry basket and jumping in the shower. This is where it remains, still damp, sometimes for days. However, your cycling kit is made from the highest quality technical fabrics and materials and like any high performance products, it needs a little extra care and attention to keep it in tip top shape. Here are a few tips that will help keep your Spin11 kit looking and feeling like new.
Dry your kit! If you aren't planning on washing your kit immediately, hang it up to dry. This will prevent it from remaining damp and developing odours or bacteria to form.
Keep it separate. Try to wash your cycling kit separately from the rest of your normal laundry, especially from garments made of natural fibres. They don't mix well in your machine and will ultimately damage your cycling kit. This is the likes of jeans, shirts, towels etc. It is also advised to wash your kit inside out. Washing your kit inside out protects the colours, the technical fibres in the fabric and the chamois and helps them to be penetrated more effectively. Check the pockets for money, gels or any other items and do up all zippers to avoid snagging.
DO NOT wash with velcro or similar abrasive materials. Velcro is amazing stuff, we can't deny that but it's abrasive nature will eat your lycra for dinner. So often we see damaged items that have clearly lost the battle with some velcro that got thrown in the wash.
Wash your cycling kit in a cool setting, 30 degrees max. Hotter temperature washes are not necessary and will damage the technical material and your kit will degrade more quickly. Trust us, your kit will thank you for it.
Don't use fabric softeners or bleach. Your cycling kit doesn't need it. They will clog up the technical fibres and prevent the sweat wicking properties of your kit performing as they should. Don't tumble dry your cycling kit or do not hang on radiators. The high temperatures again will damage your kit. Just don't do it. It is best practice to drip dry your kit.
DO NOT iron your cycling kit. This should be quite an obvious one but just in case, please don't do it. It certainly doesn't need it and will definitely damage any colours and designs and just ruin your kit.
You have paid good money for high performance cycling kit and as such should be treated with care and attention to get the most from it. You wouldn't put a designer shirt or top in with a pair of old jeans. So don't do it with your nice cycling kit. Some other useful hints and tips to improving the life of your Spin11 kit, the fit. More specifically when it comes to your bib shorts. If these do not fit as they should, folds and creases can form in areas which will cause rubbing and will wear down the material more quickly. Likewise, if you have a saddle bag, please ensure that it is fastened to the saddle correctly and that no loose straps or velcro are protruding that could potentially catch and rub against your bib shorts. With cycling jerseys, form fitting is the suggested option but ultimately the rider must be comfortable. If, however a jersey is too large and baggy in areas, it will gather and rub and is also more at risk of catching and snagging on other things. Nobody wants their brand new jersey to catch on something and snag the material. We can't think of anything worse and finally the biggest piece of advice...don't leave it to someone else. Your kit is your responsibility. Don't leave it to your mum, dad, girlfriend, boyfriend, brother, sister, mate, kids, acquaintances, guest, cycling buddy...ANYONE! No one is going to care more about your cycling kit than you, and they certainly won't have the knowledge we have just given you here, so take responsibility for it and ensure it stands up to the test of time.
