- Being in all weather outdoor activity,
the gear and the kit that you go
mountain biking in needs nearly as much care
and maintenance as the bike itself.
So for today's maintenance video,
a little bit different.
We're actually gonna be looking at all your riding gear
and how you should be looking after it.
(technical explosion, clanging music)
So the helmet is the single, most important thing
that any mountain biker can own.
Can't emphasize that enough really.
And it really needs to fit you correctly,
and you need to look after it.
So here's a few tips to make sure
your helmet is in tip-top condition.
(medium-paced, rhythmic music)
Now the first thing to make sure of
is that your helmet is still effective.
Now ideally, you wanna be replacing your
helmet every three years or so.
Now think of this more as a guideline.
There are exceptions to this, of course.
Now helmets don't really degrade over time
unless they're exceptionally old, of course.
But there are a number of things that will stop
them being effective and doing their job,
which ultimately is to protect your head.
Now, first up, ultraviolet light and all the other stuff
out there does take its toll on the shell.
And it can affect this.
Usually, it's mostly cosmetic,
but it can lead to other problems.
Then on a day-to-day basis, any knocks
and scrapes and that, can lead to the EPS liners
on helmets actually becoming ineffective.
Because the whole point of an EPS liner
is the fact it's designed to crumple
and compress to absorb an impact.
And if it's already compressed and you can't see
that because of the exterior shell,
it's not gonna do its job properly
when you do hit your head in an accident.
So it's really important to look after your helmet.
When you're not wearing it, give it its own place to live.
A shelf that it can sit on, a hook on the wall
it can hang on.
Somewhere where its not gonna fall on the floor
and suffer any issues like that.
Now when you're cleaning the outside of your helmet,
make sure that you only use a very mild soap
and some warm water.
You don't wanna use any sort of detergents, solvents,
or anything like that can damage the micro shell
on the outside, or more importantly, damage that EPS
or whatever the liner it is on your particular helmet.
Now the straps themselves can absorb
loads of sweat during the duration.
Whilst they're quite a hardy, still the
salt content in sweat is not ideal
and it can damage the straps over prolonged use.
So it's really important to keep these clean.
And, of course, they gets rid of the smell too.
Now what we found is a really easy way to clean these.
Is by simply hosing or jet washing the straps
of your helmet flat on the floor,
and that forces all of the stuff out there.
It works really, really well.
Another point to add with the straps is the plastic buckles.
The straps are made from nylon.
There's a lot of plastic in a helmet.
So if you're riding in any kind of warm,
or even tropical, conditions and you need to use bug spray,
be very cautious about using DEET anywhere
near your head and your neck 'cause that stuff is viscous.
As you know well from rucksacks and other things,
if you ever been to hot continents,
you'll know that DEET dissolves plastics
and really melts it.
And it can do a bad job on a helmet.
So try and avoid that if you can.
And, of course, the last thing is the liner on the inside.
See, helmet liner not only helps your helmet fit correctly,
but it ensures the comfort and it wicks away sweat,
which, of course, means after a while they get pretty gross.
So you wanna be washing these, but don't just chuck them
in the washing machine with other stuff
because they can tear and come to pieces,
especially some of them on the market
with twin-piece design with foam on the inside.
So that's not good for those.
The best thing to do with these is carefully remove them.
And I say careful because they've got Velcro
or hook-and-loop stickers on the inside of the helmet
you can accidentally pull off if you just rip them out.
And put them on the inside of a helmet bag,
a goggle bag, or even a pillow case.
And then the effect that has is it's protected
within the washing machine, and it
does a great job of cleaning it.
(medium-paced, rhythmic music).
Now you're fairly likely to use a pair of riding glasses
or goggles when you're out on the hills.
Now they work really well when
the lenses are nice and clear.
But, of course, they can get scratched
and covered in muck and mud very easily.
And more to the point, when you're trying
to clear that mud off, you can actually
scratch the lenses quite severely.
And this does tend to happen a lot of the time
on the trail if you just go to clear the mud
from the lens using a glove, for example.
But any other time, you wanna make
sure you clean them really well.
So great tip we've got is to actually just take the lenses
off your glasses, out of your goggles,
and put them in a dishwasher.
Dishwasher solvents are fantastic for cleaning these lenses.
They won't get scuffed.
They'll come out so clean.
Of course, it's not gonna get rid of any scratches on there,
but you're gonna get more use out of your existing glasses
and does a really good job on it.
And, of course, just a reminder.
The same thing applies to goggles.
You can pop the lenses out, put them
into dishwasher with your other lenses.
And, of course, for the actual frames
with the foam on them, it's quite delicate.
So if you put them inside the goggle bag they came in,
whilst that's straight in the washing machine,
that's gonna do a great job of getting them nice and clean
again without any risk of the foam itself peeling away.
Just make sure when you do put things like this
in the washing machine, you put it at a low temperature.
30 degrees is about right for this sort of stuff
because you don't wanna go too high
'cause you start breaking down the glues in there.
Cold washing is definitely better.
(medium-paced, rhythmic music)
So in my opinion, one of the coolest things
about going mountain biking is the fact
that you can go out in any weather.
You can do it literally anywhere.
But to do that, you do need some technical clothing.
Granted, you don't need too much.
As long as you got waterproof jacket
and some kind of wicking base layer,
things are pretty good.
But, of course, we all love having decent kits.
You end of with lots of different stuff,
and it does need looking after
to get the best use out of it.
Now starting with waterproof jackets,
waterproof trousers, waterproof shorts,
really you need to make sure that they stay
as clean as possible to get the best use out of them.
There's a few different ways you want to do this.
So the ideal situation is you come back from a ride,
you're covered in mud, you're hosing your bike down.
Get someone to hose you down whilst you're wearing that kit.
It's the best way to do it.
You get all the mud off it.
Then you can take it off and then hang it to drip-dry.
It's the way that I prefer to clean my own waterproof stuff.
I really try and avoid putting it anywhere
near the washing machine, if I can help it.
Because the more you wash waterproof clothing,
the less effective it would get in time.
The other alternative, of course,
is to not wash it whatsoever.
And what I mean by that, is coming from riding.
You're absolutely covered and it's filthy.
Hang it up.
Leave it to dry.
Next time you go riding, just allow some time before you go.
You give it a good bash or brush it down with a solid brush.
And you can take most of it off.
It might look a little dusty, but it'd be
back to square one, again, and it's just dust on there.
When you do put proper technical clothing
in the washing machine, in particular,
waterproof like eVent fabric, Gor-Tex, any of those
sort of man-made, synthetic, waterproof, breathable fabrics.
When you put any of those in the washing machine,
only use a dedicated tech wash.
Something like Nikwax Tech Wash.
It's specifically designed to unblock all the pores
in the fabric, enable it to just be cleaned very simply
with water, and then you have to retreat
it again with a dedicated reproofer.
Again, something like Nikwax.
The manufacturer of your clothing, of your jacket,
will have recommendation on what
they suggest for reproofing.
But, honestly, stick to that.
Don't use any normal biological or non-biological powders,
and, certainly, don't use fabric softener.
Now when it comes to using the washing machine,
ideally with technical fabrics you wanna be washing
at a low or cool temperature like 30 degrees.
Sometimes as high as 40, but the problem we do
have with a lot of technical clothing, in particular,
base layers, short liners, or cycling shorts
with a shammy on the inside, is bacteria can harbor
there which, of course, will lead to unpleasant smells.
Now, traditionally, in a washing machine,
you can at least be washing at 60 degrees or higher
in order to kill that bacteria that causes
and can create and lead to unpleasant smells.
However, we know that we can't do this
with many technical fabrics.
So the way around this is by using a technical wash.
Now a sports wash has antibacterial agents in it
that kills the bacteria even at low temperatures.
So definitely get hold of some of this stuff.
It's really, really good for all your base layers,
all your other technical clothing
that sits close to your skin.
And, in particular, your cycling short liners you spend
hours on end sweating away in.
(medium-paced, rhythmic music)
Now footwear is something that's often forgotten about
because they just do their job.
Unless, of course, they get ridiculously wet and muddy,
and then you take the time to clean them.
So you definitely need to make sure you look
after your footwear because it harbors bacteria.
And, of course, that leads to smelly feet.
I definitely know of a few people on the GMBN crew
that could do with listening to these tips.
Now the obvious time to clean your cycling shoes
is the second you come back from the ride.
Make it a habit.
Just make it part of the way that you ride bikes,
prepare your bikes, and get ready for the next one.
Come in from a ride, when you hose it down,
give it a bit of a clean down.
Do your shoes at the same time.
With your shoes, in particular, you wanna be paying
attention to your trailing foot shoe.
What I mean by that is if you're right foot forward,
your trailing foot would be your left foot.
And the reason for that is your trailing foot tends
to be the one that gets all of the stuff come
off the front wheel when you're
in your free wheeling position.
Your forward foot would always be
just out of the line of the spray.
That's why when you ride in wet conditions,
one of your feet will always be clean.
The other one won't be.
It's 'cause it's getting all the spray on it.
Now I really recommend using a
household antibacterial spray.
It's fantastic for spraying on the outside of the shoes,
even when they're not dirty just to make sure that you
kill any bacteria that is there
that's gonna lead to horrible smells later on.
Now a really good habit to get into with your shoes,
given how much you sweat and your feet get hot
when you're out riding is,
when you come in from riding, take the liners out
and just leave them next to it.
That means your shoes are gonna air properly and dry better.
And, of course, it's less likely
for any smell to appear in there.
And the same applies to those liners.
As for drying wet shoes, there's a few
different ways you can do this.
If you got a bit of cash, then get yourself a shoe dryer.
They're a fantastic bit of kit, but I tend to not
use them myself because they do wreak a bit of havoc
with some synthetic shoes, and they can crack
out the leathers and other materials used inside them.
I prefer to use the more natural methods of drying.
The first option of that is using
the classic scrumpled up newspaper.
It works amazing for drawing out
the moisture inside the shoes.
Just make sure you put your shoes on something, again,
that's also gonna help absorb that.
A doormat works fairly well.
But what I love using is old bits of cardboard,
'cause they actually help pull the moisture
away from the shoes.
Of course, leave them near somewhere
warm like maybe under a radiator.
But, maybe, avoid putting them directly on a radiator.
Because some of those man-made and natural
materials can end up cracking.
If you wanna do the pimped out version of this,
then get yourself some silica beads.
You see these used in various, different things.
You get the little bag silica beads when you buy products,
that stop dampness forming in the boxes.
You get them in shoes, and shoe boxes when you buy a
new set of Vans, or whatever you're buying.
And, of course, they're also used for drying out flowers
and other household applications.
This can do exactly the same for your shoes.
All you need to do.
I mean, you can use it in a pouch
just like this and stuff it into your shoes.
Or you can buy a 500 gram pouch like this
for almost nothing off Amazon or eBay,
And using old cycling socks, fill them up, shut them off.
And use the socks and stuff them into the shoes.
They pull that moisture out really, really effectively.
Your shoes dry much faster, which means they're
much less likely to smell damp.
Honestly, they've work so well.
And finally is to look after the
external part, the sole of the shoe.
Now if you using a clipless mechanism,
you can have a cleat on the base of your shoe.
If you ride in winter, you can get surface rust
on these, so give them a little blast
with some WD-40 or some other sort of water-repellent
that stops them getting surface rust.
(medium-paced, rhythmic music)
Finally, of course, there is the hydration packs.
So you're riding backpacks that you take
your hydration bladders in, and all your spare parts,
or spare clothing when you go out riding.
Now these are pretty hardy and a lot of the time.
I know I've done this myself, and my friends also do this.
Come in from muddy ride, hang it up
in the garage, go about your business.
Not really the best practice, is it?
Just like everything else, it gets flickered in mud
and animal dung and all sorts of other crap
that you don't want hanging around.
So when you're washing your bike
and all your other kit, give the bag a good scrub.
Hose it down, even.
There's no problem with it.
It's tough material.
Don't have to worry about that.
I always like to drip-dry mine,
hang them up in my workshop with a rug,
or something like that, underneath.
Some old cardboard.
Anything like that.
Catches all the drips.
And then I also like to use fabric protector on them.
The sort of stuff that you put on walking boots and stuff.
You don't need to use too much of it, but it's really good
just to increase the water-repellency on these bags.
Of course, it's not gonna make them waterproof,
but it does stop the major amounts of mud and crap
sticking to them, especially on the bottom part of the bag.
And, of course, if you're bag isn't that water-repellent,
it can have that bit extra to it.
Just means the stuff inside stays dryer a bit longer.
As for the bladders themselves, don't do what a lot
of people and just leave a bit of stale water in there.
And next time just top it up before you go riding
'cause that's a good, fired way
of getting a bit of a stomach bug.
And, of course, it's gonna taste rank as well.
So make sure you clean your bladders out.
If your bladder is quite old, and this goes for
water bottles as well, and it's just looking a bit dank,
get yourselves some baby sterilizing fluid.
Milton is one of the branded names out there,
but if you go to your local supermarket
or get their own brand ones, which are often a lot cheaper.
Now use some of this stuff to clean out the inside.
You basically make sure there's no odor,
there's no flavor, there's nothing going on in there.
This can be nice and clean.
Now the top tip is once you've done that,
bung it in the fridge.
Roll it up, put it in the fridge.
Nothing's gonna grow inside there,
and as a benefit, if you're riding
in hot weather, it just means when you put cold water
in this, stays colder that bit longer.
And whilst you're at it, when you go and get
yourself some baby sterilizing cleaner,
get yourself a baby bottle cleaner as well.
It might just look like a regular washing-up brush,
but they often have these tiny, little brushes
in the handle to pull out.
They're really good for cleaning the little bite piece
on that end of a hydration bladder.
So there we go.
That is how you need to be looking
after all your mountain bike riding kit.
And it goes hand in hand with bike maintenance, of course,
something else that you have to do
in order to get the best out of your bike.
Hopefully, you've enjoyed a bunch of these tips.
If you've got any for us, let us know
in those comments right underneath.
For a couple more great videos,
click down here for our Essentials playlist.
That's the back to basics stuff that really encourages
everyone to get fixing on their bikes.
And click down here for some trailside hacks.
Kind of fun, but actually some really useful information
to get you back to base when things go pear-shaped.
Don't forget to give us a Thumbs Up if you like this video.
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