I have an 11 mile each-way commute and do it by bike whenever I can i.e. whenever I know I am going to be in the office all day. The problem is that we don’t have a shower or clothes drying facilities at work so I tend not to bike in whenever it’s raining in the morning as I over-heat on the bike in anything vaguely waterproof and arrive at work in a big sweaty mess. It’s obviously not so much of an issue on the ride home as I just jump on the shower when I get back.

I commute by bike purely for the enjoyment and I don’t mind the odd rain shower but it’s just not fun when it’s really throwing it down. So, does anyone have any any tips for maximising the number of bike-commuting days, especially now Autumn is almost upon us?

Cheers, Rich.

mud guards

the number of days i used to get wet from below rather than actual falling rain during my ride was craz. i rarely wear a waterproof for being waterproofs sake more for its wind proof capibilitys.

itll soon be cold enough for the pertex pile next to skin monster that is my buffalo to come out !

full length guards – sks chromoplastics solved that.

full length mudguards +1

everything else is far less important.

Full-length mudguards you say?

Any recommendations to fit a 2010 Kona Paddy Wagon (700 x 28c tyres) e.g. the SKS Chromoplastics mentioned above?

Thanks, Rich.

Have a spare set of clothes for the ride home at work for those *really chucking it down days*
Ride home in your work underwear rather than the wet stuff you rode into work with
Laptops are very good for drying cycling clothes as they chuck out a lot of heat 😉
Just suck it up, riding in through autumn/winter/rain/shine makes you strong like bull 😉

The perfect winter trousers are still alluding me. Waterproof tops / jackets / gloves / overshoes – no problem finding something. Trousers is another issue. I don’t like wet lycra and the waterproof tights is defo a no go. I have used waterproof overtrousers with some success but the cut is too lose and they are too hot 90% of the time.

A few of us are riding in at the moment and with no showers the only real option is when you drive in leave a towel big flannel and you work clothes. Just have gget through the flannel shower and you’ll be a less sseaty mess. Just remember to wash it with soap and dry it afterwards.
Can you get full mud guard for a rigid 29er? My commute is only 6 miles but through a forest so wet gittyness puts me off the wet rides.

Lots of…

then a few squirts of…

and just like the advert, far from recoiling in horror, women will be falling at your feet all day. Honest!

Another vote for drying kit out on the back of your hard drive. Ludicrously oversized Apple Pro cases are ideal for this

take dry riding clothes into work with you.

As far as getting clean, the disabled toilet is usually a good place to have a strip wash although in one of the meanest acts of embedded corporate discrimination I have ever seen, virtually all disabled toilets have a tiny little sink which just have to be harder to use if you have a disablity. Or are trying to get a strip wash.

I backed these guys via kickstarter. Decent looking work clothes that resist creasing so you can stuff ’em in the bag.

Mudguards, Mens WC (shared with 7 blokes- nice), travel towel, deodorant, weeks clothes brought in on Monday, spares of everything in my drawer.

scruff – Member

Mudguards, Mens WC (shared with 7 blokes- nice), travel towel, deodorant, weeks clothes brought in on Monday, spares of everything in my drawer.

Same as scruff

I also keep a spare cycling top and shorts at work, so if they get wet in the morning, I have a chance of a dry ride home, if the weather is better 😉

Any way you could use a nearby leisure centre to shower and store your riding gear? If you felt guilty for abusing the facilities you could offer to pay a small amount?

Shame your workplace doesn’t have facilities though, do they have an environmental / transport policy? If so you could start being a pain in the neck and who knows!

Clothing wise i go with lycra, full guards and only wear a waterproof jacket if it’s cold (below 5deg) and pouring

As those above said, fullguards make the biggest difference

Yup, spare pants / socks in the draw, keep work shoes at work. Always underdress rather overdress, better to get wet from the outside than the inside. I have some endura overtrousers which I find very good, not expensive and work well, not too hot. Carry supermarket vegetable bags to put over your feet and tie if you get caught out by the weather, stops soaking shoes that turn smelly. I need to sort out a decent front mudguard that doesn’t fall off all the time, needs a bodge job this weekend I think! 🙂 And yes, finally, MTFU, what doesn’t kill only makes you harder! Although I did ride a few days over solid ice in -20 Deg C and a strong headwind to boot last winter and it was in no way an enjoyable experience 🙂

11 mile each way commute here too – on a folder as part of the journey is by train

As well as full guards, don’t wear a rucksac use a pannier.

I find the Surface cycling ‘jeans’ brilliant in the Autumn showers and cold mornings and they dry quickly plus don’t make you look like a freak when you walk through the office and you can stop off in the pub on the way back!. I also wear a Bontrager commuting jacket in everything but the worst showers. Spare boxers and socks and cycle home in the dry work ones as per above. I use an Eagle creek ‘pack it’ to fold up my shirt and work trousers and leave my jacket and shoes in the office. We have showers now but in the old days I just used to pedal slower on the way in and harder on the way home!
3 x back light 2x front plus a reflective vest, full mudgards

Full mudguards. In my last few years of bike commuting in the winter / spring I wore over trousers all the time with a thermal base layer underneath. I did try thermal thights for a bit, but I was wearing the over trouser more often than not anyway. Neoprene overshoes in the bag if it was 8Oraining. The overshoes were a revelation really. You can ride through absolute filth and still have dry feet. If the over trousers are too loose buy a size down. The Endura gridlock are quite stretchy and forgiving.

I never had great facilities where ever I worked, although I did always have some where to dry kit out. The strip wash in the toilets was the ritual, if no lockable toilet was available I used to put a sign on the door warning pitchers what I was doing, or have a word round the office and let everyone know. They will all think you’re bonkers and be quite accommodating generally. Although the European MD walking in and catching me dripping wet and bollock naked was awkward. Never did look at the same way after that. 😯

If it’s pissing down, given the choice between

a) commute by bike, get wet, flannel dry at work and change into dry shirt, pants and socks I brought with me in a placcy bag; and dry suit and shoes left at work.

or

b) walk to the station with an umbrella or a raincoat and spend most of the day sitting in wet shoes, socks, trousers and possibly pants.

I’d choose a), thanks very much. And that’s before considering a) takes 30 mins and b) takes 45 (plus drying time)

Many thanks to everyone above for all the advice and suggestions so far.

I already drive in on a Monday with a week’s worth of work clothes and do the strip wash in the disabled toilet (with the tiniest sink in the world as mentioned above!). I suggested converting the disabled toilet into a diabled toilet/shower room at the latest health and safety meeting and this is being ‘considered’ so fingers crossed…

I will definitely be getting some full-length mudguards and will also be checking out the various clothing suggestions. It also hadn’t crossed my mind to take in a spare set of gear to ride home in – it’s obvious when you think about it. Oh, and I’ll have a big bowl of MTFU for breakfast next time it’s raining!

Thanks again to everyone who has posted above.

Didn’t mention full length mudguards before because so many others had, but they are ace!

I’d thought about them for ages, and it took an absolutely torrential downpour that wasn’t letting up for me to sprint to the Evans round the corner (yes, I was that desperate), buy SKS chromo’s and fit them.

The rain had died down a little bit by the time I’d fitted them, but it was still raining pretty hard and there was a ridiculous amount of standing water on the roads.

I spent the whole ride back looking at all the water being deflecting away from my shoes, giggling to myself: “Hahahahahaaa! MUDGUARDS! hahaha!” I probably attracted some odd looks…

Do you have a (computer) machine room, or use desktop computers rather than laptops? If so, this is the place to put your wet clothes. I hang mine onto the back of the computer and they dry out really well.

At my old place of work, it was quite relaxed and I brought in a clothes drying horse and an electric heater and used this on wet days. I had a nice 10mile each way commute and did it everyday.

My new place is a fancy office and so I have to use the computer heater method mentioned above. I am trying my best to resist the move to laptops for this very reason. The commute is 20miles each way and it’s too much. I could put up with 30minutes of suffering the rain but a hour and a half is horrible. I swear people drive worse in the rain so you really have to slow down and be cautious.

A change of cycling kit at work is a good idea – I’ve never tried that.

I have a plastic coat hanger in my office that I use to hang my riding clothes on the back of the door in the toilet after getting to work, no one seems to mind. To avoid cycling in wet clothes I do a rotation where I ride in on Monday morning with a dry set in my bag for the evening, leave the wet cloths that I’ve ridden to work in hanging in the office over night so I can use them to ride home on Tuesday when they hopefully dried out a bit, and then the clothes I’ve used to ride to work in Tuesday get used for the ride home on Wednesday, etc etc….

Just having a quick look online – does anybody use waterproof 3/4 shorts such as the Endura MT500 Spray?

Taken from an earlier thread on same subject:

qwerty – Member
Get them to invest in

http://www.geautomatic.co.uk/dryingcabinets/floorstanding/index.html

The mudguards, clean-clothes-run, and no rucksack reccommendations have been well covered above but those lockers look just the job for wet kit.

Any recommendations to fit a 2010 Kona Paddy Wagon (700 x 28c tyres) e.g. the SKS Chromoplastics mentioned above?

The narrow SKS chromoplastics fit just fine. Here’s one I prepared earlier…(with 23c tyres – but 25c will fit nicely too)

I commute pretty much every day by bike, and wear a suit. I will generally wear a t-shirt with my suit trousers to work, and change into my shirt an tie after towelling off a bit when I get in.

Because it can be bl**dy cold in the winter, I need to wear something under my trousers, yet if normal long underwear gets wet (from the rain), it stays that way, so I wear full-length tights under my suit trousers instead.

Like you, I just keep my shirt and tie on instead of changing back into my t-shirt for the return ride, as I can always just jump into the shower when I get home.

That, and the full length mud guards, make for a pleasant enough ride each way.

@djaustin – many thanks for the confirmation (nice bike btw!).

does anybody use waterproof 3/4 shorts such as the Endura MT500 Spray?

I ‘think’ the sprays are only waterproof on the back of the legs, not the top of the thighs. This just stops spray from the wheel which you’ll be doing with the guards anyway.

In practice whilst wearing a waterproof jacket I found all the water used to run off and just soak my shorts. Go for fully waterproofs.

I’ll post some pics up sometime but I also did a longer DIY mudflap on my ‘guards which helps a lot – it stops the spray from the road soaking your shoes – as people say, it’s the stuff off the floor that makes you wet most times, not the actual rain coming down.

those lockers look just the job for wet kit.

They look mint, I would have one in a flash… but have you seen the price?! Gonna stick to draping stuff over the radiator for now!!

100% mudgurards. I used to commute 12 miles each way for two years and you’d be surprised what you can get away with clothing wise when you’ve got full mudguards on.

full length mudguards +1

everything else is far less important.

SKS.

also I and a few others here I know have found these very good:

http://www.rainlegs.com/en/home

(only really work well in combo with full guards, but light and far less sweaty that waterproof trousers)

proper weird looking…

Rainlegs are great – pack down small, keep enough of your legs dry (assuming you have mudguards), don’t get too sweaty.

Plus if you’re overheating and getting sweaty on the way in, calm down – it’s not a race. Take a look at how the Dutch and Danish ride and just bimble along. Now it’s getting chillier in the mornings, no need to arrive sweaty if you moderate your effort.

I ride every day to various locations between 5 and 20 miles each way. No showers or drying facilities anywhere.
I take a flannel, a chunk of soap and a handtowe. Strip wash in the disabled loo and my wet gear goes on the radiator with crossed fingers the boiler is on. Sometimes it isn’t. Salford Council are crap with radiators, Trafford are ace.
If I have to put wet gear back on for the ride home, it’s grit yoru teeth and put it on time.
By far and away the best thing ever is, as mentioned above, full length mudguards. Proper ones. Not that crummy crud things.
My 8week old bike has full length mudguards. I’ve not had them before. They are MINT!

I ride every day to various locations between 5 and 20 miles each way. No showers or drying facilities anywhere.
I take a flannel, a chunk of soap and a handtowel. Strip wash in the disabled loo and my wet gear goes on the radiator with crossed fingers the boiler is on. Sometimes it isn’t. Salford Council are crap with radiators, Trafford are ace.
If I have to put wet gear back on for the ride home, it’s grit my teeth and put it on time.
By far and away the best thing ever is, as mentioned above, are full length mudguards. Proper ones. Not that crummy crud thing.
My 8 week old bike has full length mudguards. I’ve not had them before. They are MINT!

Thought I’d update with a tip from my Paddy Wagon. I commute with a rack and panniers, and take it out on an evening club run “naked”. So I fitted the mudguard stays INSIDE of the eyelets and the rack sits outside using two bolts instead of one. Removal of the rack is now a two minute job and doesn’t dislodge the mudguard. The inner bolts are flat-headed, and you can see there is clearance for the rear cog.

Removal of the rear wheel requires : 1) deflate tyre. 2) Move wheel forward. 3) drop chain on chainring. 4) move wheel back and out of the horizontal dropouts.

One can use an extra set of SKS secuclips on the back if desired.

Full guards has been mentioned once, maybe twice 🙂 so won’t dwell on it, but will add that I extended mine with some plastic cut from a bleach bottle. Worked a treat.
Baby wipes are good, but I picked up some large wet wipes once, designed for cleaning dogs…!!! I kid you not. They were ace. From Wilkos I think.
Arrid XXX deodorant. It’s cheap & it does dry you very quickly. Even after a hot summer commute it works well. I also used to spend a few mins outside, “acclimatising” after getting changed, before heading in doors. Seemed to stop me sitting sweating away, or at least reduce the effects. Cutting down the speed for the last mile & & unzipping any clothing helps.
I got in touch with a US company who sold a dry showering product. No idea how it worked, but it was very pricey to get it shipped over. Had some good reviews though.
Putting wet kit back on never bothered me to be honest, but I used to keep some cheap babies nappies at work, for stuffing inside wet shoes. The absorbant stuff draws the moisture out, & dries them quickly.

As a slight aside. 11 miles is a short ride. In the rain, I’d do that in shorts and shirt, even in heavy rain. If I’m cold I just ride faster.

It’s about 40 minutes. Hardly life threatening. Just ride in normal bike clothes, take more bike clothes with you. Job done.

disposable nappies? What a great idea! Thanks. Another vote for Rainlegs, they do look a bit strange but keep the worst off. I think about keeping warm rather than keeping dry, as I get very sweaty in waterproofs. I have a cheap waterproof jacket from Aldi, SealSkinz waterproof socks, waterproof gloves from Aldi or Lidl (but they make my hands sweat and stink) full mudguards, a seat pack for my work clothes, I wear lycra cycling clothes – they dry quickly. As long as I’m warm I don’t mind getting wet, actually it makes me laugh when I’m completely soaked through. Good fun.

As a slight aside. 11 miles is a short ride…it’s about 40 minutes

11 miles in 40 minutes is reasonable on a traffic/traffic light-free route. I thought the OP was about commuting!

I wouldn’t want to be the colleague of someone who started the day with 11 miles in 40 minutes and didn’t have a shower at work…

Just wanted to post an update and say thanks again to everyone who has posted above. I have now fitted SKS Chromoplastics (there goes half a day of my life I’ll never get back) and rode in this morning – what a difference! I was like a kid again riding through dirty great big puddles going “weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” without getting wet. I’ll definitiely be looking into all of the clothing suggestions and general tips as well but in the meantime see below for some pics:

Kona Paddy Wagon with Chromoplastics mudguards fitted

Spacer bodge

Fenderbot mudguard light from Charlie The Bikemonger (not the brightest but it all helps)

I’m now looking forward to a full winter of commuting come rain or shine!

You’ve put the wheel back on the wrong way round 😉