Hey chaps, I need a little advice. With winter drawing near, and the cold wet mornings becoming more frequent, I asked the MD at my cycle freindly company if we could get some form of drying facilitys for the half dozzen or more people who ride in on a ragular basis. We work shifts so there’s rarely more than a couple of cyclists in at any one time.

The suggestion was met with great aproval by the manager, asking me to get a couple of prices on dryers I think would be suitable, and he surgested I perhaps get a washer dryer so we could clean our gear too! I thought that was a great result, and perhaps the other cyclist would be quite happy at the extra facilitys, making their life a little easyer.

Oh no, Ive just got off the phone with work and some ungreatfull buggers complaining that you dont put cycle clother in a dryer? 🙄 ffs, you just cant please some people, probably a bloody roadie (ducks for cover)
Other than seal skins, I regually dry all my stuff on a low heat setting and its had no adverse effect.

Would you/Do you use a dryer? What alternatives would you surgest? I was thinking a drying room could be an alternative. Its quite a large plant with a few spare rooms we could convert easily, perhaps get an electric heater rail in their, or tweak the air handeling units to blow a gale through that room. Any surgestions please!

dry all my stuff on a low heat setting and its had no adverse effect.

+1

I have to use my radiator at work in the winter 🙁

I keep a set of dry kit at work (socks/shorts/top) & if my kit get wet going in, I stick it all in a bag to dry/clean at home.

Gloves are dropped on a rad.

Radiators at work do the job nicely.

Re tumble driers – some older kit does, esp baggies, BUT, a big NO for base layers, lycra tops / shorts and bib tights etc…

Frequently have this argument with mrsrkk01. Helly Hansen base layers are particularly prone to shrinkage in the drier.

i have a hanger behind the door in my office. i sometimes use the radiator. not much help i know.

i think a warm room with a few washing lines sounds ideal.

you can get lockers with blown air drying!

A small room with a dehumidifier (ideally plumbed in so you don’t have to empty it) would probably work out better – cheaper to run than a drier too.

server room loads of heat, loads of fans perfect but smelly.

When I was working as a photographer the film drying cabinet made an excellent clothes dryer. Now I just put on the massive space heater we have and hang everything up in front of it. I have to be careful where I put the bike though as it gets metal so hot that it can cause the Rohloff to leak oil.

Now if they offered to put in a shower at work, that would be nice 😉

we have a good cycling setup at work, but only one very small drying cupboard (one with some hot pipes in) that only a few can access (people who work for, or are pally with facilities).
they provided some hooks in the carpark that we can put out stuff on but it doesn’t dry when it’s cold.
my solution is to wear wet gear and ride quickly, or ride home in my work shirt, which I’ll have to do tonight as I forgot my towel and had to use my t-shirt to get dried (!).

I always take spare kit in with me but if I didn’t mind putting on clothes that reeked from sweat from my morning ride in, I’d be looking for drying cupboards as the ideal solution. Drying my cycling shoes are my priority at the moment but luckily there’s a radiator pipe that runs round the edge of the changing room which sometimes gets warm enough for that.

What’s more of a concern for me, and I know I musn’t grumble because it’s probably as good as it’s going to get, is that they don’t seem to turn the water heating on till about 7:30 am and since I arrive at work at 7:00 am, it usually means an ice cold shower. I can live with this at the moment but it probably won’t be quite so acceptable come winter time.

Do people still use tumble dryers? I thought they’d gone out of fashion in the 70s after the fuel crisis. How old fashioned.
Oh, and never use a tumble dryer for cycling clothing unless you like buying new clothing every couple of months

+1 for server room.

Hung behind the servers: warm, dry, moving air. Perfect. Although if it’s dripping wet, you need to make sure it’s not dripping onto the power cables on the floor.

Wow, all my kit goes in the tumble dryer at home after a wash, no problems with shrinkage or anything!

Wish we had drying facilities at work of some sort though. We have a shower which is great but only an open window for drying stuff (boo).

Fortunalty we already have Shower facilitys and even a workshop if you need the bike tweaking. The drying facilitys would just be the jewel in the crown.

As I mentioned, my Lycra shorts, baggies, jersey, gloves all go in the dryer on a regular basis for years and they are still going strong. so I didnt for one second think it would be an issue.

Ill see what I can sort out with a drying room instead, but £10 says that If I put the option of a tumble dryer in there too people will use it. 😉

I have a coat stand over a radiator next to a window. Does the job, but hardly the best. FWIWE you need stands over the ‘dryer’ or rad, not directly on the heat source.

Low heat tumble dry is fine FFS, you precious precious lot.

A small well sealed room with a dehumidifier would be 110% better though, you lucky gets.

Our new “state of the art” office has badly designed showers and a limited supply of thin lockers. Plus it has nowhere to hang anything and no radiators… Progress

I always take a second set of kit for the ride home as I tend to sweat like a sweaty thing and even if I dry my kit it starts to pong after a few minutes riding. I always tumble dry all my kit (on low) including the £135 Assos Bibs. 😯

portlyone – we must work in the same place..!

forget about tumble dryers, Maytag and serveral other companies make drying cupboard where you can hang wet gear to dry (no where near as fierce as a tumble dryer and unlikely to offend your fellow employees……)

start from about £700….

I tend to sweat like a sweaty thing and even if I dry my kit it starts to pong after a few minutes riding

Sweat doesn’t smell if you are clean to begin with … and if you dry the clothing out after you sweat into it. I use only 2x jersey and 2x shorts in a week. Someone pass Dibbs the carbolic soap 😉

TBF, I discovered this morning that my softshell jacket smells of fried fish. Must wash that out tonight 🙂

ourmaninthenorth – right next to piccadilly station?

I would suggest a room with plenty of ventilation or an air conditioner with a good source of heat…

I use the server room at work, the servers produce enough heat to make the dampness evaporate and the air con sucks it all out side. Air con units are renowned for drying things out. It would be better to have some lines to hag stuff up on. Also if the room is damp you will never dry anything out…

I have lovely hot showers with ample changing space, and a nice warm room with lots of hangers as no one else appears to think 15 miles first thing is a good idea. The staff shop even sells shower gel and conditioner so I have no excuse not to be fragant.

Sorry! 🙂

To be honest I have little problem with wet smelly outers as they warm up quick enough – decent quick drying base layers help with the initial shock, and spare socks are almost essential. Wool base and lycra (even if a liner for baggies) dry out pretty well.

Re tumble driers – some older kit does, esp baggies, BUT, a big NO for base layers, lycra tops / shorts and bib tights etc…

put my lycra, synthetic tops, merino in the wash followed by a low temp dry and all is fine…

A room with blown air does the job nicely, you don’t really need tumble dryers unless it’s absolutely soaking. You’re at work for what, 8hrs? Plenty of time for most stuff to dry out. Decent room with a washable floor, plenty of hanging space and some form of ventilation and air circulation/extraction works fine.

ourmaninthenorth – right next to piccadilly station?

Nope. Meant it tongue in cheek, as in we have the same sort of facilities!

FWIW, I ride an hour each way. My clothes hang from a hook in the changing room, and often remain damp all day. They feel a little uncomfortable as I change and for the first couple of minutes of the ride home, but then it’s fine.

Clothes are then washed at home, with a fresh set going on the day after. Easy and, in spite of being manmade fibres, this tends to minimise long term pong.

Tumble drier seems overkill to me.

Washer and dryer at work for me but a shower would be great. In the days before the dryer turned up i just hung it up in the boiler room, nice an toastie to put on before a winters ride home

we have a giant overhead industrial heat/blower/cooler.
on a hot setting it dries saturated clothes in five minutes and creates enough heat to warm the unit allday.
it is also louder than a jumbo jet engine……………;o)

We’ve got a big wardrobe sized drying cabinet at work next to the two power showers and line of 40 lockers, best not mention the underground secure car park with 3 bays set aside just for push bikes or some might get jealous 😉

I stick my stuff in the compressor room on a washing line. Dry by the time I’m going home. Pongs a bit but it’s a better pong.

Ourmaninthenorth – ‘tas a long shot. Was hoping to share the misery.

We do have hair dryers though so it’s not all bad…

my stuff goes on a 40 wash at work and then straight in the tumble dryer. Done this for years and have never had any shrinkage problems.

Just in case i also have sets of wet/cold weather cycling gear at work so i can bike in wearing lightweight clothes if the weather is good enough and if it deterioates during the day can put something warmer on to go home in

FWIW i leave 5 days of work stuff at work which gets rotated on a daily basis. Since i run a hotel and restaurant then i also have plenty of shower facilities etc. My commute is therefore just a water bottle and tools for me making everyday a training run.

I’m putting a shower room in the new build for the shop.

I’m hoping that one large electric towel ladder rail will do the job for wet gear for me (and anybody else who uses it). Like this: http://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/Apollo_White_Ladder_Electric_Towel_Rail_750mm_x_600mm.html?utm_source=ProductSearch&utm_medium=GoogleBase&utm_campaign=Feed1

I wouldn’t want to be tumble drying either…

I see a couple of problems with the washer/dryer plan:

(1) some people cycling to work think they are saving the planet – dryers are hardly energy efficient.

(2) if you stick your stuff in when you get in first then second person to arrive has to wait for your “load” to finish before he puts his stuff in – this will be a PITA and either result in all the staff spending their day hanging round the laundry trying to get their stuff dried or people being p*ss*d off because their stuff is not dry. OR if you “share” the load and wait for everyone to arrive before putting it on there are bound to be times when it doesn’t get put on because “Joe” was off sick and no one realised or he turned up after it had stopped raining and his gear wasn’t wet etc.

So a spare cupboard with good ventilation and hanging space is probably preferable – from a practical point of view. In my experience this sort of room is likely to get smelly over time though.

Warm + well-ventilated room should be all you need. Can’t see the point in a washing machine either, surely shorts + base layer are compact enough people can carry a spare set with them?