Since it seems kinda quiet here post ToS, I have two fairly odd questions.
How often do you was your gloves? If I ride 90 minutes or more, not only have I gone through several towels, but the sweat running down my arms will soak my gloves. I tend to wash them after any long ride but they get old and wrinkled up fairly quickly.
I was riding a lot in prep for ToS and running just 1 or 2 days a week, always under an hour. Sunday I am doing both Revolver Running and Revolver Is Easy. Which should I do first?
Just a couple of odd questions for a mundane Friday. Thanks,
I have quite a few pairs of gloves that I use in rotation. That way, even if I wash them after a ride, all the gloves last a lot longer since each one is not washed as frequently.
I also then do fewer washes, since I wash a bunch of them at a time.
I tend to wash my gloves after every ride, but never ever put them in the dryer. Just lay them flat on something with the pad side up. Mine last for years doing that.
I never wear gloves indoors. I only wear them outdoors for extra shock absorption and to protect my hands in the event of a crash. Oh and also to help grip on the rain. I don’t need any of these things indoors so don’t wear them.
If you find you’re getting dead hands and oressure points riding indoors, try popping your hands over your towel on the bars or get your bike fit checked, as that does not sound ideal.
Outdoors, I probably don’t wash them enough, but I rarely have sweat rolling down my arms due to the wind I guess. I probably wash them after every 4 rides or so.
I only wear gloves outdoors in winter or when on the MTB. Never wear them indoors. I figure if Tom Boonen or Lizzie Deignan don’t wear them why should I!!
And yes, if Tom or Lizzie jumped off a cliff I would too!!
Glove washing is a pretty infrequent occurrence for me - maybe every month or so. I do wear them indoors when it’s cold in the garage (cold ~ <8˚C/46˚F) so sweat is not too much of an issue. I pretty much always wear them outdoors for any riding, primarily for protection in case of a fall, and for warmth on cooler days.
I wear them because of all the sweat that runs off if I don’t. My bike and the electronics on the floor are covered, but the towels get soaked. So my choice is soaked gloves or soaked everything else.
@DameLisa if you mean by “a towel” just one, then we have very different cycling experience. In a typical two hour ride I will go through at least 5 or 6 gym size towels, not including what I put on the floor and sweat bands replaced every 20-30 minutes. And yes, I drink a lot of water when I am riding.
I wear full finger gloves while riding indoors because of how much I sweat and I find the half finger gloves too often either feel tight or hit me in the wrong spot and rub. I will stick my aero bars thru them and let them air dry in the fan while I shower. I use them for about a week and then wash them when I wash the rest of my kit - usually weekly. I have 2 or 3 pairs that I cycle thru. I wash them in the washing machine but always lay them flat to air dry. Never put them in the dryer (except on occasion by accident).
Sweating that much is sign you are overheating, open a window, get a bigger fan anything to keep you cooler. When you overheat RPE goes up for the same output and will ultimately limit your training and make it less effective.
If my bar setup is right I don’t need padded gloves to be comfortable. Might be worth getting someone to check your bike fit?
I don’t wear gloves on the trainer, only outdoors for protection, and only use gloves with no padding. They have to get pretty bad before I wash them. I’ll mention that sweat getting under bar tape can severely corrode aluminum bars to the point they can break while riding. Working in a bike saw a good number of cases of this. It seems some riders’ hands sweat more and/or have more corrosive sweat than others.
Ah yes I forgot about this. And have seen it happen. I’m the go to for changing bartape in my bike group and a couple of them, I make them change their tape every year or have forced them to switch to carbon bars.
