Drying out cycling shoes......?!

Bhima
Bhima Posts: 2,145
edited July 2009 in Road beginners
Just got em totally soaked. They take about 36 hours to dry when up-side-down on my radiator on full-blast, partially because the solid soles decrease evaporation potential.

What's the best way of drying them out quickly? Anyone got any good tips?

I think i'm going to stuff them with a towel for a bit next time, to see if it'll absorb water.

Comments

  • sicknote
    sicknote Posts: 901
    towel or news paper will help a lot and its what I do.
    Got wet tonight too.
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    Do you have any common sense?
    I like bikes...

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  • solsurf
    solsurf Posts: 489
    2 pairs or overshoes or put up with wet shoes (you get used to that in the Lake District) Otherwise as said before newspaper in shoes. But I would never put them on the Radiator unless you want them to fall apart.
  • Bhima
    Bhima Posts: 2,145
    Really? Mine have been on the radiator countless times and they aren't falling apart at all!

    Tried overshoes and my feet still got wet! :?

    Redddraggon - My sense is uncommon.
  • freehub
    freehub Posts: 4,257
    Radiator full blast I reckon mine would take about 12 hours maybe less to dry as a radiator on full blast is hot. But I just leave em on the boiler and that dont get so warm really at the top, takes about a day maybe less to dry then.

    My shoes have carbon on the underside also. I've learnt overshoes will never keep your feet dry so dont expecting waterproof overshoes to keep your feet dry, just warm.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Newspaper is definitely the way forward - will speed up the process a lot.

    Didnt you ever get wet shoes as a school kid ?
  • Aggieboy
    Aggieboy Posts: 3,996
    :idea: As your spinning rate is equivalent to an industrial spin drier why don't you just keep using them!!
    "There's a shortage of perfect breasts in this world, t'would be a pity to damage yours."
  • I have holes in the toes of my shoes for air cooling I think; also come in handy as drains, :lol: as I was caught in the Rain this week, soaked to the skin, shoes dried out in the airing cupboard overnight. :wink:
  • schlepcycling
    schlepcycling Posts: 1,614
    edited July 2009
    Stuff em full of newspaper and leave them in the airing cupboard, I do this with mine and they usually dry overnight.
    'Hello to Jason Isaacs'
  • news paper - my shoes get dry in about 12 hrs so im out the next day regardless of what time !
    Ride it like you Stole it !

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  • markos1963
    markos1963 Posts: 3,724
    Newspaper and left in an airing cupboard is the only way. Worked in a sports retailler for many years, if you put shoes on a hot radiator all you end up doing is drying out the leather and melting the glue that bonds the upper to the sole. If you fancy taking a risk with a pair of £100+ cycling shoes then be my guest. Lost count of the amount of expensive trainers coming back in bits after being put on a radiator or put in a washing machine.
  • simon_e
    simon_e Posts: 1,706
    Mudguards?

    :wink:

    Otherwise scrunched-up newspaper pages work as well as anything. If the shoes are really wet you might want to take the soggy paper out and stuff some fresh pages in after a couple of hours. Leave somewhere fairly warm (but not hot) and/or draughty for quickest drying.

    If you're really struggling a spare pair saves you wearing wet shoes - get some cheap used ones for the odd time you need them.
    Aspire not to have more, but to be more.
  • White Line
    White Line Posts: 887
    Another one for news paper here! Pretty much the only use for the Daily Mail. :P
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Hair dryer
  • mhuk
    mhuk Posts: 327
    http://twitpic.com/9sycl

    Nappies? I use newspaper and when only damp stick them on top of the TV (it's a big CRT so quite warm). They were soaking yesterday and dry today.
  • Headhuunter
    Headhuunter Posts: 6,494
    Another vote for newspaper, however I have yet to find a way to stop them stinking. After they've been soaked in the rain a few times and dried out, they begin to smell like a mature blue cheese. Any ideas how to stop the stink?
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  • prawny
    prawny Posts: 5,439
    The little booklet I got with my Specialized shoes advises stuffing with newspaper and leaving to dry at room temperature. Works every time.
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  • CiB
    CiB Posts: 6,098
    I just wear mine wet. If it's raining they'll stay wet, if it's not they dry out pretty quickly just by the breeze caused by the road speed.
  • pickled
    pickled Posts: 439
    prawny wrote:
    The little booklet I got with my Specialized shoes advises stuffing with newspaper and leaving to dry at room temperature. Works every time.

    Looks like I should have read my little booklet!

    I'd never heard of this method before, but its just dried out my sopping wet shoes inside of half a day.
    Magic. Long live the internet.
  • geoff_ss
    geoff_ss Posts: 1,201
    If it's warm enough I wear Shimano SPD sandals which don't really soak up any water and dry quickly. Otherwise it's the usual newspaper stuffing and a warm (not hot) dry atmosphere.

    You could, of course wear them wet. It's not a problem in Summer normally. I used to spend the whole day with wet feet (and more) when we were sailing with no ill effects.

    In Winter, before the days of clipless pedals, I've been known to cycle to work in wellingtons in wet slushy conditions. My feet kept dry then :) I wasn't alone. A mate of mine had wellies with a Sidi sticker on the side :lol:

    Geoff
    Old cyclists never die; they just fit smaller chainrings ... and pedal faster