In a bike crash, the fate of your Lycra is likely the last of your concerns. But you likely spent a lot of money on your cycling clothes, and—assuming all other bike parts and body parts have been accounted for—the post-accident kit fallout can hit you hard. Your lucky race-day bib shorts? Shredded.
But that doesn’t mean you’re out hundreds of dollars just yet. Here are a few methods for repairing your cycling apparel after a wreck or an unlucky tear.
Check with the company—it might have a repair option
Many cycling apparel companies, such as Rapha and Assos, offer repair services for their products. Contact the manufacturer of your clothing to see if they offer something similar.
More From Bicycling
Rapha’s repair service is free, even outside the 30-day return policy, and even when not caused by a manufacturer’s error. The company lists outright which products can’t be repaired and does specify that repairs may require “slight modifications” to the original garment (but hey, it’s free).
Assos offers repairs or replacements of their warrantied products (those with manufacturing defects) within the first two years. It also has a 30-day crash policy and will replace damaged apparel, no questions asked. Outside of that date, it evaluates each case on an individual basis on whether the item can be repaired and at what cost.
Kitsbow also offers a repair service for defective and crash-damaged apparel, which may or may not come with a repair fee.
If your clothing brand does not offer a service like this, it may have a few certified repair shops to recommend.
Bring the damaged product to a tailor
You can always bring your clothes to a local tailor to do something like a zipper repair or basic alteration. But if you want someone with expertise specific to technical apparel, there are a few outdoor shops and tailoring services ready to handle your spandex:
- Boulder Mountain Repair in Boulder, Colorado, can do zipper replacements, fix rips, and other repairs. They’re authorized to repair a number of different companies’ products.
- Mountain Soles and Outdoor Threads can patch crash damage and restitch cycling apparel. The company is located in Portland, Oregon, but they also take mail-order repairs.
- Kucharik offers a full series of priced-out cycling apparel repairs and alterations—even including chamois replacement.
- Rainy Pass Repair in Seattle, Washington offers alterations and repairs on technical gear and apparel—from patching and alterations to zippers—and specializes in Gore-Tex® Fabric repair.
Fix it yourself
Of course, you always have the option of taking matters into your own hands and trying to sew the tear yourself. If you’re not looking for perfection, you can use double-sided heat-fusion tape to cover a small hole, or sew it shut using a star-patterned stitch with a needle. If you have a wool jersey instead, you can use the felting technique to mend small holes.
For larger holes, generic iron-on patches (on low, low heat) might get you by, but unless you have a lot of sewing experience, the fix will be noticeable—and could even chafe from the inside. Rapha’s recently launched mountain biking jerseys and shorts actually come with repair patches that are made of the same material, for easy and seamless fixes.
