Breaking the Mould
When spores strike your bike!
Back in November 2024 I conducted my favourite beginner's seminar at Herne Hill Velodrome called Bare Minimum Bike Maintenance. One of the audience members asked me a question that stumped me. She said, "I store my bike in a shed outside. What do you do when your handlebars get mouldy?"
"Do you have leather bar tape?" I asked. The answer was yes. I had a suspicion that it would be the case.
An enthusiastic fellow audience member claimed "You should make sure that there is enough ventilation!"
I was dubious - if there's anything that British sheds have it's plenty of ventilation. But I also genuinely didn't know the answer, so I said so. And I agreed that maybe some better ventilation would do the trick.
Well fast forward a couple weeks. Meet Debbie. Debbie is my pub bike and my workhorse. (I wrote more about How to Name Your Bike here.)
She used to live inside when we lived in our old flat, but since moving to our current microflat, most of my bikes live outside now. Debbie has a fancy Berthoud leather saddle, given to me as a gift by a good friend.
I was getting Debbie out of our front shed, when to my absolute delight I saw that my saddle was covered in mould!
I was so excited - the theory was wrong! Ventilation was not going to do the trick, that shed has cracks galore.
Now, I was running late for a doctor's appointment, so I ran inside to get some of those antibacterial-supposedly-biodegradable-ready-to-clean wipes (sorry not sorry - it's been a gamechanger in helping my ADHD brain actually do some cleaning around here), and I wiped the saddle down so that I would be able to ride it and not get mould on my butt.
When I returned home, I started to do some sleuthing. Leather is a natural material, so it's an inviting home for mould spores. And the more sweat/oil that leather has come into contact with, the more hospitable the surface. So leather handlebar tape (and leather saddles!) are a fantastic place for mould to grow in certain damp conditions… 😳
If you, too, have been a victim of mouldy leather, I found some useful tips from this website.
Basically:
Wear a mask and clean the mould off outside as spores can settle down elsewhere, including your lungs
Use rubbing alcohol, white vinegar, or hydrogen peroxide to clean the mould off. (Do not use acetone and don’t forget the underside of the saddle too)
Then clean the leather with a damp rag and mild soapy water and let dry fully
Finally, apply a leather proofing conditioner
The internet also had some insight in how to prevent mould from growing:
Keep your leather clean. I used the wipes from Aldi in an emergency but will in the future use rubbing alcohol or vinegar as it will also kill the spores
Make sure you "proof" the leather. Leather is skin, remember - it needs moisturising. You can get a leather proofide from loads of places. I used Renapur, (one that I have on hand for my vintage leather motorcycle jacket), but Berthoud and Brooks both make some of their own
And yes, do make sure there is ventilation!
I don't know how often to clean/proof, but I would assume that if you're noticing the mould growing during a certain time of year, then clean your leathers before that time before it goes into storage.
If you’ve had any experience with mouldy leather, I’d love to hear about it!
Down on Ebay Corner
LBK super supporter Pierre has a couple things listed for sale on their ebay.
I will be interviewing journalist and author Laura Laker on Thursday 23 January at Herne Hill Velodrome. If you havent yet read her new book Potholes & Pavements, there will be copies for sale. Get your tickets here!
What I'm thinking about
I am sadly skeptical around the Gaza ceasefire, and the independent journalists I read and respect are saying the same. I appreciated
’s write up about it:
I am still hanging on to a tiny bit of hope that there will be a cessation of killing, and the allowance of life saving aid to be let in.
Which means that donating money to any aid fund will be impactful at this time.
The Gaza Sunbirds paracyclists have a mutual aid fund running this month, where donations will be QUADRUPLED thanks to a kind donor. You have until the 31st of January to give what you can.
If you can't donate, please take a moment to send an email or even a snail mail to free Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, who was kidnapped on the 27th of December 2024.
From Amnesty International: "Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, like many health workers before him, was detained in the course of caring for his patients and carrying out his medical duties. On 9 January, the Israeli Magistrate's Court in Ashkelon extended his detention without charge, under the Unlawful Combatants Law, until 13 February; and they extended the ban on Dr Hussam Abu Safiya meeting a lawyer until 22 January. They continue to refuse to disclose his whereabouts. Palestinians recently released from Sde Teiman detention centre told the media that they saw Dr Hussam Abu Safiya in the detention centre."
I have always preferred to view the start of each day as a new year (because technically it is), so I hope that your new year today and tomorrow and tomorrow’s tomorrow start you off well.
I leave you with a renewed call to keep BDS going. It’s working.
Tomorrow is another year.
Ride on,
Jenni x
I have a brown leather saddle in the garage that has been growing some funky green mould for the past year or two.. I was going to keep it growing as a scientific experiment, but now you’ve given some sound tips to restore it to its functional self I *suppose* I’d better get on with it. Alexander Fleming - please look the other way.