Vintage Velos

One of the most important, yet simple, aspects of owning Woolistic Merino wool cycling clothing is the wash care. Washing Merino wool bicycle jerseys is easy, yet some make serious mistakes that are avoidable if the wash label instructions are followed. Takes about five seconds to read the label.  To reinforce the wash instructions, we decided to give a refresher course on Merino Wool Care.

•  WOOL DETERGENT : Wool is hair. Don’t forget this. Some folks grab any normal detergent (Tide, Era, All, Arm & Hammer, etc.) and toss the wool garment in the wash machine with cotton jeans, shirts, etc., only to see it come out damaged.  Please don’t!  Use only proper wool detergent when washing Merino wool. This is hyper important.  We recommend  IVORY SNOW LIQUID or ECOVER DELICATE WASH. Ecover Delicate  is available at Whole Foods or on Amazon.com. Ivory Snow is a Proctor and Gamble product found at most major supermarkets. We do not recommend ‘Woolite’.  We know the name sounds so right… but it is not Woolmark endorsed and we find the formula too harsh.  If you ever consider a normal aggressive detergent like Tide, Era, etc, ask yourself,  “would I wash my own hair with ‘Tide’ detergent in the shower?”.  No way!  Use a wool detergent and have peace of mind.

• WASH COLD on DELICATE CYCLE: Machine wash cold on delicate cycle with like colors.  Zipper up. Since wool doesn’t really hold odor, we can go five or six wears before needing to wash. Look at the time and money that saves compared to synthetics that need washing after most uses.  If after a ride dried sweat crystals have built up on the collar, simply rinse the area under a faucet, pat dry with towel (dont twist!) and lay flat to dry. Simple.

• DRYING: After the spin cycle in the machine, lay the jersey flat to dry inside your home. After some hours flip the jersey so other side can dry. Never hang a wet wool jersey as it can cause it to stretch. If you want smooth, the jersey can be ironed using wool heat setting.

And that’s all there is to it! Woolistic Merino wool cycling apparel will keep it’s comfort, shape, and colors when instructions are followed. Enjoy the performance and style!

The best time of the year is the first of October in Tuscany, Italy.  And that means L’Eroica, the most famous vintage bike ride in the world and we were there. Vintage wool jersey overload. Everywhere you look it was an endless sea of colorful vintage wool jerseys. That made us smile!  And if that didn’t do it the vast specimens of vintage racing bikes did.  Every vintage brand could be found: Masi, Cinelli, Lygie, Gios, Legnano, Dei, Bianchi, Colnago (saw a 1969), and list went on and on.

Vintage steel at L’Eroica

The weather was very warm  87 degrees in the Chianti/Tuscany region. Crystal blue sky and the sun baked down on everyone. Landscape was dry as a bone. Dust was a problem on the ‘strada bianca’(gravel roads) when cars passed.  They made a dust cloud that seemed to linger for ages.

Our team did the 135 km ride which meant departing at 6:45 a.m. Didn’t like dragging out of bed at ‘O’Dark Thirty’ but once a year we deal with it!    Of course no one bothers to warm up, they just go full speed for the first kms on adrenaline.

Chianti sunrise

Within the first 6km everyone climbed the candle-lit road up to Brolio Castle which is an enchanting experience in the early dawn. Grand vistas of Chianti region await at the top. Met several riders wearing Woolistic wool cycling jerseys on the first climb. One guy had already broken two spokes on the climb and was trying to get back to the start to repair it. Not sure what became of him.

first food stop

Rest stops were just a big o’ vintage bike/wool jersey party! Delisch Italian bite-sized food was spread out on long tables. Damn near wanted to roll around on that table it looked so good! Ha! When viewed from the side all you see are hands darting in and out grabbing food.  Unfortunately, we had been filming and shooting photos all morning and were too far behind our team to loiter.

Fix-a-flat gone wrong

After the second L’Eroica food stop the gravel roads turned nasty. We saw lots of wrecks and many mechanical failures. Too many think they can just grab some old bike that hasn’t been ridden in 30+ years and go. We saw forks break (face slide in the gravel-ouch), chains break, old tubulars explode, frame issues, derailleurs stuck, etc. Some riders were just out of their depth on the gravel, especially on the descents. Saw a few riders were using brakes in the deep gravel powder and riding stiff-armed on the drops. Some just wiped out.

Overall, L’Eroica is a great time.  Seeing all the like-minded folks, bicycle wool jerseys, vintage Italian bikes, beautiful Tuscan landscapes, and eating Italian cuisine for few days is worth it. Saw several customers wearing Woolistic jerseys from as far as Australia. Those guys were hardcore to make that trip!  Will post more photos and some good footage of L’Eroica soon.  Just wait until you see the new team jerseys that we debuted at the race!

tuscan golden light

si…ma dunque.