Drying Road Shoes
 

I got caught out in a downpour today and my shoes are now soaked. I’d like to ride again tomorrow morning but the shoes will not air dry in time. Has anyone ever dried their road shoes in a food dehydrator? The time and temp can be controlled so I am thinking of giving it a try.

Put newspapers in them.

Newspapers work or a fan will help.

A dehydrator might damage the leather.

Not the reply you are looking for, but I have three pairs of cycling shoes (all SPDs) one of which is for the MTB...I always have a dry set to ware. In engineering it's called redundancy system design...duplication of critical components or functions of a system...Just a thought... :)

Same with my hiking boots. They too take an epoch to dry...

Been there. Pack them with newspaper. Put a fan on then too. Then change the paper every few hours. They still may be a little damp the next day.

Dessicant Metal canisters placed down in the shoes. I use them in my firearms storage.

I'll third or fourth the newspaper recommendation, but I'll add that you should take the insoles out to dry separately before stuffing them; shouldn't be a problem for tomorrow morning (but, FYI, you want to do this with wet shoes even if you're not riding the next day or they could get moldy-funky).

Are you married? Do you still want to be tomorrow?

Newspaper and then HTFU as they'll be a little damp when you put them on but will dry soon enough while riding.

I just discovered that it is very difficult to find a newspaper for sale these days. I stuffed them with the WSJ.

I do live alone and my dehydrator is meant solely for drying 3D printing filament so no worries there. That will be my backup.

I'd just check them before you go to bed. Once the WSJ does the bulk of the work, you can probably pull the paper out, splay the tongue out as much as possible and put the shoes in front of a fan, oriented so that the fan is blowing in to the shoes. Unless it's really humid, that should take care of it.

Thanks everybody!

Last winter on a whim I purchased a boot dryer keep both my XC ski boots and my winter riding boots dry. I got it primarily because the ski boots weren't drying overnight and were starting to stink. Turned out to be one of the most useful pieces of gear I purchased in quite a while. It is in almost daily use in the winter, either drying my ski boots & gloves, or my wife's boots, hats, & gloves after school, or my son's work boots, gloves/mittens, & hat (he works outdoors.) It in such heavy use I"m thinking of getting a second one with a deodorize in it. I've used it a few times to dry my cycling shoes after getting caught in the rain, and it works great. It drys the shoes in about 3 hours with only the fan, would have been faster if I used the heater. Be careful using any heat to dry the shoes. Too much heat or heat for too long will age the shoe material.

One hint whether using a boot dryer or a fan, open the shoes up as much as much as possible and remove the insoles and any fit wedges from the inside of the shoes. It helps dry them much faster.

No heat. Even low heat from a food dehydrator can damage some materials.

I use a whole room air filter for drying shoes and other stuff that gets wet from sweat or rain (including wallet, pocket knife, phone, etc.). Just set the shoes on top. Even stuff on the floor in front of the intake gets dry from the airflow. Works great, no worries about heat or over-drying.

If the stuff is dripping wet from rain I'll set the stuff on a laundry basket in a sink or tub with a fan aimed at them. The stuff will dry overnight.

PEET'S shoe dryer FTW.

Any sopping shoes or boots will be dry in the morning, and warm when you put them on.

I run mine all winter- about like a 20w light bulb.

Stick them in front of a box fan. They’ll be dry in an hour or two tops.

Pull the insoles out and then lay the shoes on their sides in front of the fan grate at the bottom of your kitchen refrigerator. Perfect amount of warm/dry/circulation. Can’t beat it.