As we always bring our Cube Electrical Mountain Bikes when we travel, summer or winter, we have been searching for a good bike cover for a long time. Wherever you go, without a cover the bicycles get dirty, the chain starts to rust and the general condition of the MTB deteriorates really fast.
This is certainly the case in winter conditions. Rain, snow and salt are truly ‘killers’. We tried several covers but they were just not good enough to protect our expensive MTB’s. Covers would flap and tear apart and the bottoms were mostly open so dirt and salt could still come in that way.
Velosock
We almost got to a point that we would make a closed cabinet on the bike rack, just to keep our MTB’s safe from the elements. Even when that would mean blocking our rear window. Luckily Amy found another solution: Velosock. These are bicycle covers that are specifically made for different kinds of bicycles and they fit like a glove.
We have chosen the fully waterproof covers and they are made from a very flexible fabric that wraps around the MTB. They have waterproof zippers on top, on both sides and at the bottom at the tires. This makes it easy to fasten a grip or a tension strap and also a lock, so our valuable MTB’s are safe as well. Velosock even supplies little socks that cover the pedals, so these will not tear the fabric of the Velosock.
It is a bit of work getting the MTB into the Velosock, but it gets easier over time. Practice makes perfect! We made a video on our Velosocks, see below.
Verdict after 8 months
We have been using the Velosocks full time for over 8 months now and we are very happy with them. They protect our MTB’s very well: they stay clean and dry, just what we wanted. Even with a thick cover of snow – melting snow – the MTB’s stay dry.
The tight fit makes sure that there is no wind flapping or tearing of the fabric. The zippers are really waterproof. No more rusty chains or a thick layer of salt on our MTB’s
The only down side is that the colours are not as crisp as when we got them. The sun and other elements made sure that they fade a little. This is not at all an issue for us, as long as the Velosock does its job.
The fully waterproof Velosock is quite expensive but so are our MTB’s. Replacing chains and other moving elements would be way more expensive in the long run. The Velosock is the perfect solution for us and very much worth the investment in our opinion.
