What do you wear for cold weather riding?

[trista]

What do you like to wear when the temperatures start to turn? Is there a minimum temp that you will ride in?

Do you have certain mental guidelines on what you will wear at certain temps? (for example at x degrees, you wear long sleeves, etc.)

What do you wear to cover your legs when needed - pants? tights? cycling pants? chamois shorts under tights?

[JennK13]

They make clothes for everything now, so as long as you're comfortable, you can ride.
I read that if the temp is below like 50 or 55 degrees your knees should be covered, that they dont take the cold well. I usually wear knickers anyhow (i have leg "issues" and wont go out with sausage legs!) and depending on how cold I feel, i may wear knee socks or throw on my long thermal riding pants.
I have a hard time keeping my hands warm at anytime, so finding gloves that work is step one, and making sure my hands are warm before I put them in is step two. I'll also use those little hand warmer things.
Cold is all about tolerance, and you have to be comfy. There is no special temp that tells me whether I ride or not. Snow on the ground? I'm driving! But only because it's dangerous conditions, not cold. Then again, I'm in Colorado - I LOVE the outdoors in winter!

[Becky]

There's a bunch of threads on this, under the Gear and Accessories and Apparel sub-forms, I believe, with tons of great advice about what to wear, when to wear it, not overdressing, etc.

For me, the key autumn pieces are lightweight long-finger gloves, arm warmers, knee warmers, and a lightweight vest. I'll start using some combination of the above once it's below about 65 degrees.

Mental guidelines: See above. Also, I'll cover my knees below ~65. I'll wear knickers when it's 45-65. Below 45, and I'm reaching for midweight tights and winter boots. I want sleeves of some kind below 65. I want my insulated jacket below 40. I have about 3 different pairs of winter gloves that are good at various temps. I have some ski stuff that does double duty as well- base layers, beanies, buffs, etc.

It's a really individual thing, depending on your personal thermostat. If you're just building up your cycling wardrobe, I'd start with good arm warmers, knee warmers, some long-finger lightweight -to-midweight gloves, and either a vest or a convertible jacket. You can add pieces as needed.

[PamNY]

For me, it was a matter of experimenting. I'm good down to about 20 windchill. There's lots of advice here that will help. Lots of people rely on wool -- I was skeptical at first but now am a convert. It's worth checking thrift shops for good merino sweaters and such.

Gloves are important.

[kcmpls]

I'm a pretty new cyclist, but my brother is a year round cyclist here in Minnesota, as are lots of others. It rarely gets too cold, but it often gets too dangerous for my brother, though others go on no matter what. I often see people, mostly guys, biking in what are essentially snowmobile suits. It keeps them warm on those cold, cold days.

[MomOnBike]

As the old saying goes, there is no such thing as bad weather - just inadequate clothing. I agree, sort of. Sometimes adequate clothing includes 4 walls and a roof. In the summer, I've yet to find clothing to make me comfortable. There is only so much a girl can take off, after all.

Personal tolerance is all. You need to experiment to discover where your limits lie.

[trista]

Very helpful, thank you!


There's a bunch of threads on this, under the Gear and Accessories and Apparel sub-forms, I believe, with tons of great advice about what to wear, when to wear it, not overdressing, etc.

For me, the key autumn pieces are lightweight long-finger gloves, arm warmers, knee warmers, and a lightweight vest. I'll start using some combination of the above once it's below about 65 degrees.

Mental guidelines: See above. Also, I'll cover my knees below ~65. I'll wear knickers when it's 45-65. Below 45, and I'm reaching for midweight tights and winter boots. I want sleeves of some kind below 65. I want my insulated jacket below 40. I have about 3 different pairs of winter gloves that are good at various temps. I have some ski stuff that does double duty as well- base layers, beanies, buffs, etc.

It's a really individual thing, depending on your personal thermostat. If you're just building up your cycling wardrobe, I'd start with good arm warmers, knee warmers, some long-finger lightweight -to-midweight gloves, and either a vest or a convertible jacket. You can add pieces as needed.

This is where I'm at - I've only just built up my summer wardrobe and haven't started a winter one; trying to figure out where to start. It was so easy when I was running - I knew exactly what I would wear just by looking at the thermometer. It's harder for me with the bike - there's a wind chill factor I'm not yet used to, so I'm trying to figure out where to start before it's suddenly cold and all I have is some running tights and long sleeve running jerseys.

I haven't ridden in anything below 59 yet. I'm a bit of a wuss.... here in Indiana, "cold" means (to me) something different than where I grew up in the pac-nw :)

[redrhodie]

Those running tights and long sleeve jerseys will be great. They key is layering. Running attire should be perfect for that, thin and lightweight make good layers. You don't need cycling specific stuff, but I do wear cycling jackets. If I could only buy one thing to get me through a winter of riding, that's what I'd get. I wear non-cycling gloves, base layers, and socks with great results.

I ride down to 25º, and I hate being cold more than anything. Once you get going, you warm up more than you think.

Also, try keeping a journal so you know that when it's x temp, and x wind, you wore x, and how you felt.

[gnat23]

Good starting point until you get your own preferences nailed:
http://www.bicycling.com/whattowear/1,,s1-1-663-0-0,00.html

-- gnat!

[nscrbug]

I will ride down to 30-32F, and only if the roads are clear and dry. I wear wool socks (DeFeet Blaze) and PI toe warmers on my feet; regular cycling shorts with long unpadded tights over them for my legs; a long-sleeved merino wool base layer with another long-sleeved layer (either Under Armour or heavier cycling jersey) on top of that, then a lighter windbreaker for my torso; a buff for my neck; and either a balacava or thinner fleece cap underneath my helmet. For gloves, I use Descente Wombat gloves. This set-up keeps me pretty comfortable in colder temps.

[Becky]

I would definitely use your longsleeve running tops and tights. They'll get you started, and you can figure out preferences from there. I actually prefer unpadded tights over shorts- it's just not practical for me to own 5 or 6 pairs of tights and it allows me more days between doing laundry.

My rule of thumb is to dress one layer lighter for running or mountain biking than I would for road cycling. For example, for cycling at 50 degrees, I'd be wearing knickers, long sleeves and a vest, along with lightweight long-finger gloves. For running, I'd wear shorts and long sleeves. The vest might come along if it was really windy. I kept a spreadsheet for a long time to figure all this out...

Sounds like you're off to a good start!

[Cataboo]

Given how hot it is outside, I can hardly even think about this thread.

But my favorite pieces for cycling - lots of which are just stuff I had for skiing or hiking that work. My problem with cold weather cycling is that it takes me longer to get warmed up, and then when I'm warmed up, I'm absolutely baking and strip down to shorts and short sleeves, and then I'm freezing if I stop moving. So I try not to stop moving, I try to use layers.

- ibex arm warmers & leg warmers.
- Ibex serrano jersey - thin, zip up wool - very warm for its weight, full zip so I can vent and it does let the wind through some which cools me down.
- mammut ultimate hoody - windproof softshell, lightweight, its pitzips basically unzip from your underarms down the entire sides of the jacket
- arc'teryx gamma sv vest - windproof vest.
- I usually have some sort of fleece or windproof neck gaiter that I can put over my face.
- full fingered gloves.

[Catrin]

I started learning how to ride last December. With warm knickers, leg warmers, a smart-wool base layer, jersey, jacket, warm gloves and wool socks was able to tolerate temps down to 27 or so (depending on the wind chill).

That being said, I WAS just learning how to ride so wasn't out there for all that long as far as time - so I will need to figure this out all again this year and get a full new set of winter gear as I can't fit any of that stuff from last year. Outside of the gloves :)

[XMcShiftersonX]

I'll ride outside as long as the ground is dry. Last year the coldest it got was low 30's. I only wore my craft all weather jacket and pants together along with a craft baklava, full fingered gloves, and shoe covers once when it was in the mid-30's and I actually was sweating. The rest of the winter I wore my Craft jacket with leg warmers (and a jersey and shorts), with shoes covers, full fingered gloves, and the Baklava until the weather got up to about 55 degrees, trading the Baklava in for a headband that covered my ears at about 45 degrees. I have yet to wear my craft long sleeve undershirt which is rated for like 25+ degrees, it just wasn't cold enough last year (I'm not complaining!). So, it's good I have room to add on more layers in case it gets colder, but that's not too likely for the Washington area:). It's trial and error though figuring out how much you do and don't need.

-Jessica

[blackhillsbiker]

I rode down to -20° last winter. Merino wool baselayer, really warm mittens, wool socks, wool sweater, insulated boots, down jacket (or down sweater and shell if above 0°), ski goggles, merino beanie under my helmet, merino buff, and plenty of kleenex in my pockets. I have studded snow tires. I found that I enjoy winter commuting more than summer commuting. Heat is more likely to make me wimp out than cold.

Deb

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Merino wool. It's not just for breakfast anymore.

[malkin]

Except for the laundry, I think cold weather (teens down to mid- single digits F) is easier than hot weather (triple digits F).