Cool Weather Riding Gear: Head and Hands

[HillSlugger]

I'm heading into my first Fall/Winter of biking and can definitely use some advice.

Head: what works best here? Do I want a helmet cover or some kind of close-fitting cap? Recommendations?

Hands: it looks to me like most of the winter gloves (and full fingered gloves) have very little padding in the palms. Why is this? Is there some sort of liner that might fit under my regular gloves, or over my regular gloves that would be grippy enough for shifting and braking without being too bulky?

Recommendations on jackets and tights would also be appreciated.

I'll probably try to keep biking while temperatures stay at least in the 40's. Hopefully I've got two good months left, providing I can assemble the right clothing.

Thanks, Nicole

[short cut sally]

MD, i use x-country ski gloves to ride in the winter, they are made by spyder, have some padding, and grippy's on palm and finger area. I use either ear band or the hood from my thermal cycling hoodie depending on temperature. Performance makes a tight called the Triflex. (Which i just received and they informed me that they no longer make them with chamois-I have last years model with chamois)..I asked about the mens line if they had chamois, nope. (i was transferred to dept to dept to have that answered, so maybe they do or they don't) The triflex is like a heavy rubbery type material that is like the best for cold, they are fuzzy inside. I have an lightweight obermeyer x-country ski jacket that i wear during the winter with above mentioned hoodie or the performance tundra jersey underneath. I am plenty warm with those 2 articles. Tried 3 layers but sweat wayyy toooo much. My average temp for riding with above menitioned clothing was 40 degrees to maybe 50. Oh, cant forget the wool socks either. I also have a pair of cycling tights that are fuzzy inside and have a nice chamois. Good luck and enjoy your cooler weather riding days, it's getting cooler here. Am breaking out the jackets and tights for my morning rides..it was a short summer it seemed.

[Squirrel 2]

I know Olney, Maryland, used to live there, many a year ago...

First, for your head, a cap that goes under your helmet works best. In fact, if you're not going to bike below 40, one of the fleecy headbands might be just fine.

Second, hands -- full-finger gloves & a pair of liners. They tend to be unpadded because by the time you add a liner, you have quite a bit of bulk already. Just make sure you have good wind-stopper type gloves that have something tacky on the palms & fingers so you can still use brakes & gear shifts.

Third, knees. As it starts to cool off, protect your knees. Either knee warmers or knickers are a good investment, and the fleeced ones will take you into the 40's. Tights would be the next step, either with a chamois, or without & using your cycling shorts underneath.

Fourth, feet. Wool socks. Depending how sensitive your feet are, either toe covers or whole shoe covers (called booties).

Jackets -- something with Gore wind stopper. And layer, get some base layers.

Have fun riding in the cooler weather!

[dups]

There are fleece and wool cycling caps at Walz Caps (http://www.walzcaps.com). No earflaps on them but might help under a helmet.

[Kano]

Thank you for this thread! I can readily say ME TOO!

I do want to offer a wee bit of information on gloves. I have a pair of full fingered gloves from Specialized. I didn't pay a lot for them, but I like them! I have a pair of fingerless ones that I like too, and these are pretty similar, though they actually do have less padding -- there are some very lightly padded areas on the fingerless ones, that aren't padded on the fingered gloves, but I don't miss the padding -- lots of nice grippiness too.

Karen in Boise

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I got the nice SmartWool merino wool helmet liner from TE:
http://www.teamestrogen.com/products.asp?pID=10364
Thin but warm (typical for Smartwool products). It covers my ears too.