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.

[Sheesh]

I have recently started adding base layers to my wardrobe, because it's the first time I've tried biking in colder weather. I've found that running gear works really well and, if you can find it on clearance (which is pretty easy!), it can be less expensive than cycling apparel. I just bought a long sleeve Nike turtleneck running top at my local ****'s Sporting Goods for $10 (clearance!).

On the bottom, I've been wearing my shorts under a pair of Nike running pants (not as tight as tights, but looser than windpants). I'm watching the clearance racks to try and add more pants to the collection.

Good luck!

[songlady]

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.

Thanks for the suggestion, just ordered one. I love smartwool socks, figured they must good for the head too!

[DebW]

I use both a helmet cover and a thin helmet liner when it gets cold enough.

For the hands, I go from fingerless gloves to medium weight fleece gloves (not cycling specific) to lobster-claw windproof cycling mitts as the weather cools. In very cold weather, I add thin wool glove liners under the lobster-claw mitts.

For feet, I'll use windproof toe covers down to about 45 and then full-coverage neoprene booties over cycling shoes.

[8bit]

I'm a southern girl who is currently living in Boston, so I've spent a lot of time working on my winter gear to keep me in my balmy happy zone.

I wear a thin fleece cap which covers my ears under my helmet, and over it I wear a water-resistant helmet cover. The inch of air space between those is a good bit of insulation.

For gloves, I go from full-fingered thin cycling gloves to some softshell gloves made by Seirus which have rubberized parts on the palm and thumb/forefinger, perfect for resting on the hoods- I wear these the majority of the time in the winter and they still look brand new. If it's really wet or cold, I go for the big puffy gloves with waterproof shells, and am glad that my cheapo Sora shifters have a thumb-shift lever that's easy to use with sausage-sized cold fingers!

As for feet, I prefer MTB shoes with a recessed cleat so shoe-covers just don't work. I discovered that using an old set of stretched-out shoes with neoprene waterproof socks over my regular socks will keep me dry in the worst of times and don't leave my feet soggy on an extended tour when the shoes will always soak up water, even in the shoe covers. With the waterproof socks, my shoes can be sopping and my feet are at most a little clammy from perspiration.

[Lise]

I get so freaking hot when running, and so freaking frozen when riding in cold weather! For running, I start out with a headband that's wider at the ears, and thin tech-fabric gloves. No matter how cold it is, I usually end up taking off both headband and gloves for the last part of the run.

On the bike, it's an entirely different story. I wear the headband under my helmet, and can add a thin wool cap. I have tried various glove combinations. I have full-fingered biking gloves, but sometime even don't keep my fingers from turning into popsicles. I just ordered some SmartWool glove liners. I <heart> the SmartWool products! I think I'm going to ask my family for an all-SmartWool-Christmas this year!

[7rider]

I get so freaking hot when running, and so freaking frozen when riding in cold weather! For running, I start out with a headband that's wider at the ears, and thin tech-fabric gloves. No matter how cold it is, I usually end up taking off both headband and gloves for the last part of the run.

On the bike, it's an entirely different story. I wear the headband under my helmet, and can add a thin wool cap. I have tried various glove combinations. I have full-fingered biking gloves, but sometime even don't keep my fingers from turning into popsicles. I just ordered some SmartWool glove liners. I <heart> the SmartWool products! I think I'm going to ask my family for an all-SmartWool-Christmas this year!

I'm not a runner, but I think that's a function of speed and wind? Maybe? I dunno!
For the fingers/hands. One think I discovered when mountainbiking in the winter (which I did before I started also road riding in the winter) was that no matter what I wore, my hands would be achingly cold. They would HURT soooo much. I hated it. But one day, when out with friends, I had a "eureka" moment. If I just stuck with it, gritted my teeth and hung with it (and every so often shook out my hands), I reached this threshold where my hands were no longer really cold and achy. I don't know when or what it is..bu suddenly, they were fine. It was like my hands reached some equilibrium. Just getting to that point sux, tho!