Essential winter commuting clothing/gear

[betagirl]

oooo good thread! Considering I live in Chicago I'm going to do my best to commute through the winter. I may be involuntarily committed by my friends though.

[mimitabby]

wool!
I wear some older cashmere sweaters (no longer pretty) as teeshirts under other bike stuff. You can buy this stuff at goodwill or salvation army if you don't have any old sweaters of your own...

And of course I just bought the ibex wool knickers... and then i always wear wool sox, all year round. I also have a light wool pair of long johns...

Then... booties... these are nice... I wear them all winter.

Then there are these little cap things that fit nicely under your helmet..
they keep in heat like you wouldn't believe. I used to wear bulkier stuff
but this works just as well and fits better.

lastly, OVER your nice bike gloves get some of those really fluffy black gloves. They are made of fleece. until you warm up (if you do) they will save your hands from misery and numbness.

[mimitabby]

oh, one more thing; and this is the cardinal rule in Seattle, so it is good to know.
LAYER
LAYER
LAYER
LAYER

wear lots of layers, then you can take stuff off when it gets too warm..
stow in pack in back and when it gets cold again, you can put it back on..

[twin]

Wool worn in layers or wool and other types of fabric layered are a good winter combination. Rivendell has wool shirts for layering and others do also. When I had a 26 mile commute(total) I found with wool and a lightweight jacket was a pretty warm combo for the top and tights that have a double type fabric worn under jeans or by themselves seemed pretty good bottom layer. I also use sometimes winter bicycling boots and they are toasty and maybe a little to toasty. I wear a wool hat and sometimes a headband under the wool hat if it is really chilly. Enjoy your winter commutes.

[twin]

gloves and if it is colder worn under windbreaker gloves.

[postiechic]

Ear warmers... headband or beanie. My poor little ears were so windburnt and cold commuting in winter.

cold...in Brisbane?! c'monnnn......try moving south for the winter. Please don't tell me you'd wear earwarmers in 10C!!
ok...then how bout we swap..I'll move to Brissy and you give Melbourne a try

[light_sabe_r]

Please don't tell me you'd wear earwarmers in 10C!!
ok...then how bout we swap..I'll move to Brissy and you give Melbourne a try

I haven't yet but my ears were freezing. So yeah I'll give it a go. lol Better than a BEANIE right??

Trust me Postie... I'd rather not! lol It's not cold during the day but in the morning it's cold... Not as cold as there! GEEZ last time I went I caught a tram to bridge road... FREEZING, walked straight into a sass and bide discount outlet spent 200 bucks on shirts, woolen jumpers and work pants... then walked into the nearest loo and put them all on over the top of what I was already wearing. Nah thanks.

lol Like I said, Armies, Knee warmers and long fingered gloves for up here in the winter. And a headband. ^_^ That'll be my kit out next winter. Right now even though officially it's winter I'm kitted out in my sleeveless Jersey! God only knows what Summer's gonna be like 0_0

[crazycanuck]

*evil cackle* *evil cackle*

Heheehehehe....winter awaits you my pretties...hehehehehheeh

May the snow force be with you...

Light-what are you on about it being cold in brissie...It's not cold in aust...go to my hometown in Canada in the middle of winter & you'll understand cold. Or you could trade places with CWR...

summer awaits me...

c

[betagirl]

Heheehehehe....winter awaits you my pretties...hehehehehheeh

See that's not nice I noticed you're in western Australia. So, not knowing any other cities in western Australia I looked up average high's and lows in Perth.

According to weather.com, August is listed as the coldest month for Perth, January for Chicago.

Average August Hi/Lo in Perth: 64F/46F (18C/8C)
Average January Hi/Lo for Chicago: 31F/16F (-1C/-9C)

What's your hometown in Canada? I went to toronto in November once and about died. It was just a whole other level of cold.

Gee, who "wins" that competition? Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Ok, not thinking about it. It's still August.

[DebW]

Agree on the helmet cover over, liner under. Keeps head nice and warm.

For core, I usually wear a long sleeve wool jersey, a thin fleece vest, and a windproof jacket down to about freezing. The vest keeps your core warm, but lets you dump excess heat to the extremities when you start to overheat.

[chickwhorips]

Light-what are you on about it being cold in brissie...It's not cold in aust...go to my hometown in Canada in the middle of winter & you'll understand cold. Or you could trade places with CWR...

hey it doesn't get cold here, it just never warms up!

like everyone else (all year round) i layer. cold times i have the PI tights with the waterproof/windproof front and breathable back. very comfy here. top i have an REI light weight jacket that i can layer up thats windproof and waterproof. everything her has to be wind/water proof. even some of that stuff doesn't hold up in our weather, but it helps.