Essential winter commuting clothing/gear

[Triskeliongirl]

Aaah, but those of us riding in 100 degree weather NOW, have just our arm and leg warmers and wind vests to look forward to for the bulk of winter! But yes, wherever you live, layer, layer, layer. Over the years some of my favorite pieces I've collected include: arm warmers, leg warmers, ear warmers, glove liners (all drilyte type fabric), light wind vest, heavier weight wind vest, gore tex jacket with pit zips. I've used these pieces in various combinations touring all over the world. Breathable fabrics and ventilation is a MUST, as I find overheating can be just as big an issue as being cold. In the mountains of chiapis we would go from arm and leg warmers in the morning, to shorts and a short sleaved jersey by afternoon, to a goretex jacket by evening, over the course of single day! It can be expensive to put all this stuff together, but I did pick up a few nice pieces on ebay.

[Evie]

Do you wear anything over your face?
...I'm clinging to summer like all get-out.

[DebW]

Some people wear ski goggles to protect the eyes and face when it's very cold. I've never resorted to that personally. Balaclava covers the neck and part of the face.

[Bron]

A buff is quite good if you find a balaklava too heavy. I use mine to hide "hat hair" when I get off the bike too.

Now a question. How cold does it have to get before you stop commuting? I'm worrying about how I'll cope if there is ice on the road. The main worry is safety rather than getting cold.

Bron

[DebW]

Now a question. How cold does it have to get before you stop commuting? I'm worrying about how I'll cope if there is ice on the road. The main worry is safety rather than getting cold.

Bron

I do not ride my road bike if there is snow or ice on the road. Apparently some mountain bikers love that stuff, but being on skinny tires on ice or snow and sharing the road with cars just seems too hazardous to me. What I do is monitor the overnight temperature, and if it was below freezing and the roads are likely to have been wet, I will not ride. If it has been dry for several days then I will ride with the temperature below freezing. The conditions I tend to worry about most are spring days with daytime temps above freezing and nighttime temps below freezing and snowpiles on the sides of the roads - daytime melting means ice on roadways every morning.

[mimitabby]

I don't even drive my car to work if there's snow on the road! When we get snow it's a big holiday! why waste it going to work?!??!
okay, but if it sticks around for a couple days, i end up going in... sometimes coworkers have to come get me. I am afraid of all the other crazy drivers
who have never driven in snow before..
so no i would NEVER EVER ride a bike in snow or ice unless it was in the wilderness and i had no choice.

[short cut sally]

I don't commute, but i do ride in the winter on occasion of dry roads. I have a pair of the tights mentioned by nanci that are the wind proof/almost water proof tight. they remind me of something like a rubber material, but they work like a charm., and the backs of these tights are regular material so they vent okay. i also have a jacket that i bought on clearance from a sports shop, that is made from the same material as the front of the perfomance tights but the inside reminds me of long john type material. they said it was more for x-country skiing activity but it works perfect. i usually get by with a tundra jersey from performance or a hooded winter jersey from a LBS and this jacket. granted i ride in high 30degree range maybe 40's with these and do fine. i defintaly use the ear band wrap-a-mabobby thing if i don't wear the hooded jersey. gloves are going to be my next investment, using x-country ones now but not enough padding in those, sad to say it's august and i'm looking at the winter catalogs already. but i've gotten some ideas already from this thread, so thought i would share mine..