Quote Originally Posted by surgtech1956 View Post
I'm a newbie, just starting out, I live in Michigan. What type of clothing should I be wearing when temperatures are in the 40s? Right now I don't have any cycling clothing, just sweats, nylon warm up pants, some fleece shirts, jackets. What should I be purchasing first? Thank you
If Spring is almost there in Michigan...you may not need to buy a lot of cool weather gear until Fall. ONce you warm up on the bike,it doesn't take much to keep warm in the 40's. If you plan on rides of more than 10 miles, you might want to get some shorts or knickers/capris with chamois pads. TE has a great selection, plus they always have sale items. Click on the "Click to Shop" link at the top of this page.
You can wear knickers for both Spring and Fall, so they are versatile. You may need chamois shorts for the hot summer. You can also get non-chamois pair of tights to wear over the chamois shorts in the 40's.
You might want to buy one longsleeve lightweight merino wool crew neck base layer shirt from TE or Smartwool. That will keep you nice and warm in the 40's under any other sweatshirt or jacket you might wear. 100% wool also won't smell when you sweat like polyester jerseys do. The new micro weight merino products are pretty soft and thin and non-itchy against the skin. Snuggly!
Windbreakers and/or wind/rain jackets are a good thing. A windbreaker will pack light and keep you warm in the wind you create while riding.
You need a helmet of course.
Fingerless biking gloves are comfy if you do longer rides, but are not essential.
If your hands are cold, get some long fingered bike gloves, or even any heavy glove with a leather palm on the outside to grip the handlebars.

Nothing is really cheap, so just try to buy a little at a time and build up your biking wardrobe slowly if you need to.