Cool Weather Clothes

[ny biker]

This is also my first year of riding and was wondering the same thing. Thanks for all the info here. I live in Florida so it doesn't get THAT cold. But even though I am originally from Canada my blood has thinned and 50 is cold to me now. I'd like to understand a couple of things better. 1. Tights - do you have cycling tights? It seems like I'm reading cycling shorts underneath and regular tights on top. Doesn't that get bulky? 2. How do you handle rides that start out cold and then warm up? What do you do with those layers? 3. Tell me more about knickers, leg warmers, long socks etc. I see comments relating to all of these but what combos do you use? Dumb it down please, all the lingo is new to me.

Tights are long and they cover you down to your ankles. Knickers/capris/pedal pushers cover your knees but leave your shins/calves exposed. Some tights and knickers come with a chamois sewn into them, but many have no chamois and are designed to be worn over a pair of cycling shorts. Leg and knee warmers (and arm warmers) are basically extensions. They overlap with your shorts (or short sleeve jersey) a bit and provide added coverage.

I find the combination of tights/knickers over shorts to be a bit uncomfortable when I first put them on, but I get used to it quickly and am fine while I'm riding. If it's really cold, the shorts add an extra layer to help keep you warm.

One issue I sometimes have with leg warmers is that they keep my legs nice and warm, but the tops of my legs that are only covered by my shorts get cold. Other days, I'm perfectly comfortable with shorts and leg warmers. It varies a lot with the weather. And of course it varies by person.

To carry layers that you remove mid-ride (or bring with you at the start to add mid-ride if temps are dropping), you can use your jersey pockets for smaller items or items that scrunch down well. For larger items, you need some kind of bag. It could be something that you wear, like a Camelback/backpack/fanny pack, or it could be a bag on your bike. I have a small handlebar bag that I can use for extra layers. For arm and leg/knee wamers, some people just leave them on, scrunching them down around their ankles/wrists after them warm up.

As for combinations, it depends on what you need to be comfortable in the current conditions. Tomorrow I think I might try a combination that is probably a bit unusual, since I think it will start out cold, in the 40s, but warm up to near or above 60 by the end of the ride. I don't think it will ever be warm enough (for me) to wear shorts by themselves. At the start I think I will need to completely cover my legs with no exposed skin, but by later in the day I think full tights will be too much.

So I'm thinking about wearing a pair of wool knickers that I bought recently. It came with a chamois, but I didn't like the chamois so I removed it. I'm going to wear them over a pair of bike shorts. That will cover my legs to about 3 inches below my knee. I think I will also wear some wool leg warmers over the knickers, covering from just above my knees to my ankles. As I warm up, I will have a couple of options -- take off the leg warmers and finish the ride with just the knickers over the shorts, or remove the knickers and and keep the leg warmers on with my shorts.

If I had wool socks that were tall enough to cover all the way up to the bottoms of the knickers, I would just go with the knickers over the shorts and the tall socks. Then I could just push the socks down if I get too warm. But I don't have socks that come up high enough for that.

Now, everyone is different, and what matters is what works for you. Other people's outfits can be a guideline or starting point, but they may really have no idea what they need to wear to be comfortable. I have learned the hard way that if my legs are cold, my feet will be cold, regardless of what I'm wearing on my feet. That's why I'm trying to figure out how to completely cover my legs at the start of my ride tomorrow. However I have a friend whose legs apparently never get cold. On days when I was comfortable in full tights, she wore shorts with tall socks and was perfectly content. Another friend has learned that he really needs to overdress at ride start, or else he will never warm up as he rides. So he puts on lots of layers and stops periodically to remove them, and he stores them all in a big handlebar bag. He also has a variety of layers that he has accumulated over the years -- thin tights for cool weather, thick tights for colder days, etc. I've done rides with him where I was comfortable with shorts and leg warmers the whole day, while he started with thin tights over his shorts and then took the tights off during the ride.