Cool Wings - product review

[Tri Girl]

I have mixed feelings about my cool wings.
The first time I wore them, my jersey (not new by any means) somehow bled onto the cool wings and stained them in a couple places on my back (have NO idea how/why that happened). I didn't wash the cool wings first, so maybe the newness of the fabric had something to do with it??? Who knows. Now they're mostly white with pink spots.
I still have to wear sunscreen underneath them. The first few times I wore them I didn't and still burned (I burn fairly easily, tho). I think when it's very warm outside (80-90's) they are cool and quite nice to wear. When it's blazing hot (100's) they are too hot for me. Even with pouring water on the arms to keep them cool, they are too hot for me when the temp gets near 100. I prefer to be sleeveless then.
Overall, I really like them. Don't wear them as much as I'd like because I don't have lots of sleeveless jerseys and don't like them paired with my short sleeve jerseys.

[OakLeaf]

Well, my arm coolers came today and they're too small.

I flexed my bicep as big as I could, measured the biggest part, subtracted an inch, ordered a small.

Which I'm a small or a medium in most athletic tops.

They're too snug all the way up. At least they fit uniformly. I hate things that are made for women without muscles - tops that you have to buy enormous if you want your biceps or delts to fit in, sleeves that fit the biceps but bind the forearms. They're made for someone with arms the shape of mine, for sure, but I definitely need a medium.

Oh well. I'll report back next week.

[Biciclista]

oh sorry oakleaf!!

what a bummer!

and Trigirl, that is BIZARRE! (i don't burn easily and i live in the rainforest)

[Biciclista]

today was a hot day- low 80s from noon on, (it's 83 now)
I wore my arm coolers today;

I was out in the sun from 11am until 5pm with those things on. The first hour was cycling, 1 hour of sitting around, and 3 hours of walking up and down hills on a street scramble. (Ah the hills of Seattle!)

I decided that by 5 that the sun would be cool enough to take them off - so I did. To my surprise, the sun felt so much hotter on my skin that I put them back on. They do really work!
I didn't have to put sunscreen on all day and I am not burnt. Of course it's only SPF 30 so if you're sensitive, you might still need sunscreen.

[witeowl]

I didn't have to put sunscreen on all day and I am not burnt. Of course it's only SPF 30 so if you're sensitive, you might still need sunscreen.

Doesn't the product description even say to wear sunscreen? If you have a thin jersey, you should wear it underneath, as well. Remember that a bad sunburn is not the worst thing you can get from too much sun exposure.

[evangundy]

So, just to confirm: You followed the directions that your upper arm would be 1-2 inches bigger than the listed dimension? I'm soooo wary. I mean, I'm an XL (or more) in everything, so I'm absolutely shocked to be told by their chart to get a medium. I mean... seriously?!?

The cool wings and arm coolers and leg coolers are unisex sizes - that's why you take a medium instead of an XL :-)

Edna

[Biciclista]

not everyone in every climate needs sunscreen. A little sun is good for you. I might have actually absorbed a little vitamin D yesterday!
I wonder about how many problems (osteoporosis, for one) that we have because we don't get enough sun.

[Reesha]

If I invest in these, I'll probably just get the arm coolers instead of the wings. I rarely go out in tank tops and sleeveless jerseys!

[Biciclista]

yeah, i don't own a sleeveless anything (oh, except vests)

I was surprised at how comfortable they were. I forgot they were on, and they never slipped (and i have skinny arms)

[witeowl]

not everyone in every climate needs sunscreen. A little sun is good for you. I might have actually absorbed a little vitamin D yesterday!
I wonder about how many problems (osteoporosis, for one) that we have because we don't get enough sun.

True on all counts; I stand corrected(ish). When people ask what I do for vitamin D since I don't drink milk (which doesn't have vitamin D naturally, it should be noted) or take vitamins, I always point to the sky. I suspect that the lack of vitamin D is actually coming from a life spent too much indoors or behind glass, rather than too many slatherings of sunscreen. I still wear sunscreen 90% of the time, even on cloudy days.

(Oh, but you don't absorb vitamin D; your body is able to generate its own vitamin D with sunlight.)

[OakLeaf]

I got the Medium arm coolers over a week ago, but it's been so chilly I hadn't had an opportunity to wear them. It's starting to warm up again, and I finally put them on on last night's ride, even though it was only about 79 degrees, just because I was dying to try them.

Then I wore them again on today's noonday run, right around 80 degrees and bright sunshine.

Functionally, they definitely keep my arms cool. I'm guessing the weave creates air flow, because they feel cool as soon as I put them on, even in the house. And although they were soaked with sweat by the end of my cool-down, they definitely seemed to soak through less quickly than anything else I was wearing - and I'm not sure, but I think as long as I was moving more quickly, they didn't soak through.

I'm not sure how much they actually do to keep my whole body cooler though, just because of the small amount of real estate they cover. It's hard to compare heart rates because we really haven't had much warm weather lately. Has anybody tried the base layer?

Fit-wise, the arm coolers fit a little oddly, but adequately. The fabric is not very stretchy. The odd part is that the gripper at the top is larger than the sleeve part. So they're snug around my biceps, snug around my forearms, but the gripper part flops around loose. Maybe I just need to re-develop my triceps? It wasn't an issue at all on the bike; and after I pulled them far enough up on my arms that my biceps secured them, it wasn't an issue running either; it's just kind of a strange fit. They didn't fall down. I'm still a little concerned that the grippers might chafe on a long run, but they were fine on my short run today.

[bmccasland]

To me an 80 degree ride would be a COOL ride, or a right-comfortable-ride. What I want to know is will they do me much good in a 95 degree ride with high humidity? I can see the logic of keeping the blaring sun off your skin, but I really don't want to be the experimental guinne pig for high temp high humidity.

I've been thinking the opposite direction, and wondering about the mesh jerseys that are in the Terry catalogue.

[Blueberry]

To me an 80 degree ride would be a COOL ride, or a right-comfortable-ride. What I want to know is will they do me much good in a 95 degree ride with high humidity? I can see the logic of keeping the blaring sun off your skin, but I really don't want to be the experimental guinne pig for high temp high humidity.

They did for me. The MS ride last year was about a 105 degree heat index (actual temp about 95). I don't know that I was cooler than others, but I certainly wasn't hotter. I rode the next day without them (since they could have walked on their own - they do tend to stink), and think I was hotter.

CA

[OakLeaf]

Yes, 80 degrees really wasn't the temperature I had in mind when I ordered these, it's just as warm as it's been lately. Not really being acclimated to the heat, it felt pretty warm. And as I said, I was sick of having the things sitting unused in my cycling pack!

[witeowl]

OK, I got mine, and I'm a bit disappointed. First, I listened to those who said that their cooler was too small, so I went ahead and listened to my gut and ordered a large (my measurements said a medium). They fit well.

93 degrees today, so it seemed a good time to try them. I put them on and instantly felt hotter; kind of stifling. I figured that maybe they'd work better when on the move. The stifling feeling stuck with me, even when coasting downhill. In fact, I was noticing that I could feel the breeze through my jersey better than through the coolers! Finally, I took them off and felt instantly cooler. Not a lot cooler, but enough. It was wonderful to feel the wind on my arms again.

Here's my hypothesis: I live in the desert. Any sweat on me is nearly instantly evaporated (well, until I really start sweating, of course), so my body can keep itself pretty cool despite the heat. (The benefit behind the old cliche of, "Yes, but it's a dry heat.) So, the way I figure it is this: In the low humidity, my body is better able to cool itself down. In higher humidity areas, the humidity is a detriment, and the arm coolers help overcome that problem. But here in the desert, they don't help at all. That's my hypothesis, anyway.

In any case, I'm stuck figuring out what to do with these things. TE doesn't give refunds for "useless in my region", so I wonder if De Soto would be willing to give a refund. I could hold on to them for any future trips to higher humidity areas... Oh well, live and learn.

Glad they work for the many of you who love them!