Clothing for Boston Area Biking?

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tgrlily317

Hey there, I will be moving to Boston area for the next couple of years as a graduate student. I am planning to live approximately eight miles from my university and want to commute on a bike. I am planning to get a road bike, possibly with inverted tread tires.

My question involves clothing for bike rides. I currently live in California, where it is pretty much warm all the time, and a pair of long pants with a light wind-resistant jacket suffices even for the winter. I will be riding in Boston from August all the way through May, but I think I really just need advice for the winter.

So far I am thinking a balaclava and tight-fitting warm gloves under my fingerless ones, good waterproof shoes and possibly wool socks. What else should I plan on having? Thanks!

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late

You will want tires of a decent size. Personally, I wouldn't commute around Boston
on skinny tires. You should get fenders if you are going to ride in nasty weather.
Once snow is down, I'd use knobbies or spikes. Not too many skinny tire riders in snow. I've seen it done, but I wouldn't.

New England weather has an attitude. A 35F windswept rain is evil.. If you get wet you can slide into hypothermia in minutes.

So... you will want a bunch of cold weather clothes. If you have some old downhill ski gloves, they will work for winter riding. If they are waterproof, they will also be what you want for cold rain. If you don't, finding a cheap pair isn't hard.

I'd avoid cycling specific jackets for winter commuting. Too expensive. Hit Goodwill or Target and get a skiing jacket. When it's not super cold, layer.Use a baselayer, a sweater and a shell. You can find old school XC ski shells (nylon pullover, rugged but not waterproof. You can spray the chest and shoulders with waterproofing if you want)cheap in
Goodwill if you're lucky. It doesn't need to be goretex or anything. If you ride hard, a basic shell with layers will be all you need most days.

Now, a vest is super handy as a layer. I use mine a lot, and it's not expensive.
The only tricky part is that it runs quite small. Buy TWO sizes large. If you are tall, ask them to make it an inch or two long.
http://www.coldlizard.com/cgi/wc.dll?GEKKO~catalog~DETAIL~19

Cycling pants are good. There are different schools of thought on them. The old fashioned style are good. The new fancy ones are good, but expensive.

Booties are good, but a pain. A lot of people use a waterproof boot.

There are different options for headgear. A balaclava works, use a helmet cover.

Cold weather commuting is a real test of character. It's not usually too bad once you get out there. But getting up early and heading out into the cold and damp
takes guts.

buzzman

#1- You'll need rain gear. I use rain pants from REI and a thin nylon water "proof" jacket (with a hood)- I won't labor this thread with the multiplicity of choices here. Cheap ones can sometimes be almost as good as expensive ones- but not always.

#2- a balaclava is a must and will save you midwinter. I have a few and carry a spare mid-winter in case I forget one or it's so cold and windy I need to double it!:eek: Get the kind that can at least cover up to just below your nose. This under the hood of your rain jacket is downright tropical.

#3- Waterproof shoe covers. The neoprene ones from Performance Bike are what I am currently using and they're great. Sock and shoe choices are essential so pick carefully- cold wet feet suck.

#4- Mid-winter I use a 3- layer glove mitten combo. Closest to my hands are thin black inner gloves. If it came to it I could pretty much change a tube with these on if I had to in sub-zero weather. Next layer are "glittens"- a fingerless glove with a mitten "flap" that turns them into a mitten when I want or a fingerless glove when I want that. Then, if it's really cold and precipitating, I use my Gore-tex mitten covers. A thin water proof shell that fits over the "glitten". Just like cold feet cold hands suck.

#5. For the torso. Layers, layers, layers... closest to the body a wicking tee shirt, then a long sleeve wicking shirt, if it's really cold a polar-tec jersey over that and if it's really, really cold a close fitting vest over that and if it's downright expedition quality weather the water proof nylon shell over everything. That combo is good for me down to 0 degrees fahrenheit with wind especially with a double layer of balaclava.

#6- On the legs. cycling tights under a pair of jeans with the rain pants over them both if it's bitterly cold, rainy/snowy and windy.

The suggestion of studded snow tires is a really good one. I am an all winter commuter and couldn't do it without them.

Keep in mind that when the winter weather starts to get intense it is important to take it seriously in terms of being prepared. I've headed home into conditions that can literally be like an arctic expedition. Winds of 40 mph in the face with temperatures below 0 F and a steady snow coming down. It's 10.5 miles, nothing on a warm spring day, but under those conditions along the bike path and the river covered with ice and in the dark it can get a bit intimidating but absolutely exhilarating- I wouldn't trade those rides for anything.

dr_bovine

I echo most everything suggested above. I have a whole set of gear that gets added or subtracted depending on the conditions of the day. Given the fickle nature of the weather in the NE, you need to be able to adapt to a wide range of conditons (from wet to cold to cold/wet to freezing rain to snow to wind to just plain old arctic cold), even within the same day. It took me a while to find the right set of clothes for the different conditions, but now I'm pretty happy with what I have. Most bike-specific stuff is way too expensive and isn't any better (and often worse) than cheaper alternatives. I only own two cycling specific articles of clothing: 1) thermal tights, which I wear whenever the temp is below 60F (keep those knees warm!), and 2) an under-helmet skull cap. Everything else is cobbled together from old clothes or stuff from the army-navy surplus. As mentioned above, layers-layers-layers. It is important to note that it is very easy to overdress for winter riding because those unfamiliar with riding in the cold underestimate just how much heat they produce while riding (of course, this depends on how hard you ride). If you are warm and toasty at the beginning of your ride, you are wearing too much (you should always be a bit cold at first). As for what I actually wear, I always wear an old soccer warmup windbreaker (that is also "waterproof") and underneath I wear a base layer, which serves me just fine down to 10-20F (below that I'll add another base layer). Over the tights I wear a pair of heavy duty BDUs when the weather isn't really wet, or the matching pair of warmup pants ("waterproof" and windbreaking) when it is wet. For my hands, I wear ski gloves. For my head, I wear the skull cap. When it gets colder I add one of those tubular fleece neck warmers and when it gets really cold I add a balaclava. A pair of goggles to keep the wind out of your eyes really helps on those biting cold days. On my feet I just wear a pair of old adidas shoes (they have a rubber toe so it helps keep the wind and water out) and wool socks). I've never needed any other fancy footwear because my fenders do a good enough job of keeping the tire spray off of me ... which leads me to my bike ...

Fenders are crucial if you want to stay dry(ish) and keep the crap off of your bike. The crap on the roads in the winter (read: salt and sand) will wreak havoc on your drive train. Before I switched to SS, my derailleurs got trashed from all of the salt and grit that got in there (and this was with fenders). As for tires, I don't switch tires in the winter (I ride 700x28) and I haven't had a problem. There are usually only 1-2 days each winter where I have felt the road conditions to be particularly unsafe due to the weather. Usually, the big streets in Boston that I ride are reasonably clear the day after a big snow storm. I've considered getting studded or spiked tires for those days when it is really bad, but I haven't been able to justify the expense for the few times I would really want them.

Winter riding is definitely a test of will, especially in the streets of Boston, where fair weather riding is test of will all by itself. And you'll probably be labeled the "crazy winter biker", but I find it gratifying when my labmates ask "you didn't bike today, did you?" to which I always reply "I sure did" and they look at me with varying degrees of shock and confusion.

spokenword

just to add my $.02 ... I actually go with a lot of cycling specific clothing when I commute in the winter. My standard cold weather kit is

-- Ibex midweight wool cycling jersey
-- Showers Pass Century rain jacket
-- Pearl Izumi AmFib lobster claw gloves
-- Pearl Izumi Fleece Tights
-- Balaclava
-- neoprene booties
-- standard SPD shoes
-- Smartwool socks layered over standard cycling socks

and this has been good for an all year, every-day 14 mile one-way, sleet, snow or shine winter commute. The torso layer does seem a little light, but as others have indicated, you should feel a little chilly on the bike and expect to warm up as you pedal. If your commute is intensely urban, with a lot of stop and go, you might want to consider adding another insulating layer, but for me this has been fine. It's also important to remember that most of your heat escapes through your extremities, so if you have to focus your insulation, focus on your head, feet and hands.

I also second the desirability of fenders. For true drivetrain protection, you also should have a mudflap on the front fender (though this will not protect from roadspray generated by passing cars or buses).

Also, if you have rim brakes, expect to replace your pads every 3 months. Expect your rims to age twice as quickly due to being ground down by salt and grit applied through your brakes.

tgrlily317

buzzman

Thanks you guys for all the awesome ideas! I have a pretty solid idea of what kinds of things will work for me. I sense that even on the days I may choose to walk to school instead of bike, I'll be wanting a lot of these things just to keep warm.

Where do you guys go to buy this stuff around Boston? I know there is an REI in town that I'll probably want to hit up, but I don't know if you all generally find that more or less expensive than smaller stores, or bigger company sports retailers, or if you just go with finding stuff online...?

Thanks again for all the great advice.

if you're the outdoorsy type in general then it's always worth it, IMO, to join REI and wander the aisles of the store near Fenway- downstairs are some bargains- often of stuff that's off season. So now might be the time to grab some cheap winter wear.

But even stores like Big Lots will have reduced prices on ski tights and rain pants and other stuff. Once you get an idea of what you want and what will work for you you can bargain shop to your hearts content at places like Marshall's or other outlet stores- even Wal-Mart.

But REI is the place to go if you want to save time and buy guaranteed good quality stuff- and they have a good return policy if you're unhappy.

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