Originally Posted by
MichaelW
2 x 5 miles is on the borderline for cycle-specific clothing. Personally, most of my cycle commuting clothes are general purpose hiking gear. My jacket is multi-activity so has a suitable cut and features. I managed for years quite comfortably with fairly low-priced gear. My luxury items are high quality merino wool T shirts.
Cycling waterproofs are never really breathable enough. You may be better off with a good windproof + a waterproof. I find that waterproof pants are essential in the winter, a cycling cut is good but the material doesnt have to be a high grade as a jacket.
The priorities for me would be:
Merino base layer
Good windproof and/or waterproof shell.
Footwear (lightweight, waterproof, not cycle specific)
Gloves.
Good full-length fenders on the bike are assumed.
Honestly, I was just going to say invest in a good jacket for wind/rain (not sure how we got on winter specifically, but I guess it's around the corner, thank God), but I really like Michael's list here. You can buy the Merino base layer first, and you can find deals on those all over. This is a pretty versatile piece and will work in temps from the 50's down into freezing. At that point, you can add your softshell jacket to block wind and rain for lower temps and showers. It's much more useful than buying one winter jacket that you will burn up in during the warmer months. This way you can stay warm in the winter with or without the jacket, and the wind/rain shell can be used in inclement weather any time of the season.