Originally Posted by
Sy Reene
I was always curious about vests... You hear from some that when it gets cooler, riders put on arm warmers. Yet the vest advocates are obviously inverting the part of the body they want to keep warm. I would think extremities need the insulation moreso than the trunk of the body, but curious to others' thoughts.
I always thought that vests weren't very useful, that if it's cold enough for a vest, I'd want arm coverings, too.
But vests are very good for those in-between temperature days. For low 50F to almost 60F, they are perfect for me. My arms would probably be quite damp from sweat with a jacket. And a partially unzipped vest is not too warm if the temperature goes up into the mid to upper 60s during the ride.
Paper vest
In the "old days", bike racers would grab a sheet of newspaper handed out at the top of the mountain, and tuck it under their jersey for the cold downhill.
I've done this, when the temperatures dropped more than I expected, with a sheet of one of those free newspapers. It works great.
To avoid the ink on the newspaper, I have some pieces of packing paper from work. It's the filler for UPS cartons, plain paper about as thick as newspaper. Plain wrapping paper works, too.
These are perfect for those rides that either start or end in colder temperatures. They don't take up much room in a jersey pocket if they are folded up. I can tolerate at least 10F colder temperatures with it.