How cold is too cold?
 

I've been pretty tough in the past but yesterday my weather app said the real feel out was -8 and that ride kicked my butt. Today I'm regretfully not riding to work it's almost the same temperature out. I was thinking about making my limit of 15° or 20°.

So how cold is too cold or do you just ride every day no matter what?

The cold hasn't stopped me yet. I know I've ridden days where the wind chill was that cold or a bit colder here in IA.

If you dress up right, it's doable and enjoyable.

Personally not sure yet. A few other factors such as wind direction and speed and also road conditions. It was 19 this morning and actually warm by the time I got to work. Will have to add another layer below 15. I have a face mask that will come in handy below 0. I'm thinking -10 might be my limit but it rarely gets that cold here, occasionally the wind chill does get that low though.

Back in 2014, we had a morning with air temps around -25F (windchill was -40F) - I didn't ride that day because it was much colder than I'd ridden in before. However, 2013-2014 had 50 days with a sub-zero temp, I learned a lot that winter about the gear I need for cold riding. January 2015 we had a day with temps around -15F and I was all smiles (10 miles took about 1 hour):

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yE...=w1280-h720-no

For me, the big thing is moving to colder temps in increments to make sure I have the correct gear to stay warm and safe. At this point, I don't think Minneapolis can get too cold for me.

I have a 20 mile commute here in MA and I find that after 10 degrees the enjoyment stops mostly because I can't keep feet warm but thinking of getting winter riding shoes which may solve problem. Also at 58 the muscles take too long to warm up starting out at 5:15AM in the dark, sun helps a lot even at those temps.

I guess I'm a fair weather biker. If it's under 50 degrees I probably won't ride. When it gets below 45 degrees, my feet get much too cold and my nose becomes a non-stop faucet.

I have commuted my twelve mile round trip everyday regardless of temperature for the past ten years. The coldest I have experienced is probably -10F. I believe in wool and wear a lot of it. My biggest issue has always been my hands. The best that has worked for me is wool glove liners and lobster mits.

It's all about layers. My personal record is 9F...it typically doesn't get much colder here.

Get some good gloves and warm socks and don't be afraid to put on some ski goggles to protect your eyes.

In California for me, 34F is very cold with 4 layers on but I ride at 2-3am morning starts.

+ 1. It takes time to figure out the clothing you need in cold weather. Feet and hands are tough to keep warm but it can be done. Plus it can a lot of fun.

This is my bike after my last "ice" ride:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=495642

It has been many years since living on the east coast and then in the mid west when I rode in very cold weather, so now in Phoenix, AZ I am ok down to the occasional freezing mark. Anything colder and I am afraid slippers, a robe and a cup of coffee is the preferred activity.

After I got cold on a 7F commute, I bought some insulated wind pants. They're great below 20, but it hasn't gotten that cold since I bought the pants.

I have limited myself to 20F for commuting or errand running of distances over 3 miles. Because of a flat I had once late at night 5 miles from home, 15F and no one to call. I had a patch kit and a pump, but by the time I got it all together my hands were very near frostbit. I will admit to some rides in lower than 20F down to 0 but I make sure I have tubes and cartriges (a splurge for me, common to others).

So ride in whatever is comfortable, just have a plan for a cold weather flat because that plan may need to be different than your warm season flat kit.

In my car-less days of my 20s, I commuted 12 miles into Boston. One week I left the house at -5F every morning. Wasn't wearing any cycling clothes except perhaps shorts. Toeclips and LL Bean boots. Chopper mitts and liners. (I still use those for cold days. Very, very good riding gear as long as you ride a bike that can be operated with mittens.)

I rode a fix gear and recommend them highly for severe cold. Radically warmer going downhill. Any mittens work just fine. (Just stay away from slippery ones. Leather mitts can be treated with Snowseal and will be very grippy, allowing comfortable, secure handholds while keeping you hands relaxed, a plus for warmth.) Also ride cyclocross tires. They have two benefits re: warmth; reduced speed, hence less wind cooling and more work, hence more body heat. You also tend to crash less.

At 62, I am getting soft. And I get a lot colder now than i did when I was young. Probably circulation issues to my extremities and my engine isn't nearly what it once was.

Edit: just saw jd's post and remembered: sew-ups! Yup, I am serious. Cyclocross sew-ups. So when you have to change a tire, you just rip it off, stick on another and go. Less than 10 minutes, no brains required, no fine motor skills, no light required. (We are talking about winter, presumably pretty far north.) Get the tire on crooked? It doesn't care! And nobody's going to see it. Another plus - when you fall into that bottomless pothole - no flat and you can ride that wrecked rim home (and for the rest of the winter if you can stand the bumping!) This does assume you are riding aluminum sew-up rims, not carbon fiber. I can't speak for CF.

Ben

I think whenever you have windchills in the -20's (Celsius), it's too cold, though nowadays I don't do any more extra miles before getting to work, and so being out for 50-60 minutes in -20 might be tolerable.

A lot of it is having the right clothing and equipment. Some of it is psychological and I think part of it is what you're acclimated to. 70° can fill chilly to me during the summer. And then there's time and distance. What works for 30 minutes may not for 60.

I think -22 °F is the coldest I've ridden in, but I have clothing that will work in those temps. In any given winter I expect that there will be quite a few mornings with temps below zero. If it gets below zero where you live maybe once or twice a year (or less) then it doesn't make much sense to spend money on stuff that will allow you to ride in that weather.

Snow storms are the same thing. We might get one or two storms a year where the snow will pile up 5 inches or more between the times the plows will pass through. Those are the days I can't ride depending on how messed up the snow is. Maybe there's some combination of bike and tires out there that would let me ride faster than jogging in those conditions but I'm not willing to spend the money on them.

The right clothes and layers... reminds me that I took a picture of the clothes/layers I had for the -15F day in January:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/AH...=w1357-h763-no

It's amazing how comfortable 30°F can be once you get moving and build up some heat. The toughest part for me is getting out the door and on the bike. That said when it stats getting close to 20°F the mental hurdle becomes quite a bit more challenging. But in the winter the biggest detractor to riding outside for me anyway are the roads. Roads are salted heavily in my area and I don't want that crap all over my bike. And when the snow starts sticking and building up on shoulders safety is a big concern.

I draw the line when it takes longer to dress for my commute than the actual trip. :lol:

Seriously, I am a total fair-weather rider; no rain, no weather below say 60 degrees, no super windy days.

At 61 years old I think I'm entitled... :beer:

When the bike starts having problems is my immediate answer. I rely on a friction fluid drive, which is affected by temperature at the extremes - ones no one wants to be outside in in the first place- so i might notice it being harder to "go" when it drops way down, but not by much.

My personal limit is absolutely and solely determined by clothing and riding conditions. I'm not going to ride if it's well into the danger zone for exposed skin or eyes ie 0 degrees and 25 mph winds (my cruising speed is around 20, so that would be 55 mph relative air speed, the wind chill would be too low!). I might try and regret it, i can warm way way up when really pushing all the leg muscles, which can cause an over-heating which causes sweat which is very dangerous below zero. Then again, i could warm up and plateau and not sweat and be fine. Really depends how i'm feeling that day i suppose.

So in summary: not been cold out enough yet to stop me.

- Andy

I have commuted in temps at 15f degrees I do not mind the cold as long as I am dressed for it. I will stop along my commute if I get to cold, and go in a store to warm up for a few minutes.

Though last year I did get a flat tire on my way to work on a very cold morning(temp was about 20f degrees). I did not stop and change the flat as it was dark, and I was not taking off my gloves. I was very fortunate that I was about a mile away from work and could walk both me and my bike there.

Haven't reached my personal limit yet but i haven't tried to ride in Antarctica neither.

I'm a Spring through Fall Bike Commuter, with the occasional exception. (Last commute of 2015 was the first day of Winter.) I'm good down near freezing, generally, especially if that's the AM temp and it will be warmer in the PM.

That's a great point, mechanicals in the cold can be really bad. I've had a couple issues, like a flat on my new fat bike without a spare tube (dumb). I was about 6 miles from home and ended up calling the SAG wagon (Lisa really likes me). The other issue I remember was my freehub froze up on me at -10F, the pawls stuck in the grease and won't engage, I walked most of 3 miles back to my house... that was NOT fun at all.

i ride in the mid/high 30s, but not often. I just hate being cold. Give me a sweaty hot mess anyday, over being frigid.