I wear many layers of normal clothes to keep warm when it's cold. However, after 8 miles of riding, my undershirt is all wet by sweat. Are there warm clothes that cause little or no sweat?

If you wear sufficient clothes to be warm when you start it's very difficult not to sweat once you start riding at a decent pace as the body is not very efficient and for every watt of power applied to the pedals 3 watts will be generated by your body as excess heat.

Best to start off a little cold and plan on getting comfortable after 10 min or so. Wear tight non wind proof layers to allow the sweat to be wicked away from your body and evaporated. You'll still sweat but your clothes should stay dryer.

Try a Pearl Izumi Transfer baselayer shirt or comparable undershirt. I was skeptical about the claims for magical poly fabrics and was on the verge of ponying up for a merino wool jersey like I used to wear (I was tired of the clammy cotton t-shirts -- not bad in summer, but chilly and uncomfortable in cool/cold weather). But Nashbar had the Pearl Izumi on sale and I was already ordering a couple other things so I gave it a try. If you shop around carefully you may find a new-in-box old stock Pearl Izumi shirt heavily discounted -- mine is dated 2011. Supposedly they upgraded the material last year, but I'm satisfied with it as-is.

Over the past week I've ridden four or five times on days ranging from 40s to 70s, under a longsleeve cotton/poly jersey, a Shimano Storm Jacket (not very breathable), and just under a cotton t-shirt for walks outside at night in the 30s.

It works just as claimed. It's remarkably warm compared with snug fitting cotton. Yet it doesn't retain sweat and feel clammy, then chilly. On the cooler day when I wore the Pearl Izumi baselayer under a cotton longsleeved sweater and the Shimano jacket, after a 20+ mile ride with temps in the 50s the cotton sweater felt damp but the Pearl Izumi shirt was nearly dry and I didn't feel chilled.

This afternoon was warm enough, up to 70, for a ride with the PI baselayer under a very thin Garneau short sleeve jersey. No sweat, literally.

This magical poly/"minerale" stuff really is as good as claimed. I probably won't bother with merino wool again, although I have a nostalgic soft spot for the stuff.

I almost always sweat even when it's really cold. However, I sweat less if I dress so that I'm chilly during the first 5-10 minutes of riding. It also helps to wear a jacket that ventilates well. My Showers Pass Elite rain jacket is my primary winter jacket, even when there is no rain in the forecast, because it is so breathable and ventilated. I usually wear a single, long-sleeve base layer under the jacket -- with varying thicknesses depending on the temperatures. On typical winter days with temperatures ranging from mid-20s to the 50s, I wear a Craft active base layer. On colder days with morning temps in the teens to low-20s, I wear an Under Armor fleece base layer and sometimes a jersey as well. On days with temps ranging from the 40s to 60s, I wear a thin poly wicking base layer.

All of my winter jackets have pit zips that increase ventilation, and I always keep them open, even on the coldest days. I usually open the zippers at necks of jackets after I've warmed up while riding. My Showers Pass jackets also have cuffs that can be opened wider to allow ventilation on my arms. In addition to the SP Elite jacket, I have a SP Skyline jacket that has excellent ventilation altho not quite as much as the Elite. I also have a Gore Phantom jacket that has decent ventilation altho not as much as either SP jacket.

Right now you can find Giro wool t-shirts for $12 on steepandcheap.com that should make for good base layers.

Sorry, they're all gone (though they still have some nice jackets and wool tights).

If you're wearing so much that you're drenched in sweat, you're wearing too much. Start by reducing the number and heaviness of your layers. No matter what you layer with, if you have too many of them you'll sweat through.

As [MENTION=127275]gregf83[/MENTION] and [MENTION=86492]tarwheel[/MENTION] said above, a good rule of thumb is to dress a little on the cool side, then let the exercise of cycling warm you up to a comfortable level. If you start out already warm, you'll be drenched in no time. For me, I'll feel cold at five minutes, feel like I'm warming up at ten, and by 15 or 20 I'm unzipping things. That's just about right.

Part of it is the psychological factor. We have a knee-jerk reaction that makes us want to keep every last square millimeter warm when we first step outside. Responding to this knee-jerk reaction gets you exactly where you are--drenched in sweat after only a few miles. So it's training your mind just as much as it is what to wear.

I'll be leaving for work in about an hour. Right now it's 10F and I'll have headwinds of 20-25 MPH. The winds tell me I'll be working harder than usual, and thus, making more heat than usual. Due to the cold itself, I need to be extra careful about getting sweaty. Sweaty is the first step towards hypothermia in weather like this.

I've already laid out my clothes. On top, I'll be wearing a wicking long-sleeve t-shirt and an ordinary cotton long-sleeve t-shirt over that. Then my Endura Gridlock cycling jacket. I've never closed the pit-zips on the jacket. I always need some level of ventilation to let steamy air out.

On bottom, ordinary bike shorts, knee warmers, and Pearl Izumi AmFib winter cycling bib tights.

On the feet, ordinary sweat socks and Lake winter cycling boots. Hands, snowboarding mittens. Head, the winter liner is in my helmet and I"ll wear a balaclava.

Ten years of experience and getting it wrong along the way tells me this will be just about right FOR ME AND HOW I CYCLE. It's not a recommendation for anyone else.

The point is, that yes, I'll be cold for the first five minutes. I can tell you right now that despite my experience and confidence that I've chosen the right clothes for today, I'll be doubting myself between one and two miles from home. Experience also tells me to ignore those doubts for another five minutes. But I'll still have those doubts.

At about three miles, I'll start to feel warm. A mile later, I'll be wondering why I felt cold in the first place. I'll probably arrive at work with the front zipper of the coat undone a couple of inches. That particular spot on the chest will feel a little cold, but the rest of me will be nice and toasty. I'll be so warm it'll be a race to get out of those clothes.

So start by wearing fewer layers. Let yourself feel cool for the first five to ten minutes. (I won't say miles because I don't know how fast you go. It seems like time is the better indicator than distance.) At ten minutes, you should be just beginning to feel warm. If you're still cold, maybe you needed one more layer somewhere. If you're already warm you probably have one too many layers. Between 15 and 20 minutes (I'm guessing about halfway to work for you?) you'll feel perfectly comfortable.

Those should be your goals. Personal experimentation will be the only way to figure out how to manage things so you hit those milestones.

Wicking treated Polyesters pull moisture to their surface , Like Patagonia Capilene® & Polartec Fleeces ..

but wearing a wind blocking outer layer it wont evaporate to the air sothe outer most layer under the shell will be wet


I have removed my fleece layer Flung it against a hand rail , shaking off the moisture , then Put it back on , much Drier.

Of course if you ride slow enough you will sweat less ..

Rule #1 - dress in synthetic layers, or wool.

Rule #2 - if you are warm starting out, then you are wrong.

You should be cold until you get your heart rate up. It sucks, but otherwise you will, as you have experienced, end up sweaty in cold weather which is potentially dangerous. You are trapping too much body heat with what you are wearing, so I would advise on the cheapest option which is cut half of those layers out. I wear one wind semi-permeable synthetic layer down to 30f and two layers including a wool blend and windbreaker below that. If it is bitterly cold, near or below 0 with winds, or if my route is covered in snow/ice which means I have to ride slower than usual, then I throw on an extra synthetic layer.

I've been surprised how well a surplus Navy peajacket works for cycling. Nice and warm when stopped, but enough air flow through the material when moving to not overheat or build up sweat.

I still have my Navy pea coat, heavy wool, from the 1970s (the only uniform item I kept, tho' I wish I'd kept my deck shoes too). That's when I learned the advantages to wool in varying temps ranging from chilly mornings to coolish-almost-warm afternoons, including when soaking wet. So I got the merino wool shorts and jersey, which were comfortable year 'round, even when caught in chilly rain.

I weighed around 145 lbs then, 165 lbs now, and the 40R fit is a bit too snug now for bicycling. But it's a good looking coat.

I prefer my Columbia Gore-Tex/Thinsulate parka for cold weather two-wheeled jaunts, including motorcycles. It's lighter, about as comfortable as the pea coat, fits better in my trunk bag, and has plenty of adjustments for air flow and cooling. I got a Shimano Storm Jacket recently which is very good, but we haven't had any rain yet to test it out.

Personally I'm not comfortable with the "start cool, let exercise warm you up" method, although it works for some folks. I experience an odd quirky circulatory problem in winter that's similar to a mild case of Raynaud's Phenomenon. Even if the inside temperature is 70F, my body seems to know the outside temp is cold and my fingers and toes tend to lose circulation and feel numb. If I go outside without being warmed up it gets worse, and I've experienced numb or painful tingling in my hands and feet even when the outside temp is between 30-40F. So when I head out I prefer to start warm, then unzip, unbutton, etc., to cool down as my circulation improves. If I start out warm, I stay warm and feel comfortable down into the 20s.

But there's no single method that's right for everyone, so the trick is to find what works for you and do that. Same with controlling perspiration.

Good night...you wear that thing while cycling? I gave mine to my dad after leaving the Navy, but wore it plenty and can't imagine huffing that thing on a bike.

I have Reynaud's (primary type).

I was diagnosed back in the 80s, before anecdotal evidence was an accepted method of diagnosis. In order to confirm diagnosis by anecdote, I had to have the formal testing. This involves ten tiny finger-sized blood-pressure cuffs and immersion of the hands in a bath of ice and alcohol. It remains the single most unpleasant experience of my life.

I was prescribed nifedipine (Adalat, Procardia) and was on it for decades. I had to quit caffeine, and had a very hard time quitting nicotine. Both are vasoconstrictors. I still keep gloves on top of the fridge for when I have to get things out of the freezer.

I know exactly what you mean about the body seeming to react to outdoor conditions even when indoors. Right now it's 15 outside, the thermometer on my desk reads 76, I can touch the radiator (which runs under old-school steam—none of that hot water nonsense) without leaving my chair. And I'm cold while wearing a sweatsuit and two pairs of socks. (Many days I wear less on the bike than I do indoors.)

I don't offer my experience with dressing for cycling in the cold (above) as universal. But now that you know I also have Reynaud's you'll understand why that five-minute barrier is so hard for me to get past. My hands aren't just cold at that point, but blue and painful.

And yet, by the ten-minute mark, blood is flowing through them again, they've become warm and pink.

I agree that there's no single method that works for everyone. If haven't at least tried the start-cold-and-let-the-exercise-warm-you method because of the fear of cold that Reynaud's induces, see if you can get by it and try anyway. You may be as completely amazed as I was.

The snow stopped overnight although it remains cold. It's supposed to drop to single-digits and below for the weekend. Time now for weekly errands—banking and grocery shopping. By bike.

I like wool base layers, wool sweaters of different weights and then usually a wind layer. Start there.

If you really hate being bold for that first 5-10 minutes, I've talked to people who say they do 5 minutes of jumping jacks (or something else) indoors before heading out. It gets the blood flowing and the body warmed up before being outside. Once outside your body stays that warm because you're working biking.

If you're really really ambitious you could do the Limber 11 before heading out, that would get you warm and increase your flexibility.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSSDLDhbacc

As the saying goes, "Dress for the second mile."

If you have layers remove them as you warm up until you are at a comfortable level...

18-20 minutes is my magic number whether cross country skiing, cycling, running etc.

If I'm comfortable at that point in time, I wore the right amount of clothing.

The challenge is fighting the initial chill and to keep moving until that magic time hits.

As others have said: wool or polypro baselayers and if you're not cold for the first 10 minutes, you're overdressed.

Sometimes, when it's below freezing it works great. I'm not a sport cyclist, but rather a utility, and recreational cyclist mostly riding upright bikes so that may make a difference.

There's so many rules/principles for active layering that it's difficult to cover in a post.

My short answer to the original question is Polartec Powerdry. It's the basis for Capilene, REI's baselayers, LL Bean, etc.. as well as some armed forces surplus. I usually wear a silkweight tank layer beneath it to keep the layers sliding as opposed to chafing (nipples)

Another best practice is to dress your core, first and foremost. The difference in insulation between my core and my limbs is usually pretty drastic on a cold day.

Alpaca wool is the warmest ... It's 3 times as warm as sheeps wool, soft as cashmere, and more durable than merino ....

get a t-shirt and socks .... a good scarf and beanie hat also helps

I am another who does not care for the "start too cool" approach. 1) my knees and other old injuries don't like it and it is setting me up to aggravating those issues the whole ride and later and 2) if I have to stop (for a flat say) it is quite likely I will not be able to get my body temp up, both slowing my ride and (for me) dramatically increasing my chances of succumbing to a cold or flu or whatever has been around.

I wear enough to start out warm, but clothes that can be easily removed and stuffed into pockets or a stretchy sock I secure under my tool bag with a toestrap as I warm up. This means that if I have to stop later or the weather changes, I have a good chance of getting home and not getting sick. (This comes from my racing days. Training was all important. Loss of training time and miles - to be avoided at all cost. If that means having too much clothing to be stylish, so be it.)

Ben

Dang man...good on you. Very pragmatic.

Nope, depends where in the body the caffeine is acting. As a medic we prescribed aspirin and Coke for headaches when no other medications were available.

Caffeine's Vascular Mechanisms of Action

If you sweat heavily, you are wearing too much.
You can spend a lot or a little. Even cheap modern stuff is quite good.
I would suggest, as a budget option, some no-name brand, polyester T-shirts, no need for cycling jersies in winter.
As a shell layer, in the dry, a simple, non-waterproof windproof. In rain, a breathable windproof.
Midlayers are the least important, light fleece, woolen sweaters etc.
Use a neck-tube/buff, a sleeveless light insulated layer to fine tune.
Start cold so you are comfortable at cruising work-rate. If you climb big hills, use layering and remove something; same if you have to stop: add something.
carry extra insulation and a woolly hat.