saw a bike commuter this morning wearing sneakers & leg warmers around his ankles. I guess it works, just thought I'd share in case anyone has cold ankles

not the biker, just an internet pic

One truth I hold to be absolute...

When biking in the cold (or hiking, or sledding, or just going out to get the mail) being warm is far more important than not looking like a dork.

If you're warm, you're right!

Amen to that.

I mean...if you sport that look in the summertime....you invite the criticism from the fashion police. But in the winter...whatever keeps you warm.

You can easily purchase cycling specific leg and arm warmers. It is quite common to wear such things in cold climates. So why wouldn't gym leg warmers be effective? Good idea using them. Many years ago I had a set or "women's" leg warmers I used for converting a short sleeve sweatshirt into a long sleeve bike shirt. It worked. And when it warms up just take the sleeves right off. And they were dirt cheap on sale somewhere.

Those are dancer's warm up leggings keeps those tendons in the ankles warmer for dance classes.


Leg warmers for cycling, are removable sleeves for your legs
Cheap?you can make them out of sweat pants

but for commuting , why not just buy track suit warm up trousers
to wear over your , I assume , Shorts? ... since race leg warmers are a leg cover to be combined with Bike shorts..





...

A corollary to that absolute truth - there is no requirement to dress like a dork in order to keep warm when cycling.

Yeah, I mean, I'd look like a dork if I had something cheap that I wanted to try for a few rides, or something that I wear like once a year or something.

But once something proves that it's going to work I go looking for equipment that's both effective and looks average or stylish.

The only item I have trouble with the fashion aspect on is balaclava's...hard to find something that covers your face that doesn't risk you looking a bit like a bank robber. Their fashionability has gone up at least with more people winter biking.

maybe he got the idea from the Swedes?

Swedish Military Surplus Wool Leg Warmers



personally, I would use gaters if I were biking to a train. to keep my pant leg bottoms clean & dry

was at Savers in Wilmington at lunchtime looking for shirts for my 2nd job & saw a big supply at the register. cashier said they stock up for the holidays & are usually sold out. she wasn't sure why they still had so many. maybe cuz it's been so mild? falling out of fashion? asked Daughter if she wanted some, but she already has. girl goes to school in VT ...

I wear a balaclava and can't imagine riding under 40 degrees without it.

But I cant' cover my face with it. I have to leave the full face open. I've yet to find a face cover that doesn't get wet inside form my breath condensating.

I have to remind myself that when you say "leg warmers" most normal people picture what the OP posted, not this:

Gaiters are what Fills in the gap between (hiking) boots and trouser legs ..

These are Swiss military surplus ...

I don't get this.

You have shorts...but it's cold so you add legs.

Why not just wear pants? This seems like the roundabout way of getting to 'pants'

I think there's a niche reason for them. Let's say you bike up a mountain, at the bottom it's 80f, and the top it's 40f.

You ride with your regular bike shorts up the mountain. Even near the top you're working hard so you're sweating.

You get to the top and are looking at coasting down a mountain at 40f with bare legs. The leggings are lightweight enough that you could bring them with you (jersey pocket? I dunno) so you put them on for the ride down.

That being said, it's a pretty niche use. If I'm not running into such radical differences in temperature I have the same attitude of just wear full pants.

Interesting, I just wear a headband in the range of 40f-20f...open face balaclava for a while below that.
Different people have different temp ranges they can handle I suppose. Also Minnesota winter does help harden one off.

Yeah, it was an issue for me when I was trying to ride at real cold temps like 5f. Only solution I found at the time was wearing contacts. Eventually I just decided it was to annoying to ride when it's that cold so that uh "solved" it...

I use Gore-Tex gaiters...They are one of the most functional and useful items a winter cyclists can have...They add extra warmth, prevent snow and water from getting into my boots and keep my lower legs clean and dry.

It's true, it's a niche product, but it fits a niche I find myself in quite a bit during winter in these parts: 45-35F. Warmer than that, I usually just wear kneewarmers; colder than that, I usually put tights over bibs. But for the commute, I will usually just wear my office clothes and an elastic cuff band.

Hah! I don't have to worry about looking like a dork in the winter, because it's too dark for anyone to see me! :

Here's my sub-freezing winter dork suit. Heavy wool Italian Alpini troop knickers with wool socks. Definitely toasty. A bit too warm for any temp higher than 35F.

this morning saw another bike commuter, on the same trail, heading to the train. saw his ankles. they must have been cold, cuz my car thermometer read 15 F degrees!

I also don't understand cycling-specific leg warmers. My kneecaps and shins can handle most any amount of cold-- if it gets cold enough that my shins are cold, the whole wardrobe needs to change. So yeah, now you put on leg warmers, and you've got toasty kneecaps. Meanwhile, your junk has frozen solid, because normal shorts/bibs don't insulate at all.

Further, that pic with the Castelli warmers is showing an almost scandalous amount of ankle.

I have never in my life felt that my ankles were cold. Toes yes, but never ankles.

(My solution for cold toes is to HTFU because work is only about 5 miles away, but if I were to ride longer than that in the cold, I would use plastic grocery bags between socks and shoes. Actually, since the free bag ban passed, I don't think you can get those thin plastic bags anymore, all they have now is the thicker, reusable bags you that cost 10c each)

I wear shorts in all temperatures I get, which stretches down to about 30 a few clear winter mornings per year.

We have temperature and humidity conditions here where you'll literally have frost form on leading edges (toes, shins, hands, forearms) even though it's above freezing. On days like that I don't care to have bare skin showing but it's not so cold that my "junk has frozen solid."

oh good cuz I still have my DIY fleece knee warmer

under fleece tights

under cycling pants