mmph. they may be, but i've always just put mine on this side of my own door, and not taken it off until i was that side of the parking lot. plus, i've always figured that with me inside them, the only place anything condensable could be coming from is me anyway. there ain't much room in there for anything else :D

There are many, many, good lights for bad conditions. See the "light selection guide" thread. Read the first post and take a look at the links. More than enough info.

I use the Niteriders because that's what I started with and because they are waterproof. I will say that riding in snow is the one place where using a helmet light is bad. You get too much reflection from the snow to see where you are going. Fog does the same thing but I don't often get to ride in fog. When I do it's really kinda cool ;)

Do you guys find you are slower in cold weather, even with dry roads? I know I'm carrying a lot more gear, and not as wind slick as I am during summer, but I'm seeing a 2-3 mph drop in average speed I can't account for.

Strange. I was just pondering the same thing this morning. :p
The increased weight has quite a bit to do with it IMHO. Plus, I find cycling in cold weather much more physically demanding. Cold air seems to make my lungs work harder and the humidity is slim to nonexistant.
Just think when spring hits... much better shape for riding with a jersey and shorts.

I've also noticed I'm slower. Slower as it gets colder (below ~37F). I agree with DataJunkie that the weather is more physically demanding. My muscles are taking a beating early in the morning.

The "many many" is one of my problems :o But anyway, my question was more "what works for you" kind of thing.

I agree on the muscles working harder. One thing I noticed today in Denver was that the winds seem to be much more of a presence as well. With the cold comes those gusts which slowed me down to walking speed several times this morning. I'm leaving work now and just hoping that those same gusts will send me home. :)

i dunno. i don't think i have a fast to go slower-than :D never done this ride on a hot or even a warm day either. but for the limited meaning it has, i think i'm actually finding the opposite is true: i seem to be doing better and feeling stronger (so far) now that the temperature is consistently below 5 celsius. i have quite a lot of trouble with random inflammation, so maybe the cold keeps it under control for me or something. this past week is the first one for a long time that i haven't woken up sore. it's too bad i hate winter.

doesn't it take more energy just to keep you warm when the weather is cold? that could be why it's harder to add exercise on top of it.

I remember reading a few things agreeing with and negating that statement. I can't remember which is true. I know that for myself I am slower. I blame it on the wind and the extra resistance from more layers of clothing. Whenever I'm wearing my windproof tights and climbing, the burn hits way sooner than if I was wearing no tights at all. I can just feel them working against me. But I'd rather be slow than freeze my nuts off (literally) :)

I have found that my windproof pants actually stick to my legwarmers. What this means is when I pull my knees up, I'm actually having to use my muscles more to force my knees past the resistance of my pants against my legwarmers, not just to pull my pedals up. I knew something was up with my pants and it took me a while to figure it out but I finally found out this was it. Its weird but true and causes so much more work. So what I do, is try and not wear them except on the coldest days because it makes me work so much harder. I might shop for some different pants that'll work better but don't like spending money. What I have done to counteract this is just wear my shorts and legwarmers and stay in a lower gear than normal making my cadence between 5 and 10 rpm higher than normal. I spin easier than with the pants off and the higher cadence keeps me warmer. Haha. Works good on the not quite so cold days.

Here's one that first-timers may not expect: ice, slush and snow can pack up in your cassette and produce MAJOR chain skipping.

It may be a good idea to ride with your saddle significantly lower than normal, too, if your knees don't freak out at the change.

And watch the surface of the road like a hawk. One little rut, or one little 1cm-high hump of ice stuck to the roadway, can guide your front wheel right out from under you and down you go.

In college I was a winter commuter, but that was never more than 4 miles so I always wore:

Long Johns (polypropeline), Old Pants, Wool Socks, Hiking boots, Wicking t-shirt, Fleece sweatshirt, Outermost layer of a columbia winter jacket, Polypropeline base gloves, Choppers (leather mittens - very warm), Hat, neck gator, and Ski goggles as needed.



Now that I go 8 miles and make some money, Goodwill and bikenashbar have supplied me with better gear. I have had about 3 weeks of riding below freezing now, but today was my first day in the snow.

Biking tights under 45 degrees
Leg warmers under 35
Goretex pants under 20 (great in the snow)

I still wear a wiking shirt, it just happens to sometimes be a bike jersey.
Add a vest around 40 degrees and arm warmers if the shirt is not long sleeve.
At 32-35 add a wind/water resistant hi-vis jacket.
Below 15 degrees I adda fleece shirt between the vest and jacket ( and I was still too warm today).

My neck gator and has been replaced by a polyester balaclava (I switch to the hat above 20 degrees).

The gloves are essentially the same.

I now wear 2 layers of socks, 1 wool, 1 a wicking material. I'll add more wool if it gets too cold.



While I am no guru, this has worked well for me, however I have one brother who wears sandals all winter and a wife who wears 5 layers of clothing to go walking at 30 degrees - modify as necessary.

Snow was a ton of fun today and I saw tracks of 2 other cyclists which is encouraging. However I ride a sidewalk for my first half mile to get to sidestreets and the sidewalk was twice as slippery as any road or trail; I fell 3 times on the sidewalk but not at all the rest of the way. Does anyone have any tips on making turns with more confidence?

One last tip. It was getting colder in October and I was having issues because I sweat so much. I switched from a backpack to panniers, and viola! no more problems.

Good luck everyone.

Today was my coldest commute starting @ 16F at 7:00am. Yesterday was a balmy 35F and I was overdressed. Today I was a bit underdressed. But it ended up ok. I stopped halfway through to warm up my fingers. (By sticking them under the balaclava, down my neck.) I rode considerable slower to avoid wind chill. No water needed to be drunk, and very little sweat: maybe I should ridden harder! :)
The ride home should be above freezing: woot!

I remember reading [in an actual book] that the ideal temperature for heavy physical exertion is 6C. It didn't differentiate between aerobic vs. anaerobic, but the idea was that it was cool enough so that you didn't get too hot. Also, the test subjects just wore t-shirts and shorts, no jackets. I would imagine that the greater the exertion, the colder it can be [to a point].

I take it that the subjects were not riding a bike? I'd want more than a t-shirt and shorts at that temperature. Now for running or other slower moving sports, I'd agree on that temperature as being pretty close to ideal, as long as you don't have to stop and sit for a while. I've gone for a run at something around 8 degrees F in some long johns (top and bottom), hat, thin gloves, shorts, and a t-shirt and was almost too warm by the time I stopped.

But the wind chill!!

LaLa,

Be careful with the thinking on water. Winter riding and winter activities are very drying. You can end up with dehydration problems that rival those of summer riding. Colorado's winters are much dryer then we think so take water and try to drink it along the way. A Camelbak with an insulated tube will freeze less than a normal water bottle.

Yesterday, I was making my 15mile trip to the bus with the 35F temps and 20 mph winds gusting to 50mph. I drank so much water I actually ran out.
I tend to sweat more with the heavy clothing, then cool down, then sweat some more, etc.
I find that I am frequently as or more thirsty than summer.

I need to pick up a Camelbak. Especially since my bottle froze on Tuesday in about 10 minutes.

It's what works for you.

The speed you ride, and the operating time you need, change the price.

How long does the light need to run? What are the conditions like? How fast do you want to ride?

Here's what works for me. It's probably not for you. You might be fine for under $100.

http://www.gretnabikes.com/product.a...d=69&cat_ind=7

There are a few kinds of stainless, vacumm insulated water bottles (like a thermos). They will keep your water from freezing all day. They are not expensive.

Here is a tip that people may find useful if they use booties over their shoes but need more windproofing or waterproofing: buy a box of cheap sandwich baggies and put one over each shoe's toe before you put your bootie on, like in this pic.

The cleat bites right through the baggie, no problem with that.

The absolute best winter riding tip!

The absolute stupidest sounding thing in the world to explain to a newbie! :(

I think that's going to be one of my biggest problems in the winter - riding in ice and snow. Here it doesn't get cold at all during the day. VERY rarely under 25F, so clothing isn't a problem. But sliding, skidding, losing control, using inadequate tires - those are. I don't really have any experience but I came upon a website that was exactly for winter cycling. http://www.allweathersports.com/winter/winter.html I think there are some helpful tips but I have as yet to try them out.

Be safe

Why do you think that?