Cold gear purchase question
 

My wife ain't too pleased with all my cold weather purchases lately (arm warmers, gloves, leg warmers, base layers, etc.). To her commuting to work is merely a pleasure of mine for exercise and not for economics. As of now I’m not making the 84 mile full commute everyday for her to notice a difference in our pocketbooks so anymore purchases are going to have to be extremely cheap.

What I desperately need are:
1. Balaclava
2. Fleece tights
3. Shoe covers

Can you guys help me with some cheap deals or alternatives? Commuting is still new to me and some of you guys really know how to make it work with what you have. Thank you.

you'll probably get the best deal on everything at sierratradingpost.com one order, one shipping charge no sales tax and with use google pay to get $10 off. Here are some quick finds I came up with.

Balaclava $6.36

Tights $11.96

I didn't immediately find any shoe covers there though. youm might consider goretex sealskinz or similar waterproof socks. I think nashbar has a windproof sock. Might be cheaper than a shoe cover and work just as well ...

Thank you very much

Nashbar http://nashbar.comor performance http://performancebike.com also usually has some pretty good deals. In addition there are usually coupons listed on this site for those stores: http://www.bikewebsite.com/Otherbikesources.htm

Craig

Eighty-four miles A DAY? You must drive part of that. If 15 miles of that is by bike and your car gets 26 miles per gallon and gasoline is two dollars a gallon, you are saving $1.12 a day in hard savings on gasoline; more if the distance is farther and/or the mileage is lower and/or the price of gas is higher. So you are entitled to spend SOME money.

I have gotten a couple winter items at a local Army-Navy surplus store; leather gloves with wool liners good to about 25 degrees, a hood (balaclava, I believe), some ski goggles.

Payless Shoesource was my source for insulated hiking boots that I use for bike shoes (I don't use toe clips).

For really cold weather I have some wool paratrooper pants from the surplus store with wind shields in the thighs. Only a couple days a year justify those.

For hand wear below about 25, I have leather mitten shells over knitted mittens, with a homemade third, innner, layer of WindBloc Polar Fleece purchased over the internet ($20 a yard, one-yard minimum order) from the Malden Mills online store. I am hoping they compete well with the $65+ mittens from REI that I did NOT purhase.

^^^
Surplus stores.
Also, i worked at The Sportsmansguide for a couple of years...some good deals on outdoor stuff.

Try to buy hunting gear. It does the same thing and is a lot cheaper than cycling gear. Of course you will have to put up with being camoflauged or bright orange, but hey who cares. I got a gaiter and a neoprene mask for less than $10. Also, let your wife know that you won't need to buy new stuff next year. This is an investment that will last for years. I also have Toesties from Performance that were less than $10. I also love my Triflex tights. Waterproof, wind proof and very warm. They are almost half the price of other tights.

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=1121