Chilly in morning, warmer in evening - What to do with layers?
#1
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,222
Likes: 73
From: Vandalia OH
Bikes: 2011 Cannondale Quick 5, 2014 Raleigh Revenio 2.0
Chilly in morning, warmer in evening - What to do with layers?
I wear a jacket in the morning but it is too warm in the evenings. Obviously I need to the jacket at home for the next morning. I generally just have a bag on the back of my bike (see below) and it already has things like a thin face mask, this that and the other.... other things that are likely to be needed if the weather turns a bit colder or is worse going in than out, etc. I don't seem to have room to carry my jacket, which is more bulky than a higher-tech, more expensive one. Do you just suck it up and wear it home or strap it to your bike somehow? Do you just make sure you have enough storage to put those things and therefore don't have the issue to begin with?
#3
Put your jacket on top of the bag and strap it down with a cargo net?
__________________
Community guidelines
Community guidelines
#4
#6
Senior Member


Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 39,897
Likes: 3,865
From: New Rochelle, NY
Bikes: too many bikes from 1967 10s (5x2)Frejus to a Sumitomo Ti/Chorus aluminum 10s (10x2), plus one non-susp mtn bike I use as my commuter
Either get a slightly bigger bag, or pack lighter, or strap the jacket down. You might use a larger bag or pannier to prelocate spare clothes t work once a week or so.
It isn't too complicated,------ improvise.
OR
Here's something I started doing this summer. The USPS offers something called "Regional Flat Rate Boxes". These come in 2 sizes and cost $5.32 or $6.16 to ship locally depending on the size. Plus they're generally delivered overnight for about a 30 mile radius. So I use these to periodically the imbalance in stuff I haul between home and work (spare underwear, socks, rain gear, etc.) when I'm too lazy to bother carrying my messenger bag for the commute. It was really nice all summer, because I could travel light, and make a pleasant long ride of it going home in the evening.
It isn't too complicated,------ improvise.
OR
Here's something I started doing this summer. The USPS offers something called "Regional Flat Rate Boxes". These come in 2 sizes and cost $5.32 or $6.16 to ship locally depending on the size. Plus they're generally delivered overnight for about a 30 mile radius. So I use these to periodically the imbalance in stuff I haul between home and work (spare underwear, socks, rain gear, etc.) when I'm too lazy to bother carrying my messenger bag for the commute. It was really nice all summer, because I could travel light, and make a pleasant long ride of it going home in the evening.
__________________
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
Just because I'm tired of arguing, doesn't mean you're right.
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
#9
Just a person on bike


Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 2,140
Likes: 90
From: Seattle, WA
Bikes: 2015 Trek 1.1, 2021 Specialized Roubaix, 2022 Tern HSD S+
I wear my Shower's Pass rain jacket in the morning. I fold it up and put it in my pannier on my way home.
__________________
The value of your life doesn't change based on the way you travel. - Dawn Schellenberg (SDOT)
The value of your life doesn't change based on the way you travel. - Dawn Schellenberg (SDOT)
#10
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,222
Likes: 73
From: Vandalia OH
Bikes: 2011 Cannondale Quick 5, 2014 Raleigh Revenio 2.0
#12
Senior Member


Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 1,846
Likes: 20
From: Fort Worth, TX
Bikes: 2006 Specialized Ruby Pro aka "Rhubarb" / and a backup road bike
I recommend putting the jacket into some kind of bag then strapping it to the top of your trunk bag.
Too many times I've seen the sleeves work their way loose and flap around. You do not want them getting into the spokes.
A bag will also keep the jacket cleaner and drier. A small plastic shopping bag is fine.
Another approach is an ultralight drawstring backpack. They work great for bulky but light and soft things like jackets, baselayers, and tights. Good if temperatures are below 75F.
Too many times I've seen the sleeves work their way loose and flap around. You do not want them getting into the spokes.
A bag will also keep the jacket cleaner and drier. A small plastic shopping bag is fine.
Another approach is an ultralight drawstring backpack. They work great for bulky but light and soft things like jackets, baselayers, and tights. Good if temperatures are below 75F.
#13
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,222
Likes: 73
From: Vandalia OH
Bikes: 2011 Cannondale Quick 5, 2014 Raleigh Revenio 2.0
I recommend putting the jacket into some kind of bag then strapping it to the top of your trunk bag.
Too many times I've seen the sleeves work their way loose and flap around. You do not want them getting into the spokes.
A bag will also keep the jacket cleaner and drier. A small plastic shopping bag is fine.
Another approach is an ultralight drawstring backpack. They work great for bulky but light and soft things like jackets, baselayers, and tights. Good if temperatures are below 75F.
Too many times I've seen the sleeves work their way loose and flap around. You do not want them getting into the spokes.
A bag will also keep the jacket cleaner and drier. A small plastic shopping bag is fine.
Another approach is an ultralight drawstring backpack. They work great for bulky but light and soft things like jackets, baselayers, and tights. Good if temperatures are below 75F.
#15
Mostly harmless ™
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 4,463
Likes: 244
From: Novi Sad
Bikes: Heavy, with friction shifters
Get a big backpack and tie it with bungee cords to the rack. That's what I do.
You could also try with panniers, though they are sometimes less convenient.
Colder weather - more clothes to change, more room. It's normal.
You could also try with panniers, though they are sometimes less convenient.
Colder weather - more clothes to change, more room. It's normal.
#16
Mad bike riding scientist




Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 29,184
Likes: 6,264
From: Denver, CO
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
I wear a jacket in the morning but it is too warm in the evenings. Obviously I need to the jacket at home for the next morning. I generally just have a bag on the back of my bike (see below) and it already has things like a thin face mask, this that and the other.... other things that are likely to be needed if the weather turns a bit colder or is worse going in than out, etc. I don't seem to have room to carry my jacket, which is more bulky than a higher-tech, more expensive one. Do you just suck it up and wear it home or strap it to your bike somehow? Do you just make sure you have enough storage to put those things and therefore don't have the issue to begin with?
If all else fails, I carry a rack strap like this one to bungee stuff to the top. I don't use it that often, however.
__________________
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#18
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 3,222
Likes: 73
From: Vandalia OH
Bikes: 2011 Cannondale Quick 5, 2014 Raleigh Revenio 2.0
It's hard to tell from your picture but it looks like your bag expands. Does it have a second zipper on the top that goes all the way around the bag? Even if it doesn't expand, it's not that difficult to get 10 lbs of potatoes in a 5 lb sack. Put anything small...socks, underwear, gloves, etc...in the side and rear pockets. Put larger stuff in the top compartment and then roll everything else as tightly as possible in the main compartment. I've been using rack bags exclusively for about 30 years...I hate using panniers...and I live in an area where the temperature can be 20 F in the morning and 75F at night.
If all else fails, I carry a rack strap like this one to bungee stuff to the top. I don't use it that often, however.
If all else fails, I carry a rack strap like this one to bungee stuff to the top. I don't use it that often, however.
I do have a Burly Travoy that I use when I need to take several days worth of stuff in but I don't pull it just to put a jacket on. I think the combination of freeing up room in my rear bag and using a bungie strap will get me by.
I thank everybody for their input.
#19
I just put my jacket in my backpack. If it won't fit I strap it to my pack.
In your case, if the jacket won't fit in your rear bag, roll it up and strap/bungee it to the top of your bag. Watch to make sure the sleeves won't work loose and get in the spokes. Done that already.
In your case, if the jacket won't fit in your rear bag, roll it up and strap/bungee it to the top of your bag. Watch to make sure the sleeves won't work loose and get in the spokes. Done that already.
#22
Used to be fast
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 580
Likes: 0
From: So Cal
Bikes: 85 Specialized Expedition, 07 Motobecane Immortal Spirit built up with Dura ace and Mavic Ksyriums, '85 Bianchi Track Bike, '90 Fisher Procaliber, '96 Landshark TwinDirt Shark Tandem, '88 Curtlo
I wear a jersey on my commute. I often roll up my jacket and put it in one of the rear pockets.
#23
Obsessed with Eddington

Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,334
Likes: 622
From: Brussels (BE) 🇧🇪
Bikes: '16 Spesh Diverge, '14 Spesh Fatboy, '18 Spesh Epic, '18 Spesh SL6, '21 Spesh SL7, '21 Spesh Diverge...and maybe n+1?
#24
Senior Member


Joined: May 2003
Posts: 1,787
Likes: 1
From: Hampton Roads VA
Bikes: '07 Trek 520, '09 Gary Fisher Triton, '04 Trek 8000, '85 Trek 500, '84 Trek 610, '85 Trek 510, '88 Trek 660, '92 Trek 930, Trek Multitrack 700
I recommend putting the jacket into some kind of bag then strapping it to the top of your trunk bag.
Too many times I've seen the sleeves work their way loose and flap around. You do not want them getting into the spokes.
A bag will also keep the jacket cleaner and drier. A small plastic shopping bag is fine.
Another approach is an ultralight drawstring backpack. They work great for bulky but light and soft things like jackets, baselayers, and tights. Good if temperatures are below 75F.
Too many times I've seen the sleeves work their way loose and flap around. You do not want them getting into the spokes.
A bag will also keep the jacket cleaner and drier. A small plastic shopping bag is fine.
Another approach is an ultralight drawstring backpack. They work great for bulky but light and soft things like jackets, baselayers, and tights. Good if temperatures are below 75F.
#25
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 196
Likes: 0
From: lebanon oregon
Bikes: trex 7500, old diamondback, older diamondback old frankenbike
with fall/winter here now, I have to have full size panniers. As I not only have to layer for the cold mornings, but also be prepared for the rain too.
When I don't need the big panniers, I also have a bag that looks like your top bag, but mine has drop down mini panniers. If it wasn't for all the rain gear, it would easily hold the "layers"
mines like this , but made by "Giant"
https://www.amazon.com/Eleven81-State...ags+expandable
When I don't need the big panniers, I also have a bag that looks like your top bag, but mine has drop down mini panniers. If it wasn't for all the rain gear, it would easily hold the "layers"
mines like this , but made by "Giant"
https://www.amazon.com/Eleven81-State...ags+expandable
Last edited by niuoka; 11-03-13 at 08:12 PM.




