Help! I'd like to buy some leg & arm warmers as a birthday gift for my boyfriend, but I don't know very much about them.

What brands are decent quality? I understand that they come in either polypropylene or fleece... which is better?

How do they fit? How are they sized? Is there lycra involved?

His birthday is next week. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Luckily, a bike shop in the area still has some in stock -- I don't know the brand(s) yet. (I'm waiting to hear back from them via e-mail.) What should I look for?

Oh -- what about those booties that go over road cycling shoes to keep feet warm? A good idea?

They're great for adding versatility to your cycling wardrobe, particularly for early morning rides - I find arm warmers particularly good, I can leave the house with sleeves and take them off as it warms up.

I've got a set of Coolmax ones (Lusso) and a set of fleece backed lycra (Impsport) and find the latter are wearing better, and are more comfortable.

I use armwarmers and kneewarmers (instead of full legs). By the time it's cold enough for full-legs i'm usually bundled up in full-on wind-front fleece tights. I find knee-warmers good to ~38F.

For the thicker fleece ones I've had good luck with Castelli. They tend to be kind of $$$.

I love my Defeet Armwarmers. They are lighter-weight knit material. I found the Defeet Kneekers to be too long and passed them on to another (taller) racer and he seems to like them. If you are buying these as a gift DeFeet is nice because they only come in 1 or 2 sizes and "stretch to fit" so there is not so much room for error. They also make matching shoe covers.

Voler does nice arm/knee warmers as well. It's especially nice if your club/team clothing is Voler because they offer them in colors to match. You can see there stuff on line at velowear.com

Nice present by the way! We seem to be having a very mild summer in the Midwest(so far); I wore my armwarmers on a ride Saturday and was glad to have them!

Thanks for the replies, Richard D and poptart. Unfortunately, the brands you mentioned are not available at this particular bike shop... and I need them before next Tuesday. Usually I am not such a last minute shopper...

Anyway, I found out that they sell Sugoi and Canari and also a few from Gary Fisher and Paceline.

They will need to transfer them over from the stock at another store. What shall I have them send?

Thoughts on these brands of warmers? Does anyone have experience with them?

Of the brands you mention, I would go with Sugoi. I'm not familiar with their warmers, but I like their jerseys and shorts--good quality stuff.

As for sizing--"generally" match the arm warmers to the size of the jersey and the leg/knee warmers to the size of the shorts.

Of course with cyclists you have to use some common sense. If someone wears a Large jersey because he has broad shoulders, but the elastic is loose around the biceps, you will need to "size down" on the warmers. Same thing with the shorts/leg warmers sizing.

Good luck. Hope he likes 'em.

Well, I bought the Sugoi arm warmers and leg warmers. They appear to be good quality. I hope he likes 'em and that they fit! Tomorrow is the big birthday, so we'll see!