Riveting

It's also about how long you'll be out. You were dressed the same way I do at those temps, if I'm out for 90+ mins. But rides of lesser duration, or with temps that start at 45 F and rise, I'll endure the temps in the high 40's, wearing shorts and short sleeves.

Looigi

Below about 55F I wear leg warmers. I have knee warmers, but with the 6" difference in length down to the ankle, I just wear the leg warmers.

StanSeven

A lot depends on getting used to cold. If you start with extra clothes when it's in the 50s, you'll never get comfortable in chilly weather unless you're bundled. I hate cold but I generally don't wear tights until it's in the lower 40s. I go with long sleeves when it's around 55. You are generating lots of heat when you're working hard - no need for covering up and getting overheated.

caloso

It's useful to remember the old school roadie maxim: If you're comfortable for the first 10 minutes of your ride, you're overdressed.

Ravenwing

Here in northern Maine we joke that we have "nine months of winter and 3 months of damned poor sledding"! This year I'm going to try to get out as much as possible, but mid December to late March/early April is pretty rough. Very rural area, and I worry about breakdowns or mishaps. You can get really cold really quick if you have to stop riding for some reason.

Canadian_giant

I'm ok to 10 degrees F, below that I get cranky. Tomorrow is supposed to be 50 degrees F here so I guess I gotta put on a baselayer.

b_t

I'm one of the strange ones. Can't ride well in 90 degree weather.

I rode a metric last year that was 48F at the start. I wore thin arm and knee warmers for the start, and had to stop to take them off 30 minutes in because I was overheating and starting to cramp.

I pretty much go with shorts and short sleeves down to 50F. Warmers 40-50F, tights and windbreaker down to 30F.

gc3

I just have my support vehicle ride next to me with a space heater blasting on the downhill segments when the weather is below 55 degrees.

gregf83 

That's the most unpleasant part of winter riding. The first 15 min when everything is cold. Sometimes it takes me 30 min before I start to 'thaw out' on a one hour commute.

Dave Cutter

Yeah..... but they use all the sciency stuff to predict the weather. The other day I saw an all brown wooly worm!!! A surefire prediction of a warm winter.

bmcer

Spent the first 27 years of my life in Chicago, so I've seen my share of nasty winter weather. In fact, if I had to come up with a one word reason for leaving the Midwest, it would be "winter". After 40 years in Northern CA, my blood has thinned considerably.

60's = Arm and leg warmers, maybe a jacket

50's = Arm warmers and winter (full finger gloves), a lined jacket, and tight's

40's = I'm on the trainer in my nice cozy den.

Machka 

It isn't so ... we're just getting out of them.

chasm54

Wow. It wouldn't occur to me to wear anything but bibs and a racing jersey if temperatures in the 60s. i start thinking about legwarmers at around 55. Then again, I regard 75 as seriously warm, and 80 as possibly too hot to be riding. LOL.

Lazyass

I do not see how one cannot be warm in the 40's unless you're coasting around at 10mph or something. I can sweat in the 40's when I'm pushing it. Perhaps it's people's fear of being cold the first couple of miles or something, I don't know.

kbarch

As far as coasting goes, I think you can get a chill at any temperature below 70, and if you're really coasting, the faster you go, the chillier you'll get. If you have been cranking out the watts, and if it's below 60, you can get chilly REAL quick if you coast to a stop from a high speed and don't have some kind of windbreaker on. That's another thing that some people may not like dealing with.

Sure, people CAN be warm in the mid-upper 40's if they're working hard - heck, I'm sure most of us have managed to work up a sweat even in sub-freezing weather. However, not everyone rides with the intention of working that hard. Sure, 14-16 mph on the flats is not a great deal of effort for most, but it is by no means dawdling, and at that rate, wind chill is quite significant and will negate the effects of such reasonable levels of effort.

I'm wondering: if one were to graph speed versus wind chill cooling effects (energy removed) and effort warming effects (energy created), where would the lines cross? For myself, based on experience, I'm guessing around 17 mph. I'm sure it would vary according to a person's mass, and people's sensitivities would probably vary as well.

r8dr_rider

Was he wearing cut off denim jean shorts? Perhaps his beard keeps him warm too

StanSeven

Yep and sensitivity to cold can be built up. If someone starts bundling up in the lower 60s, they will be cold in the 50s. The secret is building up the tolerance.

UnfilteredDregs

50 and sunny... base layer, jersey & bibs for me. Overcast...Jacket & 3/4 bibs. Below? Base layer, full length bibs, jersey and jacket...

ptempel

+1

I can get a little more use out of a pair of thermal leg covers. But also have regular knee covers.

bmcer

Everybody gotta be someplace. 80's too hot to ride? Seriously? Out here, we don't even think about "too hot to ride" until it's 100+

bmcer

Fear of the cold has nothing whatsoever to do with it. It's the being cold that deters me. If you're less sensitive to cold, well good for you. Me, I got all the cold I ever wanted for a whole lifetime back East. I see no value in enduring it now when doing so is purely optional.

Lazyass

Relax, I wasn't putting you down. I just don't understand the 40's being too cold. Once you warm up it's the perfect riding weather. I would travel to the arctic circle with my bike before I rode through your location, but at least the cold should be a non-issue.

bbattle

+1 Woolie Bears down here are super fluffy! Cold winter for sure.

I got some bib knickers last year and they get me through all but the coldest weather here in No'Ala. With wool socks, only my calves are bare and they don't seem to mind the cold so much. I like keeping my knees warmer without going to the leg/knee warmers.

bmcer

No worries... We all have different comfort zones.

ColaJacket

NC gets just as hot as NoCal, and normally has more humidity.

And also gets colder in the winter.

GH