*Winter Gear Survey*
12-11-05 | 12:41 AM
#26
spinspinspinspin
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 880
Likes: 0
1. Head
UVex glasses, most of the time.
(a) rain: BMX helmet
(b) snow: Skullcap under bmx helmet.
2. Torso
(a) rain: rain jacket w/ the big pit zips.
(b) snow: softshell, sometimes with thin long sleeved jersey underneath.
3. Legs
(a) rain: tights+cutoff BDUs or rain pants if it's really pouring.
(b) snow: tights under cuffed pants.
4. Hands
(a) rain: wool liners under mtb gloves
(b) snow: above, or lobster mits.
5. Feet
(a) rain: wool socks + sidis.
(b) snow: lake mx300 winter boots.
- Knobby tires? How wide? If not, thicker slicks? How wide?
one bike with 1.9 studded nokians, one bike with 700X28 slicks. basically, snow/ice and rain bikes.
- Anything else you want to add:
fenders. on everything. zipties are your friend.
a change of clothes at work, or at least a pair of dry socks in the bag can make life a lot better.
If you can get access to a heat vent to pile the wet clothes on, it'll be nice and toasty by the time you need to head back out.
UVex glasses, most of the time.
(a) rain: BMX helmet
(b) snow: Skullcap under bmx helmet.
2. Torso
(a) rain: rain jacket w/ the big pit zips.
(b) snow: softshell, sometimes with thin long sleeved jersey underneath.
3. Legs
(a) rain: tights+cutoff BDUs or rain pants if it's really pouring.
(b) snow: tights under cuffed pants.
4. Hands
(a) rain: wool liners under mtb gloves
(b) snow: above, or lobster mits.
5. Feet
(a) rain: wool socks + sidis.
(b) snow: lake mx300 winter boots.
- Knobby tires? How wide? If not, thicker slicks? How wide?
one bike with 1.9 studded nokians, one bike with 700X28 slicks. basically, snow/ice and rain bikes.
- Anything else you want to add:
fenders. on everything. zipties are your friend.
a change of clothes at work, or at least a pair of dry socks in the bag can make life a lot better.
If you can get access to a heat vent to pile the wet clothes on, it'll be nice and toasty by the time you need to head back out.
12-11-05 | 02:30 AM
#27
skewbie
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
From: mid-at
Bikes: trek (work-horse), nybike (fixed frankenstien of a bike), DB (mountain bike), Haro (bmx), old raliegh ladies 10 speed now rocking riser bars! with those plus my girlfriend's bikes, that's a lotta metal for a 1 bedroom apt.
as a poor dc messenger, rain and snow don't hardly cover the wonders of the weather. might i suggest for expanded categories:
(a) rainy spring day:
(b) summer with 80% chance of storms:
(c) autumn with drizzle:
(d) fresh snow cold, windy, sunny day:
(d.5) fresh snow, very very cold day:
(e) cloudy day, melting snow:
(f) the terror of terrors, FREEZING RAIN:
all of these days require different gear. i've only been at this for a year and as i suspect from talking to the many vet guys, wardrobe takes a career to perfect.
here is what i have so far:
an honest to god rain jacket - always bring if there is a chance of rain. ($90 - ems)
2 pair full fingered gloves - if it's snowing or drizzling ($10 supergo)
ski gloves + 2 pair full fingered gloves - for super wet days ($20 campmor)
another girl i met cut larger mittens so she could put them on over gloves and pull them back to poke her fingers out, she even had a key hole in the wrist
arm warmers - always have a pair stashed somewhere dry ($14 supergo)
knee warmers - great for the fall when the temperature drops due to clouds or nightfall. it's not healthy for those knees under 60 degrees ($10 t-town)
under armor cold gear - this stuff is brilliant if the temp is under freezing ($48 city sports)
2 sweaters - a good idea in varied situations ($4 thrift)
a poofy vesty thing - wonderful on windy days to keep your innards nice and toasty
fleece vests are useless, however a sleeveless hoody is a great layer in the cold coldness
i have no experience with wind breaker jackets
running tights - go great under jeans ($15)
winter tights - on slushy days these work great with a a pair of shorts or alone ($50 performance)
rain pants - for fall and spring and winter wet ($20 army surplus)
no snow pants if you are riding a track bike - it's dangerous and ridiculous
ear warmer bands bug me, but are a god send on cold humid days.
a baklava - it has to be really bad to put up with one of these things
1 pair of extra socks per expected inch of rain fall
i personally don't often do hefty socks, i hate hot sweaty feet
i also hate cold numb feet
as far as dealing with wet shoes, i covered an old pair of shoes with shoe goo and wear those booties over them.
i've also witnessed neoprene socks inside of shoes
i've also done the plastic bag thing and it's always a fail
get a front fender (detachable?) it saves a lot of the wet from getting on your toes
and a back one for your bum
i saw a dude the other day with a small tarp butt cape thing tied around his waist
if you know someone who works downtown, keep an extra stash of clothes and shoes there.
also, hook-ups at (a) coffee shop(s) are priceless
these ideas are mainly geared toward those who have to spend all day in the streets of DC, i have no idea what a winter would be like in chicago or nyc. as mentioned earlier i'm now starting my second winter, so i have a lot to learn. truth be told i'm cheap. i bought my ski jacket from a thrift store for $4.50, it's a real gem of the 80's. i've never owned on of those fancy wool jersey things that seem to an indispensable part of a real messengers wardrobe. i come from farming folks who taught me to deal with winter with flannel and carhardts. i'm asking santa for a wool jersey this year. yay!
(a) rainy spring day:
(b) summer with 80% chance of storms:
(c) autumn with drizzle:
(d) fresh snow cold, windy, sunny day:
(d.5) fresh snow, very very cold day:
(e) cloudy day, melting snow:
(f) the terror of terrors, FREEZING RAIN:
all of these days require different gear. i've only been at this for a year and as i suspect from talking to the many vet guys, wardrobe takes a career to perfect.
here is what i have so far:
an honest to god rain jacket - always bring if there is a chance of rain. ($90 - ems)
2 pair full fingered gloves - if it's snowing or drizzling ($10 supergo)
ski gloves + 2 pair full fingered gloves - for super wet days ($20 campmor)
another girl i met cut larger mittens so she could put them on over gloves and pull them back to poke her fingers out, she even had a key hole in the wrist
arm warmers - always have a pair stashed somewhere dry ($14 supergo)
knee warmers - great for the fall when the temperature drops due to clouds or nightfall. it's not healthy for those knees under 60 degrees ($10 t-town)
under armor cold gear - this stuff is brilliant if the temp is under freezing ($48 city sports)
2 sweaters - a good idea in varied situations ($4 thrift)
a poofy vesty thing - wonderful on windy days to keep your innards nice and toasty
fleece vests are useless, however a sleeveless hoody is a great layer in the cold coldness
i have no experience with wind breaker jackets
running tights - go great under jeans ($15)
winter tights - on slushy days these work great with a a pair of shorts or alone ($50 performance)
rain pants - for fall and spring and winter wet ($20 army surplus)
no snow pants if you are riding a track bike - it's dangerous and ridiculous
ear warmer bands bug me, but are a god send on cold humid days.
a baklava - it has to be really bad to put up with one of these things
1 pair of extra socks per expected inch of rain fall
i personally don't often do hefty socks, i hate hot sweaty feet
i also hate cold numb feet
as far as dealing with wet shoes, i covered an old pair of shoes with shoe goo and wear those booties over them.
i've also witnessed neoprene socks inside of shoes
i've also done the plastic bag thing and it's always a fail
get a front fender (detachable?) it saves a lot of the wet from getting on your toes
and a back one for your bum
i saw a dude the other day with a small tarp butt cape thing tied around his waist
if you know someone who works downtown, keep an extra stash of clothes and shoes there.
also, hook-ups at (a) coffee shop(s) are priceless
these ideas are mainly geared toward those who have to spend all day in the streets of DC, i have no idea what a winter would be like in chicago or nyc. as mentioned earlier i'm now starting my second winter, so i have a lot to learn. truth be told i'm cheap. i bought my ski jacket from a thrift store for $4.50, it's a real gem of the 80's. i've never owned on of those fancy wool jersey things that seem to an indispensable part of a real messengers wardrobe. i come from farming folks who taught me to deal with winter with flannel and carhardts. i'm asking santa for a wool jersey this year. yay!
12-11-05 | 01:23 PM
#28
spinspinspinspin
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 880
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by earthe5ive
(f) the terror of terrors, FREEZING RAIN:
a couple of winters in portland instilled in me an absolute horror of freezing rain.
no matter how well protected your hands and feet are, they still get wet and freeze, while the bits of hail mixed into the rain strip off any exposed skin.
I will take sub zero temps or heavy snow any day over freezing rain.
12-11-05 | 02:03 PM
#29
Me talk pretty one day.
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 2,073
Likes: 0
From: Toronto
Originally Posted by fatbat
absolutly right on that one.
a couple of winters in portland instilled in me an absolute horror of freezing rain.
no matter how well protected your hands and feet are, they still get wet and freeze, while the bits of hail mixed into the rain strip off any exposed skin.
I will take sub zero temps or heavy snow any day over freezing rain.
a couple of winters in portland instilled in me an absolute horror of freezing rain.
no matter how well protected your hands and feet are, they still get wet and freeze, while the bits of hail mixed into the rain strip off any exposed skin.
I will take sub zero temps or heavy snow any day over freezing rain.
