Winter riding gear?
 

Hey guys, I live in an area that gets especially cold during the winter... Anyone got any favorites, or recommendations as to winter riding gear?

i posted this awhile back, you might find some helpful responses...

Thank you sir. Did you find one you like, and what temp do you normally wear it in?

In the winter, I almost always go the spaceman route: I wear long-johns, wool socks, heavy pants, and boots/spats for my legs. A t-shirt with multiple sweaters/flannels, a fleece, and a rain-jacket with pit zips for my core. I cap the "spaceman suit" off with a hat, helmet, googles, and nylon gloves inside of leather work gloves. You'll know if you've dressed well enough, because riding will still be fun.

In the winter, your jacket is probably the LAST thing you want to concern yourself with. I've ridden in 0 degree days with 2 hoodies and 2 pairs of long john shirts and I was sweating my balls off.

In the winter, your feet and hands are the most important things to worry about. Your head too, but a knit cap and a face mask or a scarf takes care of that.

Your legs are constantly moving and generate a lot of heat so they don't matter. Some guys go all winter in shorts and a pair of winter spandex and are totally fine.

For the feet, there is really no good choice, unless you are riding clipless and can afford a pair of the gore-tex winter riding shoes like Sidi makes ($200+). I rode clipless last winter but instead I bought biking booties ($20) which were great but didn't keep my feet totally dry, as they go on the outside of the shoe which lets water in from the top.

If you are riding regular pedals, I'd suggest a pair of waterproof socks and multiple levels of NON-cotton socks. It's really a trial and error process. But remember, you don't want to layer so tight that your feet can't breathe. I think this is because it lowers the circulation in your feet as well as doesn't allow a cushion of heated air to surround your foot.

For gloves, they make special riding gloves, but a cheap pair of heavy winter gloves do fine. If your hands still get cold, throw on unerneath the thick gloves a pair of those cheapo thin gloves you can find everywhere. This is also good because if your hand sweat the inside of the thick gloves won't get wet, so you can easily dry them out when you get home.

I've found that something thin that blocks the wind is better than something thick that doesn't. And two thin layers are better than one thick layer. You don't need a big, puffy, Michelin Man looking coat. If you can find a thin, Windstopper or Windtex jacket, with a thin merino wool shirt, you'll be fine.
A Mountain Hardwear Dome Perignon is the perfect hat. It covers the ears, and blocks the wind, better than a knit cap. Mitts are better than gloves. In the coldest days, I found a cheap pair of large, windproof mitt shells over a $10 pair of rag wool gloves is perfect, much better than the $85 Alpine gloves I used before. Get the rag wool gloves with a long cuff. They stretch enough so you can pull it over the sleeves of the coat. The insulation in thick, expensive gloves will get compressed and lose it's effectiveness. If you have long fingers, the tips will get smooshed into the boxed end of the glove's fingers, cutting off the circulation, and renderring your fingers frozen even in mildly cold temps. And expensive alpine gloves with leather palms and finger tips only conduct the cold faster.

For the past two winters, I commuted 45 minutes to, and 45 minutes from work, five days a week, in Maine. I found I needed something to cover my face. This turned out to be the best solution.
http://www.snowshack.com/detail/SNW+...n+Masque+Black
I'd wear this with Oakleys and not have any fogging problems.
For relatively cheap, and damn durable, no-itch socks, do an Ebay search for "Head Merino wool socks"
In two years, I've never worn a pair out, no frayed stitching, and no unraveling.

These do me well:
http://www.armygear.net/ag/store/0071.html?id=6ZnSm8ZJ

do you ride on stevens ave?
i always see someone wearing goggles on stevens

I rode in Sanford. Two winters was enough. You'll now find me riding in Tucson, Arizona.

winters can be tough up here, good for building character...i would love to visit Arizona someday, i have a friend who lives there

contrary to popular belief, southern california can get pretty cold, but yea, yea, i know, not as cold as you guys.. i have a pretty thick hoodie that i always wear with jeans and a keffiyeh. if i need to i keep my arm and leg warmers in my bag. i do end up using them quite often.

This just popped up on Chainlove.com
http://www.chainlove.com/?cmp_id=ODA...001&mv_pc=r208

I have made 8 purchases on chainlove this spring summer and have saved close to $300 including shipping over buying retail or regular online.

i have a pair of these (Shimano MT70). i haven't worn them through a winter yet, but they are comfortable, and $75 for a Goretex riding shoe is hard to beat. i have ridden in the rain with them several times, and if you can keep the water from getting in the ankle of the shoe (i.e. have long enough rain pants), your feet stay dry. And if you click through live.com (after setting up a free account, of course), you can get 12% cashback on that. So, $65 is even better. If you haven't used live.com before, it's 100% legit—it's through Microsoft. i'm a mac guy, so saying that sounds weird…but i've gotten over $100 cashback already. Sometimes the cashback gets as high as 35% for some sites.

Yeah, it depends on where you are...

What I wear on the coldest of cold days (single digits to teens)

Windstopper headband and Sugoi Helmet cover
My native sunglasses
A scarf if the wind is reaaaallly howlin
Mountain Hardware Link Windstopper Jacket
REI MTS Midweight synthetic turtle neck and underwear
PI Amphib lobster glove
REI Novara Tempest pant (with windstopper wannabe front panel)
Smartwool medium cushion snowboarding sock
PI Cyclone toe cover

New this year, I got a pair of lake GTX cycling boots for $9 at a REI garage sale.

For the really cold (under -10F) days, I wear a home-made mask, hat, helmet, long sleeve t-shirt, fleece jacket, and waterproof shell. Long undies and flannel/fleece lined jeans and waterproof non-insulated snowpants. For feet, I ditch my insulated hiking boots that fit in my clips/straps, in favor of my ice climbing boots.

My tips:

1.) Layers are awesome, but don't be afraid to stop and shed if you start sweating.
2.) Learn how to swap out a blown tube as fast as possible, carry a couple extras, patching is near impossible in freezing temps.
3.) Pay attention to any exposed skin (see changing tire fast). Frostbite is a btich.

Fenders...

Different people's bodies respond differently to cold.

My torso overheats easily.

My extremeties, meaning my hands, arms, feet, knees and face/head get very cold.

For below zero days I wear Lobster gloves.

Buy Lobster gloves in the spring for less than half their normal price, and get them larger than normal.

If you can't afford Lobster gloves, buy cheap ski-type gloves but get them too large so you can layer some cheap cotton or wool gloves inside them.

I wear arm warmers and 2 layers of short sleeve t-shirts with a light, loose jersey over all.

This lets my armpits dump heat while keeping my arms warm.

If you can't afford dedicated cold weather bike shoes, buy cheap mountain bike shoes several sizes too large so you can layer socks without the shoes feeling tight.

For my face, I wear a short beard and, in winter, I wear over-the-glasses goggles made by Global Vision:

http://www.activesportsunglasses.com/gv-bigben.html

The foam around the eyepieces keeps my nose and cheekbones warm.

On the absolutely bitterest cold days, when I need to wear tights, I wear them under my Dockers shorts and I choose tights that have a wind proof, water repellent front and a breathable back.
Jenson usually has something cheap that has a windproof front and a breathable back.
Don't get bibs.

Again, for gloves and shoes, get them too big so that you can layer without compressing any of the insulation.
IMHO, cheap and loose keeps a rider warmer than does expensive and tight.

i'm looking for some balaclava recommendations. any that have a vent area for your nostrils?

actually this thread has one: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ight=balaclava

n/m

it hasn't gotten real cold here yet, but i've been wearing a flannel shirt, sweater, and then a thin wind breaker and I've been fine. For gloves i've been wearing these 2 dollars work gloves that I stole from work. I have been meaning to get some new socks and shoes but i'm poor.

pearl izumi pants

Got 'em last year. They're stupid-warm.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/Sear...uery=balaclava

there are a few there... that Outdoor Research Gorilla mask joint looks crazy.

thanks for the link, some good stuff on there. -- i just ordered the Outdoor Research Sonic one:

http://www.craigdonmountainsports.co...g/28502004.jpg

it seemed pretty ideal from Jabba Degrassi's post in the other thread.

that looks like a decent mask...i like that it has a vent for the nose