noglider 

I bought a ski helmet last year. It made me very happy on cold, windy days. Before having the ski helmet, my head and face were cold even if I bundled up. With the ski helmet, I was rather oblivious to the cold and wind. It was nearly blissful.

Two downsides: 1. the ear holes catch a lot of wind, so it's very noisy, and 2. there is not room for headphones or ear buds. The second is a very small downside.

02Giant 

Earlier in this thread I mentioned that I use a Giro Nine snow sports helmet for cold weather riding. Yesterday I got in 22+ miles with a starting temp of 19º. There was virtually no windchill with the ambient conditions. I started off with the vents on my nine fully closed transitioning to partially open after 15 minutes or so of riding. The feel of the outside air entering the helmet is immediate and easily controlled. I used the helmet with a pair of ski goggles and a gaiter, with it's insulated ear covers I was very comfortable. I believe switching the gaiter with a balaclava and opening the air vents further, this will be good into the single digit temps.

J.Higgins 

Hmmm...

I wonder if I took my old helmet and glued some old goretex over the air holes...

noglider 

@02Giant, how cold does it get there in Iowa, and how windy?

We only get a few times of below 20ºF here in NYC, but we get a lot of wind.

02Giant 

Average temps through later December to the end of January are highs of freezing to just below with lows in the mid teens. It isn't unusual to get an extended stretch where it stays in the 20's during the day with single digit lows.
Winds vary, typically the warmer days are the windiest. If you are looking for less windy to calm days to ride, it is usually colder.

noglider 

That's nice. Our windy days are often the coldest days. We get a lot of humidity here, which makes it worse. It sounds like your temperatures are lower than ours but the winds might be milder. If I could trade, I would.

EnjoyinTheRide

Where I live you can use a snowboard helmet, bike helmet, military helmet lol any helmet lol...

But you wont go far in 2 feet plus of snow that fell in 9 hours overnight lol...



Ohhh and a word to the wise road cyclists lol...Our plows will take you out!!!, if you even attempt to Lance Armstrong this stuff lol

sknhgy 

In my experience helmets like these don't work. I wear a regular helmet over ski mask and googles for cold weather. And my mouth must not be covered.