I know the feeling of being too hot for head covering, I have a thermal headband to cover my ears and let my head lose some heat when I feel its too warm to have my head fully covered. It covers my forehead so that the wind hitting it directly doesn't bother me.

https://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Izumi-T...dband+for+cold

that's the one I can't find :/

When it's too warm for a balaclava but too cool for my bare (and I do mean bare) head then my go-to piece is a Smartwool micro beanie. It's thin and covers most of my ears with just the lobes sticking out. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

can you help me understand the sizes listed here?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0128XAAZQ...00N42ANNU?th=1

• 1FM
• 1SFM
• One Size

warming up again, guess I'll get to use this biking, this weekend. been using it around the house

http://images.smartwool.com/is/image...$WC-FULLIMAGE$

Paint that black and grey and you'd be an officer from the Empire or the First Order.

found it! was scrunched up in the corner of the box it was supposed to be in :innocent:

Yay! Just in time for you to not need it. Now I don't know where mine is.

:roflmao2: maybe I found yours?

Agreed

I bucked this year and purchased a Bern helmet and put away my Giro with all those vents. What a warm winter helmet with a ski mask on. I can't believe it took me so long but well worth the investment. They have liners you can put inside to make the helmet warmer but I don't need them.

I will say that a ski helmet is probably not as safe as a regular bike helmet that has more crush for accidents.

tried one on at a ski slope (shop) cpl weeks ago (wasn't skiing). it was comfortable but seemed really heavy. plus it was approx $150

It is heavy, but that hasn't bothered me. Mine was about $100, which is a lot to me for a helmet, but it was the least expensive.

As for safety, it's very hard to measure. If I remember correctly, bike helmets make an uncomfortable compromise. They are optimized for a hard hit at the expense of protection from soft hits. I have no idea what design constraints go into ski helmets. I don't think it's paradoxical to say (1) bike helmets don't provide much protection at all and (2) I'm still better off wearing one than not wearing one.

LOL. I use a very similar headband most of the time, and my ears love it. When it gets down into the 20s F, my bald head dictates that I wear wool. I recently found a nice wool sherpa hat, made with a loose weave, so self-venting, so it's warm, but not too warm. After a couple weeks, I finally removed those silly tie strings that hang down. 😋

Wool Beret.

How has that worked out for you?

I have a Giro Nine ski helmet for cold weather riding. It works great with adjustable vents, adjust the airflow to the conditions.

actually pretty good. used it on a cold ride Saturday, which surprised me. started the ride with a thin knit hat but at the halfway point took it off cuz it was soaked. wringed it out and hung it on my rack trunk to dry in the sun. I brought a balaclava with me but decided to try the thin smartwool beanie instead. I knew the ride back had some climbing so thought I would be hotter. turned out being the right choice! highly recommended it!

https://www.bikeforums.net/attachmen...3&d=1521749556

You need a synthetic skull cap, like the Louis Garneau Matrix Hat. Thin and form fitting, but keeps my head and ears warm down to below zero temps. $10 on amazon with prime.

I would suggest a helmet cover. Keeps the rain and snow out. Easy to pull off if it gets too warm.

After reading this thread, I've realized that we all have different 'thresholds' of what is COLD to each of us so for me, this is what works in these conditions.......

Anything ABOVE 32F the Pearl Izumi Barrier was PERFECT for me! Below 32F and I started to feel the 'BITE' of the cold FREEZING air.

Below 32F, the absolute best was the Chaos -CTR Howler Multi Tasker Pro Windproof Balaclava. I bought both the S/M and L/XL sizes and I preferred the S/M because although it was tight it provided a nice TIGHT SEAL around my head and I absolutely DID NOT feel ANYTHING whatsoever! Made my ride much much more enjoyable in freezing conditions. Amazing mask!!

39 degrees on a sunny Saturday. wound up wearing nothing but the helmet

Thanks for the info!

under helmet takes very little room, w helmet off looks like any knit hat, even tho it's much much thinner. not too bad

hey thanks again for this suggestion

started using this again when temps dipped into the 40s this year, thought it might be useful to acknowledge this