djb

black box, thats funny , I was aboiut to ask him the same thing. Bat22, your bike appears to be a Tricross (I have one) and was wanting to know how the mirror goes onto the brifters, and if it uses a velcro that takes away the nice smooth part of the rubber part of the brifter? I used to use velcro on type mirrors on the old bike when touring, but found that it was just too bulky on my Tricross brifters, not comfortable at allfor the hands--not to mention that the metal form that fits around the hood would need to be spread out more.

I am a big fan of hood mirrors, but have not found one for the brifters on my new bike. I will look up more on this one, but am curious if it impeedes your hands on teh hoods? thanks

Bat22--just looked it up, looks nice how it goes under the hood--my only concern--do you think that it looks rather iffy that in case of a bike fall over, the mirror would grenade the brifter? I realize this is a bit of a loaded question, but as it must attach securely to the brifter with a bolt or something, I could see a bike falling over while stationary putting a big amoiunt of wallop onto the innards of the brifter via teh mirror stalk....

ps, also reading up on it, it does say it is convex, my old ones were also, but I am curious as to if they have played down the convexness of them nowadays, I personally prefer very little distortion, to help judge distances of incoming trucks etc.

all that said, thanks for the mention of this and I will look into them and see if they are in any stores here in Montreal.

Bat22

I slammed my bike down on ice and the mirror popped into the air about 7 feet. Broke the mirror stem
and replaced with a second mirror kit. The mirror is totally out of the way. Pull down the rubber hood
on the top of your brifter and you will see clip the hood attaches too. Mirror stem will attach to this
clip and the rubber hood will still snug on the mirror stem. Then it will be easy to see why the mirror
is out of the way. Tricross, yea uhuh!

djb

thanks, I was imagining a possible tip over resulting in a non functioning brifter.
shall def. look into it

Aikislacker

I wish I was as hardcore as you guys. Wow. High of 5 today and I chickened out.

XR2

For fogging problems I use these.

mountainjesus

[quote]Originally Posted by Mr Pink57 Today I wore:

Head:

Helmet,Wool headband for ear protection, Cannondale fleece balaclava, cheap sunglasses

Torso

merino wool midweight turtleneck base layer, shortsleeve jersey, arm warmers
Legs

Nashbar bib tights

Feet.

Smartwool hiking socks over goldtoe athletic socks

Hands

3 layers of gloves - dollar store cotton gloves, gore mistrals, fluffy ski gloves


Conditions

~20F with little wind

Notes:
After only 15 miles toes were too frozen to continue, need to look into toe covers

jawnn

I made this vapor barrier out of a rain jacket. It really needs long zippers under the arms.

It works very good in the ice-cold wind, but not so good in the heavy rain, that when I need my rain poncho.

The shirt is micro fiber spun polyester that drys very fast.





Head: sun visor even in the winter.



Torso: wind vest over microfiber polyester shirt, and another wind jacket over the fist two, untill I climb the first hill.


Feet. cushioned leather shoes with heavy wool sox.
summer i use sandle with wool sox.



Hands: snowmobile mittens under 40 degrees.




Conditions: all but heavy rain.


Notes: I can't stand the cold, but no car. Ice on: the road I must use the trike.

surgtech1956

Today it was 40 degrees(C), 10-20mph winds, cloudy. I wore, UA type compression shirt(long sleeve), microfleece 1/4 zip shirt, windvest, Asics Thermopolis(semi-fitted) run pants, UA type helmet liner, SmartWool glove liners, FF cycling gloves. I rode almost an hour. My toes weren't cold, till I rode against the wind. My legs weren't cold riding but now they are. I wear glasses and a couple of times my eyes started watering - any recommendations for eye wear for eyeglass wearers? I thought my winter bike tights would be too warm, but I probably should have worn them, or maybe a light baselayer under the run pants.

Barrettscv 

It was 45f at start with a 20 mph wind off the lake here in Chicago. I wore bib-style over-the-knee (knickers) riding pants over warm knee socks. On the upper half, I started with a warm, wicking base layer. Put on a long-sleeve cycling shirt with a crew neck. Over that went a wind-breaking bright yellow cycling vest.

Well covered without the bulk.

surgtech1956

Barrettscv, why wear cycling shorts over bibs? Sorry, I'm a newbie here when it comes to riding in the cool/cold weather. What type of wicking base layer?

Barrettscv 

The cycling shorts are bib type: https://www.coloradocyclist.com/product/display/90210/

surgtech1956

Thanks for the link, I didn't read your post right, I thought you wore cycling shorts over knickers.

idc

50F +/- 5 or so, I didn't check but I knew it was cold. Long sleeve Cannondale branded mountain bike jersey, zip-up long sleeve fleece layer, windproof/waterproof shell on top. Padded liner shorts, zip-up leg warmers and gym shorts on bottom. Thickish socks. Very warm and comfy without overheating.

digibud

I would die of heat in that outfit at that temp, idc. Today, 43F. Thin polypro long underwear top and bottom, bike shorts, cotton Tshirt, very thin nylon wind breaker, gloves. Thick socks.

surgtech1956

My knees were 'achey' later in the day when I rode the day it was low 40's(F) - don't know if I should be wearing knee warmers or its just my age(55).

djb

in my late 40s, I have always noticed that being cold didnt agree with my leg muscles and such. Same with XC skiing, so I tend to be on the conservative side for leg warmth and make sure I have more than less, as the downside of not getting it right is pretty evident for me--stiff, achey, slow etc.

Buglady

Well, I'm 38 and I noticed a while ago that my knees aren't happy unless they have some sort of covering on rides where it's under 5C or so. I don't think it's internal to the knee joint (i.e. arthritis), but just the little stabiliser muscles getting chilled and stiffening up from that. So... knee warmers under 10C, and I go to full length tights when it's 5C or under! Problem solved

I have been wearing the following for my commute the last few days; the weather has been pretty chilly, about -6 to -12C with a light breeze:

(DISCLAIMER: There are links to the MEC website in my descriptions; I do actually work at MEC now, but I didn't when I bought most of this gear, so I hope it's understood that I'm not advertising, as such... like about 80% of my coworkers, I applied at MEC to fund my gear addiction... )

Legs: MEC Vuelta tights (full length, mildly insulated fleecy type fabric) - this is fine on its own but when there is wind I like the Roubaix tights better as they have windproof front panels. Regular cycling shorts underneath.

Upper body: Icebreaker 150 merino wool baselayer; MEC Thermal Hoodie; and an ancient running jacket as a windbreaker/shell. The Thermal Hoodie is my favourite thing to wear, hands down; the hood is the perfect weight to fit comfortably under my helmet and give me some extra warmth, without boiling my head when I get warmed up. I have been pleasantly surprised at how comfortable this is given the colder temps this week - when it is colder than -10C I usually add a fleece or old wool sweater over the hoodie, but that can be *too* warm.

Hands: Planet Bike "Borealis" lobster mitts - some issues with condensation iside and they take a LONG time to dry out between rides. Liner gloves help a lot; I've used silk ones in the past but they are hard to find.

Feet: I've been wearing my normal cycling shoes which have a mesh bit on the top and can be pretty chilly if I don't have the right socks - right now the best socks are some handknit ones that I accidentally shrank, so they are now effectively felt booties rather than socks as such. But I just bought some Exustar winter shoes, so I'll see how that goes! They certainly LOOK warm!

gecho

-9C with a 21km/h headwind on the way home.

I wore just my poly base, heavier poly canondale jacket and stomach scarf on my upper body. My arms were a little cooler than I'd like. I had my poly liners and wool gloves on my hands. My thumbs and index fingers started getting cold near the end of the ride. Maybe I should look at poggies or handlebar wind deflectors.

For my head I wore my balaclava, respirator and neck tube plus helmet. Pulling the neck tube up to my glasses I found I didn't need goggles. I'm starting to remember to apply a little petroleum jelly to my cheeks and nose to prevent wind burn / frost bite.

For my legs I wore stretch + merino wool long under wear with a shell pant on top.

On my feet I put a set of MEC rain covers over my Lake MXZ302 winter clipless boots. That extra layer to block the wind and create an insulating void makes a big difference in foot warmth. The insulation of the Lake boots really is much too thin. I'm tempted to buy another set of rain covers the next size up and line it with something insulating like felt or wool.

gecho

Today I wore a pair of Defeet Woolie Boolie merino socks that I got from MEC. They are absolutely fantasticly soft and comfortable, BUT the only version MEC carries has a somewhat low ankle. My ankles were a bit cold this morning so I'm not sure if I'll use them for winter cycling. I was wearing just my tights, so my ankles might be warmer on days where I have my long underwear and wind shell on. I'll definitely wearing them for everything else I do. I ordered two pairs, but I see myself ordering more of them.

There is another version called the Woolie Boolie All Mountain with a taller ankle, but I don't see anywhere in Canada that sells them.

djb

ya, I bought some of those at MEC here sometime this year, on sale, but I agree on them being too low. A couple of inches highter would have made all the diff. We wear these warmer socks for when it is cool or cold, and for me keeping that part of my lower leg warm with higher socks makes all the diff, and heck its easy to push a sock down if you dont need it or it bugs you to look "dorky" if you are wearing shorts (Im too old to give a crap about that)

Your idea of insulating the rain covers makes complete sense, Ive thought of that too, but as I dont ride through the winter, Ive never really gotten that far past an idea. But Im sure it would be a cheap, effective way to help a lot (just like those cross-country ski insulated overbootee things)

cheers

ps, I have a really old pair of MEC outer goretex mitt shell things, with cuffs that go more than half way up to my elbow. Ive used them for deep snow stuff for easily 10 years or more (tobogganing with kids etc) They are really light, just a shell, but Ive been putting them over my just so-so gloves for biking when it gets down to around 0c with wind, and they work great. I use my mtn bike when its cold, and even as mitts, I can easily trigger the upshifts and use the thumb for upshifts, and get to brakes fine too. They pack nearly flat, so dont take up space in the pannier.
Anyway, just an idea if you see similiar ones, a good way to extend handwarmth with what you already use.

ThermionicScott 

Last night I went on a 5 mile ride around the neighborhood. Temp was about 30F. I wore a long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans, but I did make some concessions to the cold: wool socks, my new balaclava, and some of those cheap grippy gloves.

- Scott

djb

Scott, you have good circulation.

ThermionicScott 

I've been called a "furnace" by more than one girlfriend.

caloso

Hour long tempo ride this morning. 42F, 93% RH, calm and overcast.

What I wore:

silk baselayer
l/s wool jersey
roubaix knickers
wool sox
toe covers
midweight full finger gloves
cycling cap
roubaix vest

The verdict: should have left the vest at home, or at least gone with a light weight wind vest instead.

djb

we have friends where the kids have always been like that, ever since they were little. Theyd be running around in bare feet in october, rest of the kids are all bundled up.
Good constitution if you're a farmer (Im not kidding)