Left home a few days ago for 5 mile one way commmute, -18 F at the house, but was -30 F at my office (significant inversion layer). I was sure glad that my keys worked in the office door. I think that with what I have for gear -25 F is my limit. However, my SRAM 0.9 shifters quit working somewhere between -15 and -20 F.

Now that the temperature is pretty much above freezing, I'm looking back and thinking my rides under 20F were less than fun. Below zero was unpleasant. Riding in 6" of half-frozen, rutted, snow/slush mix was not so much an adventure as a pain.

Next winter I'll probably do it again, but right now I'm finding 70F remarkably nice. Which maybe is the major benefit of the suffering part.

My cutoff is about 40-50F. For some reason if I get lower than that (last 2 colder rides were 38 and 34) I have respiratory problems that make it not very fun very quickly. I don't know if it's an equipment issue or not.

Haven't found one yet but coldest ride was -32 f. including wind chill, think the tem was -20 f. I don't ride when it gets really windy (=25 mph) though..just too much of a pain..my ride has a lot of hills...

Is it upper respiratory (excessive mucus) or lower, like asthma? You may want to try using a breathable fleece face mask to prewarm the air a little. If its asthma, you may want to see a Dr and get treated.

Can't wait to try the bread-bag thing in the boots! I like the ghetto factor: this winter I duct-taped my air vents on my winter helmet (a la Sheldon Brown -- quite the sight!) which has kept me super toasty. My coldest ride was -14F this winter: it was only uncomfortable for the feet. Commute was 12mi round trip and I wore snow pants and jacket over the winter bike tights. Definitely gets colder than -14 here, so maybe the bread-bag thing will increase my range!

What are you guys in the colder temps using for a lube? I had issues with shifting at that temp. I use and love Phil Woods' Tenacious Oil for all the other conditions from late fall to late spring...

I got some advice about cold shifter issues here: https://www.bikeforums.net/winter-cycling/524076-cold-weather-shifter-issues.html
You might have to douse your shifter and cable housings with that liquid wrench stuff

Huh! Thanks for the info Teleroller. Sounds like the liquid wrench is worth giving a try. (Almost makes me want to have another day of bitter cold to check it out, um, sort of.) Cheers!

I now use WD40 in the cable housings and haven't had a shift issue since..Phil's Tenacious is great on the chain!

Thanks for the tip KLW2: I've heard this from a couple of people now. Am going to apply some today since it's still snowing like mad where I live --a foot overnight two days ago -- and bitter cold isn't out of the question yet. Gracias!

As a rider with respiratory issues in cold weather, I have to add that the face masks aren't always what they're cracked up to be when you're exerting. When you're trying to expand your lungs, the material over your nose and mouth limits how quickly you can breathe the air in and that can sometimes make the situation worse and put you at a defecit. Best rule of thumb for most people is to gauge their effort and have the courage to stay off the bike when the temps are iffy for their personal threshold, regardless of how or if they're treating their asthma.

My cut-off is actual temp or wind chill effect of 35 or lower. I rode for a few hours a week ago with a temp of 38 and did fine, but I'm acclimated to upper 30's feeling like "spring" - for someone used to warmer year-round weather, temps in the upper 40's might be a shock to the system.

I live in a region where I'd only get to ride for a month or two out of the year if I waited til temps were ideal. But having to layer something over the nose and mouth while you're working at an effort isn't really a great idea if you're still getting your conditioning in shape. People who could do their commute backwards in their sleep without breaking a sweat wouldn't probably have the mask concern.

I use a neoprene ski mask that velcros behind my neck. The stock ventilation holes were too restrictive, so I cut out two square openings on either side of the seam in the middle. Now I can drink through it and breath through it, and I'm good for pretty much anything southern New England can dish out.

They're pretty cheap, like $15. Might be worth trying for you.

BL

The coldest I have ridden has been 0F.

The coldest season I ever remember riding in was the winter of 2000-2001. I was car free, and faced a 15 mile commute to work everyday. The weather was brutal, it seemed like everyday was consistently below 10 degrees for at least a two month stretch and there was one stretch during which it was consistently below zero.

I rode in tempatures down to -14 and If the weather was calm, the only problem I experienced was the low temps seemed to cause problems with how the bike functioned, the derailers were slow, the chain creaked, and the brake cables tended to bind up.

If it was windy and cold, I hated it. I could never keep my hands, groin, or feet warm enough. Touching a freezing cold bike didn't help.

I think if it's so cold that it's adversely affecting the normal functions of the bike, than it's too cold.

I biked on the coldest day of our year last year. -22C I got frost bite on my fingers. Very cold.

The coldest temperatures I biked in this past winter was around -20C (windchill near -30).
My body adjusts quickly except for my hands. I've yet to find a pair of gloves that keep my hands warm.

I found that the grease doesn't freeze per-say but it does get darn thick feeling at around -45 C.

Some of you guys make me feel like a wimp. I live at the Jersey shore, so the ocean moderates the weather. The ocean rarely goes below 40 degrees here, so we don’t get much snow. We do get black ice; the snow melts in the salt air but refreezes when it hits the ground. I don’t ride in that; it’s not worth the risk. I usually ride on the boardwalk when I get home from work about 6:30 PM; it’s not unusual to be riding into 20-25 MPH damp winds off the ocean. Usually in January/February the temp is in the upper 20’s to lower 30’s when I ride at night..

I’ve been riding for 5 winters the coldest it has been is 5 degrees and I couldn’t miss riding in that. Usually I do about a 40 minute ride, at 5 degrees I was only able to go about half my usual distance in the 40 minutes.

Some towns are using plastic boards in the boardwalk, you put a dusting of snow on that and it’s very slippery. This winter when I came up the ramp and tried to turn on the boardwalk, I lost it and went sliding down the boardwalk. Just a couple of scratches though, I’m a tough old fart.

Try those mitten-gloves, with the top half that folds down over. At -4 degrees last winter I used those with a chemical warmer and it was just fine. The whole set-up was about $10 at w-mart (and that's about the only stuff I've bought there in ages).

I live in Chicago at the moment, where this past winter was particularly harsh. I wouldn't complain too much; any problems from riding are as much to do with the generally rough roads as they are to do with winter alone. I don't think I'd ever choose to live in area that gets down to -45, like someone else posted. Seems to me a good reason to move.

I haven't tried out particular clothing for winter riding, so I've just ended up with a base guideline that if the wind chill is over 20F I'm fine... under that, the mileage may have to stay in the single digits or else I'm risking frost bite on my toes. More than the cold, for me in winter my problem is the lack of daylight hours as well as the snow / ice covered roads. Clear roads are great. When I'm biking through ruts of snow, with an entire street blanketed, it's more of a short ride for fresh air, going 5-10mph -- not really for endurance -- I'd probably lose my focus after a while and start falling on the ice.

My personal low so far is. -12f.

-40C without the wind chill, it is all in the gear. Gaerne winter riding boots I love em. My bud slaps on theplatforms and wears Sorels all winter.

When I lived in Nebraska, I rode to school at -20F. I had the clothing for it but the bike was pretty stiff. Wasn't a fast ride, and because my wool cap wasn't quite long enough I got frostbite on my earlobes.

Now I live in southern California. In winter it can be around 32F, which I would have laughed at in the Nebraska days but after 25 years of de-acclimitization, feels cold.

I remember last winter we had a day where it was - 25C but it felt like -30C with the windchill. It's amazing how quicky I warmed up and as long as I keep moving everything was fine. One thing I can say is : don't overdress.