I like the answer to cold questions I got from someone here years ago. When asked how they keep warm while riding, they ask the person if they've every gone snow skiing.

I'll ride as long as I can for the gear I have (which is not yet tested). I also need to do some research on how low a temp my bike can handle.

Not too long after the words 'Frost Warning' comes out of the weatherman's mouth...

But seriously - I usually retire the bike from December to March except for a few unseasonably warm days.

I had a finger/hand injured and surgically repaired back in '01 (only 8 months after breaking my neck in that same out-to-kill me state...uh,I was a trucker back then,LOL),and as I get older (only 36 now tho),seems it bothers me more below 30 F,then neck starts throbbing below 20 F or so,and that finger freezes/locks in whatever position it's in below 15-18 F,so unless I'm really itching for a ride,that's about it for me. I'm the "housewife" here now (LOL,albeit it with a hairy chin and chest :rolleyes:) and the wife is the bread winner (since last December),so no commuting,and we're way out in the boondocks (takes almost an hour to the closest Wallymart :eek:......:twitchy:.......thank God,LOL),so not much in the way of "utility" biking either,so 95% of my rides,road or dirt,are pleasure rides....I miss living in town somewhere :innocent:

-32c is about my cutoff point. Any colder and my legs just don't work properly.

Am I the only one thinking wind-chill is an irrelevant point for a cyclist, considering the moment you start going anywhere you're making your own wind-chill...just a thought ;).

Anyway, the coldest I've ridden in is -4oF and I've done that many times (for some reason that seems to be the lowest possible temp around here, must be the ocean). Each time, I dressed in a winter had, wind-proof shell with hood, scarf, two warm layers under the jacket, wind-pants on the legs (nothing more as they'll get plenty warm pedaling), and plastic covers for the shoes. Dressed this way, I was actully a bit too warm by the time I got to work, so I can imagine I could go much lower.

Conversely, when I was a kid I did farm chores when it was -27oF and walked two miles home all winter. The worst was when I got a ride home in the back of a pick-up...you wanna talk amout wind-chill :eek:.

A> lllamero, -40F is also -40C

B> i think there is no cutoff point, i think there is a range about 30-15 where it loves to snow that i dont bike alot in, but when it gets colder it gets better

C> wind and mosture content is a factor, when i lived in Anchorage, Alaska, i stoped about ten below, but up here in Fairbanks where it is dryer and no wind not found a cutoff