winter dress

[Lanny R. Levenson]

What guidelines do people follow in determining what clothing to wear at various temperature levels? At what point do you decide to just ride the trainer or rollers?

Lanny

[Ozz]

Layers...

Base layer - Craft or other good wicking layer...long or short sleeve depends on temp

Insulating layer - Jersey weight depends on temp...regular jersey down to about 50 degrees...lightly fleeced down to 40....heavier fleece down to 25 or so...

Wind blocking Layer - PI Zephyr or similar layer...not always necessary depending on weight of jersey, and whether jersey has built in windblock (Assos Intermediate jersey).

Medium to heavy rain keeps me on my trainer...

[Len J]

What guidelines do people follow in determining what clothing to wear at various temperature levels? At what point do you decide to just ride the trainer or rollers?

Lanny

is that everyone is different.

Rule of thumb is that you should be slightly cold for the first 15 minutes or so, or you will be overdressed when you start to work harder.

Experiment. Keep track of what works at different temperatures. Layer so you can take things off if you are too hot and/or open zippers.

Me:

1.) 50 to 70 light tights over bib shorts, base layer with long sleeve cycling jersey, skull cap, wool socks w/o shoe covers. very light weight gloves

2.) 40 to 50. slightly heavier tights over bib shorts, base layer with winter weight cycling jersey/jacket. Belaclava over ear band. wool socks with shoe covers. medium weight wind bloc gloves.

3.) 30 to 40 Heavy weight wind bloc tights over bib shorts. base layer, long sleeve cycling jersey, winter weight jersey/jacket. Belaclava over ear band, helmet cover. wool socks, winter shoes with shoe covers. Medium weight wind bloc gloves with liners.

4.) 15 to 30 Same as 3.) with silk underwear under tights and one more layer under jacket. Heavy weight lobster gloves.

5.) Below 15....stay home and use the trainer.

Temps I am quoteing are standing wind chills. remember, moving at 18 thru the wind will lower the wind chill for you.

Yesterday it was 28 with sustained 20+ mph winds. Gusts to 30. Standing wind chills in single digits. Too dangerous to ride IMO.

You have to figure out what works for you.

Len

PS, figuring it out sure beats the trainer.

[ms. mia]

My commute is anywhere from 60 to 75 minutes depending on road conditions. I live in Minnesota and as you may know it gets very cold here. As a general rule a base layer is a must. I use Craft Wool or a Patagonia long sleeve and a jersey. The key is to not bulk your clothing choices because it will restrict your movement and try to avoid overdressing at all costs.
Windstopper gloves, a jacket with pit zips, windstopper front tights and a pair of Craft rain pants in case the weather turns ugly. When the temp drops to about 10-20 degrees I make sure to wear a balaclava and Lake winter boots with a bootie and sometimes even Grabber toe warmers. Everyone has their own tolerance for cold and I choose to ride till about 5 degrees. After an hour I can't keep my body temp going and I start to chill. Hope that helps some?

[eddief]

It does not get that cold here in the Bay Area, but seasonal differences do force wardrobe choices.

I wear a bunch of light layers down to about 50 degrees.

Smartwool light long sleeve t
Long sleeve fleecy jersey
light nylon windbreaker 1
then another light nylon windbreaker 2
then finally my PI wind vest

I end up with 4 layers on my arms
and 5 on my chest.

If I get warm, layers can go into pockets or tied around waist.

Skull cap first under helmet
Then go to light weight poly balaclava.

Still experimenting with gloves.
First sign of cold = poly liners under normal fingerless riding gloves.

Then full finger riding gloves

Then the 4 layer rag wool gloves from Fox River.

[vandeda]

Experiment too, how much you wear depends on how you ride and your body

For me, down to the low-20s (haven't ridden in colder than that so far this year), for my 13 mile commute to church ... I wear less than what others are recommending, but I'm riding pretty hard too. For that type of ride, I usually have:

- Upper Body: Cycling Jersey (short sleeve), medium weight fleece and windproof shell

- Lower Body: Cycling shorts (for the padding) and standard long tights

- Hands: Gore-tex gloves ... nothing special, and my standard summer long-finger mtn biking gloves. If I'm riding hard and there isn't a head wind, sometimes I'll switch over to my summer gloves

- Feet: Standard mtn bike shoes, standard thin polyestor socks and booties.

- Head: Thin polyestor head cover under my helmet. If I'm feelin' stupid, fleece beenie cap with no helmet

For me, that is good to the low-20s for sure. And that's a fair amount less clothing than I've seen recommended for that temp ... hmmmm ... interesting since I've used my space heater in the summer in mid-70s temps because I was cold lol. But, I usually wind up unzipping my shell and my fleece, and I'm usually sweating up a storm part way into the ride. So like anything, YMMV. I'm not sure of your ride, but I have the good fortune of having pannier packs on my commuter, so I bring extra clothes so that if I get cold, I can add on. If you don't have anywhere to store clothes, then it gets tough. Too much clothing, you'll sweat too much and become cold, too little and you'll be cold. Oh ... the joys of cold weather riding (or hiking/camping/running/etc.), it brings the extra challenge of having the proper amount of clothing, which can vary throughout the ride no less.

Dan

[Len J]

My recomendation was based on normalwinter riding for me.....which is high cadence, endurance, zone 2 riding......relativly low effort but usually for 2 to 3 hour riding.

Len

[93legendti]

is that everyone is different.

Rule of thumb is that you should be slightly cold for the first 15 minutes or so, or you will be overdressed when you start to work harder.

Experiment. Keep track of what works at different temperatures. Layer so you can take things off if you are too hot and/or open zippers.

Me:

1.) 50 to 70 light tights over bib shorts, base layer with long sleeve cycling jersey, skull cap, wool socks w/o shoe covers. very light weight gloves

2.) 40 to 50. slightly heavier tights over bib shorts, base layer with winter weight cycling jersey/jacket. Belaclava over ear band. wool socks with shoe covers. medium weight wind bloc gloves.

3.) 30 to 40 Heavy weight wind bloc tights over bib shorts. base layer, long sleeve cycling jersey, winter weight jersey/jacket. Belaclava over ear band, helmet cover. wool socks, winter shoes with shoe covers. Medium weight wind bloc gloves with liners.

4.) 15 to 30 Same as 3.) with silk underwear under tights and one more layer under jacket. Heavy weight lobster gloves.

5.) Below 15....stay home and use the trainer.

Temps I am quoteing are standing wind chills. remember, moving at 18 thru the wind will lower the wind chill for you.

Yesterday it was 28 with sustained 20+ mph winds. Gusts to 30. Standing wind chills in single digits. Too dangerous to ride IMO.

You have to figure out what works for you.

Len

PS, figuring it out sure beats the trainer.

This is pretty close to my winter dress regimen. For 10 degrees and colder I wear 2 balaclavas and an extra covering between my shoes and booties.

[Tom]

I wear polypropylene socks under Smartwool or regular wool socks, my normal shoes and neoprene boots over the shoes. I can't bulk up inside the shoes or they're too tight to stay warm. Even with some wiggle room, anything below 40 degrees and my feet are numb from the ankles down after 30 miles. I can have the warmest clothes on up above me and it makes no difference at all.

Does anybody make windstopper socks? Would silk socks work? I have a silk shirt base layer Karen got me at EMS that is the best thing going. That, a heavy weight fleece under arm warmers and a jersey work all the way down to freezing.

[Richard]

I find that for my feet, the best combo is:

Wool socks
Regular shoes, left pretty loose
Chemical heater on top of shoe
PI or equal AMFIB type bootie (not neoprene)
Neoprene toe cap

This will take me comfortably down to very low temps (in the teens) for a few hours.

[93legendti]

"Wool socks
Regular shoes, left pretty loose
...PI or equal AMFIB type bootie (not neoprene)
Neoprene toe cap"

I use this combo when it is ~25- 30 degrees.

[Len J]

I wear polypropylene socks under Smartwool or regular wool socks, my normal shoes and neoprene boots over the shoes. I can't bulk up inside the shoes or they're too tight to stay warm. Even with some wiggle room, anything below 40 degrees and my feet are numb from the ankles down after 30 miles. I can have the warmest clothes on up above me and it makes no difference at all.

Does anybody make windstopper socks? Would silk socks work? I have a silk shirt base layer Karen got me at EMS that is the best thing going. That, a heavy weight fleece under arm warmers and a jersey work all the way down to freezing.

I had terrible problems with my toes last winter. This winter I decided to invest in some winter specific shoes in a size slightly larger than my normal summer road shoes. I got the Lakes from the following site:

http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&SKU=SH5938

Below about 45 I'll wear one pair of Wooly Bolly socks with the Lakes....If it gets below 35 I'll throw on a pair of Winstopper booties over the shoes. I'm good down to about 15. Just got in from a 2hour ride 28 degrees, 10 MPH wind....feet were toasty the whole time.

The worst thing I could do previously was try to wear too many socks in my normally tight road shoes...al it did was cut off circulation.....remember, it's blood that keeps you warm.

Good Luck.

Len

[vaxn8r]

Good ideas.

I'm big on layers including arm and leg warmers. I can't stand the constriction of tights but if I do wear them but they have to be bibs or I find them falling down the entire ride. I prefer short sleeve and shorts with warmers to long sleeve and tights any day. Sometimes I'll wear 1-2 lightweight jerseys under a wool or "Kodiak" Pearl jersey.

Then I usually add a vest if needed. Any jacket gets hot way too fast. The only reason I'll ever wear a full jacket is for rain.

Shoe covers if under about 43 F because of wind chill. I have thicker shoe covers for low 30's. You can wrap your feet in saran or big baggies for a thin layer inside your shoes. Thicker socks often backfire reducing bloodflow due to tightness and then your feet freeze anyway.

If I can't keep my feet warm I just don't ride outdoors. 20's is marginal teens no way. With windchill that brings you well below zero. NO WAY!

I've found my hands always stay warm. For some weird reason I only need the lighest of gloves or even just mittens. I wear a head band in upper 30's and skull cap in lower 30's. I hate Balaclavas because I can't then use my glasses without heavy fogging. At this point it's again time to ride indoors.

[Dekonick]

I overheard Kevin saying that Sandy wears a full length gown as his winter dress...

[Climb01742]

lots of great ideas here.

for me, once the temp gets below freezing, the limiting factor is time. if it's 20-32 degrees and no wind, i can last between 60-75 minutes. more wind, less time. if the temp is 0-20 degrees, regardless of how i'm dressed, about an hour is my max. with wind, maybe 45 minutes. i just accept that limit...but even so, an hour at zero with wind chill is still better than an hour on the trainer.

the best new twist i've found is...find a lightweight top that has full windstopper (i have one from mountain hardware) in the body and sleeves. i put on craft base layer, this first lighter layer of windstopper, then a jacket with windstopper. the double layer of windstopper seems to make a huge difference. when its cold, wind, rather the simply temperature, is my biggest enemy.

[Len J]

The double layer of windproofing works great.

Climb, I'm surprised by the 60 or so minute limitation.......what is it that drives you in? I find that if I can keep my fingers, toes, and ears from hurting........everything else is just layers. The balance is not having either too much on or too little.

I used to have a time limitation until I solved the toes issue.

Len

[vandeda]

Len,

I'm with 'ya. The limiting factors for me seem to be the fingers, toes & ears, with toes being the hardest since I can't keep go out buying shoes until I find a combination that works well, 'ya know? I already have a full array of gloves/mittens for winter hiking/camping in below 0 weather.

Otherwise ... yeah, just keep piling on the layers for non-extremities. But, I guess I can see how it's taxing on some people. I used to hate cold weather and even if I was warm, my face was cold and that just made me cold, regardless of how warm the rest of me was. Overall, riding in cold weather just isn't as enjoyable as a nice spring day ... though now that it's been cold for awhile, I'm anxious to take the mountain bike on the river .... I think that'll be a lot of fun :D

Y'all enjoy yerselves on your rides and stay warm!

Dan

[Climb01742]

len, it is my toes and fingers. if i push it, i can ride 90 minutes but the last minutes are kinda miserable. i have good gloves and shoe covers...maybe my circulation to the extremities just isn't the greatest. i've always been able to handle heat better than cold.

[Len J]

len, it is my toes and fingers. if i push it, i can ride 90 minutes but the last minutes are kinda miserable. i have good gloves and shoe covers...maybe my circulation to the extremities just isn't the greatest. i've always been able to handle heat better than cold.

Lobster gloves and Lake winter shoes with shoe covers........It works for me down to 15.

Len

PS I hate the indoor trainer also.

[csb]

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