Gloves and Shoe Covers

[comish83]

It only took one ride of high winds and sub 35 degrees to make me want to get new gloves and shoe covers. Are the Goretex gloves and shoe covers worth the investment or is there something cheaper I am missing? Wool sock on top of dri fit sock underneath cheap shoe covers did nothing. Maybe I am just a pansy though....

[YesNdeed]

Feet are tough. Two pairs of socks, preferably wool, usually satisfy. And there's always plastic bags around, to shove between layers, but they don't allow for sufficient wicking. Theres a current discussion about Winter shoes here http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=197165, that I'm paying attention to myself.

Personally, my hands are difficult to keep warm, too. I'm currently using Giro Proof gloves I got at a good deal, but anything below 35 requires liners. At which point I use silk liners, which work OK. Just got some Sugoi runners gloves in the mail which I'll use between silk liners and gloves. I expect the combination to work well for temps well below 30, and the thinner layers will pack well after late ride temps rise. Hope that helps.

Cheers!

[Peter P.]

If you want to keep your hands warm, you'll have to keep your core warmer than you'd like. Try wearing an extra base layer, or at least an extra pair of arm warmers.

Buy your gloves a size large, then wear wicking glove liners. Buying gloves oversize creates an air gap your body heat will warm up and trap. If the gap is too large, your body can't generate enough heat to warm up the air volume, so you can have too much of a good thing.

I'm currently using Swix brand cross country ski gloves. I figured if they're made for the cold environment of winter skiing, they must be good for cycling. Note that they're constructed with pre-curved palms/fingers so they'll feel unusual to the person who buys a typical glove which is flat out of the box.

As for feet again, you'll have to keep your core warmer than usual to help keep your feet warm. Add a pair of leg warmers to your tights. Buying an extra pair of oversized shoes is expensive just to ride outside in the winter so you have to decide whether you want to take on that expense.

Road shoes suck when it comes to heat retention because most are plastic. You can try adding those insulating insoles found at the drugstore. Do not add a second pair of socks, or wear thick winter socks inside your shoes. You'll compress the air space between the foot and the shoe, killing any loft a winter sock needs to hold air and warmth. You could try wearing a thick pair of winter socks OVER your shoes, then wearing shoe covers, but you may have to buy oversized shoe covers to fit.

One thing that worked for me was to replace my road shoes with casual style SPDs similar to the Shimano XM7. The bulkier, walkable oriented construction with thicker sole and thicker uppers is warmer, yet I still wear shoe covers over them. You'll have to buy oversized shoe covers to fit.

[Veloo]

For the fingers I say nothing can beat barmitts for warmth and looking goofy.

[moobikes]

Inexpensive "civilian" Thinsulate fleece gloves work really well, I find.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by comish83

It only took one ride of high winds and sub 35 degrees to make me want to get new gloves and shoe covers. Are the Goretex gloves and shoe covers worth the investment or is there something cheaper I am missing? Wool sock on top of dri fit sock underneath cheap shoe covers did nothing. Maybe I am just a pansy though....

Wool liners inside windstopper mittens..never had cold hands down to 25 degrees or so.

Feet are tough since you have holes in the bottom for cleats. Wool, thin socks, too tight shoes can be colder. Windstopper shoe cover, again, not too tight.

AND, when I ran, if you are cold, put on a hat. Decent beanie and neck gaitor, the best winter gear I have, a gaitor. Also a balaclava.

[unterhausen]

at 35F, just about anything will work on your feet. I used to use neoprene shoe covers. But then they don't work at 20F. I switched to winter shoes.

Gloves are the same way. I have some Bontrager gloves for down to about 20F. Below that it's tough. I used to use army surplus mittens with wool liners, but the new ones I have let my thumbs get cold. Thumbs are the most difficult part of the hand to keep warm. With mittens and liners, you can put some hand warmers in there and improve things a little.

I really like bar mitts, wear light gloves and keep warm anyway.

[dbh]

Winter shoes are worth the investment if you're regularly riding in cold (below 25F) temps. I use them daily with wool socks to commute in Boston down to the single digits.

[Geeheeb]

The few times I've had to use hand warmers below zero I liked keeping them on my anterior wrist

[comish83]

Originally Posted by YesNdeed

Feet are tough. Two pairs of socks, preferably wool, usually satisfy. And there's always plastic bags around, to shove between layers, but they don't allow for sufficient wicking. Theres a current discussion about Winter shoes here http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=197165, that I'm paying attention to myself.

Personally, my hands are difficult to keep warm, too. I'm currently using Giro Proof gloves I got at a good deal, but anything below 35 requires liners. At which point I use silk liners, which work OK. Just got some Sugoi runners gloves in the mail which I'll use between silk liners and gloves. I expect the combination to work well for temps well below 30, and the thinner layers will pack well after late ride temps rise. Hope that helps.

Cheers!

Is this what everyone means by silk liners?

https://www.amazon.com/Terramar-Adul...+gloves+liners

[YesNdeed]

Originally Posted by comish83

Is this what everyone means by silk liners?

https://www.amazon.com/Terramar-Adul...+gloves+liners

Yup, those are the ones I have. I haven't thoroughly tested them yet, but on a 30 degree ride the other day they improved the warmth of said Proof gloves. There are also ones that motorcyclists favor, which may be a better option. The Thermasilks are super thin, you'll barely notice them in your pocket after stripping them. I haven't tried any of the wool liners, but for the price, I opted to try silk first.

[livingminimal]

Hate to beat a dead horse, but I will, Rapha winter gloves/overshoes.

[berserk87]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

If you want to keep your hands warm, you'll have to keep your core warmer than you'd like

Am I the only one starting to think that this "keep your core warm and your extremities will be warm" thing is pseudo-science?

If your hands are cold, the they are cold. If your feet are cold, they are cold. Both are relatively small areas of the body, at the most extreme ends of it.

When referencing "core", are you talking about the skin temp of your trunk? Or your internal temperature?

Activity alone will raise your core temperature, as per on the bike. If you are sitting in bleachers watching a Bears game, and it's 15 degrees, then I could maybe see the core temp being a thing. On the bike, your body is not sedentary.

My core temp (i.e. the feel of cold on my skin while riding) has no bearing on how my hands and feet feel in cold weather. I rode yesterday (20 deg F, with 24 mph wind out of the west) and my core was a bit chilly but my hands and feet were fine. I did not stop during the ride to insert a rectal thermometer to measure my real core temperature, but my guess is that it was not compromised all due to exertion. Conversely, I have been on rides where my trunk was dandy and my fingers were killing me.

Blood has to run through vessels in the trunk, arm and legs to reach the extremities. Why, therefore, would it not make as much sense to advocate keeping your arms and legs warm, too? Wouldn't cooling effect on the limbs lower the blood temps going to the hands and feet?

I've yet to hear a good explanation of why keeping one's core extra warm will benefit hands and feet. In fact, I've done a good amount of cold-weather riding and find no correlation between the two.

In fact, over-insulating your trunk could have the opposite effect: if you sweat profusely, with the cold of the wind hitting you over time, you could get colder than if you dressed with more ventilation and stayed dry.

[TimD]

90 minutes today, 11 degrees and no wind at the start.

Extremities are cold first, so make sure your core is warm. Beyond that:

* Marmot snowboard gloves over REI polypropylene liners

* Quilted Gore booties over PI toe covers over shoes over thick wool hiking socks, loose shoes.

My feet got a little cold near the end when we were going downhill at 25+ for a couple of minutes. Hands were warm the entire way.

For reference, I was also wearing:

* Medium weight balaclava
* Craft thin base layer
* Medium poly base layer #2
* Fairly thick Biemme LS jersey
* Assos knickers (not Roubaix)
* Custom (Lou) Fox Wear windproof pants
* Custom (Lou) Fox Wear windproof front / Polartec rear jacket

Temperature rose to near 20 and I was overdressed. I'd probably be good to 0 F for 90 minutes in this outfit, assuming little or no wind. Below that I might go with Roubaix knickers.

Have fun -
Tim

[93legendti]

If your body needs 3 layers, so do your feet. I use wool socks, power stretch over socks and thick PI Booties. With my hands, I can get away with 2 layers depending upon temp and wind chill. If it's really cold, 3 layers work really well.