trevor_ash

$1 winter glove liners.

Go to your local drug store (Osco is where I found mine) and ask them where they keep the winter hats and gloves. Next to them I found some thin synthetic gloves that cost exactly $1. They're the kind that looks super small and stretch to twice their size when you put them on. They're very thin which is good. These $1 gloves inside of another cheap $12 set of gloves from Walmart have my hands toasty warm down to 28 degrees F for one hour.

alanf

You can get latex socks. They are used for water sports such as kitesurfing in really cold weather. Unfortunately the ones I know about are made to seal out the water so they have a tight seal which also cuts off blood circulation. Look in kitesurfing forums https://www.kiteforum.com/

However.... you can do a similar thing with a plastic bag such as what you get in a grocery store in the fruit section for buying quantities of fruit etc. They stop the wind. Wear socks inside and they will keep you warm.

alanf

I prefer lobster claw style gloves as they all ow you to move your fingers independently and speeds up your reaction times to gear and brake which is more important in winter.

Here's what Mountain Equipment Coop sells
https://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cyclin...ves-unisex.jsp

Bekologist

* Just ride.

I see all sorts of people riding, all sorts of gear. Its still pretty mlld around here, been white for a few weeks (skiing right out the front door), I'm still sporting jeans, wool socks, waxed leather shoes, and a few light layers on top for commuting, around town errands, dropping of the rent, hauling the mail, that sort of stuff.

* Protect the neck and ears.

Bandanas work great, Buffs too, or more elaborate face masks as needed.

* Face cream with sunscreen. Dermatone in the blue tin is great for harsh conditions.

Wind and weather blocking.

* Shell pants over pants, not long underwear under pants, but sometimes you'll need all of those.

I think its easier cycling, less leg restriction while still looking halfway normal on the bike.


Haven't needed to put on a nose protector yet but have a couple laying around, i might try one for wicked fierce conditions that don't call for goggles and full face mask.

Jumpa

My guess is your hands are sweating because your not allowing them to breathe any type of rubber or neoprene gloves are bad for a bicyclist's The best gloves Ive found are ball players gloves either baseball gloves or the ones the wide receivers use they have a leather like substance that grips very well on my handle bars and mt hands do not sweat. My favorite are a pair i have called Mizuno I got them @ Walmart No sweat great grip One day I could not find them "the wife put them in the wash" So I took this large pair of water proof "Big Ice South bend" fishing gloves Ive had my hands looked like two prunes after just 45 min of riding

electrik

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/...rticle2294251/

Novakane 

+1 for these inexpense thin gloves. I do exactly the same thing for being outside on the cold days.

I've found you can also double them up and stay fairly warm.
I was riding yesterday in -10C with a pair of those on and a slightly oversized pair of of open-tip cycling gloves over them. I think full-finger cycling gloves (slightly oversized) and a pair of the thin gloves would have been better, since the tips of my fingers did get a little cold - but not to the point of pain or numbing.
They're easier to find (around here at least) in the Fall season, most big-box retail and dollar stores have plenty until the temperature starts dipping a bit.

AngrySaki

I've been using those blue rubber cleaning gloves underneath my regular gloves lately because it hasn't been very cold (a few degrees below zero). I normally would need to pull out my mittens in this temperature but with the waterproof layer underneath I don't get the freezing cold evaporation on downhills which is what I normally need the mittens for.
My hands are all wet inside but it doesn't really bother me, or I should say it bothers me less than riding with mittens.

linus

Use a Ski or Snowboarding helmet instead of a cycling helmet!!!! A lot of them come with ventilation controls too.

xtrajack

Back in the day, I used to do this. As I recall, it worked well.

trevoruk

My home made toe protectors/warmers from old sport shoe tongues. They help to keep your toes from freezing in cold weather.

rumrunn6

trevoruk ~ like the way you think!

DJ Shaun

+1 on the lighter. I've had to thaw out my locks this way a few times to get my keys to turn.

I also try to keep the key hole pointing down to minimize water/snow from getting in the lock too.

erig007

A few other tips related to gloves

-I tend to remove the useless liners inside the gloves when possible and go for wool gloves liners instead

-In some gloves the liners tend to mess up when you remove your hands. To avoid this problem simply sew the liners at the fingertips.
(only for gloves used for commuting and with relatively thin liners or with the use of specific sewing techniques allowing to limit damages, better going for the previous tips which is to remove those liners when possible as it is most of the time a better option)

-Some gloves can fit even though they seems not to when you try them at the store.
+If the fingers of the gloves are too long simply remove the liners and go for 1 or 2 size smaller
+If the leather gloves circumference is 1/2 size too small you can make them fit by soaking them in water for a few minutes and let them dry on your hands

-Some gloves can be cold at the fingertips but be fine anywhere else. In that case there are some solutions
+go to the stores and buy some cheap work gloves or pvc gloves wide enough at the fingertips, cut them and glue or sew them to your gloves fingertips. With leather gloves you can do the same thing with your older leather gloves if you have some
+some glue or just a little bit of silicon at the fingertips can work as well (not advised if you intend to remove your gloves outside because it adds more inertial heat which means more heat necessary to warm back more material)

-If you got cold thumbs when riding a cheap clear plastic film attached with clear tape in front of your thumbs on the handlebar can help a lot even better if you decide to make bar mitts with clear plastic film

-To make gloves as warm as mitts without losing dexterity inherent to gloves some easyseat sheepskin cover attached to the back of the gloves with shoe laces can be pretty efficient. A bunch of old socks cut at the middle of the foot length and sewed together as well


-Putting gloves on a few minutes before going outside can help making the commute more comfy

-A little bit colder fingertips but more dexterity is sometimes better than warmer fingertips but less dexterity when you know than dexterity will be needed during the ride (to repair a flat for instance) as it avoids the need to remove the gloves and lose all the warmth inside

-I've got more dexterity vs warmth with leather gloves than gloves using synthetics especially those synthetic gloves with more loft at the fingertips but all leather gloves are not equal - cowhide is usually thicker. Taking care of the leather could help making them a little bit warmer.

- a good way to know if some gloves insulate better than others is to compare them with one different system in each hand at the same time. The icepack test where you grab an icepack with both hands and see which one takes more time to let the cold go through is an easy way to know which one insulate the best. Doesn't say much about wind protection though.

-when gloves are stretchable it usually means to me that a trade off has been made between warmth and more fit. It also means potential blood flow problems at the fingertips

- because hands are probably as different as people on earth (length of each finger especially index vs ring vs pinky, hands and fingers circumferences especially thumb vs other 4 fingers, right hand vs left hand) the only true way to know if those fit is to try them (at the store)

dscheidt

This will destroy any water proof properties the glove has, and depending on the glove, may make them much colder, by reducing the loft of the insulation at the finger tips, and by providing a route of air infiltration. Glove makers know that two part gloves are a pain, but they still make them because there are few real alternatives.

erig007

Agree but the alternative is to simply throw the gloves at the garbage so even if this solution is not the best it allows to still use those gloves at least.
I did that with my Louis Garneau gloves which have a waterproof membrane and i didn't even notice any difference.
By the way, the funny thing is that coincidentally i decided earlier today to remove the thinsulate insulation of my LG gloves after more than a year of use so what damages sewing 1 or 2 dots did to the waterproof membrane is quite fresh in my memory and it wasn't so bad.

There are some things to consider though,

First, we use gloves to ride rather than grab wet snow so the lack of waterproof due to some tiny holes at the fingertips shouldn't matter much.

Secondly, due to the riding position the tiny holes at the fingertips are not directly on the way of the air flow.

Thirdly, chances are like i noticed on my LG gloves that the thread will mostly fill the holes so that just the water going though remain a problem but not so much the air.

Fourthly, even with tiny holes at the fingertips it doesn't mean that air can go right through due to the boundary layers. That's even why professional swimmers keep some gaps between their fingers because even with openings water can't go through.

Fifthly, if your gloves aren't waterproof at start then there is nothing to worry about.

And finally, this technique is pretty much useless in most cases because most liners inside the gloves are usually made of thinsulate or primaloft which can't bare comparison with wool in most cases and should be removed rather than sewed.

Regarding the loss of insulation i do agree that with high loft liners the insulation could be reduced consequently probably not so much with 40g thinsulate liners though.
But i believe that if you intend to use your gloves for other use than riding those problems could matter more.
So i'm going to add specifics to the previous post to avoid some problems.

But there are possible ways to prevent all the problems from occurring.
For instance, by dipping the thread into some glue before sewing so that glue will clog holes. Or by sewing not through the liners but from the outerlayer of the liners to the innerlayer of the gloves when possible which should prevent the loss of insulation (but increase tear strength)

thechemist

So, I ended up in a rush this morning and sauted some mushrooms to put with my pasta in a ziplock back for a snack. Come to find out the heat from immediatly transferring the shrooms to the ziplock stayed nice and warm and acted like a heat pack in my jersey!

Shiloh253

I learned this hunting, but I think it applies here. Forgive me if someone's already posted this, but if you keep your extremities (hands, feet, fingers, toes) warm, it keeps the rest of you warm. There's nothing worse than going out in 18 degrees and realizing that your socks aren't quite thick enough.

Also, quick question: What's the coldest weather you guys have ridden in before? It can drop to 40 below where I'm moving for school and I'm worried about stuff like the grease on my chain freezing.

GeorgeLeslie

I have locked my front wheeel against the down tube using a rubber band and a small stick of any type. Just wrap it around wheel and tube. Now you can lean the bike against anything without wheel jackknife and fall.

rdtindsm

Shop thrift stores for merino / lamb's wool pull-over sweaters as base layer, or even as insulating layer with wind blocking shell. Not smartwool, but $4-5 rather than $$.

Make a bib of canvas duck instead of using newspaper for chest.

TuckamoreDew

I do this, too. It's also good to look at sweaters that have tags that are marked as one size too big for you, as a lot of them wind up at the thrift store because somebody accidentally shrank them.

Icecyclist.com

I have found that with some of the new technical fabrics by Polartec you can actually wear less/layer less and still stay nice and warm. I particularly like the Windbloc jacket produced by Foxwear as this small manufacturer makes the jacket to fit you and it costs less than $100! This and other tips including different technical and inexpensive wear are on my website. Icecyclist.

scoatw

My tip: Get yourself a pair of cheap gaitors. They do a great job of keeping the snow and the cold out of the top of your boot

alanf

A bike mechanic taught me a better one.

Just keep a few elastics on the handlebar and wrap one or two around the brake lever and the handgrip. This closes the brake and voila two handbrakes. Bike will stand up anywhere.

alanf

I used to live in Northern Canada and I enjoyed driving my road bike on top of the snow where the skidoos had pressed it down firm. Also when it is really cold, the ice on the roads would be coated with a sandpaper like frost so by being careful, I drove all winter with my road bike slicks.

First year I put screws in my tires but it was like driving uphill all the time so I got rid of them. Gradually I discovered that as long as you are careful you can drive on whatever you like.

As you mentioned grease does freeze and I found that lower than -25 C (-13 F) the chain wasn't too interested in switching gears. By -35 c (-31 F) switching gears was very difficult. Probably would be a good idea to flush the chain in a solvent or diesel to get the crud off first because that is what makes it stiff in the cold, then lube it with something light like WD40.

Your face has to be well covered. Wear safety glasses that are very large so your face is protected.