crazyravr

Location - Mississauga, ON, Canada
Weather - ~3C, windy, cloudy, slight drizzle
Ride - 34km, commute
What did you wear? Endura rain jacket, PI Elite LS jersey, DHB Merino wool base layer, DHB thermo bib tights, Wollie Boolie socks, running shoes, Gore overshoes, PI lobster claws.
How did it work out? Comfy all over BUT hands, always always cold. I cannot find a solution.

wipekitty

Location: La Crosse, WI
Weather: +27F (-3C), N wind at ~5MPH, dark, relative humidity ~60%
Ride: 20.2 miles, 1,273', on my summer road bike. A bit of riding around and hill time, with 4 short/steep hills at the edge of town.
What did you wear?

• Head: Merino balaclava, snowboard helmet, clear lens sunglasses
• Top: 160g merino long sleeve shirt (WoolX), summer jersey (for the pockets!!), Mammut ultimate hoody
• Bottom: DHB Aeron thermal tights
• Hands: Silk liner gloves; handyman gloves with 40g Thinsulate
• Feet: REI Expedition socks, road shoes, neoprene shoe covers

How did it work out? Awesome. Index fingers were a bit frozen until my warm up point ~4 miles in. Toes stayed reasonably warm. The jacket did its job at keeping sweat acquired going uphill from becoming a problem going downhill.

fietsbob

Location - Oregon Coast, on Columbia river shore
Weather - low was 38f, winter high typically 50f, It rains .. winds usually 5-15 knots,
higher as storm fronts come ashore
Ride - was 5 miles around , 1 mile up & over , its a peninsula . now I have a house close in..
What did you wear? Heavy rain I get out my Cycle rain cape ..
How did it work out? OK

Warm up track suit trousers, put long underwear under them when its colder.





....

GrainBrain

Location: Gravel roads outside of town, no wind protection now that crops have been harvested.
Weather: 25°f, sse wind at 14mph dropping to 10mph, late afternoon into evening.
Ride: 31.7 miles taking about 2hrs 50 minutes on the mtb
What did you wear?

• Bar mitts, PI full finger winter gloves rated 40-60°f
• Helmet, baclava with face and mouth cutouts, second baclava on top, shooting goggles
• Saucony running jacket, high vis vest, UA compression cold gear top
• UA wind pants, small chamois bike shorts, PI leg warmers
• Asic sneakers, two pair socks, plastic baggie, one more sock layer then sandwich baggie.

How did it work out?
I had applied an antifog treatment to goggles but it didn't work well. Goggles performed much better then expected with regards to fogging, and were a welcome protection from the wind!

I am actively looking to buy some boots, maybe even some Shimano mw5 mtb shoes. I made it last year with the tennis shoes and baggie trick but it just doesn't work after two hours.

Clothing was exceptionally well chosen for the conditions, a little warm when the wind was at my back, a little cool to comfortable when heading straight into the wind. I was really impressed by the flexibility in keeping me comfortable despite starting out with the wind at my back and sunlight to directly into the wind and darkness.

rumrunn6

can ppl please add a pic of part of what they're talking about?

on the path

Location: Upstate NY - Local roads and bike path, varying between open landscape and tree shelter. Mostly was exposed.

Weather: Cloudy, Mid 20s (f), winds 10mph + or -, early afternoon.

Ride: 17 miles in ~70 minutes

What did you wear?

• Insulated wind resistant gloves w 3rd finger & pinky joined
• Helmet, crew cap underneath, protective Rx glasses w/transitions
• Cycling specific jacket, base layers (all very light) of thermal nylon mock turtle neck, cotton long sleeve tee, merino wool long sleeve pullover
• Chamois bike shorts & leg warmers, with thermal tights covering
• Lake winter road shoes w toe covers, light Smartwool socks under med/heavy Smartwool socks.

How did it work out? Everything was cold at first. I had to bring my heart rate up to get warm. Index fingers were numb for a while. Eventually I was comfortable enough to keep riding. I could have used a heavier base layer on top. My feet never got warm. My winter shoes don’t really cut it as far as keeping my feet warm in temps below freezing. I might try the same conditions with neoprene booties over my summer shoes.


Any suggestions are welcome.

wipekitty

Location: La Crosse/Vernon county, WI

Weather: Average temp 36F; range 32-43; S wind ~10 MPH (shifting to ~5MPH while I turned to head north of course )

Ride: Road ride, about 70% rural; two substantial hills and some rollers; 63.2 miles; slow (due to wind); sunshine changing to darkness

Clothing:

• Mostly the usual: Ibex Woolies 1, short sleeve jersey, Mammut ultimate hoody; DHB Aeron thermal tights; thick merino socks, road shoes, neoprene covers.
• This time, I wore my summer helmet (Smith Overtake) with an ear band and a thin merino balaclava; Tifosi cycling glasses.
• The really pleasant surprise was that the handyman gloves did really, really well: warm hands, and no issues with hand pain or numbness (this is the longest ride I've done with these particular gloves.)

How it went: Got slightly toasty during the heat of the day (low 40s F), but that was solved quickly by venting and a descent. Got a tad bit chilly around sunset, but then my body seemed to kick into overdrive and I was nice and toasty when I got home.

Hydration was easy (not cold enough for frozen water), but I probably could have used some fuel. Despite going fairly slow, this ride seemed to be a bit more effort than a ride of similar length in ideal to warm weather. Another five miles without nutrition probably would have been bonk territory.

I don't know that they make this style anymore, but here are my awesome handyman gloves. They are Ansell Projex gloves with 40g Thinsulate. Pic taken from Menards stock photo:

on the path

Location: Upstate NY - Public roads, rolling terrain, mostly exposed.
Weather: Cloudy, Mid 30s (f), west winds 10mph or less, late morning.
Ride: group ride of 37 miles, 1800 ft climbing, total time 2:13

What did you wear?

• Winter cycling gloves without liners
• Helmet, crew cap underneath, protective Rx glasses w/transitions
• Cycling specific jacket, base layers (all very light) of thermal nylon mock turtle neck, cotton long sleeve tee, merino wool long sleeve pullover
• Chamois bike shorts & leg warmers, with thermal tights covering
• Summer road shoes covered by neoprene booties, 2 pairs of Smartwool socks, 1 lightweight pr & 1 medium weight pr

How did it work out? Generally worked out well. This was an “endurance” paced ride so there was not excessive body heat produced. About 2/3 of the way through the ride I switched out the crew cap for a breathable cap with ear warmers. If the group went harder my feet probably would have become toasty, but we didn’t, and my feet never got completely warm.

mbailey

Canuk1w1

I was last out in weather about 10F warmer (it was hovering around 4C). I wore Louis Garneau merino socks with my MTB shoes (racing style, also Louis Garneau). For anything colder I would add my full foot warmers. Caution, I've read that neoprene doesn't breathe well and the wet feet could be a bigger problem in the long run.
We've been lucky with little precipitation since the temps started dipping below zero (just) so I may get a chance to test my hardiness again before they start dumping salt on the road.
Good luck!

Canuk1w1

First off, nice pull. I think what you felt is normal. i've done a couple of these (metric centuries) in temps just above freezing. We'll stop for coffee and donuts at the midway so fuelling not a problem. I find myself exhausted a few hours after getting back though. The cold really takes it out of you - well, me anyways.

on the path

It seems you're right that neoprene doesn't breathe well. I don't think it's a problem though. I've notice some condensation build up but it seems to be limited to the ankle area, not around my feet.

There already is plenty of salt on the roads around here (sigh).

wolfchild

Temp: minus -7 Celsius ( 19 F ) plus strong wind...This is what I wore today on my 15 mile commute:

- North Face trail shoes.
- wool socks
- long johns
- Adidas track pants
- tight fitting wicking t-shirt as a base layer
- Adidas hoody made from Climawarm fleece, as my mid-layer
- North Face windproof softshell jacket
- wool beanie
- insulated leather gloves

Everything worked out good.

TimothyH

This is my experience as recently as last night.

Condensate around the ankles it isn't a big deal to me but I don't ride below freezing much.


-Tim-

GrainBrain

Location: Around town
Weather: light rain, sse wind at 10mph, 44°f
Ride: Pavement on the mtb, 21 miles and 530ft climb. Rained the whole time, but was comfortable.

What did you wear?

• Turtle fur tube baclava, helmet, sunglasses
• Long finger Pearl izumi gloves, no bar mitts (!? too warm)
• Champion long sleeve summer compression, slightly heavier then my comparable under armour. Saucony runners jacket. High vis vest.
• UA tights, small chamois shorts, UA wind pants
• Three layers of socks, plastic baggies, tennies.

How did it work out?
Really well for the hour and half I was out. The jacket and wind pants stayed water proof for the entire ride but started to soak at the end. Gloves were soaked but hands stayed warm. Moderate effort

on the path

Location: Upstate NY, suburban and rural roads
Weather: Sunny to partly cloudy, 32°-34°(f), winds 0-3mph
Ride: 42 miles, 1500' elevation gain .. billed as "endurance" pace but was interspersed with spirited efforts

What did you wear?

• Polyester crew cap under helmet
• Insulated wind-breaking gloves, 3rd & pinky fingers joined
• Nylon mock turtle thermal base layer, mid-weight merino long sleeve, light-weight merino long sleeve, winter cycling jacket
• Chamois shorts under Bontrager winter tights (advertised as for sub-freezing temps)
• Two layers of socks, lightweight Smartwool under a heavier Smartwool pair
• Lake winter road shoes (3 bolt)

How did it work out?

Worked out very well, generally. After about 20 minutes I switched to non-insulated long finger gloves. I was very comfortable for the entire 2 1/2 hour ride, with a couple of caveats. Working the jacket zipper should go without out saying, it's standard operating procedure. After about an hour we stopped for 20 minutes as one of the riders had a mechanical issue.I got cold just sitting around, but warmed back up after about 5 minutes of riding. Also, the tights were great for today's ride but if it were 8° colder and/or significantly windier I'd probably want to have leg warmers under the tights.

rumrunn6

Location - Middlesex County, MA
Weather - high 30sF, sunny but pm sun low in the sky, dry
Ride - 2 hrs exploring flooded wetlands approx 11 miles
What did you wear? 1 pair modest winter socks, taped hand warmers to the top of my toes, over the socks, large light hikers which are not waterproof or insulated, very thin runners tights, Novara Headwind pants, a single fleece shirt, no base layer, Marmot jacket with pit zips completely unzipped, very thin smartwool beanie & thin cycling headband over, Basecamp helmet which has very little venting & used the tinted face shield, thin windstopper gloves, under barmitts
How did it work out? good, would have worked if I rode into darkness & dropping temps but I got home way before that happened

crazyravr

Location - Mississauga, ON, Canada
Weather - -3C feels like -10C, windy, cloudy
Ride - 34km, commute (1.5h)
What did you wear? Endura rain jacket, PI Elite LS jersey, DHB Merino wool base layer, DHB thermo bib tights, Wollie Boolie socks, running shoes, Gore overshoes, PI lobster claws, Bar Mitts.
How did it work out? Cool but comfy all over BUT hands, always always cold by the end. I will try heat packs in the bar mitts next.

rumrunn6

any air leaks in the bar mits? I remember when I 1st installed mine I had to take another look cuz I had air leaks. now I close them up better

crazyravr

Nope. My issue is with sweat more than anything. My hands sweat more when I am cold than they do when I am hot. We all know sweat kills in winter conditions and for me there is simply no way around it. I will throw in heat packs next time and see if that helps to "dry" things up a bit in there. Still better than riding without the bar mitts.

rumrunn6

the other thing that caught my eye is that your hands got cold by the end of the ride. last night I rode in 26F degrees for a cpl hrs & I use bar mitts. I have the PI lobster claws but tried their fingered gloves last night. at the halfway point I changed up a cpl things, one of which was going to a lighter glove, wind stopper, non cycling specific. I also changed my head gear. after 1/3 of the way back I changed my head gear to the warmer stuff again, but I kept the lighter gloves on. my hands don't get colder on rides unless there is something wrong with the setup. I've used the PI lobsters with barmitts in extreme conditions & that's a good combo. I wonder if using a lighter glove wold be better so that your hands don't get sweaty, or change them out like I did when yours start to get sweaty. someone on some thread recently was looking for a thermal glove that was padded for cycling. I just realized these are: Pearl Izumi - Ride Men's Elite Softshell Glove

these were more than I needed with the barmitts last night (& the lobster claws would have been an even bigger overkill)

crazyravr

Thats what I do. I start with the lighter gloves and with time my hands still seat and I start to get cold. So I swap the gloves out to thicker, but then my hands never warm up again.

wolfchild

When the temps get really low, gloves alone won't work especially if you're doing a longer ride and are exposed to cold temps for longer periods of time. It doesn't mater how expensive and how fancy your gloves are, there comes a time when they just stop working....My solution has been to wear a thin pair of gloves or glove liners and then a pair of mitts over them. This has never failed me yet...On longer rides when I know I'll be out for a couple of hours I carry a spare pair of gloves and mitts... Also forget about cycling gloves, cycling specific gloves are just a fashion statement and are useless for very cold temps, use some real winter gloves made for cold weather

Rollfast

More than the kids walking home lately...

Phamilton

29F no wind in NE Indiana this morning on my way to work. Tee shirt, merino sweater, full zip fleece on top, thin tights under joggers on bottom. Boot socks in snow boots, knit stocking cap, and sheepskin gloves. Little sweaty under the wool, everything else pretty good. 12 miles, little less than an hour outdoors. Little bit of beard frost.