Keeping arms/legs warm to keep hands/feet warm
I take a hot shower after every winter road ride and it is pretty easy to notice what got cold on the ride: it hurts so good when the hot water hits those spots!
Anyway .. using the shower test I have been noticing that my arms and legs are surprisingly cold after winter rides. My hands and feet can have problems freezing, and I now think the cold arms/legs are a big part of the problem. So, I am more thinking that I need to put more coverage on the arms/legs. I did an experiment recently where I added arm warmers over my jacket, and my hands didn't freeze. I never did that before, arm warmers I would only put on bare arms with a short-sleeve top. Today I put on my Rapha Deep Winter socks and pulled them all the way up to my knees. My toes were warm the whole ride today. I didn't have the arm warmers on though, and my fingers got a bit cold. My core was a bit on the warm side, my cellphone was dripping when I pulled it out after the ride.
What I am generally wondering is it seems like the standard winter road bike outfits are not putting enough warmth on the arms/legs? And maybe some compensation for that is needed? My winter gear is mainly Castelli stuff, for down to about 20F (we rarely get colder than that). I am wondering if it would be worth it to get some larger size arm warmers I could regularly put over my jacket. Also on really cold days I might want to put some big leg warmers over my tights? If I just put more full layers on my core is going to be roasting while my limbs are freezing.