Noonievut

My Gore jacket is 10 yrs old and way too big now that I’ve thinned out. It’s a soft shell with windstopper and some thermal properties. It’s good down to -10C with both a thin and thick base layer underneath. One warm base layer keeps me warm down to -3C.

I searched quite a bit for existing offerings and I’m a bit confused my mixed reviews and claimed temp ranges from manufacturers and customers (I love when people from California talk about winter gear lol).

If you live where it’s as cold as our winters here in Toronto area of Canada, what is your jacket of choice and what do you layer underneath?

thanks!

xyz

I lived in LA for 3 years. Whenever it was going to hit 55 degrees the news weather stations went nuts with commercials calling it a 'blast of winter'. After I rode to work at the grocery store in shorts, everyone was wearing their ski outfits, full winter jackets with the furry hoods and big thick gloves. Pretty funny.

DangerousDanR

For balmy winter days that are from 0C to -10C I wear a polyester fleece jacket and maybe a merino wool t-shirt under the jacket. That is actually great winter weather, since you know that it will not rain on your parade.

Obeast

-10C you can get away with just any thick but lightweight fleece jacket. Your body gets warm quickly so get the ones that have those armpit zippers that can vent about 30 min into a ride.

Bikewolf

Can’t you make your "thin + thick base layer" work with a (new) shell jacket, by adding a midlayer (e.g. fleece)? That, and of course taking very much care of your extremities.

AstroEng

This...

I do the same, but for colder temps. I purposefully bought a "roomy" softshell jacket so I could add my ~10°C fleece outer layer as a middle layer on very cold days (< -10°C). The softshell, for me, with a baselayer covers me from about -10 - +10°C, though it is kind of baggy.

hsuBM

Upstate NY. We only get below 0F about ten nights and two days per year. There are mountains in California, so there might be a small percentage of its population that actually know what winter is... but anyone in Kentucky, Virginia... sheesh.

Bontrager RXL Convertible 180 is what I use. Thin merino base + mid/heavy merino Icebreaker or Surly midlayer + pedaling somewhat hard and I’m good down to -15F. With a thin poly jersey it’s useless above 30 unless I zip off the sleeves.

It’s less fragile than some cycling stuff I’ve got, but you still need to be kinda respectful toward it.

i think I’ve got four winters with it- 70-130 mile weeks- threads are starting to pull out here and there. I probably could get a fifth season out of it if I had to.

Noonievut

I ended up getting the Gore Trail jacket. It has wind stopper and a nice lining. Plenty of pockets. Pretty happy with how it fits and feels. Should be plenty warm with 1 or 2 layers depending on conditions.

xyz

Is that one of these? Spendy.

https://www.gorewear.com/us/en-us/sh.../tops/jackets/

Noonievut

I don’t see the one on that link but it was regular US$220 and I paid under CAD$200 delivered to my door. Last Gore cycling jacket I had was 10 years old...lasting quality.

xyz

Looks like those are all out of stock anyways. Maybe it's a covid supply line thing. That $300 one looks nice but they only have a medium. if i could fit into a medium I would be needing to ride my bike in the winter! I'm tall though, finding jackets with long enough arms is always hard. I got this one from deluth (normal winter jacket) that has some kind of thin super insulation. I was excited that they had 2XL and 3XL and tall versions as well. In 20F I can wear that and a t-shirt and be plenty warm for a walk.

pdlamb

This.

I'm very chary of buying or using bike clothing for a specific band of temperatures. Back BC (Covid, in this case), I'd commute to work at 14F (aka -10C), and had to make sure I room for at least one layer in the panniers for a return trip. Likewise, if I'm going to the trouble of gearing up for a weekend ride starting that cold, it's probably going to last a couple hours and it's usually much warmer coming home. Putting a lot of warmth into an outer layer makes the sweat or chill balance much more difficult.

tgruendl

I'm cycling in Bavaria, Germany where the temperatures drop to about -10 or lower when it's cold - so far I went out up to about -5 celsius with my Assos Mille GT Ultraz Winter Jacket Evo and it worked quite well - had a wool base layer plus my summer jersey underneath and felt no cold (on the upper body at least) when descending with 50-60 km/h downhill with cold winds.

preyj

Here in Wisconsin at that temp I use a Mountain Hardware soft shell as my core layer and add more are less layers depending upon the wind and terrain. It will take more work to keep your hands and feet warm than your core.

wilson_smyth

Galibier Mistral Pro. Good down to -4 on its own and with a base layer and jersey can easily go far lower.
I have thier Mistral foul weather jacket and its boarderline magic, its waterproof and very breathable. Ive got goretex, omnitec, outdry and a few other "technical" waterproof fabrics and this stands at the top of the list with OutDry. With a thin poly t shirt or baselayer it works down to 2 degrees c, adding a merino baselayer lets it work brilliantly down to -5 degrees c. I have not tested it any lower yet.
There is no jacket of this quality at the price.
I have quite a few bits from them and everything is top quality.

https://www.galibier.cc/product/mistral-pro-jacket/

parkbrav

I got a Garneau cycling jacket for this autumn. It has a hoodie and ventilation. I'm very much looking forward to trying it out. I hope it might be good for temps down to 0C which should be all I need it for this winter.

ropetwitch

Yeah, This is designed to keep you warm in temperatures ranging from -20°C to -40°C. Hopefully, I will be able to get mine too.

Alecka

Your body gets warm quickly so you need not to worry much. Though, it depends on one's body temperature adjustment. Some gets easily warmed while others are not.

Bearhawker

Being too warm is *always* a bigger issue for me than too cold... in fact on cold days if I'm not uncomfortably cold for the 1st 5-10 minutes I will be too hot to ride after 20.

down to -20*C I ride with a long-sleeve MTB jersey over a short sleeve jersey (normally merino) with my wind/water proof jacket as the top layer - with the huge pit zips open as the jacket is not breathable. Bike bibs, thermal tights and then waterproof/windproof tights. Thin windproof thermal hat under the helmet, snow goggles if blowing snow.

I have 45Nrth Cobrafist pogies that I wear my normal summer fingerless gloves with - as long as the bike has been inside and the bars are not cold-soaked. I've ridden with no gloves with the pogies from literally +20* to -20* C and been comfortable.

I carry a down jacket and warm gloves in case I stop somewhere but if I'm moving I'm generating more heat than I can dump so I'm never cold... except maybe my feet on very cold days if I've just thrown rain covers overmy Nashbar sandals with very thick merino wool socks. I may invest in some actual winter riding footwear at some point but they are very spendy and I have VERY wide feet (that's why I cheat with my socks/sandals as deep into the winter as I can stand)

Apart from the hassle of getting suited up, I would gladly rather ride at -5* C than +30*C every single time.