Cold weather advice thread

[Crickey7]

Check your tires, because they have a tendency to flat on the coldest day possible.

[ChristoB50]

Thanks for the starting list — this is my first winter biking, and I’m so far, basically content with the gear I’ve got, up to this point — but I’ve not had a single ride below, perhaps, 28f yet… I suspect I will find that my gear needs some augmentation when the 20’s arrive.

[ChristoB50]

Should have added, as Greenbelt pointed out later: here’s my current gear,
With cold here, I wear a long-sleeve SmartWool undershirt (the lighter-gram-weight version) plus an REI rather light windbreaker (reminds me of parachute material.)
I’m surprised by how far that combo has got me as fall has advanced and temps drop. This morning was the coldest ride yet for me (28 I think) and while it is only 7-8 miles to work, I work up a little sweat of course…
I’m wondering if it would be a good idea to add the “summer” REI synthetic t-shirt under the merino layer now?
Or, better off adding a second merino layer? (I also have the same gram-weight SmartWool in a short-sleeve variety.)
For legs – work days I tend to wear the merino long-johns under my office khakis (and because our office HVAC is out of control, I leave them on at work!)
For leisure rides, I’ll usually go with pearl izumi leg warmers along with padded cycle shorts – and my legs have been fine thus far (longest “cold” ride so far was about 2 hours Sunday in 38f.)
On toes… recently added a pair of ShowersPass waterproof 3-layer socks, on an REI recommendation… While I don’t think I need the waterproof element so much, the staff folks said they’d help with keeping my feet warm (I’m wearing clip shoes with some tiny perforations.) I’ve taken to wearing over-shoe rain booties as well, starting this week, more to help cut the wind intrusion into those shoes…
I added a Smith ski-goggle (fits over my prescription glasses) and that is REALLY a nice upgrade.
I wear a half-balaclava (nose-tip, down to neck) and have some pre-biking goretex winter gloves that I’ve adopted now, once the pearl izumi winter gloves seemed not to be handling the cold wind well enough.

[huskerdont]

First off, don’t ride like I do.

Head: Helmet liner from ~40F down to ~15F, fleece hat or beanie below that.

Face: Sunglasses.

Top: A waterproof-ish softshell pretty much all winter, with a poly T-shirt and either a thin long-sleeved poly or a midweight fleece, depending on temps. If it gets below about 20F, a heavier fleece.

Legs: Light tights and MTB cycling shorts over top once the temps get down toward freezing. Heavier tights a couple of times a winter; they need to be used.

Feet: Shoes and wool socks. Shoe covers if in the twenties or raining/snowing. Nice Shimano MW-5 (or something) winter boots if it gets down in the teens.

Hands: 43F+ fingerless gloves, 32F-42F fingered gloves, 10F-32F Pearl Izumi Barrier lobster gloves, <10F ski mittens. (Silly specificity on this one, but I've learned from experience, and even so, I sometimes have to stop and get blood back in the fingers.)

[Subby]

Ride hills, ride them hard.

[jrenaut]

@Crickey7 183668 wrote:

Check your tires, because they have a tendency to flat on the coldest day possible.

Parking garages are by far not the worst place to change a flat on a crummy day. I realize this isn’t always an option, but it’s a corollary of the “know your bailout route” rules. Keep a list of places you can get warm, change a flat, get out of an ice storm, etc.

[n18]

My tips for winter time:

1 – Layers made of Full-Zip shirts are easier to remove than half-zip, or no-zip shirts, and so worth the extra investment.

2 – Many don’t dry their legs, and leave few minutes after taking a shower when it’s icy outside. If it’s below 32 F, I wait 15 minutes before leaving, or 5 minutes if I remember to dry my legs.

3 – Some advice circulating(including by me) suggest using plastic bags over socks as a wind breaker, or plastic kitchen gloves under cycling gloves. Please don’t do this. Your feet and hand will get sweaty, and if you get distracted and hit something and becoming unconscious, you might wake up in a hospital with your feet/hands/fingers amputated because of frost bite.

4 – Hot water damages skin, especially if you are older or diabetic. I use this shower head with temperature display to make it more predictable.

5 – Sometimes, I put a heater next to the bathroom to warm it to a toasty 75-80 Degrees, I actually look forward to take a shower because it’s warmer there. You could use a 24/7 Timer to turn it on 30 Minutes before you use the shower.

6 – I use this electric shaver(Bestbuy, Amazon), which shaves my beard in 90 Seconds(I have medium to heavy beard), compared to 5 Minutes with the blade method, and I get almost the same result. I can do it while on the coach, while someone else is using the shower, so both the shower head and the shaver cut my shower time by 6 to 7 Minutes. Previously I used this shaver from Philips Norelco and it took 3 Minutes to shave, but it’s not as close as the Panasonic one.

[cvcalhoun]

@n18 183689 wrote:

I use this electric shaver(Bestbuy, Amazon), which shaves my beard in 90 Seconds(I have medium to heavy beard), compared to 5 Minutes with the blade method, and I get almost the same result. I can do it while on the coach, while someone else is using the shower, so both the shower head and the shaver cut my shower time by 6 to 7 Minutes. Previously I used this shaver from Philips Norelco and it took 3 Minutes to shave, but it’s not as close as the Panasonic one.

Please tell me you’re not trying to shave while riding your bike!

[Judd]

@cvcalhoun 183692 wrote:

Please tell me you’re not trying to shave while riding your bike!

I’m offering a pointless prize for the best Danger Panda while shaving picture.

[hozn]

@Judd 183698 wrote:

I’m offering a pointless prize for the best Danger Panda while shaving picture.

Bonus points if shaving legs. This is a cycling forum after all.

[Greenbelt]

@Judd 183698 wrote:

I’m offering a pointless prize for the best Danger Panda while shaving picture.

Generally takes about 10 replies before stuff gets weird. Maybe we’ve jumped the gun a little on this thread…

[jrenaut]

@Greenbelt 183704 wrote:

Generally takes about 10 replies before stuff gets weird. Maybe we’ve jumped the gun a little on this thread…

Don’t pretend like you’re new here

[JamieJoy]

I can’t bring myself to do the whole snot-rocket thing and I’ve never tried it…..my luck it will end up back on me. This is my first season riding through the winter, so maybe I jumped the gun, but I bought some winter boots today. Just didn’t feel like fussing around with covers and crossing my fingers that I bought the right type to keep my feet warm enough. I also got them for $100 off at The Bike Lane (last season close out), so that helped hook me. Hope they are a good investment, and not overkill. Thanks for all of the advice so far!

[drevil]

Use Bar Mitts or some sort of pogies to keep your digits toasty: http://bikepacker.com/history-pogies-buy/

[Greenbelt]

@JamieJoy 183707 wrote:

I can’t bring myself to do the whole snot-rocket thing and I’ve never tried it…..my luck it will end up back on me. This is my first season riding through the winter, so maybe I jumped the gun, but I bought some winter boots today. Just didn’t feel like fussing around with covers and crossing my fingers that I bought the right type to keep my feet warm enough. I also got them for $100 off at The Bike Lane (last season close out), so that helped hook me. Hope they are a good investment, and not overkill. Thanks for all of the advice so far!

Winter boots are from heaven. You won’t regret.

[Author]

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