FS Newbies

[Birru]

@Steve O 169915 wrote:

tl;dr – Wind stopping goes on the outside. Base layers go on the inside. Q.E.D. – base layers that are wind stopping are non-sensical

Thank you for stopping your own wind. :p

[Boomer Cycles]

Basic extremity kit…buff (head), overboots — which can be worn over any kind of shoe or sneaker, regardless if it is bike specific or not (I prefer fleece lined neoprene from Performance as they are awesome and cheap…and I wear them while shoveling snow!), but do not combine the lobster (w/ ti-liners) and bar mitts at the same time as they are mutually exclusive due to overheating in any temp. Ride on…through the winter!

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[streetsmarts]

Hardly any fancy bike wear for me. I’m not a clipper-inner!

I hiked a lot before I biked a lot. Also, I bike to commute and for other transportation, mostly, with only a few longer rides (over 10 miles).
So.
30-40’s –
— running shoes or low hiking shoes, Darn Tough wool (smart wool?) socks
— fitted jean or tights (I recently bought stretchy jeans and they’ve been great, even today, for shorter rights).
— if windy, I add my rain hiking pants – they make it warm/sweaty on the inside, but keep out the wind. Marmot precip I think. On the expensive side, but I don’t think as much as bike wear. They double as my rain gear.

Still trying to figure out when/how to wear bike shorts (for padding on longer rides) under winter gear. Ladies on the Women & Bicycles FB page helped with that, so I’m trying different combos.

— non-cotton top, fleece shell, hiking rain jacket ($40 or $50) or cycling windbreaker
— balaclava
— warn biking gloves

If it’s colder, I add a wool zip up top under all that. And hiking boots. Thanks Komorebi for the suggestion!
They keep my toes warm and generally dry!

I’m not concerned about aerodynamics, just staying warm and dry!

I have learned that for short rides (commutes), I’d rather be underdressed than overdressed – now that my commute is only 25 mins.

I did buy Bar Mitts last year, anticipating more cold, but the couple of times I used them, they were too warm. I think if it’s 25 or under they may come in handy.

Oh, and I have my 10 year old ski goggles handy, in case is really gets nasty out there this winter!

[komorebi]

Lots of great suggestions in this thread. One additional idea: when I first started commuting through the winter, after every commute, I would take a few minutes to jot down the temperature and wind conditions, what I was wearing, and what worked or didn’t (e.g., “core sweaty, toes cold”). I eventually accumulated enough data points to create a chart indicating what works for me at 55 degrees, 50 degrees, 45 degrees, 40 degrees, etc. That chart now resides on my phone, so that I never have to guess about what layers to wear.

[AFHokie]

Don’t forget to look at humidity as well. A 30° / 70% humidity day can feel warmer than a 40° / 30% humidity day

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[Mtansill]

@Shawnbeast 169749 wrote:

Some of us lowly novices have never taken to our steeds in sub-freezing weather. Do those of you veterans have any advice to help us keep our toes intact and our bikes upright?

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Saving toes- my cheap-o solution that really works for adding protection from the wind for my toes is to put baggies over the front of my feet before putting them in my shoes. It’s really a noticeable difference. Some may scoff at the idea – Ziploc is maybe expensive – but if I insert my toes carefully, I can get at least a week’s worth of rides into one pair. I also tend to wear two layers of socks sometimes – a thinner wool layer next to my foot and then something slightly fluffier as the second layer. You just have to make sure that your boots/shoes are a little roomier than normal.

See you out there!

[Steve O]

@Mtansill 169980 wrote:

Saving toes- my cheap-o solution that really works for adding protection from the wind for my toes is to put baggies over the front of my feet before putting them in my shoes. It’s really a noticeable difference. Some may scoff at the idea – Ziploc is maybe expensive –

The bags the newspaper comes in works well for this. You can either pull it all the way up to your calf, or cut them off to only cover your foot. When I use this strategy, I put the bag between my two pairs of socks: sock-bag-sock-shoe

[MarkinDC]

So a lot has been covered, here are my most novel pieces of advice on this topic, a winter beard goes a long way, always ride with eye protection even at night, glove liners can go a long way if another pair of gloves isn’t quite warm enough, if you are riding more than a short distance chemical warmers (plastic bags stuck in your shoes) will do bad things to your feet. Also in addition to/instead of shoe covers/overshoes/designated winter bike shoes like Specialized Defrosters, Sealskinz water proof socks maybe over a thin wool sock (if it’s really cold) are awesome when it’s cold and wet out.

[cvcalhoun]

@MarkinDC 170000 wrote:

a winter beard goes a long way

Yeah, but I’ve been trying to grow one since 1953, and it hasn’t worked yet.

[Judd]

@MarkinDC 170000 wrote:

a winter beard goes a long way,

I do notice quite a difference between when I have a mountain man beard versus a Brett Favre in his prime beard.

[Edelweiss]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15944[/ATTACH]

Frozen ears are a thing of the past with this one awesome hack! Use two spare beer can insulators, just slide them over your helmet straps for a winter weather-beating upcycled riding hack! Turn them inside out if you want a modest non-advertising look. Easy to slide off if you actually get too warm. (Inconcievable for me at the moment as it is -5 in eastern Wisconsin right now!). e

[Harry Meatmotor]

@Judd 170003 wrote:

I do notice quite a difference between when I have a mountain man beard versus a Brett Favre in his prime beard.

I’m guessing it’s because Brett Favre didn’t have giant snot-cicles hanging off his face when he approached non-cyclists after a cold ride into work.

[MarkinDC]

@Harry Meatmotor 170010 wrote:

I’m guessing it’s because Brett Favre didn’t have giant snot-cicles hanging off his face when he approached non-cyclists after a cold ride into work.

If you are getting snot-cicles then I think you need to work on your technique

[Judd]

@MarkinDC 170040 wrote:

If you are getting snot-cicles then I think you need to work on your technique

Snot beard is inevitable in the winter.

[Dachs6]

@MarkinDC 170000 wrote:

…designated winter bike shoes like Specialized Defrosters…

And a few others… +1 for tolerable riding for anywhere from 1.5 to 2 hours for my 10 digits that were nipped by frostbite about 15 years ago. Going with lightweight wool socks is the key in this arrangement, the thick ones make you sweat too much and then you have wet feet.

[Author]

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