Need stupidly warm tights

[Tania]

Hands? Fine. Feet? Mostly OK. Torso, no issues.

But my outer thighs and butt absolutely FREEZE. Yesterday I rode with Gore windstopper fleece tights, then UA cold gear tights and THEN skiing softshell pants over all that and my legs were uncomfortably cold. (My hands were a sweaty mess, I had to swap gloves at the midway point and shove shoe dryers in both pair when I got home. Warm hands is one of my superpowers.)

I have lots of winter weight bike tights (mostly Gore, some PI, some Garneau and maybe a Performance house brand or two) and none are nearly warm enough. I’m also rocking an additional 15# so it’s not like I don’t have any natural insulation at the moment.

Suggestions? I could probably even get away with a stupidly warm knee length layer because below the knee I’m fine. Doesn’t have to be bike specific.

Topic

[Vicegrip]

Too tight/snug reducing circulation?

[hozn]

PI Amfib tights are what I use for temps like today (below 20°). Not sure if you’ve already tried those.

[Tania]

@Vicegrip 170527 wrote:

Too tight/snug reducing circulation?

Possibly exacerbating the issue but the past two winters (when I’ve been closer to fighting weight) have also been cold-legged.

hozn – I read your other post about biking in this am in those tights and that’s what made me remember to post this question. I just ordered a pair. We’ll see!

[hozn]

@Tania 170532 wrote:

hozn – I read your other post about biking in this am in those tights and that’s what made me remember to post this question. I just ordered a pair. We’ll see!

I hope they work!

They are significantly warmer than standard thermal tights (I have a pair of Craft that are otherwise probably my warmest). Wearing warm thermal tights and adding loose hiking pants on top works for me when there isn’t a big wind-chill factor (e.g. for mtb), but the Amfibs are great at stopping wind.

[Tania]

Interestingly, Dr. Google tells me that fat doesn’t have the same circulation that muscle does. 😮

[Brett L.]

I quite enjoy my Smartwool tights. Rode this morning with Endura leg warmers on underneath the smartwool tights and my legs were fine. With your softshell ski pants, that should heavily cut the wind, so just insulation is what you need. Can’t go wrong with wool.

Now if only I could solve my cold feet issues……

[TwoWheelsDC]

I have a set of AmFibs. I was hoping they’d be better for temps under 20 than my current heavy winter tights (Sugois of some form), but was disappointed during one of the cold snaps a few weeks ago when it was like 19 and my legs were uncomfortably cold. This morning I wore wool knickers under my Sugois and felt great, but I think I would’ve been way too cold with just the Amfibs (I can’t wear the Amfibs over my knickers because I accidentally bought Amfibs with a pad). I don’t mean that to say there’s anything wrong with AmFibs, but I had probably overly high expectations of their warmth and was disappointed.

[Judd]

@Brett L. 170540 wrote:

Now if only I could solve my cold feet issues……

Do you have boots? I bought a pair of Lake 303’s off of dbb and my feet were fine yesterday and today. Much better than wearing shoe covers last year.

[Tania]

So are you all rocking the chamois-free life? I think in that battle I’d be on Team Cold Butt.

All of my tights are chamois free but I’ll wear padded bike shorts under them.

[hozn]

@Tania 170550 wrote:

So are you all rocking the chamois-free life? I think in that battle I’d be on Team Cold Butt.

All of my tights are chamois free but I’ll wear padded bike shorts under them.

Yeah, I wear padded bike shorts under my chamois-free tights. I don’t have enough pairs of tights, at least good ones, to get me through a week if I was changing them out every day. I own one pair of bib tights w/ chamois; I hope they were on sale, because that was the stupidest idea ever. (Besides being non-reusable, they’re very cold in uncomfortable places.)

@TwoWheelsDC, I wonder if the salient difference here is that I’m wearing shorts under the amfib tights. This morning was about the coldest that I’d consider wearing them, but they really were plenty warm for 1.25 hrs. But having an extra layer that is shorts makes a big difference in warmth, as I’ve learned from the my padded-tights Sugoi debacle.

[Brett L.]

@Tania 170550 wrote:

All of my tights are chamois free but I’ll wear padded bike shorts under them.

This

[Tania]

OK, so where does the smartwool layer come in? Bike shorts > smartwool > tights? In my case, the bike shorts cover all the cold bits that might be ameliorated by the smartwool so that layer’s not going to do much.

[anomad]

@Tania 170537 wrote:

Interestingly, Dr. Google tells me that fat doesn’t have the same circulation that muscle does. 😮

My ex used to have the same issue or pretty close. Her butt and outer thighs would get ridiculously cold while she was out skiing or riding in cold weather. Not so much while participating in the activity, but particularly uncomfortable when circulation returned after coming inside. Keeping the insulation layer and shell layer sized for a loose fit (tricky while bent forwards in the cycling position) helped for her. She also used a jacket with a long tail that came down over her butt and sometimes an insulated skirt. The long tailed jacket was the thing she used most.

Edit to add: I got a pair of PI thermal fleece bib shorts for this winter. Great alone with knee or leg warmers but also a very cozy base layer when its time to layer up.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@hozn 170552 wrote:

@TwoWheelsDC, I wonder if the salient difference here is that I’m wearing shorts under the amfib tights. This morning was about the coldest that I’d consider wearing them, but they really were plenty warm for 1.25 hrs. But having an extra layer that is shorts makes a big difference in warmth, as I’ve learned from the my padded-tights Sugoi debacle.

My problem area with the AmFibs was my knees and shins…not awful, but they just weren’t as warm as I was expecting based on the reviews. Part of the problem is that my commute is essentially flat until I cross Chain Bridge, so my legs don’t warm up until pretty far into my ride…so basically my legs were cold in the AmFibs for the first 10 miles of my commute, then sweaty after the final 2 miles.

[Brett L.]

@Tania 170555 wrote:

OK, so where does the smartwool layer come in? Bike shorts > smartwool > tights? In my case, the bike shorts cover all the cold bits that might be ameliorated by the smartwool so that layer’s not going to do much.

Ideally, you would want the most breathable layers closest to skin. Skin > bike short > smartwool > tights > windshell (if tights don’t have wind protection). Some smartwool layers have a windstop built in (basically a plastic liner in between layers), so that’s not necessarily bad for an outer layer either. I’d also look to make sure all layers are comfortable – if they’re too tight, they can restrict blood flow and make you colder than without. I would suggest that if you’re in doubt between two sizes, size up instead of down.

[Author]

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