Pants for fall/winter exercise rides

[Joe Chapline]

I did get the Novara Headwind pants, and I’m happy with them. Like the other products mentioned here, these have no padding; I’m wearing them over the padded liners from my bike shorts. I ordered my usual size, and they’re not as form-fitting as they appear in the photo. When it gets colder, I can layer long underwear under them. This was a breakthrough thought for me — I had a problem with the idea of wearing “tights,” but not “long underwear.” I ordered a new pair, and the product I ordered is called “Base Layer,” which is also acceptable to me.

Something other shoppers should look out for: before I got the new fancy-pants, I was riding in old gray sweatpants, and found that they can snag on the bike saddle, especially when dismounting. I had the same problem with the first pair of bike shorts I bought. Those were ridiculously baggy, and I once ended up with the entire saddle inside one leg of the shorts. So look for pants that aren’t TOO baggy.

[FFX_Hinterlands]

@DismalScientist 9691 wrote:

Khakis, with a rolled up cuff down to about 30 degrees. :p
I don’t do rain.

Ha, Ha. I’m with you. My work Khakis are fine between 55 degrees and 30. Colder than that I might wear long underwear under the pants. Or maybe I’ll just wear thicker pants.

[mstone]

I’ve also been happy with the headwinds so far.

Side note: every time I see this thread title I think, OF COURSE you should wear pants when it’s cold.

[Joe Chapline]

@FFX_Hinterlands 10237 wrote:

Ha, Ha. I’m with you. My work Khakis are fine between 55 degrees and 30. Colder than that I might wear long underwear under the pants. Or maybe I’ll just wear thicker pants.

I agree about just wearing work clothes to work. I commute through the winter, although not every day — I work at home most days. When I commute, I dress for the weather and wear my work clothes. The bike part of my commute is short (2-3 miles), I’m sitting up on a hybrid, and I’m not going very fast. I’m outdoors at other times during the day, including a lot of walking. So there’s nothing about the bike part of my commute that requires special gear, other than a helmet and ankle straps. I do have a special hat to keep my head warm under the bike helmet, but I don’t think I’ve ever used it yet. Earmuffs that go around the back of my neck have always been warm enough.

What’s different now is that I decided not to renew my gym membership. Part of my new workout plan is that I will be biking and running outdoors. I was fine walking to the gym in sweats (and a coat) and running on the treadmill, but now that I’m exercising outdoors I found I needed some wardrobe adjustment.

[Dirt]

If it is rainy or wet, I always choose knickers though. I can keep my lower legs warm in other ways. All my rain “pants” get cut off and hemmed.

[PrintError]

Today was the new cold-tolerance limit for me, 34 degrees when I headed out (probably colder by the time I hit the trail). Brrrrrr! Did it in full summer gear, shorts, short jersey, etc.

[Author]

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