Winter is here, what do I wear?
For my fellow Winnipegers (Canadians as a whole?) you've likely noticed that it's starting to get pretty cold outside, and by pretty cold I mean Environment Canada has had an extreme cold weather advisory for the last three days, so REALLY cold.
If you've never thought, "Wow, the cold is actually kind of nice because it's to cold for anything to melt, refreeze, and turn in to ice", go check out the video by GCN on how to dress for winter.
Do I still have your attention? Fantastic!
I've actually been riding the last few days, and all three days I felt overdressed. In an extreme cold advisory. Yeah, I didn't think that was possible either. Now I'll be upfront in saying my gear is pretty expensive (I'll list it all at the end), but it works, and if you really want to ride, that's what matters.
I also feel a need to mention that I ride pretty hard all the time, the easier you go, the more bundled up you need to be. Also when I mention specific products, they aren't necessarily the best or most cost effective, they're just what I picked.
The winter whip... If you can call it that
Starting at the feet, I'm wearing a pair of Smartwool merino wool nordic socks in the medium cushion variety. If you want to know more about merino, let me know, I'd be more than happy to tell you about how great it is, long story short, it keeps your feet warm and dry. For shoes I'm actually just using my (cyclocross??) mountain bike shoes, but I have a pair of Endura freezing point over shoes on top. If have generally cooler feet, I'd say two pairs of socks, if your feet are full on COLD, you might need to invest in a winter cycling boot (definitely more expensive). For those who are curious, my shoes are the Specialized Comp MTBs. I wouldn't recommend them for winter specifically, but I want to make sure I list everything (they are actually pretty good shoes).
For my legs, I have a pair of Craft essential winter tights and a pair of their essential winter pants. These are actually both meant for cross country skiing, it's hard to find winter cycling pants. The advantage of this system is you can chose to wear either pants or tights when it's only -10, then wear both when it gets really cold. I also switch between a thermal boxer and summer cycling shorts (Bibs 100%) depending on temperature and ride length. I find the bibs are actually warmer, but I might just have cold thermal boxers. I tend to wear fewer layers on my bottom half since the muscles are all working hard and getting a lot of blood flow.
On the top I wear quite a bit more. When it's really cold, I wear a Craft warm intensity base layer, active comfort zip base layer, and a verve glow jacket. With this layering system, I can leave my house warm, unzip my jacket as I start to feel like I might sweat, and unzip the base layer if I get too warm still.
My hands are covered by some gore-tex gloves inside 45NRTH cobra fist pogies. This is slightly overkill, and I often wear a thinner pair of gloves that I have (not sure what they're called). Like the pants, these can be used separately (you might look like a tool though if you have pogies when it's only -5). I like the cobra fists because there are zippers on them, so you can actually get some cool air in if your hands are getting too warm, which can actually be an issue with this set up.
On my head, I'm wearing two buffs, a balaclava, goggles, and a helmet. I have one buff coming from the my neck up to/covering my nose, and one from the top of my head down to my eyes. My balaclava is a gore wind-stopper. My goggles are the Oakley LineMiners, with the strap as tightened as I can comfortably get it to reduce fogging. They have two lenses on them, which also helps reduce fogging. The prism lenses are also pretty great, but that's a topic for another day. My helmet is a Lazer Blade. It's a summer helmet, but everything underneath keeps my head warm, so I don't feel a need to buy a new one. Like the shoes, this is just showing up because I want to list everything.
The other winter whip.
Before you read my list of gear, I would like to stress again that my gear is just what I picked. You can get gear that does all the same work in different price points if the numbers scare you.
$29 - Smartwool Nordic socks
$75 - Endura Freezing Point Overshoes
$220 - Specialized Comp MTB shoes (just use what you have though)
$100 - Craft Essential Winter Tight
$100 - Craft Essential Winter Pant
If you've never thought, "Wow, the cold is actually kind of nice because it's to cold for anything to melt, refreeze, and turn in to ice", go check out the video by GCN on how to dress for winter.
Do I still have your attention? Fantastic!
I've actually been riding the last few days, and all three days I felt overdressed. In an extreme cold advisory. Yeah, I didn't think that was possible either. Now I'll be upfront in saying my gear is pretty expensive (I'll list it all at the end), but it works, and if you really want to ride, that's what matters.
I also feel a need to mention that I ride pretty hard all the time, the easier you go, the more bundled up you need to be. Also when I mention specific products, they aren't necessarily the best or most cost effective, they're just what I picked.
The winter whip... If you can call it that
Starting at the feet, I'm wearing a pair of Smartwool merino wool nordic socks in the medium cushion variety. If you want to know more about merino, let me know, I'd be more than happy to tell you about how great it is, long story short, it keeps your feet warm and dry. For shoes I'm actually just using my (cyclocross??) mountain bike shoes, but I have a pair of Endura freezing point over shoes on top. If have generally cooler feet, I'd say two pairs of socks, if your feet are full on COLD, you might need to invest in a winter cycling boot (definitely more expensive). For those who are curious, my shoes are the Specialized Comp MTBs. I wouldn't recommend them for winter specifically, but I want to make sure I list everything (they are actually pretty good shoes).
For my legs, I have a pair of Craft essential winter tights and a pair of their essential winter pants. These are actually both meant for cross country skiing, it's hard to find winter cycling pants. The advantage of this system is you can chose to wear either pants or tights when it's only -10, then wear both when it gets really cold. I also switch between a thermal boxer and summer cycling shorts (Bibs 100%) depending on temperature and ride length. I find the bibs are actually warmer, but I might just have cold thermal boxers. I tend to wear fewer layers on my bottom half since the muscles are all working hard and getting a lot of blood flow.
On the top I wear quite a bit more. When it's really cold, I wear a Craft warm intensity base layer, active comfort zip base layer, and a verve glow jacket. With this layering system, I can leave my house warm, unzip my jacket as I start to feel like I might sweat, and unzip the base layer if I get too warm still.
My hands are covered by some gore-tex gloves inside 45NRTH cobra fist pogies. This is slightly overkill, and I often wear a thinner pair of gloves that I have (not sure what they're called). Like the pants, these can be used separately (you might look like a tool though if you have pogies when it's only -5). I like the cobra fists because there are zippers on them, so you can actually get some cool air in if your hands are getting too warm, which can actually be an issue with this set up.
On my head, I'm wearing two buffs, a balaclava, goggles, and a helmet. I have one buff coming from the my neck up to/covering my nose, and one from the top of my head down to my eyes. My balaclava is a gore wind-stopper. My goggles are the Oakley LineMiners, with the strap as tightened as I can comfortably get it to reduce fogging. They have two lenses on them, which also helps reduce fogging. The prism lenses are also pretty great, but that's a topic for another day. My helmet is a Lazer Blade. It's a summer helmet, but everything underneath keeps my head warm, so I don't feel a need to buy a new one. Like the shoes, this is just showing up because I want to list everything.
The other winter whip.
Before you read my list of gear, I would like to stress again that my gear is just what I picked. You can get gear that does all the same work in different price points if the numbers scare you.
$29 - Smartwool Nordic socks
$75 - Endura Freezing Point Overshoes
$220 - Specialized Comp MTB shoes (just use what you have though)
$100 - Craft Essential Winter Tight
$100 - Craft Essential Winter Pant
$90 - Craft Warm Intensity Baselayer
$60 - Craft Active Comfort Zip
$150 - Craft Verve Glow Jacket
$100 - Gore Gloves
$160 - 45NRTH Cobrafist Pogies
$0 - Buffs (I have some free ones if anyone needs)
$50 - Gore Windstopper Balaclava
$150 - Oakley Line Miner Goggles
$125 - Lazer Blade (again, use what you have or something less expensive)
That's a total of $1409 for anyone who is serious about getting in to winter cycling. At this point I would like to plug my place of employment, Woodcock Cycle Works (gotta pay the bills somehow). We should have most of this stuff in stock or be able to get it quickly if you want to pick any of it up.
If I missed anything, feel free to drop a comment below.
The mostly short version
Your next to skin layer should be wicking (Socks, pants, shirts, buffs)
There should be a thermal mid layer (Shirts, maybe pants)
Your outer layer should be windproof, waterproof, and thermal (booties, pants, jacket, gloves/pogies, balaclava)
TL;DR
Dress in layers, outer layer should be windproof and waterproof
TL;DR
Dress in layers, outer layer should be windproof and waterproof
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