I've just ordered myself a load of Castelli Nanoflex gear; bib-shorts, bib-longs, arm warmers, leg warmers etc. and some SS Castelli Gabba shirts.

Pricey, but they work wonders (according to TBY - which is good enough for me)

Should be arriving today hopefully

Guess we'll see

Well - said i'd try and add my 2 pennorth this morning so here goes...

generally I tend to subscribe to the "keeping warm enough to pedal is more important than staying dry" school of thought - I'd sooner wear something that works more like a wet suit, in that it'll keep me warm enough to function on the bike, rather than wearing complete waterproof kit that's almost impossible to ride in - especially when it comes to the lower half of the body.

If it's that wet and horrible that complete waterproofs would be needed to set out with, for recreation I don't think I'd ride anymore - i'm not "in training" for an event, and I'm no longer racing, and, well - frankly, I don't get paid to go out there and be miserable for hours on end in the rain, like the pro's do... So, my winter kit is more in the form of "get you home in the wet, if the weather turns while you're out. This is an important distinction, because, basically, it means you're going home, and there's a change of clothes, and a warm shower at the end of the ride. So, all the kit needs to do is stave off hypothermia for the duration.

First of all, I always ride in "proper" lycra kit of some sort - for the winter we'd generally be referring to what's commonly referred to as "Roubaix Lycra" - the fleecy backed stuff that's quite a bit thicker and warmer than the normal summer weight kit. Second, where-ever possible, I prefer to ride in a single layer on my lower half - primarily for the chamois/saddle interface. Third, I'm a 100% adherant to riding with "bibs" - i.e. the shorts, 3/4's or long tights with the in-built braces to hold them up. Fourth, for longer recreational rides, don't underestimate the value of decent embrocation in helping keep the muscles supple and moving if the weather does turn wet.

So, for a typical ride down to around 8-5°C, typically, I'd wear either 3/4's (for the cyclocross bike riding offroad - basically, the calves are going to get wet/caked in mud/horribly cold anyway, so I find it works better to actually just avoid the wet lycra sapping the heat out of my legs, and just plaster on some strong riding embrocation to keep the muscles turning, and I find it generally stops the worst of the mud sticking into the bargain...) or a pair of full "bib-tights" - both the 3/4's or the full bibs would have their own in-built pads. To be honest, for the price, it's hard to overlook the DHB kit from Chain Reaction / Wiggle. It's been a couple of years since I've bought any of their kit, and they have had quite a few changes/upgrades to the range, but at the closest to my "full legs" that are in the range are the http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-classic-thermal-bib-tights/ , though for commuting/more urban riding, the "flashlight" reflectives on these - http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-flashlight-thermal-bib-tights/ - could well be worth the extra couple of quid. As to 3/4's - the aeron's http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-aeron-roubaix-34-bib-tight/ look to be pretty much the business...

For something colder, or if it's threatening rain later, then i'd possibly choose something that was a little more water resistant. Castelli and Sportful do a variant on the Roubaix fleecy lined lycra, that's got a "baked in" water-resistance - Castelli refer to it as Nanoflex, Sportful as No-Rain. Either way, it's the same thing (Castelli and Sportful are actually 2 brands of the same company, and (on the quiet) share quite a bit of the R&D of developing different fabrics) - The reason that the Water resistant lycra is also a little warmer, is that the water-resist helps tighten the weave texture, allowing a little less air through - so it's less breathable, but also a little warmer.

Examples
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sportful-fiandre-norain-team-bib-tights/
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/castelli-nanoflex-2-bib-tights/
and a budget alternative (must admit, i've not got first hand experience of this pair, at least not in this fabric)
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-aeron-rain-defence-bib-tight/



And, for the real "stupid cold" stuff - like a couple of years ago, I did a 5 hour ride one sunday that was -8°C when I set off, and was forecasted to warm up as the sun got up, but basically still only just got over freezing point for about 1 hour of the entire ride - I break my "1 layer rule" - in this case I went out wearing a pair of Castelli Nanoflex shorts (yep, they do normal "shorts" in the fleecy waterproof lycra as well - because pro's and racers like shorts and legwarmer combinations for the early and late season races where it's likely to be wet and miserable), but as additional insulation I wore a pair of old DHB tights where the "chamois" padding had degraded and broken down (due to being mistakenly washed at slightly too high temperatures) - as the pad was knackered, I unpicked it, and now keep the tights as an over-layer...) - I've no real recommendations for anything "currently available" in this respect - because the unpadded jobs may only get ridden in 1-2 times a year, and they're at least 5 years old and will probably outlast me (or hopefully will get thrown out because I'm too small for them as I start losing weight again...)


As to "windproof" bib tights - well - maybe there are some good ones out there now, I haven't looked for the past 3 years or more (and that's a lifetime in clothing product development) but the ones I tried 4 years ago were uncomfortable because the windproof material on the front of the legs and around the front of the crotch wasn't stretchy enough and also had a slight tendency to "rustle" while you rode... I couldn't get on with it - though I'm finding myself tempted with the Castelli Sorpasso Windstoppers... Problem is, I don't think I'm likely to ride enough in the depths of winter to justify them...

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/castelli-sorpasso-windstopper-bib-tights/



Of course, the legs are only part of the story - one of the biggest things for ride-comfort in the cold is keeping your feet warm and as dry as possible. But that's a whole different set of recommendations

one problem with your feet is adding insulation without getting your shoes too tight - sometimes you can be warmer with one pair of socks than two... Actually, an old pro-trick is to use a bit of Aluminium foil wrapped around your toes (after your socks)... I actually have a pair of road shoes that are half a size larger for winter to allow for thicker socks / 2 pairs of thin socks - and of course the good old neoprene over booties are just the best for these conditions. I actually also have a pair of Neoprene Gloves (they're actually board-sailing gloves rather than the cycling variations that some companies sell - and with a silk liner glove, they're great down to a couple of degrees of frost - for colder stuff, try something like the Planet-X "lobster claws"...

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/PXLGWL/planet-x-100-waterproof-crab-hand-winter-glove

(they're on offer at the moment.... £15 - got to be worth a punt!)

TheBigYin wrote: »

try something like the Planet-X "lobster claws"...

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/PXLGWL/planet-x-100-waterproof-crab-hand-winter-glove

(they're on offer at the moment.... £15 - got to be worth a punt!)

I've got some of these; in colder situations my hands get sweaty even without liner gloves on too... Good value IMHO!

One of my strava friends- her name is
Lou Richey -rides in extreme cold, she has many tips and tricks throughout winter, I think she may have a blog about some of her rides and how she dresses too,

Last weekends club ride was a chilly - down to 0C for some of it according to my Garmin although it did warm up a bit later. For that I had a bib longs, a baselayer under a long sleeved top and a lightweight jacket, warm socks, overshoes and winter gloves. That was just about ok but wouldn't have been if the weather had dipped much below zero - in which case an extra layer everywhere would have been needed.

When it's raining I have a pair of very light over-trousers that I sometimes use but I think I do need to get something better for cold/wet rides (or go to the gym and use their wattbikes instead!).

First 'cold' ride of the winter today; -1°C. I was really impressed with the Castelli Gabba/Nanoflex combo, the Northwave boots & my battery operated heated glove/PlanetX 365 over glove combo. Warm and toasty for my 'out and back' lunchtime ride.

Lobster-claws haven't seen the light of day yet

Just had a dick of a driver in a German-registered Range Rover close passing me to contend with... Hey ho...

Bloody cold in London today which got me thinking about warmer gloves - I've been fine so far with the cheapo Aldi winter gloves I'm using but may need something warmer. Don't really like the idea of the lobster claw ones though!

35dollars wrote: »

They worked fairly well this morning, which my Garmin tells me was below -7, but still didn't keep my fingertips from going numb. Having said that, I have Reynaud's, so that's a challenge at the best of times. I've tried them before, at warmer temps, with liner gloves and actually felt colder, so I'm not sure what else to try ... boxing gloves maybe!

You need some of these: https://goo.gl/asyqoK

sijomial wrote: »

@cloggsy71
Thanks for that - I think I've just found my Christmas present from the kids.
My Raynaud's is really restricting me. My only outdoor November ride resulted in finding out 9C means warm hands, 8C is OK and 7C is dead white hands.

(It sucks getting old, every year my threshold gets worse.....)

You'll need some good quality rechargeable 9v batteries. The higher the mAh value the better! Otherwise you'll be keeping Duracell/Eveready in business on your own

35dollars wrote: »

TheBigYin wrote: »

Actually, an old pro-trick is to use a bit of Aluminium foil wrapped around your toes (after your socks)...

Finally gave that a go at the weekend, in temps down to -2. Can't honestly say it made much of a difference, as toes still got horribly cold after about 45 minutes, as usual.

Maybe the bacofoil I used wasn't thick enough to provide insulation - it certainly wasn't thick enough to retain structural integrity, as removing my shoes revealed a load of tinfoil confetti!

I don't like the Ali foil method either.

I use plastic bags either between my socks and shoes or between shoes and overshoes (depending on conditions...

However, now I have some Northwave Fahrenheit Arctic 2 GTX Road Boots, I don't bother anymore - These are lush