Cold weather gear

[j_mii]

I'm looking at augmenting my cold weather gear and I am looking for recommendations. Specifically, I am looking for recommendations on gloves and jackets. Also, do you find beanies/ear warmers to be helpful?

TIA!

[KarenG]

can't help you with gloves, as i'm still searching for something that keeps my hands warm, yet doesn't leave the inside soaking wet since my hands sweat a lot. but, for a jacket - i've got a PI Gavia jacket that works really well. i'll be wearing it on my lunchtime ride today and maybe on tomorrow's ride.

[JayC]

Your best bet for gloves in this kind of weather is some liners and your normal gloves. I HAD some PI liners that I liked a lot but I lost one of them. I bought some Craft liners that work good but I dont like them as much.


http://www.pearlizumi.com/phpThumb.php?src=data/uploads/products/8769_021.jpg&w=400&h=400

Here's the PI liners.. Performance doesnt sell them but you could order them straight from PI.. theyre $11.99. When it gets COLD, you're just gonna have to get some real gloves and deal with the sweat. Its better than having cold hands.

Ear warmers help a lot as well. I like the PI one since it has notches in it for running your sunglasses through.

[robbielink]

Best investment I made so far was a helmet liner. (got mine from Performance) It's basically just a cap that pulls down over your ears - but it's thin enough that it only takes a slight loosening of the chin strap on your helmet. I don't know of any women who believe that thing about losing most of your body heat through your head (my wife sure doesn't) but it sure made a difference for me. I'm thinking about getting a balaclava for those cold windy days.
Also "toesies" - slip over the front of your bike shoes to keep the wind out. I get cold feet easily and they really help.
Haven't found the right glove yet but again - it's the wind so get some with a wind-proof back.
Now if I can just find a thermos that fits in my water bottle rack for some hot chocolate!

[j_mii]

Thanks all. I have booties for when it's really cold but I have some DeFeet Blaze socks that are awesome for the recent temperatures. I will probably get a beanie but I have a head/ear warmer that I can use for now. I am still looking for gloves and those PI glove liners look really good.

The jacket situation -- I really want/need a jacket but I wanted to do a lot of research before shelling out the big bucks for one. At those prices, I'm only gonna get one chance! :-)

[JayC]

Hate to break it to you but youre gonna need two jackets if you want to ride all winter.

Take a hard look at the Performance Transformer and the Nantahala. Theyre nice jackets, well made, wont break the bank and should be the two jackets that get you through the year if you layer right.

[esther-l]

I have the Performance Transformer jacket - it works great for me. Except that it emphasizes where I could stand to lose some inches of girth :-)

I also have the sweating hands inside gloves problem. The performance or nashbar neoprene gloves with some venting stuff on the palms work great for my husband, but my fingers start sweating in about 5 minutes. My fingers either sweat, feel cold, or freeze in all of the gloves that I've tried so far. I am thinking of trying either wind blocking liners, or some lobster gloves, if those come in a medium-weight.

I use a balaclava for very cold weather, and an ear band for just cold. I also have a helmet cover, but can't use it if I need the helmet-mounted headlight. My husband prefers the beanie and has no helmet cover. I saw a randonneur rider who had transparent packaging tape on the wind vents on his helmet, both to block wind, and to mount his headlight.

For many people, if their torso is warm, they feel good. I am the opposite. My torso is warm most of the time, and I need more layers on the arms, legs, hands, foot, and ears. I tend to wear arm warmers under long sleeve jersey under a jacket in very cold weather. I have ridden a couple of times with leg warmer under my wind pants! I am carrying some fat that I'd like to get rid of someday, and this probably contributes to my core/torso being warm.

It's also nice to have either a handlebar mount, or a longer wrist strap for your heart rate monitor, so that you can put it on top of the jacket sleeve, or on the handlebar.

[KarenG]

Hate to break it to you but youre gonna need two jackets if you want to ride all winter.

Take a hard look at the Performance Transformer and the Nantahala. Theyre nice jackets, well made, wont break the bank and should be the two jackets that get you through the year if you layer right.

so, i've got the gavia jacket (yea, gonna keep it, the women at work said it looked fine on me), what other jacket do i need? might as well put that on my xmas list:)

[JayC]

Dont you already have a Vagabond? That should be fine.

You need to look at jerseys/base layers to compliment those.

FYI, PI changed the crappy zippers on the 2007 Vagabond on the 2008 models. The new one has the pre 2007 zippers on the sleeves. I guess there must have been enough complaints that they switched them back.

[KarenG]

well, heck. i had some reply done and lost it. oh well. i think it's a Vagabond that i've got. i have a couple of ls jerseys, but only 1 pocket as they are mtb jerseys. base layers=1 craft ss and 1 ls starter thingy that i wore this past saturday.

open to any suggestions.