winter cycling clothes

Technical clothing!

A good set of poly pro long underware as a base.

A set of tights on the bottom. Some have windfronts that block the wind.

A long sleve cycling shirt on top. Some even have insulation.

A windfront vest over the cycling shirt.

Neoprene toe covers or shoe covers.

A polar fleece headband under the helmet.

Crab type (three fingered) XC ski mitts under 35 F. (My hands are tender otherwise I wear XC ski gloves if temps are over 35 F.)

You can add more layers if you need, but this will be fine for me at road bike speeds down to 28 degrees F or so. The same outfit will keep me more than toasty on a MTB on well packed snowmobile trails down to 20 F or so.

Add or subtract layers as needed and stay away from cotton or any other absorbant fabric.

what about padding/chamois for the butt? Is there long underwear that has that?

hi trish -

I can totally relate! I live in Brooklyn, so I hear ya with the stationary bike thing.

I went for a ride this morning actually - first ride on my new bike (!!!) and first ride outside since last year. Here's what I did (and have done in the past): I wore my tri shorts under my winter running pants. I didn't do the long johns and I don't own bike tights. Although I just invested in a pair of bike shorts but didn't wear those (yet - I wanted to test out the current saddle in the tri shorts first). On top, I wore my winter running shirt and a short sleeved technical top and a long sleeved technical top with my running/biking windbreaker/jacket over all that. I wore a hat and adjusted my helmet to fit and wore manzella mitten/gloves - the fingerless gloves that have the top that flips over to make a mitten. I run in those too. This was not the year to purchase the winter riding gear (ie booties and lobster claw gloves), so I just get along with "repurposing" my winter running gear.

Overall, I was warm enough with the exception of my toes. Brrr. But I was only out for about an hour, so I dealt with it - they weren't cold from the start. I probably had on one too many layers on top. My head and hands were fine. If my neckup was readily available and it was very windy, I would have put that on, but I was fine. If you have a balaclava, those can be nice to ride in too.

Good Point!

Trek (and others) make cycling liners with a chamois that one wears like underwear. One could also wear cycling shorts below everything.