Bibs, overshoes, glasses and trainers...

guinea

Right. It's cold. I probably haven't picked the best time to take up road cycling, but I want to train more but the weather is putting me off.

I noticed a couple of things on my run on saturday. The first was that my feet turned to ice after an hour or so. I wear size 12 spesh mountain bike shoes. Are there any recommenedation for decent overshoes to keep my feet toasty?

Secondly, I had tears streaming down my face a few times a picked up a few bits of dust in my eyes. Whilst dust isn't normally a big issue for me in the winter I think I'll need some glasses. I have a big head, so if anyone knows a decent pair of shades that will fit the largest of bonces let me know.

I have a pair of mountain bike tights I got in Decathlon and they're great. Originally I fancied getting bib tights, but they were all too short when it came to getting the shoulder straps on. Are they all made for dwarves or are there specific brands that care for someone that's 6'2"?

And finaly...

I fancy getting a trainer to keep me going through the winter nights on days I can't commute. Since wiggle has 20% off at the moment is there one that comes highly rated? WIll I need a new tyre for training? If so is it worth just buying a new wheel to save the hassle of constantly swapping?

Cheers folks.

Bronzie

Overshoes - any decent neoprene overshoes will keep your feet warm(er) even in the frostiest of weather. Will probably need to go up a couple of sizes if buying road overshoes for MTB shoes.

Bibtights - I'm same height as you and suffer the same problem. Just a matter of getting to a shop that stocks a decent range of clothing (few and far between unfortunately) and trying some on. I tend to wear club branded bibs now so haven't brought any plain ones for a while, but seem to remember the De Marchi ones were quite long

Turbo trainer - you don't have to fit a turbo trainer specific tyre - but you will probably wear through your normal road tyre at worst or square it off (which will affect it's handling on the road). Will depend on how much you actually use the turbo, and if you haven't tried one yet, I suggest you wait until you see how much you actually ride it first before spending more money in this direction. Search the "Road Gear" forum for turbo recomendations as this topic comes up often at this time of year.

giant_man

Have to say I have always worn glasses to keep all sorts away from my eyes, all year round. Depends on what kind you go for depends on your budget really, you can spend a lot of money on cycling glasses, and very nice they are too, but it depends on what you want.

Apart from overshoes, you can buy dedicated winter boots which are very good. I got some in a sale earlier this year and I am sure you could pick something up. Size 12 feet are quite big I guess and I know Sidi do the 'mega' fittings so you might want to investigate that area.

Good luck with it and enjoy!