The End Of The Barbeque Summer....

MTB_Ads

Hmm okay maybe not but I think any chance of getting any decent prolonged sun is over and i'm going to have to accept that the winter weather is well upon us. My point.....well I have no intention of pouring rain and cold stopping me cycling over the coming months.

What are peoples must haves for wet winter riding? I'm picking myself up a decent breathable jacket, but what other essentials are there? Thinking that some waterproof socks would be a god send. One thing though, I really only like proper cycling in shorts, but lugging around soaked shorts for a few hours hmmm.....

On a side note, today I forgot how much my breaks screach in the wet, I mean a sudden stop and my ear drums are pleading me to stop, surely there's an answer or will everyone within a couple mile radius just get an early warning on the trails?

gaff_taff

I dont think you can stop the screech to be honest, but what about glasses? so the rain is not stoping you from being able to open your eyes at speed as that might be a bit on the dangerous side .

I like to have gloves in the winter so my hands dont get frost bite or slip off in the rain, what about a base layer if you jacket is not waterproof, just played football in the hammering down rain for 2 hours and i was wearing a nike pro and my back or chest was not wet at all. A bag to keep all your stuff dry, oh and i have a tube scarf for when it is bitter.

Hope that helps

Taff

MTB_Ads

yep glasses are deffo on the list, i've had one to many sketchy moments due to shite in the eyes recently.

Pretty sorted on the other stuff, what do other people wear during the wet, do you stick with shorts? I just feel restricted wearing trousers...

gaff_taff

yeah shorts dry quicker and they dont stick to your legs like trackys do, alot more movement. what about maybe protection like legs pads or do you have this stuff?

thewaiter

I was in shorts last winter... but I didn't get out between dec18th and the middle of jan... :oops: wimped out of that...

gloves and base layers are a must.... also a crud catcher for the bike, you gotta keep yer butt dry

scale20

I am defo going to buy a good quality waterproof jacket. I have been thinking of getting some Endura 3/4 eVent shorts, but then again if its raining I been more inclined to wear full length lycra bibs. You get wet but you get back to the car or centre and you just peel them off to reveal clean legs, quick dry with a towel and your like new!

Plus I have found that wet lycra keeps you warm when wet.

For glasses try these. Endura Spectrum http://www.endura.co.uk/Product.aspx?de ... rod_id=225 You can't go wrong for £15 they are spot on.

llamafarmer

My winter shopping list so far:

Buff
Camelbak waterproof cover
3/4 tights
Sealskins

More money

Hercule Q

i go out in my shorts all year round this year i'm gonna buy me a base layer for my upper body cos when you stop for sandwiches it does get a bit nippy when your covered in sweat

cee

I have various things for when the weather gets bad....

merino wool baselayer....long sleeves.....

ron hill bikesters (kind of tight tracky bottoms with loops round your feet to stop them riding up) are superb...but probably not as good as lycra longs.....

waterproof socks...I have both sealskinz and goretex ones and prefer the goretex.

I wear gloves all year...just the same ones...661 Rajis, but I run hot...

Softshell waterproof jacket...feels like a tracksuit top but is more waterproof than my snowboarding jacket!

buff (several of)

riding glasses.

I also have endura 3/4 waterproof shorts, which when coupled with the ron hills provide pretty good protection.

Mud guards....they might not be cool, but they stop the worst of the crap hitting my back and face...

lights.....out last night between 630 and 930....lights were needed from about 8.30 pm

spare gloves in the bag....(especially on long rides...swapping into dry gloves is the best thing in the workd.)

A hot bath and a big bowl of stew prepared by the missus and ready for when i get in.

perfect.

Northwind

Sealskinz, mudguards, good lights (very early sunsets up here, especially in the hills, sun barely even rises on some areas before it sets), my £5 Big Blue Tesco Fleece, and a jar of MTFU Oh, and appropriate tyres of course. I reckon winter riding's easier to manage than summer, you can dress up warm but you can't dress up cold. And winter rain's easier than summer rain because you're not going to boil as fast. And snow and ice are ace.

AND an increased awareness of how much you can **** up a trail by riding stupidly. One of my local trails is almost, nearly, just about recovered from last winter, and in another month another hundred utter tools with mud tyres on will set about joylessly splashing through its winter surface and destroying it so that next summer, it's no fun just like it was this summer. Modern mud tyres give you the ability to ride all sorts of places you shouldn't...

monkeyboy85

I did have a front mud guard that was invaluable at stopping me having mud for tea but one day when out for a ride it decided to literally drop to bits, it was a topeak branded one too, personally I think the quality of there products is shocking....my dirt monkey rear would live through a nuclear blast on the other hand