hands and feet - winter product advice

irishgary1978

Hi guys,

I began riding CX and road last winter but my hands got really cold and to the point where i was in agony on longer rides. My feet also were bad (but not as bad as my hands).

I don't think my circulation is bad but does anyone know of something I can buy to keep my hands and feet dry and warm?

Thanks
Gary

cougie

Planet X Neoprene overshoes.

For your hands - ski mitts are best for warmth - but depends on what gears you have. Harder to change gears with no seperate fingers.

alistaird

I''ll probably get shot for this but try the Rapha winter gloves...

A

irishgary1978

Thanks guys I'll check these both out and let you know if I get any of them. Alistair, the Rapha ones are shockingly priced, £75!

I was wearing my off road spd's which are windproof and fairly water tight but my feet still got frozen, will the overshoes solve that!

nickellis

I've invested in these, and when paired with my inner liners from last year I'm expecting great things....

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/p/20046/craft-thermal-split-finger-glove/

I've also got some neoprene overshoes. Any warm sock recommendations out there?

richard_farrant

I use some neoprene dhb gloves which seem to be good when the temp is below zero, dont quite keep all the wind out at about 20mph but they did only cost about £20

Calpol

Last night one of the Sigma sport team riders recommended the Decathlon stuff. He said that the diving boots and gloves are excellent for keeping out cold and wet. Shoes need a bit of modding for your cleats but he reckoned it was a very cost effective way of protecting yourself in inclement weather. I believe that they retail at about £12 for each.
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-313365-footwear,-gloves

edhornby

layers help - more than one pair of socks, silk glove liners - don't overtighten the shoes

keef66

DeFeet Woolie Boolies will keep your feet toasty warm as long as you have enough room in your shoes.

I'm wearing mine for my evening rides already. If it's wet and / or very cold I'll also wear the PX overshoes mentioned above. Cosy!

giant_man

AlistairD wrote:

I''ll probably get shot for this but try the Rapha winter gloves...

A

oooooooooooh don't go there ...... lol :roll:

irishgary1978

great response guys,

i like the idea of the neoprene ones. Has anyone tried sealskinz?

Wobblehead

The sealskinz I use are not warm, but when work over liner gloves work fine.

alistaird

irishgary1978 wrote:

Thanks guys I'll check these both out and let you know if I get any of them. Alistair, the Rapha ones are shockingly priced, £75!

Good thing I got mine off the sales forum for a lot less than that..

A

giant_man

irishgary1978 wrote:

Thanks guys I'll check these both out and let you know if I get any of them. Alistair, the Rapha ones are shockingly priced, £75!

I was wearing my off road spd's which are windproof and fairly water tight but my feet still got frozen, will the overshoes solve that!

No, they're not shockingly priced, just shocking! lol

ju5t1n

I suffer terribly with cold hands too and bought a pair of Castelli Diluvio Gloves last year. They’re also neoprene and were excellent. My hands got a bit wet from sweating at times but stayed toasty warm all winter. A crash destroyed them in March so I’m just about to buy another pair. Same with overshoes - I had a pair of Campag neoprene ones last winter which also got ruined. I think they’ve stopped making them but I’ll get another pair of these too if I can find somewhere with old stock.

centimani

If you really suffer, i sympathise, its murderously painful. Ive nearly cried in pain when i get back sometimes. I absolutely loathe winter for this reason.
Without spending stupid money, i havnt found the answer :?
Here's what ive tried...
Diadora Chili boots, oversize for my feet, wearing (cant remember the name of them) heavy duty high tog socks, they're about £8 pair....didnt do too bad last year, but ive not done that much mileage last year so i'm not convinced yet.

Thermal overshoes...useless, although they were'nt expensive ones.

Leather workboots (when commuting) with long ankles and the above socks...not too bad but only good for 45 minutes perhaps before the cold set in.

Normal 'winter' gloves, up to £35...forget it. Ive tried Treks offering, Chiba, Thermalite type gloves...all useless.

Even tried silk gloves, with disposable vinyl gloves over them to stop the wind chill, then winter gloves on top...useless over 30 minutes.

Got a pair of motorcycling lobster gloves, very padded, work quite well but look a bit OTT plus changing gear is difficult.

Tried heat blocks in my gloves....no good over any reasonable time.

I don't knowingly have circulation problems, although my fingers do go white in the winter sometimes and i do easily get chillblains, but i thought (and its not rocket science)..perhaps arm and leg warmers may be the way to go...retain the warm blood supply to the extremities, prevent the chill factor cooling the arms and legs, making it easier on the hands and feet. (maybe)

colsoop

For very cold winter riding i use pro overshoes, they are quite big and chafe a little bit against the crank arm but feet are toasty after a long ride, they also look a little bit like booties :shock: .
I have a pair of sealskinz gloves which also do the job well.

My meat and two veg suffer the cold more than my feet and hands, can you buy willy warmers ?

cougie

Neoprene gloves are best for wet rides I find. I don't like them for all winte rides. You get very sweaty hands.

Guglielmo

Northwave Fahrenheit shoes. Amazing. Got some in size 45 for sale if you want the best for your feet... I went up a size to make room for my heat holder socks! Cosy and zero faffing.

Grill

edhornby wrote:

layers help - more than one pair of socks, silk glove liners - don't overtighten the shoes

Never wear more than one pair of socks as it's incredibly counter-productive. With multiple socks moisture gets trapped between the layers and freezes your feet. What you should do is invest in a heavier weight merino sock (Smartwool, Endura, Teko) as it will effectively keep your feet warm and dry.

DavidJB

centimani wrote:

If you really suffer, i sympathise, its murderously painful. Ive nearly cried in pain when i get back sometimes. I absolutely loathe winter for this reason.
Without spending stupid money, i havnt found the answer :?
Here's what ive tried...
Diadora Chili boots, oversize for my feet, wearing (cant remember the name of them) heavy duty high tog socks, they're about £8 pair....didnt do too bad last year, but ive not done that much mileage last year so i'm not convinced yet.

Thermal overshoes...useless, although they were'nt expensive ones.

Leather workboots (when commuting) with long ankles and the above socks...not too bad but only good for 45 minutes perhaps before the cold set in.

Normal 'winter' gloves, up to £35...forget it. Ive tried Treks offering, Chiba, Thermalite type gloves...all useless.

Even tried silk gloves, with disposable vinyl gloves over them to stop the wind chill, then winter gloves on top...useless over 30 minutes.

Got a pair of motorcycling lobster gloves, very padded, work quite well but look a bit OTT plus changing gear is difficult.

Tried heat blocks in my gloves....no good over any reasonable time.

I don't knowingly have circulation problems, although my fingers do go white in the winter sometimes and i do easily get chillblains, but i thought (and its not rocket science)..perhaps arm and leg warmers may be the way to go...retain the warm blood supply to the extremities, prevent the chill factor cooling the arms and legs, making it easier on the hands and feet. (maybe)

Aww man I feel your pain. I suffer terribly with cold fingers in the winter. I've been crippled in my garage for 20 minutes once in pain I thought my fingers were a goner! Still looking for a solution!

jordan_217

Just a tip on the numb/cold hands - I remember reading this a few years ago and have been doing it ever since, for prevention.

Every 15-30 minutes (I do it when I have a drink), flick your arms downwards as if you're trying to fling the gloves off your hands. Repeat a few times on each side. It promotes circulation in your hands. (make sure you're gloves are securely on though )

Also, the Winter kit Aldi sell is really good. I bought 2 pairs of their 'Biking' Winter gloves in 2010 and they're excellent. My default pair for really cold days. I think they were £6 a pair and have lasted well, no obvious signs of wear. Their thermal base layers are also very good.

Craft also sell good Winter kit too. I have their skull cap, neoprene overboots and Zero base layers. Very good kit and usually sold at reduced prices.

The Prendas overboots and gloves are meant to be good too.

I would avoid the Endura neoprene overboots, I've had three pairs back to back and the zips failed on all three pairs. LBS replaced each time but on the third pair I exchanged for something else and bought the Craft ones instead. Much better.

De Feet Woolie Boolie socks are also good. I bought them last Winter after reading some good reviews on here. £10 a pair and well worth it.

navrig

I have these and don't get cold feet:

http://www.enduraequipe.com/products/ov ... shoes.aspx

blackpoolkev

nickellis wrote:

Any warm sock recommendations out there?

Wear ski socks,the ones that come up to right under your knee.Shins face square-on into the headwind- a lot!Warmer shins = warmer feet.

Hoopdriver

irishgary1978 wrote:

great response guys,

i like the idea of the neoprene ones. Has anyone tried sealskinz?

Sealskinz are absolute rubbish in my experience. Freezing cold and not a bit waterproof. I have heard of people who think they are great, and read many more complaints from others who found them as useful as I did. The best and kindest inference I can draw from that is that they must have a raging quality control problem. At any rate I would avoid them, big time. Mine went to the charity shop and I felt guilty even doing that. The bin would have been better

Paul E

As someone has said every now and again stop and fling your arms around in circles as that forces the blood into your hands, after doing a night film shoot in a very cold temps in March a couple of years ago and not being able to wear thick gloves during it, it works, it hurts a bit at the time, but it works.

Also make sure your head is warm, any bit of cold the body senses and it tends to try and hold onto heat by withdrawing blood from the extremities.

desweller

I find it's really useful to keep my core warm too; there is a knock-on effect on my extremities, so I use good quality thin layers under my winter jacket (Giordana jobbie - very good) and pay attention to keeping my neck and head well insulated.

MichaelW

In my experience , Sealskinz gloves are useless but their socks are great.

CRAIGO5000

I rode last Winter and on training rides of more than 30 mins, cold set in quite bad. I suffer in the hands and feet, I've been lay on the bedroom floor rolling around holding my feet in pain they got that cold, they just had no feeling to touch but were hurting so badly!

I wasted loads of money on expensive brands from Garneau and SealSkinz, the later of which are a complete waste of time in the socks department so please dont buy SealSkinz socks, they are poorly made and are NOT waterproof in real world road riding situations.

In the end I found a solution that allowed me to increase my winter rides from 45 mins to a good 2.5 hours. (Based on riding in temps of ~0-3degC)
I taped up the vents in my road shoes, bought some De Feet Woolie Boolie socks, Planet X neoprene overshoes and some full leg Gore Windstopper tights. My feet after a good 2 hours ride felt great. They were still a little chilly, but they weren't frost bitten leaving me in agony.

For my hands I bought some Planet X windproof gloves at a mere £5! They are absolutely amazing and smash to pieces the sexy looking £45 Garneau gloves I wasted my money on. The reason being, the label said they were good for temps of -20degC but in reality, I couldn't use them for more than 10 mins at 3degC!

kleinstroker

@craigo5000

what's the sizing like on the planet x gloves, can't believe I'm a size small going by the website??

CRAIGO5000

I'm by no means big but I have quite large hands. Usually I'm a large but in Planet x gloves I'm an XL and this is down to length of the thumb and fore-finger which can feel tight on the hoods if I go any smaller. They will only last a season (mine have worn out during last Winter) but a fiber a pop, ill be getting two pairs this Winter.