Starting in the fall/winter

chadnobles

Instead of waiting until spring/summer, I decided to buy now and start now. Would anyone care to share any advice or experiences for starting in the off season.

Fr Howie

Get some warm clothes! Particularly pay attention to temperature of feet and hands and get some over-shoes and full gloves.

Also, now the weather is so dingy get a rear flashing light.

simon_masterson

The above is sound advice.

Ideally I would recommend you kit your bike out with tough tyres (Gatorskin/Durano/Marathon Plus/etc) and mudguards (Cruds for most modern road bikes as they don't have eyelets for proper ones), but the basis of winter cycling is going out on your bike in the winter (funny that) and the best way to accomplish that is being able to persuade yourself out of the door...

There are plenty of different ways to keep warm - to suit all budgets! - but the basic premise is that you need to keep windchill at bay and you'll feel this in your extremities particularly, and you need to maintain your core temperature. Being sweaty won't help so you need something against your skin that wicks well (i.e. not cotton t-shirts!)

With that in mind if you are literally starting out now (and therefore have little use for a short sleeve jersey), I would buy a merino wool base layer; probably long sleeve. On top of that either a warm, windproof jersey (what I use and consider to be the best option), some other long sleeve jersey with a windproof gilet, or a jacket. For your bottom half get some warm tights (anything with 'Roubaix' in the name is likely to be suitable), and some overshoes; you could even get some posh socks if you want. Some kind of glove is essential; I use cheap fleece gloves over my mitts but there are plenty of dedicated options. You'll also get a cold head without some sort of hat. A bog-standard winter hat will do just fine (tried and tested) provided it's not too thick, but every cyclist should have at least one cap, and you can buy them for all seasons.

Other than that it's mainly common sense really: Be careful on greasy roads, clean the nasty muck from your bike and keep your drivetrain lubricated, make yourself visible, and you aren't a hero for trying to cycle on sheet ice! Enjoy yourself above all; there really is no wrong in getting out on the bike at this time of year.

owenlars

Get a front light as well

clickrumble

Hats; you can get a skull cap to fit under a helmet,
....and check the weather before setting out, if it has rained the day before with frost overnight there is likely to be black ice, which is best avoided as it can ruin your day otherwise.

chrisaonabike

I started a little over a month ago, so very much in the same position.

A big +1 to the overshoes - the pain from freezing cold feet gets more and more excruciating in waves - cold, then painful, then numb, then more painful, then (as they warm up again) even more painful again. I tried taping over the vents in my shoes but it didn't make enough difference - neoprene overshoes is the way to go. I bought some DHB ones, and they're fine. If it's really cold, my feet end up a bit cold but not painful, so I might get the extreme weather versions.

Other than that, I have a couple of UnderArmour long sleeved compression tops which are warm as toast, a long sleeved looseish jersey over the top of that, and some Muddyfox padded tights which are thick, very warm and quite cheap.