Cold Weather riding

tobamory

I did a 20 miler yesterday and as normal the British weather was KAK, on the way out got extremely jmuddy on my shorts from all the up spary, Five tens soaked through, so as wind was icy cold, I had very numb cold feet at the end. Was fun though so a few questions.

Any advice on what to wear on the feet, Im presuming all shoes get soaked even gortex with water creeping inside, do seal Skin socks work, does anybody use them ?

As for legs I presume nprmal running tights will suffice to keep the chill off the lower half of my body. top half was fine.

And lastly Mudguards, I know sometimes frowned at but any links to a good front and back variant would be cool. I did see my brothers wife with some elastic thing from her forks to the stem, but that must just stop throwback from water passing through the forks,

Thanks Guys a chilly Ted

cooldad

In really cold weather I wear Sealskinz Thermals (with merino inside) and a thin pair of socks inside those.

WindyG

Sealskinz do work but water can get in from the top so tights/leggings are a good idea to help stop this.
If it's not too cold I wear padded shorts with a pair of unpadded Altura bib tights over the top, if it gets really cold I have a pair of padded thermal tights.
As for mudguards I can't be bothered I've never felt the need for them.

tobamory

I know what you mean about mudguards, but yesterday I had to do 12 miles along a canal before we went offroad, the amount of Mud that had collected near the crotch was a joke LOL.

I had also double bagged myself with 2 sets of shorts.

Thanks for advice I,ll hunt about then for some gear

cubedean

Tobamory wrote:

I know what you mean about mudguards, but yesterday I had to do 12 miles along a canal before we went offroad, the amount of Mud that had collected near the crotch was a joke LOL.

I had also double bagged myself with 2 sets of shorts.

Thanks for advice I,ll hunt about then for some gear

I run a mucky nutz bender fender on the front. Excellent and looks pretty good as far as mud guards go.

shindig

I run a mucky nutz on the front, down tube mounted crud catcher and Mudhugger rear. Works really well, so much so that i only gaet a small amount of mud spirks on my lower legs. I did have a mudhiugger front mudguard, but when i changed my tyres there was not enough clearance with my rockshox fork.

I wear endura winter tights and normal baggy shorts, sealskins sox with a pair of merino wool socks underneath and fiveten shoes. Toasty.

step83

I did 20 miles today pretty early was just getting light when i set out so about 4c i think.

Feet wise i use thick merio socks and my normal skate type hightop shoes. Running tights as you said under the shorts an padded liner. Top half just a base layer and hoodie was plenty gloves i used my normal summer gloves with some thin thermal ones underneath and a buff had no coldness problems after about ten minutes once id warmed up. ended up taking the buff off as my neck was too hot.

Muckynutz front is good, do think i need something on the downtube though. I found an old crud catcher for the rear which did a brilliant job. OK they look ugly but on long rides its better than looking like youve had a really bad curry the night before and followed through.

chrisrobs

Tobamory wrote:

I did a 20 miler yesterday and as normal the British weather was KAK, on the way out got extremely jmuddy on my shorts from all the up spary, Five tens soaked through, so as wind was icy cold, I had very numb cold feet at the end. Was fun though so a few questions.

Any advice on what to wear on the feet, Im presuming all shoes get soaked even gortex with water creeping inside, do seal Skin socks work, does anybody use them ?

As for legs I presume nprmal running tights will suffice to keep the chill off the lower half of my body. top half was fine.

And lastly Mudguards, I know sometimes frowned at but any links to a good front and back variant would be cool. I did see my brothers wife with some elastic thing from her forks to the stem, but that must just stop throwback from water passing through the forks,

Thanks Guys a chilly Ted

Have a look at a marshguard, they work quite well on the front. Sealskinz are a life saver in the peak district with a couple of pair of socks under neath should do the trick.

rockmonkeysc

Ditch the 5.10 sponges and get some Shimano AM41's.
A good pair of gloves help as well.

Kowalski675

Mucky Nutz new rear guard offers similar coverage to a Crud rear, but is lighter, can be fitted/removed in seconds with no tools, works with dropper posts and doesn't look too offensive. Plus you get a fun few minutes of origami assembling it, lol.

fridgehq

I wear Ron hill bikester tights with baggy shorts Shimano shoes with BBB overshoes keeps wet out and feet warm top half Bam base layer Endura top or fleece and Goretex coat with Madison gloves works well for me also crud front and clip on seat post rear mudgaurds.

mcnultycop

If it's really cold I'll put merino socks on (under sealskins if it's super wet). Otherwise I just layer up. I can't be bothered with mudguards, just glasses instead.

TheJohnClimber

Over shoes are only good if you ride with clip in pedals, if you have over shoes with flat pedals you will rip the bottoms off them straight away.
Thick merino socks are the answer. 3 socks for under a tenner
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/CLOOTKMS3P/ ... ks_(3_pack)

As for cold hands in deepest winder take a look at these
http://www.hotpog.co.uk/basic-hotpog-mo ... ike-pogies
Less than £25 (plus postage) for winter riding with thin gloves, full feeling in the hands, rain proof warm hands

cooldad

No thank you.

WindyG

I think I would rather have cold hands than use some like that!

Northwind

If you're selfconscious about mudguards and afraid of getting slagged off, just remember that 7/10 people who laugh at mudguards are fairweather bufties who're afraid they'd melt in the rain, 2/10 are people who fitted a bad mudguard wrongly and can't believe other people have got it right because they have no grasp of their own idiocy. And the other 1/10 have less to worry about because their knobs already froze and dropped off.

Long sealskinz are more effective than short ones, obvious when you think about it, getting the tops out of the splash zone makes a big difference. Flat pedallists have it a bit harder as most flat shoes simply suck in winter, 5 10s are disasterous, Shimano's AM41 is a bit better but still not great, Teva Links I've not used but apparently is water resistant but cold, Sombrio's X-Shazam was pretty good but now discontinued... Maybe the new 5 10 Elements are better but I'm skeptical.

Waterproof shorts sound silly til you try a pair then do a similiar ride without them and get trenchcock.

mcnultycop

Teva Links don't seem to let water in through the body of the shoe, the opening is like a massive sponge though - mine take ages to dry. I'd still buy them again though (maybe hi-tops next time).

swod1

the mucky nutzs fender bender front guard is ok but i've found it still doesnt stop a lot of the mud/water spray as the guard isnt curved to cover the wheel better.

some thick sealskinz socks should stop any water getting inside the shoe.

Northwind

If you want a serious front mudguard, try something like an SKS Shockboard or similiar crown-mounted guard- they turn with the wheel so catch far more spray etc, without having to be huge. They can be a wee bit flappy but nothing works better.

coulddobetter

Fitted a shockboard recently and it does the job very well , I really don't care if my bike looks like a motorcross bike minus engine .

Kowalski675

mcnultycop wrote:

Teva Links don't seem to let water in through the body of the shoe, the opening is like a massive sponge though - mine take ages to dry. I'd still buy them again though (maybe hi-tops next time).

J E James have the hi-tops for £45 currently.