Cold rides

boydkev

I have a question about what to wear on my legs when it gets colder. I have bib shorts already, should I buy long leg bibs, bib knickers, a set of leg warmers or just wear a pair of skins leggings under my shorts?.What to do????

Raam

Tights or shorts with leg warmers or knee warmers. Adjust depending on temperature.

cyclic

Smear your legs in goose fat before you head into work or out on a spin. 5 euros a pop in Superquinn. Sure does give me a bit of je ne sais quoi, swaggering about the office in the morning.

doozerie

Bib knickers are very convenient and comfortable but bib shorts + knee warmers are more versatile and add some leg warmers and it's more versatile again. Though it depends on the knee and leg warmers - unfortunately I find that my Castelli nanoflex leg warmers grate on the back of my knee whereas none of my bib tights do that.

The only downside to just having bib shorts + warmers though is that if it is cold enough to warrant wearing leg warmers then you might find the regular (light) weight lycra in the shorts not to be warm enough. You can get thermal shorts though, which personally I find great on the odd occasion that I wear them, and that adds even great versatility though obviously it's an extra expense too.

So whatever you opt for, whether it's bib knickers, bib tights, or bib shorts + warmers, bear in mind that they are all available in different weights of lycra - summer weight or winter weight or somewhere in between - so your choice depends amongst other things on how much or how little you feel the cold. You can layer up too of course so you can wear knee warmers under leg warmers for example.

Personally I got by for years with just summer bib shorts and winter bib tights (and mostly sweated my way through the in-between temperatures while wearing the tights), and was quite happy. Since becoming less impoverished I started expanding my wardrobe to cater better for the in-between conditions. And it's great to have so much choice on a morning where I am heading out on the bikes ...but it doesn't half make for some angst and lots of humming and hawing, life is now more comfortable but far more tricky!

Squidgy Black

If it's only for training spins on the weekend or the odd one during the week, I'd say splash out on the bib tights.

But if it's for commuting daily, leg warmers are probably the way to go unless you want to wear the same pair of bibs several times a week, back to back.

Raam

Oh and bib-knickers... never.

mossym

cyclic wrote: »

Smear your legs in goose fat before you head into work or out on a spin. 5 euros a pop in Superquinn. Sure does give me a bit of je ne sais quoi, swaggering about the office in the morning.

tis far from goose fat most of us wear reared. everyone knows it's a decent rub of poitin into the legs will keep the legs warm

Squidgy Black

Raam wrote: »

Oh and bib-knickers... never.

They're very..... triathlete.

Planet X

Nora Batty.

Raam

_Tyrrell_ wrote: »

They're very..... triathlete.

They are also slower than a bib-short knee/leg warmer combination.

NickFromTipp

cyclic wrote: »

Smear your legs in goose fat before you head into work or out on a spin. 5 euros a pop in Superquinn. Sure does give me a bit of je ne sais quoi, swaggering about the office in the morning.

Im totally trying the goose fat tomorrow. Awesome!

doozerie

Raam wrote: »

They are also slower than a bib-short knee/leg warmer combination.

That may be, but on the plus side there is no VWL (Visible Warmer Line) with bib knickers. Bib knickers - terrible name, but they are the shizzle.

Raam

doozerie wrote: »

...on the plus side there is no VWL (Visible Warmer Line) with bib knickers.

Well that's your loss, not mine.

ckeego

Raam wrote: »

Oh and bib-knickers... never.

Pfff! Nothing in The Rules about bib-knickers!!:p

Raam

ckeego wrote: »

Pfff! Nothing in The Rules about bib-knickers!!:p

Sometimes we gotta figure things out for ourselves.

boydkev

Thanks for all the advice, sounds like goose fat is the way forward but think I will get some leg warmers, then when the funds allow will look at some tights.

Squidgy Black

Raam wrote: »

Sometimes we gotta figure things out for ourselves.

I'm fairly certain it's implied somewhere along the line.

doozerie

Raam wrote: »

Well that's your loss, not mine.

Warmers make you look like you are trying to smuggle a garter under your shorts. I wear bib knickers with a real garter underneath. Same effect on the outside, but far more sexy on the inside, obviously.