Bicycle Tutor

Ok I only have one question, but as for the rest of the proper clothing hope this thread opens up other questions. What gloves would anyone suggest for riding in cold weather?

Bill, I live in northern Idaho and try to ride as long as I can into the winter. I have tried lots of gloves. The best winter cycling gloves I have found are the Sugoi Firewall. I've tried the Garneau Magma and they were not warm enough for me. When the temps drop down into the lower 20's or teens I also use a very thin liner glove. If it gets colder than that I put one of those "Little Hotties" inside the glove on the back of my hand. I have also used ski gloves with good success but prefer the Firewalls.

Thank I will definitely look at all of them. I tried regular winter gloves but find them way too bulky. I do take my dog with me on her daily walks and need the warmth, grip, and slimness in that fashioned. So thanks I do appreciate the help there. Good and safe riding to you.

If it is cold and wet, try gloves with GoreTex. They are warm, not too thick and keep your hands dry. They are not as bulky as normal winter gloves. If it gets colder, go for the "onion" style of clothing: use many layers you can add or remove as at gets warmer or colder during your ride. I really enjoyed biking in winter, I'll definitely ride through this winter, too (if it doesn't rain too much, I don't mind the cold, but rain is... yuck).

Also take a look at http://www.icebike.org/

Last winter we had below -20° C (~ -5 F?), which is quite uncommon for central Germany, but I kept riding. I relied on:

Clothing:
- long underwear (Odlo, medium weight)
- Long cycling tights (Crane, brand of Aldi, a supermarket chain in Europe)
- Long cycling jersey (also Crane)
- warm socks (Falke TK2)
- gloves (Mountain Equipment Coop), woolen gloves, GoreTex gloves (different combinations depending on temperature and humidity)
- Specialized Defroster MTB winter shoes
- Vaude overshoes (softshell)

Bike: old Peugeot road bike (late 70s)

Tyres: Schwalbe CX-Pro cyclocross tyres, 30x700. I only crashed twice on black ice... this year I will try and see if I can fit a Schwalbe Marathon Winter (spiked tyre) in the fork (no chance in the rear, clearance way too small).

Thanks. That is definitely what I call Diehard lol. Yeeuck on the black ice . I looked up some of these suggestions and found them very useful. Also when I was looking at the Hand Warmers Idaho suggested I was thinking why they haven't come out with hand warming grips or covers that would go over them? By the way, some advice, use "little hotties hand warmer" because BEING TIRED and using only the first two words in a search engine gives out a very unwanted search result. Lol anyways are the Spiked tires worth it?

Dunno so far, I just bought them and now have to build a new front wheel (old hub is shot) + it is not icy yet + have to reassemble the old road bike. Tests by bike-magazin.de (a german mtb magazine) suggest that spikes help. They tested them in an ice stadium... I had to go with the Marathon Winter, since they are the only narrow (35mm) spike tyres, they have been tested as "ok, but more spikes / wider tyres are better".

"worth it" it depends on whether you have icy roads more than a week or so. Last winter was unusually long and harsh for this part of Germany, I think I will not use the spiked tyre that often, but it is nice to have the option. Maybe some Canucks or Poles or whoever can comment on spiked tyres?

Concerning the covers that go over the grips: I saw something like that on the interwebs, but I cannot remember where. Maybe on bikehacks?

Have to agree with more Spykes are better, but they can only put so many in a narrow tire as you said. Just reading on a website that sells them has a couple of warnings. One I kind of laughed with was this,"So there you are, riding along on glare ice with good control. You start to think you're a hero. And then you have to stop. So, you grab the brakes, the bike comes to a controlled stop, and you put your foot down, just like in the summer. ZING! Your foot slides to the side, and you fall over doing a perfect Olga Korbut split. That's right, your shoe doesn't have carbide studs like your tires. So, unless you're a gymnast, be careful when you stop on ice!" {quote from peterwhitebicycles.com}. That would be something I would have probably done like a creature of habit if that warning was not present. Maybe some older football shoes with the metal spykes in them could be of help to me,lol.

I thought you had used them before, but where I am located here in the US there are mountainous terrain. As far as snow and ice we are a definite candidate.

I will look on bikehacks and instructables, maybe I just wasn't using the right keywords.
Good luck on your bike.