Winter is coming

[spg]

Hi all,
This is my first winter riding coming up. I would love to hear what people wear to layer up in Canberra. Cheers

[Usernoname]

Where you are coming from will have a large bearing on what gear you need. Me being from Qld would require some serious wamth, someone from Melbored or Tasssie less so. I'd imagine think wet, cold and dark and remember there's no such thing as bad weather only wrong choice of bike/clothing (except if it's less than 6 degrees or wet I'm out )

[Howzat]

I like double gloves - i.e. warm liner under the wind proof gloves; shoe covers and wool socks; one of those tubular neck warmers that can go over the ears and over the face but can be pulled down out of the way. And no-nonsense lights.

[Noviss]

Last year was my first winter of commuting so a lot of trial and error. For the coldest part of the year I settled on:
Hands - inners and wind proof gloves
Feet - two pairs of socks and booties and sometimes toe covers for the -5 mornings
Torso - long sleeved wool thermal base layer, cotton T shirt, long sleeve thermal jersey
Legs - normal cycling shorts over long leg "skins" (tried a cheap pair of long leg cycling tights and they were terrible)
Head - Aldi winter cycling cap or DHB winter head band under helmet .
I found I didn't need any neck or face cover. My hands and feet were the only parts that seemed to still be cold with the above layers.

[cp123]

my middle of winter gear is:

ice breaker socks, mtb shoes, overboots I had a stack on a work ramp in road shoes as it was wet and dewy so don't wear them in winter any more. plus i think my mtb shoes are bit warmer as they're less plastic or similar
knicks, polypro long johns, cycling tights
merino 320 under layer from kathmandu, jersey, winter jacket, good gloves, neck warmer and a beanie under my lid.

if i have that i am toasty all the way through. i think my longest trip is 40 kms at -6 in that clobber. of course there are colder days, but usually i just ride to work and back now. don't usually wear overboots or the long johns on the way home though as its still above the minuses in the afternoon and i'd cook.

[Harrys767]

I haven't ridden below zero before and am just wondering about ice. Do you worry about black ice on dry roads? Or just where you see water flows across the road? I'm going to be riding a mix of bike paths and roads around Canberra.

[Mububban]

What specific gloves (brand and type) do folks wear in winter?

I've got some Thinsulate woolly gloves that are okay until it reaches maybe 8c and below - then the wind gets through them and I still get freezing fingers.

I bought some ski gloves on sale, nice and toasty warm but I didn't expect my hands to still get sweaty in winter, and the inner layer isn't removable so they can't dry out (eewwww!).

[cp123]

I'm in a pair of cheap thinsulate gloves that I found in an op shop for about $10 and they are keeping my fingies toasty warm.

otherwise its ski gloves. my good cycling gloves are Kathmandu ski gloves but, as they cost a bomb, its heaps better to become a member and keep an eye out for the sale days. the only thing is that often they're not dry on the inside by the time I leave work at night so they're a bit claggy to pull on.

re - black ice - anywhere that it is shady can have it. the paths around CW bridge on the southern side are lethal in this weather. perhaps the proximity to lake BG adds some ice rink factor to the paths. be careful going up or coming down off the bridge.