Guide for Cold Weather Cycling

The first and foremost thing about cold weather cycling is perspiration. During cycling, the body naturally heats up, so it usually doesn’t feel cold, and there is a lot of sweat, so the clothes must have a perspiration function.

To cope with a lot of sweat, but also to cope with the situation of not being cold when cycling or cold when resting, you have to use the onion style of dressing. Clothing should be composed of three layers (inner layer of quick-drying sweat, middle layer of warmth, outer layer of windproof), sports underwear, long-sleeve cycling jersey and a windbreaker to make regulation. In addition, the fall and winter riding dress codes are the same as the other two seasons. The colour should be as bright as possible so that it is easy to attract the attention of other vehicles on the road to ensure safety.

Upper body warmth in cold weather cycling

Sports underwear: Just as you normally add warm underwear to your clothes when it’s cold, you can also add an undershirt to your cycling clothes. If the weather is below 10°C and the amount of sweat is low, you can wear available cotton underwear; if the temperature is higher or the amount of sweat is higher, cotton underwear will stick to the body uncomfortably due to sweat, and once the wind is blowing it is even colder to the point of being unbearable, so it is not very suitable.

Professional sports underwear with a close fit, easy to wind advantages, in the warmth of the body at the same time, but also to help the body will sweat out of the skin surface, in the face of extremely cold weather, you can use the inner lining of the sports underwear with padding, will not have the general sweat or cycling clothing cold touch, wearing will be more comfortable, warm.

Professional cycling underwear back a more breathable design, and the fabric also by antibacterial treatment, not easy to produce odour.

Long-sleeved cycling clothing: You can wear a long sleeve cycling jersey outside the sports underwear and pull up the zipper to prevent the wind from the collar. However, it is important to note that long-sleeved cycling clothes are not necessarily warm because the main requirement of many long-sleeved cycling clothes is moisture wicking and can be worn in the summer, so they are not warm, so when riding in winter, you should especially choose long-sleeved cycling clothes designed for winter riding, like those with an inner fleece layer.

The windproof fleece fabric for winter long-sleeved cycling jerseys, the back of more breathable sweat fabric, is windproof and warm at the same time and is also breathable.

Windbreaker jacket: the most important thing is to block the wind if you can not effectively block the wind, so that the cold wind blows into the clothes, even if you wear a thick jacket as cold. A general cotton jacket or down warm jacket is not suitable. There will be too much wind, and it will be too heavy. It is best to choose a warm jacket for bicycles. In addition to the cut, it will be more in line with the needs of cycling and has windproof and waterproof functions, so you will not be afraid to encounter light rain or snow.

The breathable and comfortable windproof undershirt is designed to keep the core parts warm and the body from being invaded by the cold wind. In the face of the changing climate, the undershirt can fully play the effect of onion-style wear.

Windward fabric and a fleece-lined windproof jacket can better lock in warmth and protection against the cold.

Full-finger gloves: usually, cycling may not feel the fingertips cold, so most will only wear half-finger gloves. However, if the temperature is particularly low or windy, rainy and downhill, riding a bicycle is rarely in motion. The wind will likely freeze the fingertips and even affect the press brake, resulting in riding on the safety of doubt.

Therefore, if the weather is cold or you expect to ride up and down hills, it is best to choose full-finger gloves to have a better cold-proof effect on your fingers. And if the weather is expected to be bad, it is best to choose a material with a splash-proof function to avoid rainwater infiltration.

Lower body warmth

Long cycling pants: Compared to the upper body, the lower body is usually not afraid of the cold, but in winter, when cycling, the cold air blows directly on the knees on the windward side, which is bad for the knees, so it is recommended to wear long cycling pants to cover the knees. However, most cycling pants are sweat-wicking and breathable, so they are not warm. You can choose cycling pants made of fleece for better warmth in extremely cold weather.

Socks or shoe covers: Cycling shoes are made to be breathable, so they are very ventilated, so naturally you will feel especially cold when cycling in winter, so you can wear shoe covers to block the wind, or choose thicker socks, or choose longer socks to completely cover your ankles and even your calves to avoid the gap between socks and cycling pants blowing wind.