short, but COLD commute gear

[peels]

OK the last two days I did not ride first time since buying the bike and I am sad! 34 out. sprinkling. Id really like to keep riding down another 4-5 degrees, so far 36-38 is the "I cant feel my legs anymore" temp. rain pants did nothing.... but... they warm back up after 30 minutes at work. Chest and arms were perfectly warm by layering beneath my leather riding jacket and using a fleece neck gaiter..but my legs were numb LOL

I am looking for COLD weather pants. and for the reason I will be only using them for 20 minutes (TOTAL both ways) a day off and on for a few months only, these are my requirements:

-easy on/off. cannot stress this enough.
-cheap, like really cheap. (purpose built ones I am seeing are 150 bucks. that's way too much for my lil' ride. Until i get into major touring, of course which i'm not there yet)
-thin, but lined, don't want huge puffy snowboard pants
-NO camo!!!! i effin hate camo on NON hunting gear-pointless. LOL.

all ideas appreciated. Don't have to be "riding" pants....anyone use something like i'm lookin for?

Dunno what it is, something about this bike makes me not want to stop riding. .thought about throwing on my bib overalls, but they're a hassle....and id look like a fool. lol

maybe there's some chaps that match my requirements? what about overshoes.? i don't want to have to spend 15 minutes in the bathroom changing clothes when I do it. and changing shoes is a deal breaker.

Ill keep surfing the webz, but thought Id ask.

thanks,

~Eric

[peels]

scratch that...

i believe i found what I'm looking for at our local "farm implement" store.

sorta like ski pants, only not quite and waterproof.... 20 bucks clearance! I say 20 is worth at least a try.

[vitaminC]

What do you normally wear?

[wvwoof]

I use over pants and a jacket that are from Fieldsheer and have an outer shell made of ballistic nylon. The pants are relatively easy to get on and off and I usually wear a sweater under the jacket. I only use heated gloves below 20F as my regular cold weather gloves along with the heated grips are fine at higher temps. I've been commuting all year for the past 10 years. Coldest ride was 7 F and I will not ever do that again! But for temps above 20F I can ride for an hour just fine. Incidentally, I don't get the flu or a cold during winters when I can get a lot of cold riding in!

[peels]

I use over pants and a jacket that are from Fieldsheer and have an outer shell made of ballistic nylon. The pants are relatively easy to get on and off and I usually wear a sweater under the jacket. I only use heated gloves below 20F as my regular cold weather gloves along with the heated grips are fine at higher temps. I've been commuting all year for the past 10 years. Coldest ride was 7 F and I will not ever do that again! But for temps above 20F I can ride for an hour just fine. Incidentally, I don't get the flu or a cold during winters when I can get a lot of cold riding in!

riding in 20f. NICE!!!!! I was only thinking to get down to about 30. thanks!

again...just for 20 those minutes, i can accept a moderate amount of discomfort..so wasn't looking for a serious set of touring pants (yet) that will come later.

[peels]

my cheap slicker ski pants did the trick! actually, took the ones from the hardware store back, as they weren't very windproof and difficult to get off, and bought the el cheapos (faded glory) lol from Walmart. Also dug out my old heavy duty columbia jacket to go over. It has velcro shutting sleeves,. it was 31F this morning, and i was comfortable enough for the commute. to be honest, if I were to wear boots(which I hate), i could ride all day.

What do you normally wear?

I've got textile riding gloves, and my leather riding jacket. Just wear jeans for the commute up til now. I have since misplaced my riding pants. But even then, those were more for protection, not warmth, my older bikes were Sportbikes, so safety came before comfort. I would just stop riding in October. But this bike just makes me feel like I don't need to stop... Like I said, I don't go touring, at least not yet, not comfortable enough to go too far, when the weather is cold. That day is coming, and I will go berzerk and have all the matching gear and all that jazz. "quintessential BMW guy" LOL Ive already got the matching rain gear. I have a hunch (meaning I've seen things disappear from my amazon wish list lol), my xmas tree will have some of this beneath it this year.

basically, as I get more serious about riding, so will the gear.

cheers!

[peels]

OH, what energized me, I went for my lunch time jog through the park the other day, which is adjacent to hwy 218 here, and saw a fellow beemer guy go by on a sweet looking K bike I think(he was past before I saw the motor. it was seriously cold out. SO i got all excited... thought "awww to hell with it...."

Went to the store directly after work and tried it out. pleased...at least until the good gear rolls in

[macx]

I tried leather chaps but WAY too bulky.

I had my wife make some leggings for me.

I ride down into the upper 20's for 40 miles ea way to work.
Not cold in the pm, but darn sure cold at 4:30 am!

When it's that cold, I usually start out with either flannel
lined jeans or thermal drawers, neither very bulky.

The leggings I had her make started out as a pair of
flannel lined jeans. She cut the legs off and opened up
the inseam and hemmed the edges. She had some
good sized buttons and some fairly strong elastic.

Sewed 5 buttons on one side of the opening, sewed a double
loop of that elastic on the other side. Just hook my thumb
thru the end of the loop and it pops over the button easily.

Had found that the outside of my upper thigh, pants pocket area,
never got cold, it was mostly the tops of my thighs and the front
of my legs below the knees, so didn't feel I needed to cover the
area on the side under the belt.

They go on and off easily, are effective down into the 20's,
and fold up nice and small.

I will have to put 3 small snaps at the top that snap onto small
snaps in my jeans, otherwise they slide down when I walk. Or you
could attach something to the top of the leggings in a couple places
to hook to your belt to hold them up.

I leave the open edges on the inside of my legs, never any
cold wind there.

I'll try and take a couple photos and post on Photobucket if I
can make the photos look like the leggings.

http://s719.photobucket.com/user/macx35 ... T/Leggings

[peels]

very nice! thank you macx.

[ekyang]

For 30-40 degree weather, I also road cycle and use a pair of Pearl Izumi Elite thermal bike tights under jeans under my Aerostich lite. I'm also wearing a base thermal underlayer, Marmot fleece jacket, and possibly a down jacket as well (in my Aerostich) if I'm needing the extra warmth. That along with my Alpinestar GoreTex boots and GoreTex riding gloves with grip warmers on seems to work ok for me. May also want a neck fleece sleeve in case the mandarin collars leave too much skin exposed. Anything colder than this and you absolutely should get electric heated gear for safety.

[jfbarron]

I don't do as much cold weather riding as I used to. When I did, I picked up a snowmobile suit at a discount store. A two piece unit with zippers up the outside of the legs was the easy setup.

Think about it....zooming around at -40 has already been solved. You need a snowmobile suit.

[peels]

I don't do as much cold weather riding as I used to. When I did, I picked up a snowmobile suit at a discount store. A two piece unit with zippers up the outside of the legs was the easy setup.

Think about it....zooming around at -40 has already been solved. You need a snowmobile suit.

LOL

i was eyeballing some snowmobile gauntlet style gloves that were on clearance the other day...I might just get them...

I am actually good to go now. really, I only need some sort of OVER-shoe cover to get down a little colder. My toes and instep are the only thing cold now. But bearable for 10 min. But I find the getting too cold is unsafe. lose grip, focus...etc. I had to stop the other day on the way home, and forgot to completely zip my jacket and snap the top button. it was 41 and light rain. I get one mile down the road, it pops open like a flasher LOL Instafreeze! i had to stop....

speaking of safety...Interesting to note...i've had more riding "scares" heading home in the cold lately because I think folks, around here at least, don't expect to see motorcycles this time of year... PLUS, i don't get off until dark now, so maybe it just feels more dangerous.... i think for now, ill set my limit at 32 degrees. For safety reasons. And so my wife doesn't have an infarction....she doesn't trust the cagers either

[macx]

Being originally from central MN I couldn't agree more with a simple snowmobile suit!

Protects the whole body incl arms and legs.

I'm currently in area where they don't know what that is, and I outgrew my snowmobile
suit years ago.

I wouldn't have believed it, but in the Mojave Desert 50 miles SW of Vegas I've already
hit temps in the mid 20's in a couple mile stretch of a dry lake bottom, of course that's
4:30 in the AM.

When it's in the 30's for most of my 40 mile drive to work, I bought a pair of insulated
work bib overalls, big zippers on the legs all the way up, and suspenders. Covers both
my chest and my back. Not expensive, and slips on and off easily. A little bulky but so
is a snowmobile suit.

I happened to discover a couple months ago that Milwaukee Tools (and DeWalt, too) make
electric jackets powered either by a cord you can plug in to your bike (with the right adapter)
or by one of their cordless tool batteries.

I got my MIlwaukee on ebay from toolup.com (a national brand name power tool seller that
has an online store) for $90 without a battery or cord, they list for well over $150 with a
battery.

The jacket by itself is amazingly wind proof and isn't heavy and bulky. Has a nice snug high
collar that zips all the way up, snug cuffs around the wrist, and is plenty long so when I
sit down my entire backside is still covered all the way down to the seat.

On 30 F mornings now all I need is a T shirt or 2 (I have some long sleeved light weight
T shirts) and a regular sweatshirt. The jacket has 3 heat levels controllable with a small
push switch above the left upper pocket. There's lot of wind around here in the winter
and of course that makes it much more miserable. When there's wind over 15 or 20 mph
I wear a heavy lined denim shirt over the jacket, then the jacket is more like a heated vest.

MY but that heat feels good, and keeps me perfectly comfortable at any temp I've driven in
yet.

Of course that still leaves the legs unprotected, but I wear flannel lined jeans, and thermal
long johns under them if it's under 40F. I don't bother with the bibs unless it's down in
the 30's for most of the 40 miles.

So there's a bunch of ways to stay warm, but I sure do love that heated jacket!