Winter cycling gear (what do I need?) (Phoenix: appointed, home)

[CorbinG]

Been cycling for the last couple months and want to get ready now for the winter.
I read a site that said 60-50f all I need is leg/arm warmers ear guards (whatever) and a wind vest along with a base layer. Will be no doubt getting full gloves.

I am not a wear shorts/short sleeves all winter Phoenician. I wear jeans year round and a hoodie in the winter.

I currently only have two pairs of shorts (chamois) and two short sleeve jerseys.

Do I need thermal shorts (I plan on getting bibs) and what about a jacket? I ride early and go out for 40+ miles.

TIA.

[Arizona Mike]

If you ride early in the morning as I like to do, it can get very chilly in the winter with the cold air rushing past you. I check the thermometer before going out in December and January and it can get down to the 20s before and just after the sun rises in Phoenix. Full gloves are highly recommended. I sometimes wear an Underarmour lightweight balaclava which fits neatly under my helmet and keeps heat from escaping from my neck and head area (through the vents in my helmet), although it makes me look a little like an IRA terrorist commuting to the terrorist training camp on my bicycle and has occasionally startled early morning commuters when I pull up next to them at the stoplight. I'm kind of low tech and usually just wear sweatpants on my legs rather than leg warmers, with a wicking base layer of an undershirt, and a light windvest and jacket or hoodie. I occasionally wear tights under the sweatpants but don't usually wear tights alone to avoid visually distressing others. I usually wear chamois shorts under the sweatpants. As a guy, the cold air rushing between my legs can get very cold and I've occasionally thrown a pair of baggy gym shorts over the sweatpants for extra layers, making me look a little like a 1960s-era member of the X-Men. (Yes, I cut quite the fashionable figure when I bicycle in the dead of winter.)

I have a friend who was hit twice by auto drivers while training for an Ironman (leaving him with a fractured pelvis one time and a fractured collarbone the other), so as I'm sure you know, wear bright colors in the pre-dawn hours. I sometimes throw on a fluorescent yellow and reflective road-guard vest, which doesn't breathe well but blocks the wind, and sometimes just a blaze-orange Underarmour tight-fitting hoodie I got at Cabela's that's intended for hunters but breathes and wicks well.

Another bicyclist I know swears by wearing a jersey that prominently has the American flag or the Captain America emblem on it, reasoning that drivers are less likely to crowd or hit you if they think it's an unpatriotic act. He's never been hit.

After the sun rises, I shed most those layers, even in winter it's not too cold after the sun rises and I usually just wear a LS top and shorts, maybe some sweatpants, and an ear-protector I got from Duluth Trading Company.

Hope this is somewhat helpful.

[Heath V]

When I read cycling and gear I immediately thought of steroids, I cane in the thread and now am disappointed.

[Wally Sconce]

A jacket, leg warmers and arm warmers is more than all you will need..maybe full fingers gloves. If you doing 40 miles you will be carrying it in your pack for most of the trip. Honestly, ride cold for 5 miles instead of over dressing. But then again I think perfect cycling temps are below 50 lol.

[exit2lef]

When the temperature is below 40 in the morning, I wear an ear band, gloves, a jacket, a sometimes a scarf. Those rare mornings when it's below freezing, I double sock my feet in addition to all those other steps. At any time of year in Phoenix, it's important to dress in layers since the ride home in the evening is usually 20 degrees warmer than the ride in the morning.

[locolobo13]

For a 40 miler I'm not sure. For a few days the mornings usually get just below freezing each winter. For my 5 mi commute the only extra clothes for me are a thermal shirt and a heavier athletic shirt, light gloves and a knit cap. It's interesting that I can be COLD and Sweating at the same time! But that's part of the fun.

The truth is the slightly subfreezing temps don't last long. Usually by 9 a.m. it's at least in the 40s more like 50-60ish. Even in January. If you are starting out after 8 a.m. then probably just a couple of extra layers will do. Then take them off as needed.