Last weekend with the heat around 95 and the humidity around 80 I ended up doing the last 20 of 110 on the CT. Tomorrow its supposed to be 103. I plan to clip in while its still dark (okay, that didn’t happen) to get as far as I can before it heats up but the heat index was close to 100 by the time my run got done at 10:00 today so its still going to be ugly. On.a flier I ordered some Desoto CoolWings after last weekend and plan to put them on when the sun starts to bite. Has anyone used these things? Do they work?
Yep, they work. I put them on about 10:00 around mile 65. The first thing I noticed coming out of the shade was that my arms and legs were different temps. When I got up to speed things cooled off which of course is a relative term. It was 81 with 50 percent humidity when I started and 100 with 40 percent at the end. When you are rolling the wind sort of gets underneath and you get some sort of mild AC affect. They make a difference which is perhaps best shown by the fact I stayed strong the last 2 hours of an 110 ride when it was 95 to 100 and was hungry and was eating solid food in the last 20 miles. When I got home I went straight to the fridge and started eating - that never happens after a long hot ride.
Be interesting to see how they are on the run. I have rolling road intervals on Thursday which will be done at noon and it should be triple digits.
I have no association with Desoto although I never clip in unless I am in their shorts.
3 weekends ago I used the Desoto arm coolers on the IMC bike and run courses on Friday and Saturday. mid to upper 90s on Friday and low to mid 90s on Saturday, with a strong sun both days. Combined with a white jersey and (on the run) a white cap with a neck flap, I thought they helped, since I wasn’t as nearly as uncomfortable as I expected to be. For what it’s worth (anecdotal, utterly subjective, and all that), Of the 3 people I was running with back from OK Falls I was the only one that didn’t wilt in the heat although I was no more acclimated to it than they were.
I used them at IMAZ, and they worked wonderfully. Only thing was there were two small triangles on my back near my armpits that were not covered by either the coolwings or my sleeveless jersey. But, no sunburn at all where the coolwings covered.
tom
I have no doubt these things work in dry climates: colorado, california, arizona, etc. But I wonder if they’ll work in the humidity at all.
Can anyone who has used these in humidity chime in? I want to test them but I would feel terrible sending them back and ruining the no returns streak.
Dan www.aiatriathlon.com
I believe that the Penticton region is classified as `semi-arid’, so relatively low humidity. I can’t find humidity data for the weekend we were up there, but for tomorrow (Monday) afternoon the relative humidity is forecast at 29%, which is probably close to the low for the day.
My GF used them at IMAZ, they really seemed to help her because she was on the bike a while longer than lots of folks. she also got some weird tan lines from them though. At IMAZ 08, im planning on using the arm coolers.
I bought two pair before the RAGBRAI ride and am totally glad I did. My test was 8 days of 6 hours to 10 hours a day of sun exposure. Some riding hours the others drinking beer, eating corn, and having a good old timein the summer Iowa sun. The temp was between 68 and 102 degrees and almost always sunny, but one sort of rain day. Humidity was 65-100 %.
-They work pretty good in the cooler temps for light weight arm warmers.
-When the humidity is lower they seem to actually work as advertised.
-When the humidity and heat index are high if you squirt them with water and squirt your
ears as well while riding you stay fairly cool.
-I would not say they were actually cooler on a 90 degree 75% humidity day than bare skin, but they are not really any hotter either. Great fabric for summer wear.
I would like to thank Big E for coming up with a fairly cool sun protector. The other nice thing I do now that I am back in Hawaii is start at 0600 hours with them on as wrist bands and pull them up around 0800 when the sun hits my arms pretty strong. I have had three friends come in with a skin cancer diagnosis in the past six months so I am wearing them a lot now.
Emilio, How about designing a jersey with armcooler sleves and regular fabric body? Can you do that fabric in colors? Hint Hint.Hint Aloha G
My thoughts exactly Dave. He all ready does some other productsout of the cooler fabric but all in white. With our famous red dirt, white jerseys look real shabby after one rain ride. I have been looking for the mother of all summer longsleeve summer weight jerseys for years and Emilio may be on to it.
i bought my coolwings 2 months ago,used them alot since,im from israel and its really hot in here in this time of the season,tell you the truth the only thing im happy about is that i dont get the cycling tan lines because it UV protected but i didn’t feel any cooling effect what so ever,everything is in your mind.
of course i tried conviencing myself it does cool after i paid 40$ for it,but lets face the truth,when i ride and its 35 celcius outside nothing helps besides some cold water.but again thats just me.