Went riding in 30 degree weather yesterday and everything but my legs was warm. My upper legs and crotch got so cold that when I got home they were bright red and itched and then swelled up for a few hours.
My question is do you wear a built in padded thermal bottom or just buy a thermal pant that is unpadded and wear it over regular shorts?
Recommended brands/models?
Performance Triflex tights (no pad), over my bike shorts (pad).
sugio (i think) thermal padded knickers
if really cold leg warmers underneath… if REALLY cold i add a layer of tri shorts underneath
warm legs make for warm feet! remember that
Padded shorts and unpadded tights over
.
The best option is bib tights without a pad over your normal bib shorts. This way you can take advantage of things like Gore Wind Stop.
As far as brands, get what fits. I find that Exte Ondo work for me.
Another option is leg warmers under your bibs,. You can find ones with wind block as well.
I wear padded bibs under a bib tight or knicker. I prefer a simple “roubaix” fleece knicker over a pair of padded bibs for anything from 55 to 25. My current pair are some castelli’s that I took the pad out of with a seam ripper (took all of about 10 minutes worth of work, super easy to do).
below 25 I wear a pair of craft storm bib tights over padded shorts. i"m pretty sure the storm is available with and without a pad.
i just wear one or two layers of spandex over my regular bike shorts. But…i have a pair of heavy spandex for winter.
I ride all winter here in NJ as long as its above 20. Winter grade tights under my normal cycling shorts. If its windy, I have a felice bib that goes over the top.
Castelli bib tights. Amazing.
I used to wear unpadded tights over regular bike shorts… advantage is that the unpadded tights are relatively cheap, and you have the flexibility of mixing & matching different shorts and/or wearing the tights without the bike shorts for other cold-weather outdoor activities like running, snowshoeing, etc.
However, I found dealing with the double layering around the waist area a PITA when using the can, etc, and variously having one of the pieces riding up or down apart from the other.
Finally sprung for a nice set of dedicated thermal biking bibs w/ pad… Soooo much nicer to ride in, but of course they were $$$ and the pad pretty much renders them crap for anything other than biking, so that’s a lot to spend for a one-trick pony.
I have PI padded, Endura padded, and Adidas unpadded thermal bibs. The Endura’s are the most comfortable to me. But if it starts to get below 25-20, then I go with the Adidas over padded shorts. It definitely doesnt feel as comfortable wearing two pairs of bibs, but the wind stopping fabric works awesome.
If you ride more than a few times per week and can only afford one set, then get the unpadded so you can wear them multiple times over regular shorts.
Wind front tights over padded bib shorts. Wearing tights over bibs gets rid of the elastic build up around the waist and the bids help hold a base layer close to the stomach.
Recommended brands/models?
Gore Bikewear. They are awesome.
Under 5 Celsius - padded short + lycra pant no pad
Above 5 Celsius - Padded short + Full leg zippered ‘knee’ warmers ; unzip and remove legs as necessary (if the day arms up enough).
If it’s inbetween-ish around 2 celsius warming up to 10 celsius then I just do the padded short + knee warms + quickdrying underarmour jammers (underwear) to keep the boys warm.
I find the full legged bib shorts are too expensive to wear out compared to just replacing the shorts when you have a set of knee warmers (the butt/inner leg wears out on my shorts)
I wear my regular shorts/bib and over it I wear the Gore Windstopper unpadded tights. Never had a problem down to 20 degrees.
They make thermal knickers that work really well. I’m a fan of the Panache ones.
I find the double layer hard to keep in place, and yes, peeing presents its own issues.
If it’s cool/cold, a pair of padded tights works fine on its own.
When it gets cold, leg warmers underneath padded tights keeps me toasty.