New To Cycle Clothing

[Thomas125]

I'm a new road rider, and am in the market for some clothing but unsire what to buy to cover me for all the weather changes in the UK

I'm figuring the following.

Base layer.
Long and short sleeve jerseys.
Waterproof & windproof jacket.
Long and short finger gloves.
Shorts
Tights (Maybe some thin and some thermal ones?)
Shoes
Glasses
Shoes
Overshoes

Am I going in the right direction here, think should give me some room to layer up or down as needed. DHB stuff from Wiggle looks like quite good value.

[mw3230]

All of the above plus . . . . . the world is your oyster (at least as much as the budget allows).

I don't think there is a perfect combination as our changeable weather demands so many permutations but warm and dry will be the rule at times whilst at other times you may be aiming for dry and cool - possibly both on the same ride.

On a personal note, I have been pleased with DNB products, Goretex Paclite and Shimano shoes. I've also bought Aldi clothing but been disatisfied with the zips. There is some merit in the point of view which suggests that you get what you pay for!

[thirdcrank]

Thomas125

Modern fabrics are great. I grew up at a time when wool was the fabric of choice for cycling togs, people who couldn't afford it made do with something else. People like my dear old Dad used to say that if there had been anything better than wool, God would have given it to sheep, because they have to stand about outside in all sorts of bad weather in exposed places. I don't know about sheep, but for cyclists, modern fabrics are brill. (I speak as the owner of one of the largest collections of Goretex, Windstopper, Coolmax etc in Europe. )

[paulah]

Have we forgotten the big freeze already?

Buff
thermal hat
thermal gloves
glove liners
woolly socks
more woolly socks
thin pair of woolly lining socks
Big fleecy jumper
fleecy gillet
thermal underwear

and for normal weather - waterproof gloves

[paulah]

I speak as the owner of one of the largest collections of Goretex, Windstopper, Coolmax etc in Europe.

want to bet on that?

[thirdcrank]

In men's sizes - if I can make a stereotypical assumption.

(Just to clarify -my collection is in men's sizes - I'm jumping to the conclusion that you are paula h rather than paul a.h.)

[cycleruk]

Allegedly a pair of womens tights are good in winter. Don't know where you supposed to wear them but don't have an accident.

[eileithyia]

Your list is fairly comprehensive and of course you will need to experiment with what suits you best ie how many layers etc. Personally I am more likely to wear a couple of base and layers and a couple of long sleeved jerseys throughout winter, keeping the goretex paclite for wet days only. I do not like heavy windproof jackets as I get too hot, then chill too quickly on descents or if hanging around for any reason.

I might add a couple of short sleeved base layers to wear under short sleeved tops with arm warmers. Often it can be warm enough for short sleeves but chest area can be too cool with only a thin layer on it.

Also I wear an ordinary cheap pair of gloves with a pair of track mitts over them through the winter, this helps prevent wear and again is usually all I need, finding the bigger bulkier cycling gloves too heavy, indeed one cold day this year I experimented with a pair of thermal cycling gloves and found my hands to be colder inside them!

This time of the year can be the worst for trying to get clothing right so layers are essential, a few weeks rode an event, at the start it was almost too warm in the sunshine with my coolmax long tights on, then as the event progressed it clouded up and we were into the wind, at which point I felt I wanted my assos thermals on!

[Flinders]

When I was kitting myself out, my LBS just suggested shorts and leg warmers to start with- so that I'd be warm in March with the leg warmers on, but could leave them off in the summer-more flexible than having both shorts and tights- also I could put the warmers on on cold mornings, and take them off later if it warmed up (without being indecent while changing between shorts and tights ).

You may find you don't need as much stuff as other people do, or you may need more. I don't tend to feel the cold much, and even in January and February I just used my long-sleeved walking thermal base layer and a Montane very thin breathable waterproof. On the very worst days I just added a light fleece, but still found it spent most of its time in the rack bag. Now on most days I just have a coolmax t-shirt and a no-sleeved jacket (gilet) in bright colours, with the waterproof as back-up, as it is pretty windproof too. I do tend only to stay out for 3-4 hours, though.

I wouldn't go mad and buy everything at once- I'd just get the essentials and build up to what you find you need as you need it. For me, the top priority would be getting proper cycling shorts...........


PS the leg warmer combo also worked well for me as my legs are very short- 3/4 length leg warmers go down to my ankles, so end up being full-length on me. Standard full-length tights would have been too long - and they aren't easy to shorten.

[NUKe]

Your lists looks fairly comprehensive However you don't need to buy it all at once. get the basics and then decide what works for you.

DHB stuff is very good and the price belies the quality. Other makes to look at

[random37]

Just to make a suggestion, though, it's better to try cycling clothes on before you buy them. Go to a shop, and get them there, rather than buying online.

[Cliff]

To echo what others are saying, for me I would choose:

Leg warmers instead of thin tights. More versatile.
Armwarmers with shortsleeved baselayer instead of long sleeved jersey.

I would also adda gilet. Until recently I thought they looked pointless, but I am amazed by how useful mine has turned out to be. I use one all year round and prefer a thin one so that it fits in my back pocket if I get warm.

The dhb stuff is suppsed to be decent quality. Prendas armwarmers are highly rated and cheap.

[stewartpratt]

One tip is don't underestimate how incredibly good Windstopper is. It behaves well in the warm and provided you're doing a bit of work to generate some heat it'll keep you warm even when wet. The best piece of clothing I've bought in about 20 years of riding - by a country mile - is the Gore Phantom. It's the best part of £100, but it will do the job of your base layer, short sleeved jersey, long sleeved jersey, windproof and gilet all rolled into one (certainly the first version does - the second one has seemed marginally less performant so far, but the sizing changed so my XL is a looser fit than the original; I'd attribute the minor difference to that). In the depths of winter stick a medium-weight Merino top under it (too much underneath it and it stops working) and you're sorted. Layering does make a lot of sense, but just once in a while something comes along that renders layering pointless, and this is one of those things.

[Flinders]

I agree with Cliff about gilets-- as a novice I'd never heard of them, but was persuaded to buy one, and have been very grateful for that advice- it's excellent- though it is very thin and can be squeezed into a tiny space in the bag when not needed, the back is cool and holey, and the front is surprisingly windproof when zipped up which helps cut out cold headwinds- it can also cope with light rain well enough for me.

(The base layers I could find were all dullish not-very-visible colours, and (again) my LBS suggested a brightly coloured gilet combined with my collmax t-shirt as a base layer would be a good solution- and it is.)