Shorts Wearers in Winter

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
The other day and 5C, shorts.

At about 3C downhill I will start to feel some pain.....................that soon disappears on the first uphill
We are all different, through age means I feel colder sooner with inactivity, plus the meds I am on mean cold hands and even lower arms........thats been like that for several years, but I am good as long as I exert myself.
My hands used to sweat all year round.........not so much today.

[CyberKnight]

Hi,
The other day and 5C, shorts.

At about 3C downhill I will start to feel some pain.....................that soon disappears on the first uphill
We are all different, through age means I feel colder sooner with inactivity, plus the meds I am on mean cold hands and even lower arms........thats been like that for several years, but I am good as long as I exert myself.
My hands used to sweat all year round.........not so much today.

mine are even worse i can be sweating but even on a summers day below 20 c i need full finger gloves as windchill can send my fingers white .

[simonhill]

It depends on where you are wearing your shorts.

My normal winters are definitely in shorts, sometimes with long lightweight over trousers to protect from the sun after 11 ish.

Something called Covid had me in fleecy tights last year.

It's all a question of latitude.

[drossall]

This has given me a vague recollection of wearing shorts for my first year in senior school. I could be wrong though. The system was that the first year was part of the Lower School, though I and many others only joined in that first year (what we would call year 7 under decimal coinage). So I think we may have worn shorts with the juniors who formed the rest of the Lower School.

[ChrisP100]

I've got a fairly good gauge of temperature and a perceived temp of around 5 degrees is my limit. I've ridden in lower temps in shorts but I've always regretted it, especially in the wet/damp.

I only have 1 pair of cycling shorts (technically 2 pairs of exactly the same shorts), and I have full length leg warmers for cooler conditions. The leg warmers are great as they are actually designed for the cold, but my shorts are thin summer shorts which have no insulating properties whatsoever. This can be a little uncomfortable when it gets near to or below freezing, but if I peddle hard enough I'm usually okay...

[Slowtwitch]

I have absolutely no gauge of temperature... So I stick to three - quarters October to May

[Wilhelmus]

.

[freeflow]

Until someone tells us the scientifically demonstrated effects of repeatedly exposing legs/hands etc to colder temperatures over a period of several years this question can only be answered on perceived comfort for the duration of a single ride. The natural macho d**kheadedness of some cyclists will inevitably skew the comments on the latter.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Does anybody still wear those trousers which were all the rage a few years ago, which terminated about halfway down the calf? Neither one thing nor t'other.

I got some and they are rather thick.
Got them far a bargain knockdown, from Lidl.
I haven't worn them for a few years, the only long below the knees I got.

[MartinC]

I tend to wear longs in winter and shorts in summer, no great management protocol to this though. Each to his own.

I believe that the logic behind the old cycling aversion to shorts in the winter is that your knees have a limited blood supply 'cos they have to cope with all that articulation and that there is a higher degree of wind chill for them in cycling thus the risk of damaging them is higher. Not qualified to have a real opinion about this.

[Mike Sales]

At the beginning of my evolution from a Pob into a Cyclist I visited a farm north of Otley which was providing tea.
It was a fine, cold winter's day.
I eventually realised that the notice about taking in your own food was offering to provide a plate to eat your sandwiches off.
Amongst the cyclists there was a man of about my present age in shorts. I noticed that his knees were as brown and shiny as his head.
I realised that I was entering another culture.

[drossall]

I've still got the fur-lined shoes I bought because, heading out of Otley towards Askwith in the snow, my feet were already frozen in regular shoes, and we'd only come from Leeds and were planning to go further. I told the friend I was with that I'd have to turn back unless we found something more suitable in Chevin Cycles. He even had to lend me the money (no cards and stuff in early 1979...)

Getting back more on topic, I wouldn't consider shorts in winter. Except that I do Zwift on the patio outside, in very single-digit temperatures, wearing cycling shorts and a t-shirt. Inconsistent or what?

[thirdcrank]

This is why we dour Yorkshire folk have hair on the soles of our feet and why we are so dour.

[Jdsk]

Does anybody still wear those trousers which were all the rage a few years ago, which terminated about halfway down the calf? Neither one thing nor t'other.

I wear lightweight baggy 3/4 trousers for touring and whenever it isn't cold. And if someone can find any going cheap please let me know. (Last time round there were lots of votes for Endura Hummvees but they're too expensive.)

Jonathan

[drossall]

This is why we dour Yorkshire folk have hair on the soles of our feet and why we are so dour.

As you know, I claim Yorkshire heritage. Must be the mixed blood