Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Helmets and Gear Cold weather riding - leg warmth?

As our Sydney weather begins to head south of 10 degrees in the morning (I know - that's nothing compared to what some of you guys get) I'm just wondering what some of you colder climate riders do to keep your legs warm? Are leather riding pants warmer than textile pants? This will be my first winter of riding with new artificial knees and I don't know how they will perform when I have chilled air hitting them continuously on my morning commutes. If there are any BA riders with artificial knees, I would be interested to know any of your survival secrets for riding in cold weather (if there actually are any?)
TIA
John Q

Long johns under jeans work wonders, flannel lined jeans are nice, chaps are great too. The main thing is to keep the cold wind out.

leather chaps over jeans over thermal undies. Dont get them in reverse order it dont work as well.

Insulate (long johns), block wind (leather).

I reckon long johns under Draggin jeans is all you need John. You could try leather chaps with the bum cheeks cut out but don't go near Darlinghurst cause you might get picked up.

2 pairs of long johns under heavy jeans and the prosthetic knees will let you know when you are cold or at least the one prosthetic knee I have does!!!!

Ladies tights help, but long johns are betterer.

Also, kneepad armouring helps keep the wind off, if your jeans have the internal pockets for them.

Even cheap waterproof trousers keep the wind off

HTH

I have some tights like long johns that are great. Bought them for the snow, and use them for riding as well. Jeans or slacks (if I'm riding to work) and leather over pants. Works great.

Hi John,

If you are traveling on the coast, most times you could probably get away with thermals and draggin jeans depending if you are riding north or south from Sydney.

Once you start going inland it's a lot colder though. Of course nothing in comparison to our U.S. Or Euro brothers but cold just the same.

Coming from Canberra then you'll appreciate I'm pretty well decked out for all occasions including icey rain, but the other items I'd suggest you buy as a minimum is a pr of quality Cordura waterproof overpants.

I've had a pr of "Rivet" both top and bottom and without them I wouldn't have bothered getting on my bike cos they have kept the wind and rain on the outside where it belongs in winter



I suppose it will always get down to how much you are willing to spend against the level of comfort you're after. For instance, for my Birthday I just spent $500 on top quality boots and gloves from the States so I never get cold, wet feet and hands again.

IMHO when it comes to comfort on my bike, I don't cut corners with cheap clothing or personal protection. I have wasted way too much money that way cos the items aren't up to the task meaning you have to buy the items again so they actually work properly.

One of the best sites I found recently which someone (sorry) on here posted is Revzilla. They have excellent info and a huge choice, and of course the exchange rate will pay for the shipping provided it stays where it is.

Good luck.

Hey, John I can comment on this now. I rode for the first time in my Tourmaster Quest over pants today ($74.99 at the stealership). I liked them a lot and they cut the wind with waterproofing. It was 50F this morning and it was the best commute to work yet. I rode to work in 38 the other morning and it was cold!! The only change I would make is I'd like some stirrups to wrap around my boots so they don't blow up and get my socks wet. Maybe I'll have the better half work on that, with a little gift too of course

I bought a pair of Triumph leather jeans on a lark with the $500 voucher Triumph issued back in 03. They are basically leather Levis. They work very well in cold weather along with 10 inch engineer boots and over the calf insulated motorcycle socks from the dealer. Full face helmet, neck wear, gloves, leather jacket, tee shirt over long sleeve top and of course regular underwear. The supriseing part is how comfortable the leather jeans are when I get were I'm going. Remember, it's like hunting, if you over dress you will be miserable. I ride in the upper 30s F as long as there is no ice.

Jeans, thermal underwear (thicker than traditional longjohns), chaps, and frogg togg bibs if raining. Plenty warm. Down into the 30s.

Thanks for all your advice guys. There is a lot of information there for me to try out. I suppose I'm a little unique in my requirements because apart from my knees, I don't really feel the cold in the rest of my legs due to a few decades of cycling related road racing & training. The only problem I have now is my knee areas reacts a little differently to the rest of my legs with the chromium cobalt prosthetic knee joints. The cold air seems to penetrate my new joints and then they hang on to the cold temperature like a block of ice for an hour or so after a ride. I thought if I can isolate the air flow directly on my knee surface I might overcome the problem. Through the week, I tried strapping on a set of old hard shell knee protectors over my jeans but they didnt bend really well and the hard surface of the plastic outer shell made my artificial patella irritable. It seemed a shame as the padding under those knee protectors felt really comfortable. I drove around all day today trying to purchase a set of knee warmers without success, so when I got home, I took a good hard look at those knee protectors and had a bright idea of removing the hard outer shell. Bingo. It looks like my problem may be solved. So I unpicked the stitching holding the hard outer shell onto the soft padding of the knee protectors and now I have an old but rather comfortable set of padded knee warmers that I can strap straight over my jeans.
I'll let you all know how they go.



btw Oxford seems to have recently released some Chillout Windproof Knee Warmers which I'm interested in trying as well.

web page

Thanks again all for your advice.

I wear snowboarding gear when it gets super cold here. It costs less than riding gear and is just as durable if not better. Its light weight and can be ordered for any weather condition. Alot are made with reinforced knee panels as well. Make sure not to order ones that are too baggy or loose tho. Hope this helps.