Advice for long underwear while riding?

[PeanutButterShammyCream]

I am going to be in some cold weather next month, and I was wondering what you guys wear under your pants to keep your legs warm??

[staehpj1]

I am going to be in some cold weather next month, and I was wondering what you guys wear under your pants to keep your legs warm??

I don't wear pants (other than bike shorts, tights, or rarely a wind/rain shell) or underwear while riding on tour.

That said I have several different weights of tights ranging from thin silky ones to ones that are slightly brushed inside, to heavier ones that are windproof in the front.  The nap that is raised on the brushed ones adds a surprising amount of warmth.

I also have some ultralight wind pants and some light rain pants.

What I take on tour varies with where and when I am touring, but if I need any of that I choose one pair of tights and may take either the wind pants or much less frequently the rain pants.

The tights are much more frequently worn in camp in the evening or to add warmth at night, than they are worn for riding.  The wind or rain pants are also more frequently worn in camp.  I don't tend to wear the tights or wind/rain pants for riding until it is pretty cold.

I have not generally toured when there was consistently cold weather, but have often seen frost overnight and a few times weather down to the 20s or teens.  In all those conditions tights and wind pants were always sufficient.

In practice I find a wind barrier much more important than how much insulation I wear.  I have never actually taken the heavy windproof tights on tour.  I have used them for bitter cold conditions mountain biking or road riding around home.  They work great for quite cold weather.  The ones I have are "Performance Triflex Tights without Chamois".

[Pat Lamb]

What Pete said.

To expand a little bit, I've never found weather conditions I couldn't manage with appropriate cycling tights.  I tend to sweat while riding, even in 7F (windproof tights help a lot at that point!).  It's a balance of how fast do I need to pedal to stay warm with how slow must I go so the wind doesn't freeze me.  You don't want to get sweaty-wet when it's cold, even wool doesn't help when it's soaked.  (Cue the pro-wool chorus...)

Are you going to be staying inside at night or camping on top of 200" of snow?

[Manilishi]

 Smart Wool   

[walks.in2.trees]

I DO wear pants: right now, I'm wearing the Marmot hiking pants with the half-zip cuffs (a useless feature, since you still can't get them off without taking off your shoes, and you don't NEED them unzipped to get them off over bare feet.  The important part, if your like me and aren't into the "tights" look, is the articulated knees and a form-fitting leg, not a loose fit that will get caught in your chain like a lot of hiking pants are... Below 25°F I'll add a base-layer under the pants (which is essentially tights) but I don't like the way they bind against my knees as I pedal, so I only wear them if I need them.

Similar to the previous response, I start to sweat after about 15 minutes of riding, and so far I haven't found a good way to mitigate that... The best I can come up with is, I start off dressed for full conditions: top base layer, shirt, micro fleece pull over or vest (depending on conditions), down jacket, water proof shell with helmet compatible hood. The pants don't matter so much because my legs can go a lot colder than my core, hands, and feet can for some reason. After my internal furnace is fired up, I stop and remove some layers... Quickly as possible so I don't cool off too much. It's really important not to let the down get wet in case you need to stop long enough that you'll lose your heat, in which case you'll want to put it back on... You don't want it to be soggy or even frozen when you NEED to put it on.


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[PeanutButterShammyCream]

Thanks for all the responses. I have some showers pass rain pants....Do you think those would add a lot of heat over my regular pants when riding???

[paddleboy17]

What do you mean by pants?

I am pretty sure that rain pants will be a disaster.

[walks.in2.trees]

Thanks for all the responses. I have some showers pass rain pants....Do you think those would add a lot of heat over my regular pants when riding???

It will add wind protection, which helps preserve your heat, but also condensation inside the pants, which is not so good if you stop long enough to cool down while you're exposed

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[cbmountainbiker]

I recommend wool knee or leg warmers.  I rode the northernmost 1500 miles of the great divide 8 years ago and saw a lot of rain.  The wool is great in all weather.  Depending on how many hours in the saddle per day I wouldn't have anything but bike shorts with a really good chamois and frequent reapplications of chammie butter on the parts!

[staehpj1]

I am pretty sure that rain pants will be a disaster.

That depends...  I have found that I like to have either wind pants or light weight rain pants along on most tours.

I very seldom have worn them when riding, but find them quite useful in camp in wet chilly weather.  Only rarely has it been wet/windy/cold enough that I felt the need to wear them on the bike.  That was typically only for a while in the morning after a very cold night or for longer when it was raining, chilly and the wind was howling.  In the large majority of conditions, even if it is raining they are not that nice to wear while riding.  For example in a February-early March Southern tier I think I wore them on the bike twice.  Once when in the morning following an 18F overnight low and there was a long descent in the morning and once when the wind was howling, the rain falling, and it was about 50 F high for the high.

I do wear tights a bit more often when a little warmth is needed, but again they are worn more to often sleep in or to stay warm in camp.

[canalligators]

I find that taking only three items of lower body clothing works for all conditions at freezing or above: cycling shorts, long cycling tights and nylon wind pants.  Below 45f in the rain, your exposure time might be limited to an hour or two, so if you won't have any place to warm up, take another layer or heavy rain pants.

[donald.stewart.92]

I get really cold riding all winter at work. I found Layer8 synthetic long underwear Marshall's for $18 each. Found them to be more durable than famous armor brand. It wicks the sweat away without freezing me. In below 30 degrees I wear my Layer8,merino wool long underwear then Blauer bike pants which are a little loose fitting. That has got me down to 18 degrees in the 'mild' eastern Pennsy weather at 6 to 10 mph with frequent stops. Gotta watch for the ice patches.

[canalligators]

... Gotta watch for the ice patches.

Winter riding is a topic unto itself.  I will strongly advise use of studded snow tires.