[Closed] Question for all the ladies. (Clothing content).

My winter riding get up is smartwool merino leggings plus either running tights (so no padding) or softshell trousers. Never had any problems with this combo.

Ditch the tights and use legwarmers instead?

Good idea Jon. 🙂

(wo)Man up and just go out in the same stuff you do in summer. If you're riding with any gusto you'll keep plenty warm enough.

I concur with Jon. In colder times I use my usual padded shorts with an unpadded tight. If it gets really cold I add knee/leg warmers under the tights. This avoids a cruel and unusual build up of padding.

Coffeeking - it was really polite of you to leave out he 'f'.
Am a bit slow, even in the summer, so what is this 'gusto' you talk of?
Also don't have a lot of natural padding, so get chilly pretty quickly.

Eat more pies then 🙂

are the tights padded? If so, non padded as suggested. Also why the baggies over everything else? Can't you just fit a crud guard?

Shorts all year round. Don't have wet soggy clothing sticking to your legs then. If its really really really cold then cut the knees out of an old wetsuit and slide them up your legs and around yours knees before you put your boots on. Looks weird but very warm and stops your knees freezing solid.

It's raining here, also the tights aren't padded.
Going to consider the legwarmers. Hopefully they'll stay up over my skinny pins.

Don't you get really hot in shorts, tights and waterproof shorts? For this time of year, I wear 3/4 tights and baggies (unpadded).

The idea about the leg warmers is a good one or tights with a pad (Gore ones are comfy) and baggies rather than the three layers.

Normally 3/4 tights for autumn days, which ends up with 2 layers.
For night rides I need to be warm.

(edit) What baggies do you wear Domino?

I have some (northwave) padded winter biking tights. They are windproof and have a bit of fleecey lining - I rarely get too cold in them (in the Alps... with below freezing) and I don't think they were too expensive.

Endura Singletracks - they come without a liner so you can wear whatever is comfiest underneath, they have leg vents you can unzip for summer and they sit higher at the back with a comfortable front. The only thing I am not keen on is the velcro fastening at the top of the zip sometimes catches on your jersey.

Bunnyhop - I know you wear the Gore Alp X which are great but perhaps the Gore full-length trousers might be better? That way, you can wear perhaps some lycra padded shorts (knee length or shorter) and still be warm and cosy.

I appreciate what you are saying about light and hardly padded but it will be very much a compromise. Knee warmers are a godsend, also have some Gore Windstopper leg warmers which are brilliant at keeping me warm but they can slip down 🙁

i wear cycle shorts, leggings and baggies (nike gym stretchy things) - nice and toastie!

Thanks girls.

BH I usually wear (under)shorts and baggies in the summer, and then just add knee/ legwarmers/ water proof shorts or trousers in the winter. Last year I bought some nice long pearl izumi socks (think lovely knee height look! ) off Minx which were brill too under the leg warmers.

leg warmers are great at this time of the year, but when it gets colder I need tights! I found wearing bib tights is comfier, but depends how often you need the toilet! As taking all the top layers off to pull your tights down is not fun in January!

If it is really cold I pinch a pair of the wives tights :lol:. best thermal gear a lady has in her drawers ❗
I also have some long ski/board socks from Lidl/Aldi and wear 3/4 length bibs to keep my back and knees warm. Also have some runners tights for expedition winter type rides.

Coffeeking - it was really polite of you to leave out he 'f'.

Wouldn't want to swear in front of a lady 🙂

Am a bit slow, even in the summer, so what is this 'gusto' you talk of?

It's a big fat chap with a fur coat that follows you when you try harder 😆

Also don't have a lot of natural padding, so get chilly pretty quickly.

You need to exercise harder or eat more then - generate more heat for yourself. But if you're already being followed by a fat guy and don't wish to add more meat to your bones I suspect you may need to address the fact that tights, shorts and waterproof shorts are an odd combo that'll not be overly warm as they're not all full length items. Do your feet get cold first? I find feet are like radiators - if they get cold it chills the rest of me. IF they stay warm everything else copes fine.

Time for bunnyhop to invest in some decent bib shorts, and some nice toasty roubaix backed (bib) longs, preferably with a windproof out on the longs, which will cut down the chill enormously.

Sack off the baggies, and just fit a seatpost mounted mudguard. If it's night riding, none of the MTB fashion police will see, right?

If you're still cold, I can only recommend two things: (1) ride harder and don't stop or (2 give up riding a bike, and take up competitive pie shovelling.

Cycling tights are the way forward. Just deal with the funny look - you'll appreciate the warmth 🙂

The thing about bib tights though, how on earth do you deal with wee stops? 30 miles MTB ride last weekend, had a wee when I set off but still needed to stop twice on the ride, don't you have to partially undress to pull them down? I can imagine I'd end up giving someone an eyeful with a mistimed comfort break crouching the wrong side of a wall!

If you are worried about your skinny legs letting warmers slip down, have a look at Assos kit as their sizing is quite petite. The warmers they do also compare very favourably with the competition in terms of price.

[b]domino[/b]

Seems to be a biky problem, what do female kyakers do at the begining/end of a paddle?
Cotswold ladies I was riding with on Tues did`nt seem to have a problem btw. Just carry some fem tissues 😳

Also seems to be a UK problem. When I was on holiday walking along a lakeside track beside a road a car drew into a lay-by, lady gets out with a handful of tissues and goes behind a tree. As we walked by we caught sight of her squatting and she flashed a lovely smile 💡

The problem isn't weeing outdoors, it's weeing outdoors whilst wearing bib tights.

It's not something I imagine is very easy, reckon it would require getting half undressed.

I can still remember weeing on the back of my dungarees age after a toilet stop 😳

I wear tights with padding and then some Loeka downhill 3/4 shorts on top which are waterproof - if you wear padded tights then you can loose a layer.

Exactly ebygomm. There are some makes that seem to have a clip at the front, in the middle and then I guess you can then take the loop over your head with minimal undressing but I am not sure. Anyone care to explain how they manage? Funny how in the pics of most womens bib tights the women are covering their breasts, am sure it would be more advisable to ride in a sports bra 😕

There should have been an age 6 in that earlier post. Haven't worn dungarees for a long time

Yes the age old weeing problem.
I do need a loo break more often than the chaps. Must be 'cos I drink more and have a small bladder (too much info probably). So bib tights are totally out of the question.

I think I'm confusing people by the fact I wear shorts under the tights, these are under shorts, a bit like soft cotton underpants but with padding. The tights I have are wonderful thermal one's with no padding, so thus the need for the comfy undershorts. However I have taken on board the need for crud catchers.

I love my gore over shorts which for the really bad weather are a must.

In effect |I really do need to woman up.

Dungarees. there's a thought.

Hey- don't mean to plug myself too hard...but I've made "kidney warmers" as an extra warm layer to cover that cold meaty bit on your lower back.
They came about after 2 winters tying scarves around my waist!
Selling online at the mo...
ciao,
A

Decent 3/4 bib longs or full length roubaix material tights with decent insert. If windy or wet then pair of waterproof shorts over the top?

My wife who is also not overly padded seems to keep warm using this down to around -10 - coldest we ventured out in earlier this year - issue was face and lungs....

Bunnyhop I have to go for bibs when it gets colder, but yes the toilet thing is a faff! I wear a couple of layers under the bibs so I don't have to take everything off!

Sorry to drag up an old post, but:

[i]"I've made "kidney warmers" as an extra warm layer to cover that cold meaty bit on your lower back"[/i]

Sooo, let me get this straight, you've made kidney 'warmers', which sit on the sweatiest part of a mountain biker's body [i]and[/i] underneath a pack, out of [i]cotton[/i]?

Er, right.

And so moving swiftly on to proper clothes for riding bikes in...

[url= http://www.minx-girl.com/productdetails.cfm?cfid=5599525&cftoken=93394883&prodID=1840&mode=productlist&curPage=1 ]These[/url] with one of [url= http://www.icebreaker.com/site/icebreaker_woman_bodyfit200_tank.html ]these[/url] tucked into it are my winter base, worn down to -8 degrees so far and still warm enough with the usual multiple thin layers on top. Whether it's a hard day or a bimble.

If your undershorts are cotton based, as you hint above, ditch them and try wearing ordinary padded lycra shorts (like those you'd wear under your baggies in the summer) with your existing tights. Anything with a high cotton content makes for uncomfortable chafage. No reason to ditch the baggies but most discomfort when wearing multiple shorts is caused by multiple seams - add them up and you're effectively sitting on 10mm of seam or more. Ouch.

re the weeing problem - just a thought, but have you tried normal skin shorts with tights over the top? - some years back when I was doing mtb orienteering (trailbreak thingies) I used a simple pair of braces to hold the shorts and tights up (mainly cos I had shorts rather than bib shorts). At least with those you can undo 'em relatively easy to slip them down for a quick pee.
(I think I used to wear tights *under* shorts at one point, but have done the same more recently and it's felt like sandpaper 😮 - mebbe the saddle shape's different)

FWIW - Roubaix's great in the middle of winter, shorts+thin tights are fine now in the evening, shorts up to a few weeks ago. Oh, and a thermal under a s/s shirt will probably do from now till it gets a fair bit nippier so long as you're not dawdling

Dunno if you've come across 'em - but have a look at the Corinne Dennis gear - most of it is aimed at women. IFAIA they've stopped making 'em, but I've been wearing a CD women's roubaix-stylee top for years, picked up something similar a few years ago. Pity is they don't appear in many bike shops. Well worth checking out if you can find it, the fabrics are a bit different to the normal stuff available and more snag-resistant.

(And cotton for any exercise related gear is just wrong - gets damp and stays damp...)