[Closed] The absolute definitive answer to frozen hands and toes.....

Decent boots/overshoes, decent gloves, pacey riding.

Tell me when you've found it. I don't know what warm hands/feet are in these temperatures

staying at home.

beyond that, it depends but not wearing tight shoes, socks or gloves is key - get stuff with room to move your toes/fingers in.

My lake boots with thick socks and Specialized radiant gloves are pretty good.

A couple of beers. The alcohol thins the blood and restores circulation.

My hands and feet always stay far warmer after the pub stop.

If you'd rather not drink then Ginko Biloba tablets (available from Holland and Barrett etc) do the same but gave me some very strange dreams.

A pair of thin (decathlon) running gloves underneath my sealskins is working for me so far. Including a couple of 4.00 am commutes this week.

Socks not too thick to cut of blood supply. An extra layer than you think you need on your core. If your core is toasty warm your extremities will stay warmer.

[i]The absolute definitive answer to frozen hands and toes.....[/i]

Drive !.

Keep your arms and legs warm as well

I have cold feet sat in the office!

Anyway, for bike riding I have good boots 1½ sizes bigger than normal with 2 pairs of thick socks and plenty of wiggle room.
It's the only thing in 35 years that's come close to keeping my toes warm

I leave mine at home when I go out riding.

Somebody's got to say it...

MTFU

(Currently trying to MTFU myself and get out for a solo night ride)

Decent gloves, socks, boots and I've found marmot power stretch cuffs make a big difference.

I haven't found pacey riding or not to make a difference to hands and feet.

Get hands wet in cold water,(pond/sea water if poss) allow hands to dry outside naturally,put gloves on and go for a ride, hands will not feel as cold as usual.

its an old fishermans trick that sorta works.

One more - pretty fundamental - thing

Always make sure that hands, feet, socks, gloves and boots are warm when you put them on.

beyond that, it depends but not wearing tight shoes, socks or gloves is key

+1. My feet are warmer with thinner socks than with thicker winter/waterproof socks, as they make the shoe just [i]that[/i] bit too tight. Not enough to feel uncomfortable, but enough to restrict the blood flow.

Lucky to not feel the cold too much in my feet, night ride on tuesday I had ancient Porelle Drys under a basic old pair of Vans flatties and was fine (and we all came back covered in a thin sheen of ice from the fog settling), but with wind chill on the road I noticed the too-tight-shoe phenomena.

Thin merino socks, freezer bags, then thick merino socks. That's the North Lakes way 😉

windproof gota be windproof, gloves & over shoes plus the bits above about nothing that's too tight.

its an old fishermans trick that sorta works

by causing nerve damage long term? 😯

The right genes.

The best answer is to run a bit hot. I'm in Canada and this morning I rode into work at -15C. What I tend to do is basically be almost over heating in my core the whole time... right on the limit for wanting to take a layer off. That way the excess heat gets pumped from the core out to the extremities and keeps them warm. I know I'm going to be doing this and so throttle back on the effort level so I don't over heat and start sweating...

Fox polarpaw gloves and mid weight sealskinz working well for me this year so far.

The right genes

Afraid that is the only definitive answer to frozen hands and toes, thanks to bad breeding/genes (cheers parents!) i suffer from permanently poor circulation.

I'm sat in my house at the moment with the log burning stove on behind me - temp gauge on the hallway wall says 24 degrees and my left hand feels warm, on touching it, it is warm and a healthy pink colour but starting to get a bit itchy with chilblanes but my right hand is an off-purple colour, cold to the touch and when i press it it goes white and stays white for ages - welcome to raynauds syndrome. I also get chilblains so severe that my fingers swell up like puffy pink sausages and get incredibly hot and itchy for a few weeks at a time and even opening a jar or trying to put your hands in your jeans pocket leaves you swearing and jumping up and down, after a few weeks they seem to acclimatise to the cold weather then the skin at my knuckle joints start to crack open very deep and i constantly apply cream. I'm just coming to the end of the applying cream stage and then the cycle will prob start again - it makes working outside at my mates farm rather uncomfortable or working on cars/bikes etc - No matter what i wear on my hands they turn to ice in the winter and are rendered practically useless as i can't get them t work or grab anything, the doc said i should keep them warm and not allow them to get cold - my response to that would get me banned if i posted it so i'd better shut up.

Thank god i'm not having kids, my piss-poor genes will die with me. A nice cheery thought to end on eh? 😀

Thin silk liners gloves (cheap at Decathlon) will add quite a bit of insulation - especially under a Windstopper glove.

Or, go Pogies. I've been riding around in sub-zero temperatures with just a thin summer glove on.

[img] [/img]

OK - sweaman2 beats me on todays temps. Minus 15°c is cool. I was out in minus 5°c this morning with my new gear from Wiggle and before I went I was a bit worried.

The merino top was the M150 - didn't realise until I opened it that it was rated for "mild" temps. I couldn't believe how thin the Roubaix Zero bib/tight thing was - but I decided not to try and fit thermal underwear layer underneath as well. And the DHB Signal jacket was also really thin. I thought I'd be freezing.

So I went out with just the DHB merino long sleeve top, signal jacket and 3/4 Zero bib/tights. And I was warm everywhere except a little chilly on my shins (but not really a problem).

Feet were warm in my summer Shimano shoes (below ankle but) with a pair of heavy winter overshoes. Hands were warm with more than comfortable with SealSkinz All Weather gloves.

@itsmygame - what kind of weather are you riding in ? I think someone mentioned that if you have everything too tight it can reduce circulation - any chance of loosening your shoes a little ?

Put warm hands and feet in warm shoes and gloves. also, get your torso well wrapped up. the blood has to pass back through the torso so help it warm back up.

For me.....

Warm hands: Base layer merino glove under waterproof sealskins. Toasty and if anything too warm in anything above 0°. Usually just go merino under normal (fox unabomber) for above 0°

Warm feet: thin merino socks and Lakes Winter boot. Toasty down to 0°. Add 2nd thicker merino sock and toasty down to -10° plus. The Flash Gordon boot aesthetics are all forgiven when you finish a ride with your feet still warm and maybe even a little sweaty.

Finding public toilets mid ride with heater hand driers.

I find sitting in front of this helps:

[img] [/img]

Found a pair of Helly Hansen mittens i bougt about 20 years ago today in the cupboard, -2 outside, and pedalling intot he wind, hands like toast, rest of me frozen.

Now if only helly hansen did lycra cycling tights, helmets and jackets.

For hands I've always found mitts rather than loves warmer
Current choice this week Spesh sub-zero but with cheap go outdoors merino liner and not the Spesh liner

Feet lake winter boots three years old and still stunning

Already posted these on another thread but they are so warm-

http://www.amazon.co.uk/GERMAN-ARMY-ISSUE-GORETEX-LINER/dp/B0041L0YIC/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1355436597&sr=8-1-spell

45n Wolvhammer boots?

DaveyBoyWonder beat me to it.
But a quick search through the forums indicates that the STW way of keeping warm is a log burning stove...
SM

Right guys cheers for all the info. I think the buying a bigger size tactic seems to be the best idea. Unless they do daveyboywonders answer in a slightly more portable version lol. I'll look at the decathlon liners as well.

I put my riding shoes/boots on way before I actually venture out, So they are nice and warm inside before I start, And also put gloves on quite a bit before riding as well. I find if I have to faff with the bike with bare hands pre-ride, then put my winter gloves on, it just keeps the cold in.

And, as said above, my shimano winter boots are a size too big, plenty room for warm socks n wiggle room. Although, I suspect most heat from SPD is lost through the cleat. Might try some way of insulating the inside around the cleat area.

Aldi gloves, next ski socks, cheap n' cheerful 🙂

Aldi gloves my hands were sweating tonight.and decent marino socks under cheapo thermal socks from tk max.toastie. 😀

aldi gloves were fine down to -6 the other night

just need to work on the feet now

Bought a pair of these to try: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00532S3FY/?tag=hydra0b-21&hvadid=11068585445&ref=asc_df_B00532S3FY
I thought they were worth a punt at a fiver. Tried them last night with my Lake waterproof (not winter) boots and they worked brilliantly. Also use a pair of Marmot gloves. No problems in the sub-zero temps on the Malverns last night

swavis - Member
45n Wolvhammer boots?

This.

I always have freezing cold hands and feet, I went out on the mtb the other morning and was perfectly toasty (must have been below freezing as everywhere stayed frozen hard all day) but my fingertips were numb and stinging, quick arm windmill for 30 seconds or so, cue throbbing fingertips then pedal like hell for the next 2 hours, stayed nice and warm throughout 😀

I have some very thin polaris base gloves with my usual pair of Troy Lee 661 gloves, tight fitting but seem to do OK.

Keep the tips coming

Anyone tried those gloves that have heating elements in them? ( obv no good in the wet)