So I wondered if anyone had gear experiences they would like to share.

I have three recommendations from past winter seasons, but would like some suggestions for upper body and footwear.

Recommendations

Rooster hot-socks this are from the world of sailing and are simply awesome doesn’t matter how wet your feet get and how cold it is outside these things work so well despite being quite thin. They are effectively thin neoprene socks with a metallic reflective lining.

Rooster hot-hands again from the world of sailing these do the same for your hands as they do for your feet. For normal wet winter riding I simply use these under my Endura Singletrack II gloves that I use all year. I did try pairing them up with Roosters Aquapro gloves, now this is a warm combo but I found the gloves not gripy enough. In the end I paired them up with some Endura Dexter gloves and that works great for very shit conditions.

Cut down Army surplus gore-tex trousers. These will be entering their third season of riding they are simply gore-tex trousers cut off at the knee, I wear them as overshorts and they are brilliant.

I could do with jacket recommendations. Last year I first tried a Madison Roam but it wasn’t great and lasted about 2 months before multiple zips died on me. After that I got a surplus gore-tex army jacket on the basis I loved the shorts and that I love my Mountain Equipment gore-tex jacket. The army jacket isn’t the best fit, is quite heavy and overkill unless it’s apocalyptic conditions. I was wondering if some sort of showerproof windproof softshell would be better or something like a Paramo jacket.

Footwear I’ve been using AM45 shoes, only problem is that they get ridiculously heavy once wet, they have so much padding and it is just a pain in the ass to lug that weight around and to dry the **** off. So any suggestions please let me know.

Endura Stealth is my go to winter jacket. Don’t currently see the need to look for anything else (I even bought a 2nd one last winter)

You’ve just made Rooster £25 – hot hands and feet bundle is now winging its way to me. Not only do they sound great on the bike, I am hopeful that I might be able to feel my hands and feet whilst skiing this season! Cheers.

Oh, and I second the cut down Army overshorts. They roll up tiny and sit in the bottom of my bag if/when needed on big days out.

The Rooster stuff looks good. Ticks off some Christmas presents for all those family members with poor circulation!

hot socks/gloves ordered. 8)

Pogies/hot pogs – I struggled last winter with cold hands, bought these after an event, fixed the problem straight away

Mudguards – my riding fun would be significantly impacted without these

My winter riding is generally night riding, as it is most of the year. Rarely get out for more than about a 2/3 hour local pootle so I’m out in the hills/mountains.

My favourite winter riding outer layer is a Rab Vapour Rise Alpine Lite, great combo with a base layer for most conditions