Best Winter Cycling Gear
Cycling Essentials Designed to Get You Through the Worst Winter Weather
The AskMen editorial team thoroughly researches & reviews the best gear, services and staples for life. AskMen may get paid if you click a link in this article and buy a product or service.
Pro cyclists don’t get the choice of days on which they ride; if you cycle to stay fit, to commute or take it more seriously, neither should you.
Sure, it’s tempting to leave the road miles behind now that the weather has changed. The Race of Falling Leaves - Il Lombardia, the official end of the pro racing season in Europe has wrapped — (atta be, Bauke!) — which means even the professionals are taking some well-deserved respite. However, languishing on your couch when the weather is poor comes at a cost: your fitness. Assuming no nagging injuries, it’s the fastest way to bid adieu to the calorie-burning furnace you acquired in the peak months and the surest way to go slow once the new year starts.
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With the added warmth and weather resistance of modern cycling kit, the replicability of outdoor riding on indoor trainers and the adaptability of most bikes and accessories, there’s no reason to stop seeing mountain passes or riding to work just because the world outside has changed. Rolling with that constant — change — is a metaphor for life; like cycling, it can teach you plenty about staying fit. With these essentials, you’ll be ride ready and fit whatever that change brings.
Best Inside Alternative: Wahoo Fitness
Ironically, an article about riding in inclimate weather starts with a gear pick for an indoor trainer, but there you have it. While we’ll always advocate for riding outdoors versus in, rain and cold sometimes make training on real roads impossible.
“When you have limited training time, it’s important that you take advantage of every minute,” explains Wahoo VP of global marketing, Colin Eustace. “Let’s say you have an hour. Outdoors you have to figure out what route you’re going to use, dress for the weather, etc. And once you’re out there, you might spend 10 or more minutes just sitting still at stop lights. Sometimes it’s like television: a 60-minute show is actually more like 44 minutes of content.”
Over days and weeks this adds up to huge chunks of wasted training time. Time that could be used to get fit on an uninterrupted trainer session. And that’s why in the five-plus years since smart trainers became popular, they’ve mainstreamed, birthing pro-cycling contracts for some users while making many others fit and fast.
Wahoo now makes KICKRs at numerous price points, so there’s really no excuse (or need) or covet that Peloton subscription. They also make climbing simulators to help simulate elevation. Two good and efficient reasons to burn calories right now.
KICKR Smart Trainer – $1,079 at WahooFitness.com
KICKR Climb Indoor Grade Simulator – $539.99 at WahooFitness.com
Best Merino Essentials: Isadore Apparel
Peter and Martin Velits left professional cycling years ago, and have since dedicated time to making clothes they would want to wear themselves, inspired by their time racing. “We said to ourselves, let’s create products we would like to wear if we didn’t need to wear team jerseys — simple kit that reflected our introverted personalities.” Isadore Apparel is the result.
“Right away we wanted to use merino because it’s sustainable and gives you great temperature variability just to keep riding,” explains Peter, co-founder of Isadore Apparel. “Changing seasons means not taking cover but keeping covered.”
If keeping covered is a part of your cold weather strategy, we recommend two of the company’s Winter 2020 pieces: the Head and Neck Warmer in Vapour Grey and their Long Sleeve Shield Jersey in Midnight Navy. The jersey is the kind of nonchalant conversation piece Steve McQueen would wear if he rode a bike. The wind-block panels on the shoulders and chest — particularly in beige — punctuate with retro mountain style in a very modern functioning jersey for manning-up to wind and drizzle. The neck warmer (with hood) tucks neatly under your helmet, adding a high degree of variability to almost any weather.
Isadore Deep Winter Face Mask – $30 at Isadore.com
The Cycling Connoisseur’s Choice: Q36.5
“This year we didn’t just add more colors and more graphical jerseys, but the most exciting innovations are regarding smart fabric development,” says Luigi Bergamo, owner and founder of cycling’s very high-end Q36.5 (the optimal body temperature in celsius for training).
We met with Q36 at this year’s Eurobike trade show — the largest annual cycling trade show of its kind in the world. The company works on “Olympic Cycles” reimagining it’s entire collection of clothing every four years. It already operates at the extreme-end of tech clothing, using fabrics and fits rarely seen elsewhere, so that’s saying a lot. “We are constantly exploring the relationship between temperature and comfort as well as moisture and comfort,” a team member explained.
If you favor quality above all else, look no further: the Long Sleeve Woolf Jersey and Termica Long Salopette bib shorts are true transitional pieces, able to withstand repeated wash and wear and able to adapt to a usable and useful range of temperatures — which is especially valuable when weather changes quickly. Plus, these are just hands-down, extremely high-quality and awesome. (Interesting side note: the bibs have been made warmer for 2020 thanks to fiber on the inside-face called Heat Fiber, produced from coffee-bean processing residue.) True three-season bits of kit for training in all conditions.
Q36.5 Jersey Long Sleeve Woolf – $250 at Q36-5.com
Q36.5 Termica L1 Long Salopette – $375 at Q36-5.com
Best Winter Cycling Shoes: Fizi’k
If there’s one piece of cycling kit that helps in wet, cold weather it’s good shoes. Not aerated summer shoes with overshoes, but a dedicated cycling boot. An insulated, easy to put on, do-anything shoe that keeps you riding hard in the cold. The Artica R5 ticks all these boxes; add a silver-lined insole and wool socks and you have a barrier that will have you laughing even in deep winter.
Artica R5 Cycling Shoe – $183 at Fizik.com
Lake Winter Insole – $29.99 at LakeCycling.com
Best For Clean Up: Muc-Off
A number of teams throughout the cycling season used Muc-Off’s entire bike care line, including their high-performance nanotube-treated chains and Nanotube Chain Lube. But despite most team’s constant hunt for marginal gains, it’s the cleaning and care product line you will find most useful. Riding in the elements is a mess; have a little pride in your rig by washing regularly. This Ultimate Kit has it all for cleaning and lubing (easy, now…). These are essentials that will keep your bike looking and running smoother, longer.
Nanotube Chain Lube – $64.99 at Muc-Off.com
Ultimate Bicycle Cleaning Kit – $104.99 at Muc-Off.com
Best to See and Be Seen: Grip Grab
Denmark is a nation of cyclists, they say. Their products are therefore designed with one thing in mind: to get people to stay fit, no matter how miserable out. And they assure me there’s a lot of miserable weather up there. This Hi-Vis essentials starter pack from Danish company Grip Grab boasts a pair of gloves, a hat and a neck warmer that will keep you turning the pedals no matter what change (or life) throws at you. No fancy logos or fuss, just a lot of functionality.
Grip Grab Hi-Vis Cycling Essentials – $100 at GripGrab.com
Best Commuter Essentials: Oliver’s Apparel and Rapha
“Four way stretch, moisture wicking, water-repellant and made with a durable CORDURA Nylon — these are my go to commuter pants,” says Brand Director, Dylan Nord about these Passage Pants from Oliver’s Apparel. “They fit like a pair of jeans, but are as comfortable as a pair of sweatpants. The stretch and gusseted crotch mean swinging your leg over the seat and pedaling is effortless.”
If your office is casual and you commute by bike, these are subtle enough to wear and slip into a meeting without changing; comfortable enough to turn the pedals in, too. Same with these merino socks from Rapha. Cross your legs, sit back and let the world take note that you ride a bike, stay fit, and look damn good doing it.
Passage Pant – $148 at OliversApparel.com
Merino Socks – $15 at Rapha.cc
No matter the winter weather you have ahead of you, and the destination on the other side of it, there is no excuse you can’t keep up summer-speed cycling when the temperatures dip down low.
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