gearing up for colder weather commutes

[Brandon]

I was recently explaining how I continue commuting over winter to the interns in my office and realized that I should share a couple purchases I've made to the community here that have made a marked improvement for me.

First off, gloves. I've been through quite a few iterations of gloves over the past 3 years, but these have been far and away the best. I've been using them for the last 2 years now. I got a couple rips in seams but I sewed them back up and they're working great again. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 What I really like about them is the versatility. I wear them as high has 60 degrees comfortably and I've been fine with them down into the single digits. For me, below freezing I usually have to pull out the over mitten but it really keeps my hands warm but it's thin enough not to lose dexterity. At the end of the year last year I had the epiphany to slide a hand warmer (if needed) into the little pocket on the top but it hasn't been cold enough this year to test that idea out yet. Bonus is that they dry out really quickly so I don't have clammy and cold hands on the way home. If the hand warmer trick fails me this year I might try moose mitts/bar mitts.

Which brings me to my next two items which I got about a year ago and have really helped:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The hangar is amazing. I have an office but with a ceiling vent and no moving air, things don't dry as well. I can rotate a couple items through this throughout the day though. The shoe/boot attachment is really good for those rainy commutes to help dry out my shoes too.

The shoe/glove warmer is also really good, I mainly use it to rotate my gloves and socks at lunch so everything is nice and dry for the ride home.

The only thing I haven't really nailed down is my toes. I've got good wool socks and some winter shoes/boots but on those colder days last week, my toes got really cold and numb. Gonna have to try and figure out what the best solution for me is this year.

Hope this helps somebody!

[Hancockbs]

Sounds like our experiences are similar. I've been using these gloves https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and they work well for me to freezing temps. At that point, I have some heavier ones, but I like the mitten idea and may give your's a try. I too have cold toe problems that I haven't really solved, but larger than normal shoes, heavy wool socks, and toe covers do a fairly good job for me.

[Racinmeixin]

Sweet, thank you for the tips! The shoe warmer in particular sounds so appealing when I'm not looking forward to getting out there in the cold. Other thing I'Be heard about are the shoe covers when actually riding, though I haven't tried those yet but will soon!

[Hancockbs]

First off, gloves. I've been through quite a few iterations of gloves over the past 3 years, but these have been far and away the best. I've been using them for the last 2 years now. I got a couple rips in seams but I sewed them back up and they're working great again. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 What I really like about them is the versatility. I wear them as high has 60 degrees comfortably and I've been fine with them down into the single digits. For me, below freezing I usually have to pull out the over mitten but it really keeps my hands warm but it's thin enough not to lose dexterity. At the end of the year last year I had the epiphany to slide a hand warmer (if needed) into the little pocket on the top but it hasn't been cold enough this year to test that idea out yet. Bonus is that they dry out really quickly so I don't have clammy and cold hands on the way home. If the hand warmer trick fails me this year I might try moose mitts/bar mitts.

I requested and received a pair of these for Christmas. I wore them for the first time this morning, when the temp was just below freezing. I previously have used a similar version that is a bit thicker, but without the mitten portion. I must say that I am shocked at how warm these kept my hands when using the mitten cover. It makes a huge difference. I can only imaging what they will do with a chem warmer tucked in. Thanks for the suggestion and linky!