Comfy commuter clothing for Irish winter

ting_tang

Hi!

I'm looking for commuter jacket, which is comfy and warm enough to wear in Irish winter.
Requirements: warm, with nice neck/wind protection (planning to cycle up to 0 degrees).
Going to wear over standard office clothes (shirt+sweater) in combination with over trousers.
Distance: up to 20kms/day.
That is not must have to be cycle jacket.

Also, what is the best practice to protect shoes?

I would avoid changing in the office.

Thank you!

C3PO

I wouldn't fancy wearing my office gear for a 10km commute - particularly in Irish weather!

07Lapierre

For a 10k commute I’d pack work clothes and shoes in a backpack and wear cycling kit. “Dhb” From wiggle.co.uk is good. Other brands such as Santini and Castelli are expensive, but excellent quality.

SchrodingersCat

Yes, as others have said, I wouldn't wear your office clothes for ca commute that distance. I would recommend fluorescent clothing for when you are in the dark. Dare2b make some nice flouro jackets. When it gets really cold I wear plenty of layers and aldi ski pants. Booties are typically recommended for keeping your feet and shoes dry. However, I found them a pain to take on and off. A much better option, but very pricey, are a pair of Northwave Celcius or Fahrenheit boots. They are very comfortable and your toes will thank you on the frosty mornings.

Plastik

SchrodingersCat wrote: »

Yes, as others have said, I wouldn't wear your office clothes for ca commute that distance. I would recommend fluorescent clothing for when you are in the dark. Dare2b make some nice flouro jackets. When it gets really cold I wear plenty of layers and aldi ski pants. Booties are typically recommended for keeping your feet and shoes dry. However, I found them a pain to take on and off. A much better option, but very pricey, are a pair of Northwave Celcius or Fahrenheit boots. They are very comfortable and your toes will thank you on the frosty mornings.

Tell us more about the panacea of florescent clothing in the dark for cycling?

Personally, I go for lights.

For feet/shoes, you can get different kinds of gaiters/overshoes. On my runaround bike I have flat pedals and use gaiters that cover lower legs, the tops and sides of the shoe, with elastic on the souls to keep them in place , wear them under my water proof trousers so rain doesn't run down my leg and into the gaiters. Very easy to get on and off vs overshoes you'd use with proper cycling shoes and clipless pedals. Paid a 10er in halfords for them I think.

Also very easy to clean the crud off them.

tomasrojo

I wear my office clothes for a longer than 10km journey, though my office is smart casual, and it's downhill on the way in, and I guess I'm pretty fit at this stage. I don't wear the office shirt in, but keep it in the pannier, as the shirt would get a bit sweaty, but everything else is fine. You might sweat differently.

I use Sprayway rain trousers and Montane top if it's raining. Sometimes an Aldi cycling jacket. Other than that I just wear jumpers and fleeces.

I wear hiking shoes, ones which look ok for a smart casual office. The thing you really need to stop your feet getting wet, I find, is long mudguards and a mudflap on the front mudguard.

SchrodingersCat

Plastik wrote: »

Tell us more about the panacea of florescent clothing in the dark for cycling? Personally, I go for lights.

OP didn't ask for bike light recommendations. If they had, we would have given them bike light recommendations.

You are more easily seen and safer in reflective/fluorescent than dark clothing.

Plastik

SchrodingersCat wrote: »

OP didn't ask for bike light recommendations. If they had, we would have given them bike light recommendations.

You are more easily seen and safer in reflective/fluorescent than dark clothing.

So instead of giving suitable advice, you simply advise to wear florescent clothing without any mention of lights? The "fluorescent clothing" is totally and utterly flawed. You've shown a picture there of three cyclists with strong, appropriate front lights. You have seen the cyclists on the road because of their lights, not because of one wearing brighter clothing than the other. I'm in no less doubt that there's a third cyclist in shot that I have to be wary of, or for that matter a fourth, who could be wearing a full head to toe reflective suit, but we can't determine that - because it has disappeared behind the lights.

When someone asks what clothing to buy for an Irish winter, the answer isn't fluorescent clothing, it's buy appropriate lights. Colour of your clothing? Complete afterthought compared to how well they perform dealing with weather conditions.

magicbastarder

guys, can we leave the debate about hi-vis for the hi-vis thread, and let the OP make his or her own decisions about what colour clothes to buy? thanks.

SchrodingersCat

Agreed. Its a nonsense argument.

magicbastarder

SchrodingersCat wrote: »

Agreed. Its a nonsense argument.

don't post in this thread again. thank you.

MJohnston

My body gets better at sweating the fitter I get (ie. sweats a lot more!) so I definitely wouldn’t be wearing the clothes I want to wear the rest of the day for a 10km cycle. That’s the length of my commute too, and I’m lucky enough to have showers and a changing room at work, so I pack everything into Lomo backpack - https://www.lomo.co.uk/acatalog/high-visibility-drybag-cycling.html - it’s excellent for waterproofedness and takes care of any high vis concerns you might have. Plus it’s very comfy to wear with lots of useful straps.

When you do this, you get a much better choice of truly warm cycling and athletic gear.

Even if you aren’t sweaty, I’d still caution against wearing your regular clothes for a 10km cycle - the friction will cause them to wear holes extremely quickly, particularly around the saddle. Plus, the added friction on your skin can be a real pain too.

The Lycra-wearing stereotype exists for a reason - it’s comfy, regulates temperature much more predictably, dries off very quickly, and is very low friction. I personally don’t even bother with waterproofing (other than my backpack), I just make sure I’m warm and make sure the material I’m wearing dries out rapidly.

Cetyl Palmitate

Long mudguards cover the worst from knees down. If you can live with looking faintly ridiculous a cycling poncho is great for everything above the knees. They are cheap and pack down small.
Normal clothes underneath. Away you go.

McHardcore

SchrodingersCat wrote: »

Yes, as others have said, I wouldn't wear your office clothes for ca commute that distance. I would recommend fluorescent clothing for when you are in the dark. Dare2b make some nice flouro jackets. When it gets really cold I wear plenty of layers and aldi ski pants. Booties are typically recommended for keeping your feet and shoes dry. However, I found them a pain to take on and off. A much better option, but very pricey, are a pair of Northwave Celcius or Fahrenheit boots. They are very comfortable and your toes will thank you on the frosty mornings.

A cheaper alternative to waterproof shoes are waterproof socks. https://www.greatoutdoors.ie/shop/footwear/socks/waterproof-socks

They are one less thing to have to take on/off instead of waterproof overshoes.

Aldi have ski clothes on sale this weekend if you are looking for cheap colder weather clothing. https://www.aldi.ie/c/specialbuys/dates/2019-11-17?sort=popular&q=%3Apopular%3AtransactionalStatus%3Atransactional%3AtransactionalStatus%3Anontransactional%3AEvent%3ASki&lowerBound=3&upperBound=70&text=

tomasrojo

MJohnston wrote: »

My body gets better at sweating the fitter I get (ie. sweats a lot more!)

This is quite interesting. I wasn't aware of this idea that people who are fit actually sweat more. I guess that I probably should attribute my relative lack of sweat (in the winter) to not getting very hot, despite moderate exertion, which is more to do with the ambient temperature and dressing to be slightly cold at the start of the journey, rather than fitness per se, until I know something more about the subject.

Large bottle small glass

tomasrojo wrote: »

This is quite interesting. I wasn't aware of this idea that people who are fit actually sweat more. I guess that I probably should attribute my relative lack of sweat (in the winter) to not getting very hot, despite moderate exertion, which is more to do with the ambient temperature and dressing to be slightly cold at the start of the journey, rather than fitness per se, until I know something more about the subject.

Sweating is part of our cooling system along primarily with increasing blood flow to skin; which from a species forged in African is unsurprisingly much more powerful than our heating system.

Putting up with a little discomfort at start should minimize sweating for most on a 10km commute.

As an aside a overwhelming proportion of the world's commuting cyclist wear regular clothes on regular bikes

MJohnston

tomasrojo wrote: »

This is quite interesting. I wasn't aware of this idea that people who are fit actually sweat more. I guess that I probably should attribute my relative lack of sweat (in the winter) to not getting very hot, despite moderate exertion, which is more to do with the ambient temperature and dressing to be slightly cold at the start of the journey, rather than fitness per se, until I know something more about the subject.

Yes, it's a weird idea in a way, because we sort of associate sweat with being unfit, but as you get fitter, your bodies sweat response kicks in earlier and becomes more efficient (bigger beads of sweat, less electrolytes lost while sweating). As you say, sweating is a response to heat, and that has more to do with either the environment, or this time of year, your level of fat. I've got too much personal insulation, so even in this chilly weather, I'm sweating away!

tomasrojo

I suppose you might have less fat when you're fit, which might mean you can lose heat from your core for longer before the sweat response begins? As I said, I'm not going to put up much of a fight on this, because I don't know anything about it!

MJohnston

Large bottle small glass wrote: »

Sweating is part of our cooling system along primarily with increasing blood flow to skin; which from a species forged in African is unsurprisingly much more powerful than our heating system.

Putting up with a little discomfort at start should minimize sweating for most on a 10km commute.

As an aside a overwhelming proportion of the world's commuting cyclist wear regular clothes on regular bikes

That last stat isn't really all that useful until it's compared with other factors though - what conditions are most people cycling in, what's the average commute distance etc. I'd also say most commuting cyclists are probably taking it quite casual too.

For me, I've no interest in wearing normal clothes on my bike, even if sweat wasn't a factor. I cycle for fitness, so I want to push myself every day. I won't do that if I'm wearing a pair of jeans. The jeans wouldn't last a week, I'd be chafing the **** out of my legs, and I'd probably take an extra 10 minutes getting home!

I think the ideal cycling gear for everyone really varies a lot depending on how you're cycling, why, and where.

MJohnston

tomasrojo wrote: »

I suppose you might have less fat when you're fit, which might mean you can lose heat from your core for longer before the sweat response begins? As I said, I'm not going to put up much of a fight on this, because I don't know anything about it!

Well the heat is mostly coming from your bodies calorie burning. So if you're heavier, even if fit, you're going to have to work harder to move. And as you get fitter, you tend to continue pushing yourself harder, rather than maintaining a static level of exertion.

tomasrojo

Yeah, there's nothing wrong with dressing up in cycling-specific clothing, if that makes your trip more pleasant, or more convenient.

I personally just can't face dressing and undressing several times a day. I do at least a few approximately 15km and sub-15km journeys most days, and I find normal clothes ok for those, with just changing top when I need to.

To be as fair as possible though, I should say I have never tried Lycra. I might actually like it if I tried it.

tomasrojo

MJohnston wrote: »

Well the heat is mostly coming from your bodies calorie burning. So if you're heavier, even if fit, you're going to have to work harder to move. And as you get fitter, you tend to continue pushing yourself harder, rather than maintaining a static level of exertion.

Yeah, that makes sense, though the second part is perhaps not comparing like with like. I'd be more interested in how the same journey compares for the same person when they've been sedentary for a long time, and after they've become fit, if you see what I mean. (I mean, not trying to do the journey as fast as possible when you're fit, because that, almost by definition, will make you sweat a lot once it's not a very short journey.)

tomasrojo

MJohnston wrote: »

I'd also say most commuting cyclists are probably taking it quite casual too.

The only estimate I ever saw for the speed of commuting cyclists in Dublin was on IrishCycle.com:

Data from the 2006 Census reveals that, for journeys within the Dublin Canal Ring, cyclists reached an average speed of 12 km/h compared to just 15km/h for cars.

https://irishcycle.com/myths/myths-speed/

I presume that's a door-to-door average (based on the respondent's estimate of how far they commute and how long it takes them), and the average travelling velocity would be slightly higher. So not fast, really.

magicbastarder

i think it's fairly well accepted that people have a rose tinted view of how long their commute takes them, as they fail to factor in wait times for public transport, and other infrequent issues such as collisions on the M50 or luas outages, etc.
but that's where cycling is attractive for a lot of people; i've seen it mentioned at least twice in the media recently that one part of the attraction of cycling is the consistency. i know my commute will rarely fall outside a 45-55 minute window.

anyway, i think the OP has had a lot of questions answered, that they didn't ask.

MJohnston

magicbastarder wrote: »

i think it's fairly well accepted that people have a rose tinted view of how long their commute takes them, as they fail to factor in wait times for public transport, and other infrequent issues such as collisions on the M50 or luas outages, etc.
but that's where cycling is attractive for a lot of people; i've seen it mentioned at least twice in the media recently that one part of the attraction of cycling is the consistency. i know my commute will rarely fall outside a 45-55 minute window.

anyway, i think the OP has had a lot of questions answered, that they didn't ask.

Well to be fair, I was only interested in the average speed of commute cyclists because of the sweat question, which seems related to the original post!

ting_tang

MJohnston wrote: »

Well to be fair, I was only interested in the average speed of commute cyclists because of the sweat question, which seems related to the original post!

I usually keep speed to not sweat. For me it's about 15-18km/h. So for clothing main requirement to be comfy to ride on bike and warm. I should have been more clear with office clothes, just jeans, flannel shirt and some sweater. No classic shirts pants etc..
Expecting something like below photo. If you know models that would be great.
budget up to 300euros.

momentummag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Showers_Pass_Rain_Wear.jpg

ting_tang

ting_tang wrote: »

I usually keep speed to not sweat. For me it's about 15-18km/h. So for clothing main requirement to be comfy to ride on bike and warm. I should have been more clear with office clothes, just jeans, flannel shirt and some sweater. No classic shirts pants etc..
Expecting something like below photo. If you know models that would be great.
budget up to 300euros.

momentummag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Showers_Pass_Rain_Wear.jpg

actually found the model of jacket, if someone interested. it's MEN'S REFUGE JACKET.
But some reviews make me worry about this jacket, any feedback about this jacket or have you tried other similar cheaper jackets? (by budget it's ok, but I would like to see another options)

MJohnston

ting_tang wrote: »

I usually keep speed to not sweat. For me it's about 15-18km/h. So for clothing main requirement to be comfy to ride on bike and warm. I should have been more clear with office clothes, just jeans, flannel shirt and some sweater. No classic shirts pants etc..
Expecting something like below photo. If you know models that would be great.
budget up to 300euros.

momentummag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Showers_Pass_Rain_Wear.jpg

I think jeans might be worse - I wore them years ago for a 8km daily commute on Dublin bikes, and they had holes in the crotch within about 4 months! But do whatever works for you

Road.cc does reviews of cycling products and they have an excellent winter jacket overview:
https://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/214440-23-best-winter-cycling-jackets

On a budget, I'd also highly recommend any of Decathlon's excellent jacket range:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-883792-cycling-clothes/N-320339-product-type~jacket

Enduro

ting_tang wrote: »

I usually keep speed to not sweat. For me it's about 15-18km/h. So for clothing main requirement to be comfy to ride on bike and warm. I should have been more clear with office clothes, just jeans, flannel shirt and some sweater. No classic shirts pants etc..
Expecting something like below photo. If you know models that would be great.
budget up to 300euros.

momentummag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Showers_Pass_Rain_Wear.jpg

I wear technical walking/climbing/running clothes that look look fine in the office. A good base layer, with something like a softshell jacket over it. A good proper waterproof for the actual cycling if the weather is bad (not a cycling "waterproof", but better and more effective). I wear trecking trousers, which look like normal casual clothes but are much much tougher (have survived a few "offs" from the bike"). Waterproof boots in winter. Shimano Mountain boots are both waterproof and have cleats, and are no problem to walk around in during the day. A really good pair of waterproof leggings, plus cheap hillwalking gators finish off the lower body on the wet days.

Apart from the waterproofs, no changes required, everything looks acceptable, and is probably more resiliant than most standard cycling clothes. (I've actually worn less resiliant stuff climbing the highest mountains in Ireland)

The key is to buy good quality stuff in outdoor shops that doesn't look overly sporty.

tomasrojo

Enduro wrote: »

I wear technical walking/climbing/running clothes that look look fine in the office. A good base layer, with something like a softshell jacket over it. A good proper waterproof for the actual cycling if the weather is bad (not a cycling "waterproof", but better and more effective). I wear trecking trousers, which look like normal casual clothes but are much much tougher (have survived a few "offs" from the bike"). Waterproof boots in winter. Shimano Mountain boots are both waterproof and have cleats, and are no problem to walk around in during the day. A really good pair of waterproof leggings, plus cheap hillwalking gators finish off the lower body on the wet days.

Apart from the waterproofs, no changes required, everything looks acceptable, and is probably more resiliant than most standard cycling clothes. (I've actually worn less resiliant stuff climbing the highest mountains in Ireland)

The key is to buy good quality stuff in outdoor shops that doesn't look overly sporty.

This, for me, is a very good set-up. I might start doing more of this. (I'm sure the Lycra stuff is grand too!)