Clothing 101- recommendations

Galibier fire socks - great job.

Galibier Ardennes winter cap - great job

Galibier base layer - haven't worn yet.

Galibier zoncolan foul weather gillet - brilliant bit of kit for the mild weather we currently have. Baselayer, jersey, gillet

A word of warning to those who don't regularly frequent this thread and others like it. When it comes to gloves and socks/overshoes, what one poster might find warm and toasty, another will rate as useless. An awful lot depends on the rider's physiology and how sensitive they are to the cold. Just like my mother used to, I suffer from "poor circulation" and find I have to resort to chemical hand warmers when it gets down below 5 degrees. A recommended (and expensive) pair of Roeckl gloves combined with merino liners won't be enough to keep the cold at bay after 30min or so. While my Northwave Arctic GTX boots are a great piece of kit, I have to combine them with marino socks and Galibier Barrier 3 overshoes to prevent icy feet.

Proviz do them

https://www.provizsports.com/eu/cycling/overshoes

No idea if any use.

Pretty dear

And yep I'm same with temp. Run warm. Use the Mistral for handy cycles or below 3 or 4. Have giant hole in my gloves and no bother at all in 5 degrees in the dark lately

Christ.

Mistral and a decent gilet and 2 baselayers??

We are all built differently.

Yesterday I had a short sleeve craft thermal and an Endura long sleeve rubidoux jersey. That was it.

Threw on a very light gilet for Bellewstown down to the sea.

Most days lately long sleeve thermal and a decent gilet. (galibier aix)

If I'm out today I'll go for the Mistral with a light base.

I'm not too sure it's a fixed thing either and something we can't adapt through training; like anything with humans there will always be a spectrum trained or not.

The problem I see with putting on too many warm layers is that (on a climb/drag) will fire up our cooling system and leave us damp and then cold when we reduce the effort.

Typically unless under 3/4 degrees I won't even consider gloves or overshoes, in fact I haven't put on gloves more than a few times in the last 5 years. Gear is usually the same as summer, except I'll swap a Castelli Alpha(with no base layer) for summer jersey if 5/6 or under or a very light baselayer with a Castelli Prefetto closer to 10, if it's mild winter weather I'll just have the Prefetto. I'd also wear the Alpha if going for a very rare audax length spin in winter even if not very cold.

Leg warmers I may or may not wear once over 5/6 degrees.

I can remember having cold hands twice in that time, both times when I was out in circa 3 degree when I left home (at 50m asl) and I was at around 250-300m and descending.

Once was here

last February I think.

My hands got cold shortly after I started descent and I started to think this is going to be rough. I got them warm still ungloved before I reached the bottom; the cure is pretty good for the grip strength!

It depends where you live

Big difference between east coast mild mornings and biting cold midlands or wild west coast

I can't comment on how warm or otherwise you'll be, but I'd look carefully at the sizing chart for each of the pieces you want.

Different pieces have different cuts, so you might find yourself buying a combination of sizes

I know it's an odd time of year but what do people recommend as good value summer jerseys? I'm hoping to pick up one or two in the sales.

Aside from my club gear, a Gabba, a few bits from Rapha sales, and a Goretex rain coat I buy almost everything from Galibier but I'm not a lover of their summer jerseys.

DHB seem both nice design and good value but there is a huge selection there. Rapha's sales are not as great as they used to be. Anything else that people would recommend?

Just a comment about a piece of kit I got cheap and tried it out today, a balaclava (merino). I had always thought these would be uncomfortable whilst cycling and maybe hinder breathing /drinking. But tried it today (nice and cold) and although I do provide a good amount of nasal output (ahem), it didn't really hinder me that much, I found I would pull it down over my nose and wasn't really conscious I was doing it, so that was a plus. However more effort was needed when taking on fluids. Took the chill away very well and never once felt overheated. Did provide comic laughing from the kids when I came back in though.

Got these today. Perfect sizing on them all.