An Expert Backed Guide To Winter Cycling 2023 

Are you a bike enthusiast who enjoys cruising during winter?

Or, maybe you are a travel fanatic who loves to go on biking adventures irrespective of the cold weather. 

You might find it daunting, but winter cycling does come with some blissful crowd-free trails and an energized day ahead. Apart from the benefits of riding your bike through the winter, such as burning more calories or keeping your legs turning, it offers a lot of enjoyment and can be incredibly fun. 

Cycling through winter means different things to different people. While few are accustomed to commuting daily through the coldest part of the year, others are only interested in taking a quick stroll to the garage or the nearby grocery store. 

Right Clothing Choice Can Make The Difference

There are a lot of individuals out there who think and even say to drop the act when it comes to looking good during winter cycling. And simply because the rider should be swamped with winter cycling clothes. 

Well, we agree to disagree. 

If you are someone who loves to winter commute with your bike but also likes to put on winter clothes that appear stylish as well as provide a warm environment, then we are here for you. The following essentials mentioned below point towards smart winter clothing that can attend you to backpacking but may as well accompany you to casual cruising around the town.

1. Warm Base Clothing

The most arguably essential aspect of winter cycling is warm base layer clothing. Your winter wear will most probably involve long-sleeved options with merino wool or thick material, or even integrated neck warmers or hoods, given your winter cycling destinations.

While staying warm and toasty is your main goal, you should ensure to feel a slight cool before you start pedaling. If you are already feeling warm after going outside your house, then you have layered up too much. A base layer, mid-layer (long sleeve jersey), outer shell (waterproof cycling jacket), pants, tights and over shorts can work in the colder rides and offer a comfortable commute.

2. Gloves

No one would want a numb feeling in their hands while riding their bikes through the colder paths and trails. You might think that warm clothing can keep your hand toasty, but since your body focuses on keeping the core warm, your hands are typically getting cold due to the lack of the best winter cycling gloves.

3. Socks

When it comes to keeping your extremities warm, among various winter cycling thermals, thermal socks can effectively insulate your feet. But, a negligible mistake of choosing the wrong pair of socks can eventually lead you to discomfort. 

Choosing the right socks that offer extra padding for comfort and warmth with a high thread count can be a great choice if you wish to pedal through the winter. But, you as a rider must always ensure that your socks aren’t too thick for your shoes in order to avoid any kind of discomfort.

4. Shoes and Overshoes

To enjoy a moisture-free ride, you can opt to pair your current cycling shoes with a pair of overshoes. The overshoes offer the waterproof feature along with the provision of insulation in order to keep your feet warm and prevent moisture or rain from stepping in. 

Another option is to purchase winter-specific shoes for biking. By investing in winter cycling shoes, you acquire the combined benefits of a shoe and an overshoe that offers maximum warmth and waterproof protection. At the same time, you can expect some weight and breath-ability issues. 

But, if you are still unsure of the right footwear, our selected best winter cycling shoes & boots might help you out in making an informed decision.

But, few winter cycling commuter jackets can be pricey, with no rear pockets, or available in limited colors. However, with the increasing popularity of winter cycling, several brands have launched winter cycling jackets in women’s cuts and sizes. Therefore, it is essential to understand all the factors from the material, number of pockets, sizing to price before buying the jacket or heated vest.

5. Jackets and Heated Vests

A winter cycling jacket is probably the most vital piece of clothing that keeps you warm in freezing temperatures. You might wonder if a fluffy coat or down jacket can do the magic same as a good winter cycling jacket. Then let us just come forward and tell you the bitter truth. It does not!

A fluffy coat can easily become an overkill unless you are biking in sub-zero temperatures. They tend to make you sweaty, which in turn creates a damp or wet situation that makes you even more chiller.

Purchasing a waterproof cycling jacket or heated vest typically depends on your winter cycling destinations and the type of weather you come across - wet, cold, or maybe lots of snow. The best winter cycling jacket must be light, comfortable, durable, provide high visibility, and possibly versatile enough to wear casually as well.

Winter Cycling Essentials

Apart from smart winter clothing, you might want to consider a list of vital biking equipment that assists you in gloomy, cold and dark yet fun bike commutes. A bicycle admirer like you commutes all year round, so it is in your best interest and responsibility to adapt your rides to the colder and wetter conditions or months as well.

To help you out, we have curated the mandatory items to the best of our knowledge so that you are not left out from enjoying the bike experience this winter. 

Helmet

A cycling cap is preferred for adding an amount of warmth to your head, but without the right cycling helmet, your entire cycling experience is incomplete. While helmets provide the interchangeable liners feature to adjust the warmth, they are also important to avoid severe accidents. 

With the MIPS technology attracting the youth, biking helmets are in demand due to their varied types, from the road, recreational, mountain to BMX helmets. Hence, we have put together the best bike helmets for you in order to rob you of those countless hours you throw away in searching.

Glasses / Goggles

Among other cycling equipment, cycling goggles are a critical addition unless you want to end up with red, inflamed eyes. 

But did you even consider eye-wear as your companion to your winter biking endeavors? 

If you are new to winter cycling, you must learn that winter cycling glasses are something that helps you to deal with the usual winter hassles. However, in some cases, you might need to stop during the riding to clean them. And even during wet winter, rain buildup on your glasses can be annoying. However, few chemical approaches are effective among bikers to shed water from the lenses.

Grip Tire

We all need the best road bike tires to provide the appropriate traction on wet, cold, and even frozen paths and trails. The best road bike tires that should appeal to you must offer excellent tread durability, impressive puncture/cut protection, fast-rolling on rough roads, and should be lightweight. 

While it can be challenging to find the tires that exhibit all the attributes mentioned above, they may also offer a few downsides, such as high rolling resistance or being too wide for many road frames. Therefore, you need to ensure that you switch to tubeless tires or wider tires to avoid any puncture, resulting in an unexciting process of changing the tire in cold, stormy conditions.

Lights

Now, did you think about or plan to add lights to your bike for an enhanced biking experience? Not many of you, we believe. 

So, let us sincerely ponder on this equipment since they come pretty handy during gloomy winter days when the sun is at its weakest.

The best bike lights, from headlight sets, off-road lights to safety lights, are capable enough to accompany you on an expedition while illuminating all your night bike rides. However, not all bike lights can be of excellent quality. Therefore, we recommend carrying backup bike headlight sets for any adverse situation.

Mudguard

A bike mudguard isn't always considered cool to be a part of any bike, but damn if they are useful in cold climates. To remain moisture-free, a set of full-length mudguards can effortlessly help you to withstand water spraying from your tires.

While many clubs have rules of mudguards being fitted during winter riding, your friends may even alienate you if you ask them to join you at the back. 

But, these mudguards can also weigh you down on your adventures. So, to avoid that, you can consider switching to a clip-on for an easily removable solution and a lightweight result.

Indoor cycling during winter

You know what, not everyone imagines cycling through the snow as winter approaches. Even people turn to turbo training or the best bike trainers for indoor cycling. And if that’s you, then you are at the right place. 

It is understandable that you don’t want to endure the outside environment but still wish to explore and enjoy the virtual reality worlds during winter. But, even that has its pros and cons.

Pros

• One of the pros leads you to spend less on clothing and can be worthwhile if you are on a budget (but aren’t we all?)
• You can avoid major injuries and potential hazards on winter roads in indoor training sessions. Nevertheless, your trainers are mostly interested in your efforts and high performance since strength work is required in both indoor and outdoor cycling.

However, indoor cycling also comes with the need to purchase essential training equipment such as the best cycling shorts, a block to keep the wheel in place, indoor cycling shoes, and training apps, along with the best indoor cycling bike. 

We understand that you chose indoor cycling to get away from the extreme weather conditions. But one downside to this can be that you sometimes might feel indoor cycling to be boring. 

Hence, we suggest you explore online platforms with smart trainers who can take you to an engaging event of structured workouts, interaction with other riders, group rides, and expanding virtual worlds for an elevated cycling experience, thereby eliminating boredom.

The Importance of Winter Cycling Training

Bike Commuting in Winter

Winter bike commuting shouldn’t feel like a punishment. You must do it if you want to do it. 

Having said that, you might be someone who is habituated to riding your bike to work or loves to commute through cycling for any minor to major day-to-day activities. In situations like that, you are not someone who plans to ditch their bike in adverse weather conditions but wonder, ‘waterproof jacket, or heated vest’ to continue to endure mother nature.

Conclusion 

We believe that motivation can highly influence people. And that you can be one of them when it comes to cycling through winter days. While inspiration can come in different ways, be it the little improvements or hanging out with friends, it mostly depends on the comfort and enjoyment you receive from doing it.