Do you cover your knees?

[domtyler]

I've gone a bit soft lately and am wearing lots of warm stuff including full length bib longs. They are very comfortable when combined with just a long sleeve jersey or s/s jersey + arm warmers.

 

[fossyant]

I nearly always wear bib tights - even on warm days as hairy legs and a road bike don't go - I don't race now so don't shave.

My thighs suffer if I don't keep them warm - just can't get the output if they get cold, and don't own any 3/4's

 

[John the Monkey]

I'm still in shorts - I just find I get too warm in anything else at the moment. If I'd been in work the first 3 days of the week I'd have gone in in 3/4s though.

 

[ash68]

yeh, bibtights for me too. Frosty out the other morning, far too cold to show any bare flesh.Mind you I'd rather be a tad warm than bloody cold.

 

[Blonde]

I wear tights when it's under 9 degrees C and knee warmers between about 10 and 18 degrees C. The knees only come out when it's 19 plus with little or no wind chill. I have had knee pain in the past, mostly due to tight IT band. All muscles are looser and more flexible (and therefore less painful/less risk of injury) when they are warm so I try to keep them that way. Muscles surrounding the knee are small and seem to be more prone to injury through repetitive use/lack of stretching, than larger muscles, with the result that you are more likely to get knee pain, so it seems a good idea to keep them warm and to stretch your legs after riding.

You may not actually feel the cold that much on the legs, because the skin there is not particularly sensitive to cold, but the loss of power/speed when the leg muscles are cold is very noticeable to me. If you push hard or try to go at your usual pace when the muscles are cold they are more likely to ache afterwards from greater tearing of the fibres.

 

[PaleRider]

Im still in shorts - I wondered why my knees were hurting a bit :-/ I will have to investigate the knee warmers! Does anyone have any recommendations?

 

[Blonde]

Well you can get all singing all dancing knee and full-leg warmers from assos but they are expensive. Biemme leg warmers seem almost as good as assos and are a lot cheaper. Nike also do decent knee warmers - I find they ride up and bunch up a bit behind the knee but they do the job. Lusso do perfectly OK arm, knee and leg warmers if you're on a budget though I found them a bit on the large side - but I've got girly arms and legs...

 

[PaleRider]

Well you can get all singing all dancing knee and full-leg warmers from assos but they are expensive. Biemme leg warmers seem almost as good as assos and are a lot cheaper. Nike also do decent knee warmers - I find they ride up and bunch up a bit behind the knee but they do the job. Lusso do perfectly OK arm, knee and leg warmers if you're on a budget though I found them a bit on the large side - but I've got girly arms and legs...

Thanks, the Biemmes look like a good deal - I will go for a pair of them

 

[Joe24]

Still in shorts. The bottom of my legs get too warm, and then it gets uncomfortable to ride. I might get some 3/4 lengths and use them when it gets really cold. But at the moment, it hasnt been too bad here, so it will be shorts till it gets even colder.
I rode my bike in shorts when it was about 8 deg C, and had no problems, but i will get some trousers or 3/4 lengths though.
My neck suffers more when it gets cold, so i tend to try and keep that warm.

 

[jashburnham]

An English mate of mine here used to cycle in shorts in very cold weather cos he wanted to show the locals that he was a hard Englishman.
Apparantly though, some kind of fluid in the knee all but froze, leaving him in agony, from which he is still plaguedwith.
No idea what the technical name for it is, though!

Synovial Fluid:

http://www.randonneurs.bc.ca/toolbox/knees.html

 

[Blonde]

I rode my bike in shorts when it was about 8 deg C, and had no problems, but i will get some trousers or 3/4 lengths though.

I wont wear only shorts till it's 15 degrees plus, but I use knee warmers, full leg warmers or 3/4 length 'knicks' in the in-between months. I'm in roubaix and windstopper winter tights now though. It's been 0 degrees when I've been heading out on the bike to work at 7a.m. and only about 3 or 4oC when I leave work at 4pm to come home. Today it's a bit milder (around 7oC at lunchtime), but it'll be full winter kit for me from now on until till about March 2008...

 

[wafflycat]

Yesterday I was wearing cycle shorts covered by some long johns (sexy... not!) and a pair of Ronhill Bikesters over the top of those! Add in two pairs of socks...

 

[Tynan]

dhb longs and loving them, legs feel better insulated and protected, makes me 'feel' faster too, can't imagine not wearing

best £18 I've spent for sure, I got a warning from the wife for admiring my legs in them when I got home tonight

 

[Unkraut]

I have often wondered if there may be a long-term price to pay for cycling to work in the winter. I read somewhere of an orthopaedic surgeon cyclist who always kept his knees covered unless it was over 18°C, which is good enough for me. I am sure it is better to be bit too warm than allow your joints to get cold everyday, week in week out.
There's plenty of stuff available these days to keep warm without being a cycling michelin man.