Another winter gear thread... Cold weather tights

What temp range?

The tights you need are very much a function of the temp range you want to cover and riding style. I have different weights for different conditions. Granted, I hate riding cold so I don't subscribe to the suck-it-up-and-ride-harder approach. Yeah, you'll survive but probably spend more time thinking about being cold vs. enjoying the ride.

Below high 50s, I put on midweight tights.. prefer Cannondale Klondikes because they fit me well, are widely available, and not too expensive. I've had a pair for 2 years that show very little wear. You can also run comfortably in them if that's what you're into. The Klondikes work for me down to about the mid-30s. Below that, I switch into a pair of heavier weight C'dale Four Winds tights.. which are great. They have a windstop front, heaveir gauge fleece inside and fit a little looser than regular tights (which I prefer in really cold weather). I have ridden in these down to -12F without getting cold legs. The bad news: Cannondale stopped making the Four Winds and, like most of the other clothing makers, they have gone to a more "technical", tighter-fitting heavy-weight tight. I haven't tried their new ones yet because the old ones are holding up like a champ. The closent thing I have seen to the Four Winds is the Pearl Izumi AmFibs which a lot of people swear by. A local ski shop had AmFibs on sale for $85 the other day.

I did some research recently on this for somebody else and think a couple others you might want to look at are the Sugoi Firewall (avail at REI) and Craft Windstopper Thermal Tights (avail at World Cycling Productions).

Whatever you do, I think it's best to have tights that have a zipper at the bottom of the leg.

Col d'Lizárd Swift Icebike Powerstretch 100® Tights

I'm not sure whay all these guys/gals are paying for there tights, buy get the best for only $56.
http://www.coldlizard.com/cgi/wc.dll?GEKKO~catalog~DETAIL~36

Also read here for great cold weather riding info and advice.
http://www.icebike.org/Default.htm

I also would get some inexpensive spandex tights - I purchased a set of Hind tights from REI-Outlet for something like $15. I wear the Hind tights when it gets cool down to about 30 degrees. Once it drops into the 20's down to about 10 degrees I will wear the Cold Lizard tights. Into the single digits I will wear both. I am always toasty in the "pants" - It's just the feet that will get cold after some time.

KMan

Lumbee1 said:

Which cold weather tights do you use and do you like them. I picked up a pair of Pearl Izumi tights (cheapest thermal tights I could find). They aren't the warmest and I feel cold air blow against my legs when I step outside. Once I have been riding for 5+ minutes, I am ok.

I need another pair right now. I hated riding in the cold but after doing it a few times, it's not that bad.

I was looking in the Performance catalog and saw several Pearl tights that look pretty nice. Would a pair of "ICY" condition tights be too much for 50 degree weather? Would a pair of "COOL" condition tights not be enough for 35 degree weather?

Click to expand...