Winter Clothing (Battery powered Heated Clothing? lol)

[Marc V]

Hey All!

I live in Chicago and it is starting to get cold, I was riding the other night and it was in the 20s! and of course Chicago can get colder!

I recently bought my eBike and originally I was planning on just riding it until it started getting cold, but I am wondering about extending my riding during the winter as long as riding conditions are not too severe with cold, slush, snow etc.

So wondering if anyone has been successful in winter eBike riding and what gear they use? I currently used from head to toe (and feel it is not cutting it ):

• Full winter face mask liner
• Clear Goggles
• Giro Helmet
• The North Face thermal torso base layer
• Regular cotton shirt
• Columbia omni-shield inner shell
• Columbia omni-tech outer shell
• General/Generic Winter gloves
• Under armor thermal long john pants
• Jeans
• Columbia waterproof/breathable omni-shield rain paints
• Two pairs of regular socks lol

I was actually still a little chilly when I hit the higher legal eBike speeds near 20mph, so I added a carhartt lined hoodie, so my torso area was okay, but it felt too bulky for my taste, i felt constricted when I moved hehe

My thought process now is to look into maybe heated battery powered clothing? Like motorcyclist are using?

Anyone have real world experience review/recommendations?

Thanks, take care ride safe!
Marc V

 

[ebikes rock]

Hey Mark!

Right on dude!!!! I grew up in Pittsburgh and RESPECT cold weather warriors. While I don't encounter the frigid winters on a daily basis anymore, I do go skiing. Also, I am a backpacker and have slept in a tent in the snow. My Chicagoan father-in-law thought we were nuts, lol.

It's all about trapping warm air against your body. But letting your body breathe enough to release the sweat/heat. If you "overheat" and then sweat, the sweat will eventually make you cold.

do NOT WEAR COTTON. It absorbs moisture, and then holds it against your skin. Thus making you colder.

Recommendations

• I recommend a long sleeve baselayer consisting of poly-pro or wool. Then, add a thicker fleece on top of that. Fleece traps heat, but still breathes too. Again - - no cotton.
• Checkout a down jacket. Down is AWESOME at trapping warm air. Caveat - - DO NOT WEAR DOWN IN THE RAIN THOUGH. Wet down = no insulation. A dry goose feather has little follicles that trap warm air. A wet goose feather causes these little follicles to clump and thus, no heat trapping. Assuming a typical cold Chicago day with no rain, down could be an awesome way to stay warm. I suspect a good down jacket will feel much less constrictive than the carhartt.
• Invest in MITTENS. Get better than the cheapie wal-mart gloves. I've had both. Wal-mart gloves work when you walk from your house to your car, until the heat comes on. They are NOT up to the task of keeping you warm when skiing/biking outside in your winters.
• Get some disposable hand heaters. ...Maybe see if you could get some plug-in heating elements that you could run off the bike battery? They make battery powered electric heaters for ski boots....
• Get some thick wool socks. or maybe REALLY thick fleeces socks. Two pairs of regular socks make me think 2 things - a) cotton and b) too constricting
• maybe consider getting some "shoe covers" that cyclists use for winter pedaling. if nothing else it would help block the wind chill

 

[Marc V]

Hey Mark!

Right on dude!!!! I grew up in Pittsburgh and RESPECT cold weather warriors. While I don't encounter the frigid winters on a daily basis anymore, I do go skiing. Also, I am a backpacker and have slept in a tent in the snow. My Chicagoan father-in-law thought we were nuts, lol.

It's all about trapping warm air against your body. But letting your body breathe enough to release the sweat/heat. If you "overheat" and then sweat, the sweat will eventually make you cold.

do NOT WEAR COTTON. It absorbs moisture, and then holds it against your skin. Thus making you colder.

Recommendations

• I recommend a long sleeve baselayer consisting of poly-pro or wool. Then, add a thicker fleece on top of that. Fleece traps heat, but still breathes too. Again - - no cotton.
• Checkout a down jacket. Down is AWESOME at trapping warm air. Caveat - - DO NOT WEAR DOWN IN THE RAIN THOUGH. Wet down = no insulation. A dry goose feather has little follicles that trap warm air. A wet goose feather causes these little follicles to clump and thus, no heat trapping. Assuming a typical cold Chicago day with no rain, down could be an awesome way to stay warm. I suspect a good down jacket will feel much less constrictive than the carhartt.
• Invest in MITTENS. Get better than the cheapie wal-mart gloves. I've had both. Wal-mart gloves work when you walk from your house to your car, until the heat comes on. They are NOT up to the task of keeping you warm when skiing/biking outside in your winters.
• Get some disposable hand heaters. ...Maybe see if you could get some plug-in heating elements that you could run off the bike battery? They make battery powered electric heaters for ski boots....
• Get some thick wool socks. or maybe REALLY thick fleeces socks. Two pairs of regular socks make me think 2 things - a) cotton and b) too constricting
• maybe consider getting some "shoe covers" that cyclists use for winter pedaling. if nothing else it would help block the wind chill

@ebikes rock Thanks for all the tips! and will look into trying it! You are not the only person to warn me about cotton haha.

The two socks I wore were not cotton btw, I used the dry-fit moisture wicking socks (use these for my ping pong haha) so they are a blend of stuff but no cotton, but I am interested into looking at really thick fleece socks lol

Marc V

 

[Taipan]

Hi Marc,

There's a similar discussion in the thread "First 1000km on Turbo S, a review from Stockholm, Sweden"
https://electricbikereview.com/foru...-from-stockholm-sweden.8654/page-2#post-81565
With the use of motorcycle goretex winter jacket (I just wear a long-sleeve polypropylene turtleneck under), outdoor carpenter winter trousers (plenty of zip/baggy pockets) and snowboard accessories.

T.

 

[Marc V]

Hi Marc,

There's a similar discussion in the thread "First 1000km on Turbo S, a review from Stockholm, Sweden"
https://electricbikereview.com/foru...-from-stockholm-sweden.8654/page-2#post-81565
With the use of motorcycle goretex winter jacket (I just wear a long-sleeve polypropylene turtleneck under), outdoor carpenter winter trousers (plenty of zip/baggy pockets) and snowboard accessories.

View attachment 12187

T.

Thanks for the info and sharing the other thread, I'll go check it out. That looks like a pretty chilly picture! What temps have you endured with that clothing setup? And do you pedal as well or just throttle?

Thanks!
Marc V

P.S I like the way you rock your U-Lock and chain, I have similar set and had my u-lock mounted on my eBike and the mount just broke off this morning on my ride into work! So I might need to start rocking it like you! (Just bought and installed it the other day also FYI! lmao)

 

[mrgold35]

It is usually around 28-38 degrees in New Mexico in the morning and 45-55 degree on the ride home. Dressing in layers with the ability to unzip/strip as I heat up comes in handy with the wide temp variances. I'm 6'3" and 265 lbs and really like Aero Tech designs thermal jackets and riding pants in their big/tall section.

- Aero Tech Big mans Windproof Softshell cycling jacket (extra materials to prevent wind up your sleeves and plenty of space to layer underneath)
- Aero Tech Mens Thermal Windstopper softshell Pants (good for -5 degrees F, side zippers along bottoms, no pockets)
- Wool socks and regular Nike running shoes normally or Hi-tec mid height hiking boots on really cold days
- full length compression running leggings (under the Aero tech pants)
- thermal long sleeve shirt under a regular long sleeve bike shirt
- full facial protection Skiing Balaclava mask I use with regular bike helmet
- $12 Dewalt clear wrap around safety goggles with built in bifocals (old eyes). They can fog sometimes when I stop at an intersection in the early morning; they clear up once I get going again.

I have Pearl Izumi cold weather padded gloves; but, my finger tips would still get cold by the time I got to work 25 minutes later. Added the Bar Mitts winter handlebar warmers and those S.O.Bs really work at keeping your hands warm a lot better than gloves alone. I just need to wear my half-finger padded summer gloves with the mitts on for my 5:30 am commute. I can feel the controls a little better in the mitts with the half-finger gloves. I also have a few of the open/shake +6hr hand warmers I can add inside the bar mitts if the temps really get cold.

Also added the Luna Cycle triangle bag for my battery. Enough room in the bag to add extra material to insulate the battery if needed.

On the ride home, it is usually too warm to wear the Aero tech jacket and pants. I wear the leggings with bike shorts, remove my Bar Mitts warmers, and pull out my bike spring windbreaker. I add my Pearl Izumi gloves and Balaclava if the ride home is in the 40s.

 

[Taipan]

@Marc V
I updated some detailed info about the clothes in the other thread for you to compare.
https://electricbikereview.com/foru...-from-stockholm-sweden.8654/page-2#post-81565

The day the picture was taken above was "not really cold" by local winter standards, like -5°c or 25°F plus a wind factor of 10 km/h or 7mph dropping an additional 5°c.
Which you don't really compute for because you're doing above 25kmh/16mph anyway: your own speed generates most of the wind chill.
So it was cold but not that cold.
It stings through the beard at faster speed but with good glasses, good winter lipstick and decent gloves, nothing brutal.

If you consider winter e-biking as a small cousin of winter touring motorcycle (with speeds above 55mph/120kmh), adopting their stuff will be almost overpowered.
Google "BMW Motorrad" for german-engineering hardcore examples of BMW apparels ^!^

Snowboarding stuff will be EZ-mode in comparison.

T.

 

[Marc V]

It is usually around 28-38 degrees in New Mexico in the morning and 45-55 degree on the ride home. Dressing in layers with the ability to unzip/strip as I heat up comes in handy with the wide temp variances. I'm 6'3" and 265 lbs and really like Aero Tech designs thermal jackets and riding pants in their big/tall section.

- Aero Tech Big mans Windproof Softshell cycling jacket (extra materials to prevent wind up your sleeves and plenty of space to layer underneath)
- Aero Tech Mens Thermal Windstopper softshell Pants (good for -5 degrees F, side zippers along bottoms, no pockets)
- Wool socks and regular Nike running shoes normally or Hi-tec mid height hiking boots on really cold days
- full length compression running leggings (under the Aero tech pants)
- thermal long sleeve shirt under a regular long sleeve bike shirt
- full facial protection Skiing Balaclava mask I use with regular bike helmet
- $12 Dewalt clear wrap around safety goggles with built in bifocals (old eyes). They can fog sometimes when I stop at an intersection in the early morning; they clear up once I get going again.

I have Pearl Izumi cold weather padded gloves; but, my finger tips would still get cold by the time I got to work 25 minutes later. Added the Bar Mitts winter handlebar warmers and those S.O.Bs really work at keeping your hands warm a lot better than gloves alone. I just need to wear my half-finger padded summer gloves with the mitts on for my 5:30 am commute. I can feel the controls a little better in the mitts with the half-finger gloves. I also have a few of the open/shake +6hr hand warmers I can add inside the bar mitts if the temps really get cold.

Also added the Luna Cycle triangle bag for my battery. Enough room in the bag to add extra material to insulate the battery if needed.

On the ride home, it is usually too warm to wear the Aero tech jacket and pants. I wear the leggings with bike shorts, remove my Bar Mitts warmers, and pull out my bike spring windbreaker. I add my Pearl Izumi gloves and Balaclava if the ride home is in the 40s.

Thanks for info! I have seen those Bar Mitts winter handlebar warmers or stuff like it! @Ravi Kempaiah shared a video with me of this guy who uses them! lol

Here is article
http://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2015/02/20/cold-bother-anyway/23765513/

Peddling helps keep us warm in the winter, but I am lazy and am mostly using the throttle on my daily commute haha

 

[Marc V]

@Marc V
I updated some detailed info about the clothes in the other thread for you to compare.
https://electricbikereview.com/foru...-from-stockholm-sweden.8654/page-2#post-81565

The day the picture was taken above was "not really cold" by local winter standards, like -5°c or 25°F plus a wind factor of 10 km/h or 7mph dropping an additional 5°c.
Which you don't really compute for because you're doing above 25kmh/16mph anyway: your own speed generates most of the wind chill.
So it was cold but not that cold.
It stings through the beard at faster speed but with good glasses, good winter lipstick and decent gloves, nothing brutal.

If you consider winter e-biking as a small cousin of winter touring motorcycle (with speeds above 55mph/120kmh), adopting their stuff will be almost overpowered.
Google "BMW Motorrad" for german-engineering hardcore examples of BMW apparels ^!^

Snowboarding stuff will be EZ-mode in comparison.

T.

Since Christmas is coming up, maybe I will put the motorcycle gear on my wish list otherwise I might just look into Snowboarding stuff, thanks for your help! haha

Marc V

 

[Marc V]

This weekend me and buddy were going to go play ping pong and we were both on bicycles, I was on my eBike and he was on his Trek Tour bike.

He runs the ping pong club and we were running a bit late so he told me he would jump on the train because we were running late and it was cold.

So we left at the same time and I beat him to the venue! haha

It was in the low 30 degrees Fahrenheit and I wasn't freezing but I was a bit nippy, so will try an to continue to incorporate everyone's tips on this thread, thanks again! lol