Cold weather riding...

[frank5079]

I've had to ride my bike to work a couple of days because my stepdaughter wrecked my wife's SUV and she has been using my car. Long story short, the past few days have been cold and I did see 28°F passing the bank clock. I've been using my Columbia one piece ski-suit. I'd like to modify the ski-suit and run my heated vest power cord through it. I have found the best place would be to cut a one to two inch slit inside the left pocket. Aside from my fingers getting a little cold(I have Tour Master gauntlets), I stay fairly toasty.

Any of you guys still riding and what kind of gear are you using??

 

[fatbiker]

While is doesn't get extremely] cold here in Houston I still like to keep as warm as possible. I recently purchased the Tour Master Synergy 2.0 jacket and Synergy 2.0 tactile gloves and I love them! The jacket comes with a dual temperature control that allows you to adjust the heat settings for the jacket and gloves separately. When you buy the gloves they come with a single temperature control that only controls the gloves. The temperature control allows you to adjust the heat from 1 to 5. It connects directly to your battery so you'll never run out of juice while some other manufacturers jackets us rechargeable lithium batteries that only last 4 hour per charge. The other day the temperature got down to the low 40's (no comments from you northern guys!) so I decided to test the jacket and gloves out. The manual recommends that you wear a separate jacket over the heated jacket to help keep the warmth in but I decided to try it without a second jacket. The Tour Master jacket looks great by itself and has hand pockets just like any other jacket which I find to be a plus. I put both the jacket and gloves on the level 2 setting and I was warm throughout my entire ride. Just to see how hot the jacket and gloves got I turned them both up to 5. It got so hot that it became uncomfortable and I began to sweat. With a second jacket on top I would have melted. A nice feature is the heated collar. It's high enough to cover your entire neck and keeps wind from going up into your helmet. I'm planning on buying their heated pants or chaps and also some heated socks. Tour Master doesn't make heated socks but other manufacturers do.

The jacket comes with internal wiring to hook up the gloves. If you don't plan to use heated gloves the wires can be hidden inside a zippered pouch. While wearing the jacket and gloves I do not feel any wires with exception to the temperature control which I attach to my pants pocket. Once I'm riding I really don't notice it.

The only thing you have to watch out for is the amount of wattage the jacket and gloves use. The jacket uses 74 watts at the highest setting and the gloves us 24. Add pants and they will draw 48 watts and socks about 15 watts. If you're running extra lights or other electrical devices you might end up over taxing the electrical system. So far with a jacket, gloves, and a cell phone charger I haven't run into any problems.

You can find the jacket and gloves on sale at Amazon. I got the jacket for $169 and the gloves for $162 with free shipping. Well worth every penny I spent. If you do some research you'll find that there is an old version of the Synergy line that uses carbon fiber wires. They tend to become brittle and crack so avoid the Synergy 1.0 line. The Synergy 2.0 line uses steel wires that never become brittle and heat up much quicker than the carbon wires. Some retailers will say that the Synergy 2.0 line comes with carbon wires but that is not true. If it's a 2.0 model jacket, gloves, whatever it will have the up-to-date steel wires.

 

[cole2757]

i just got the synergy gloves to but it hasnt gotten cold enough to try them out. i have some old winter elite gloves which are ok but not great when it gets into the 30's. i ride to work early in the am every day and i use my frogg togg rain pants for a wind breaker. they are really easy to take off. i have a neck wrap and a shoei gt air which is warmer/quieter than any helmet ive had.

 

[davesax36]

When I was living in Houston, I rode all year. I have a the original Olympia Airglide jacket and pants. Both have a thermal liner. The coldest I ever went out was when it was in the low 20s. I wore Underarmor Heatgear, my lined gear, Frogg Toggs, and my Held winter gloves. I can't say I wasn't cold, but it was bearable. We were out for about half a day in that weather heading to Austin. Other guys were just wearing winter jackets, gloves, boots, and their helmets. I'm a ATGATT guy, so I don't go anywhere without armor.

Fatty, you got a great deal on that Synergy jacket. I was looking at some Warm 'n Safe stuff, but I might have to reconsider if I can find a deal as good as yours. That high collar makes a big difference.

One problem I always have is that my hands get sweaty in all the winter gloves I've tried (FirstGear, Held, Frank Thomas). Anybody got a solution for that?

 

[sdt354]

I have a one piece Aero stitch suit,size medium,silver. It doesn't fit me. I'm selling it
for the previous owner. Anyone interested, feel free to pm me. It should still be in the for sale section. Price is 1/2 of new. Offers excepted.
Steve-o

 

[fatbiker]

Here's the link to where I got the jacket:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BYQCRAU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I bought the 2X and at the time it was $164.49. Now it looks like the XL is that price. I noticed that they rotate the $164.49 price quite often. One day the Medium is that price then the next day it's the Large. Disregard what the product description says about the jacket having carbon wires. It doesn't. All Synergy 2.0 products have the updated steel wires. Make sure you buy a size that will fit snug. You want to wear a shirt underneath it and have it fit tight against the shirt to help transfer the heat.

Here's where I got the gloves:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005LLQSK4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These are the tactile glove but Tour Master also offers a version in leather for a little more money. Might be better for the guys up north.