Brett Ratner
Daily Commute: 19 miles round trip
Commuted Through Chicago Winters: 10 Times
Strategy: “Core” Principles

In a nutshell, my attitude about winter riding is this: if your core is warm, it’s easy to keep your extremities warm.

I hold this attitude not only through personal experience, but also because it’s based on the generally-accepted idea that when your core is cold, your body will reduce circulation to extremities in order to protect the internal organs. Check out this short video to see what I mean.

So, oftentimes, when people complain of cold hands and feet, I wonder if they have abnormally poor circulation, or that they aren’t doing enough to keep their core warm.

In practice, this means that when the temps drop below 15 degrees, I switch to the warmest setup that I own...my Gore-Tex shell over my goose down jacket. My thinking is that if it can keep me warm while sitting on a chairlift, 20 feet up in the air, exposed to a stiff -30 windchill, it will easily keep me warm while pedaling a bike.

Another thing I’ve learned over the years is that it helps to keep the wind from sneaking in. This means doing your best to cover up potential “points of entry” (such as the area between the top of your jacket and the bottom of your hat/helmet), as well as replacing clothes that cold air can easily pass through (like jeans).

The cold weather setup I’ve dialed in over the years is actually too warm for most of the winter. It’s certainly too warm (not to mention heavy, bulky and non-aerodynamic) for “training” rides. Besides, there’s lots of great, purpose-specific gear for that.

I only break this gear out when I’m doing rides at a moderate pace (such as commuting or running errands), and the temps drop below 15 degrees. It’s gotten me down to zero degrees with no issues. Here it is:

• Bern Brentwood helmet, $79.99...with the optional winter liner, $39.99 

• Ski goggles

• Smartwool neck gaiter, $28.00 

• Gore-Tex ski/snowboard shell

• “Puffy” jacket with 800 fill goose down

• SWRVE _blk label Merino Full Zip Sweater, $200

• Synthetic “wicking” T-shirt

• SWRVE _blk label Winter Schoeller Softshell Trousers, $200

• Synthetic thermal underwear

• REI or Smartwool wool socks

• Lake MXZ303 winter cycling shoes, $259,99

• Gore Radiator Windstopper Gloves, $59.99

I won’t go into crazy detail over the entire setup, but I’d like to highlight a few items that I think are key.

For starters, I really love my Bern Brentwood helmet, with the optional winter liner. I recommend this helmet because the liner extends over my ears and down the back and sides of my neck (to keep cold wind from finding a way in), plus it works really well with my ski goggles (the liner came with a plastic goggle strap holder that screws onto the back of the hemet). It’s also extremely comfortable. I like it so much it doubles as my snowboard helmet.

I’ve never really used them before, but I’m now a believer in neck gaiters. After nine years of nothing but my beard between me and the elements, it’s nice to have something to pull over my face, especially in a headwind. And having an extra layer of protection over my neck seems to make a big difference in how warm I feel...similar to how putting an ice pack on one’s neck really cools you off in the summer. Any neck gaiter will do, but I’ve been using a Smartwool product because it breathes and packs down small.

The Gore-Tex shell combined with a puffy goose down jacket is vital in my opinion. A quality outer shell will block the wind, while the down jacket will keep your core extremely warm, especially when you are pedaling. The down “fill” number can be a bit misleading, but for the most part, the higher the number, generally the higher the warmth, lower the puffiness and weight, and higher the price. A cheaper coat will have a lower number, such as 650, whereas a top of the line coat will have a higher number like 900. As it was explained to me, you can actually have a really warm 650 fill coat, but it will be REALLY puffy too. An equally warm 900 fill coat uses higher quality down, and therefore requires less of it, so it will be less heavy and bulky. Mine happens to be an 800 fill coat I got at Cabela’s for less than the cost of a 700 fill North Face. It’s been perfectly warm and durable and not overly bulky.

One piece of gear I truly can’t do without is my SWRVE _blk label Winter Schoeller Softshell Trousers. It’s such a huge improvement over jeans. Imagine taking your favorite fleece-lined North Face softshell jacket and making a pair of pants out of them. These are stretchy, comfortable, warm and keep you dry in all but the heaviest of rains. And since they are full length pants, they extend over the tops of my cycling shoes, acting like gaiters to keep snow and water from getting at my feet. Best of all, they look like regular pants, so you can certainly roll up to a bar or restaurant, walk in, and no one will look at you funny. They also double nicely for cross country skiing, or just being outdoors for extended periods of time. My only complaint is that there is no built-in snap or strap to keep the right leg from rubbing against the chain. But that problem was easily solved with a standard issue trouser strap. I love these pants so much, I actually own two pairs now.

Finally, if you hate cold feet, the Lake MXZ303 winter cycling shoes are, in my opinion, the gold standard. If you were to take your favorite waterproof, insulated winter hiking boots and make them compatible with clipless pedals, this is basically what you would wind up with. In addition to being (in their four winter’s worth of use) totally durable and extremely warm, the Vibram hiking boot-style sole makes walking around on icy, snowy ground much easier. I personally have never needed more than one pair of socks with them, and honestly I feel that having a little room for air inside the shoe helps. Extra socks, in my experience, seemed to make shoes fit too tight, cutting off circulation and in the end making my feet feel colder. The street price for these shoes seem to be around $260 (the Lake site doesn’t mention MSRP for some reason). That’s a lot of money, but well worth it in my opinion. The only other comparable product I know of is the 45NRTH Wölvhammer. I don’t have personal experience with this product but I’ve heard nothing but stellar reviews: http://45nrth.com/products/footwear/wolvhammer.

Lastly, the gloves. Honestly, my down coat, helmet and softshell pants keep me so warm, that I don’t really have an issue with cold hands. Also, my commuter bike has bar end shifters, so changing gears doesn’t require a lot of dexterity. As such, I prefer a looser fitting, windproof glove and don’t use glove liners because, like my shoes, I feel like having a pocket of air inside the glove helps. The glove liners seemed to cut off circulation a bit too, making my hands feel colder. For me, any decent winter glove will do...but at the moment I’m using a pair of Gore Windstopper gloves that are a “three finger” hybrid between a lobster and normal glove (the pinky and ring finger are combined).

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