(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best sports & outdoors clothing

In the D/FW area, you'll have it easier as a bike commuter than you will as a car commuter for the "once in a while" snow. I'm sure you're used to our lack of salt/sand for the roads, and cars going slower than us on our bicycles. As a year-round commuter here, winters are always much, much happier times for me - but I need to pack more gear!

Right now, we're in the waning hours of summer, so proper hydration is key, and I make use of a cyclic cap and arm coolers to help wick away moisture. But if you've been doing this for the past few months, you know this. The hour change won't make much of a difference for how you cycle.

As for the upcoming Texas winter - layers is key. This past winter, I purchased a stylish face mask which helped keep my face warm in the sub-40-degree-weather. It worked well, but the improper fit was an issue. This winter, I'll probably get a buff instead.

As for the rest of layers, arm and leg warmers are good, because you can just pull them off if you get too hot. Then, dress as normal: a shirt or two, a good jacket, and perhaps a sweater between. Gloves will keep your hands warm, mittens will keep you warmer. A lobster claw mitten will combine both worlds, and still let you use your brakes.

Most of my winter gear went spent its life in a triangle frame bag. It would often be comfortable in the morning, then brisk in the evening (or vice-versa!), so I would need different sets of clothes going each direction. Arm warmers, leg warmers, an extra set of gloves, and a face mask/buff take up pretty little space, so it's good to always have them.

Of course, people in places with "real" winter will laugh at what you and I go through in 30- and 40-degree weather. Whatever it takes to keep you comfortable and riding your bike, that's what you should go for!

To OP /u/SirNoodlesworth and you,

For Winter:

Thermal and Windproof jacket by Przewalski

Neck warmer, unless it's super duper cold, then try full Balaclava

Windproof gloves, and if you want extra padding, try Pearl Izumi from LBS. They're pricier, but may be worth it depending on your comfort tolerance levels.

For Florida/summer:

Best "cheap" bibs! Double stich and will handle lots of washes.

Comfy jerseys with high quality zipper (the zipper is usually the first thing to break on the cheapies).

For ladies, my wife loves these kits. Comfortable and durable.

I would go to these youtube channel and watch some videos. These are all favorites around here and will get you loads of good info:

Phil Kmetz MTB

Global Mountain Bike Network

Seth's Bike Hacks

Good gear to have would include:

• hydration pack with storage for gear - I use an Osprey Viper 9 but there are many out there
  
  
• Bike multi-tool
  
  
• portable air pump
  
  
• spare tube
  
  
• spare chain link
  
  
• pair of shorts with a quality Chamois pad (grundle pad, thank me later) like Santic Cycling Shorts
  
  Most important, get out and have fun. Welcome to the sport (obsession).

Well you probably do need to just pick them out one at a time as mention by other commenters, but once you get it clean then use one of these to keep it that way:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071JH68QM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I wear mine for every session and I pull it down to cover where my forehead touches the foam too for added comfort, since the material is silky and comfortable compared to the foam. Also you can wash these. I am using the Rift S now and I really don't like how the forehead pad pushes my hair into my forehead and it itches, so this solves that problem as well. I also tried some head bands of the same material but I found I liked the full skull cap better, mostly for the stray hair management.

In the winter I bring three jackets and two pairs of gloves with me always.

Two of the jackets are just cheap sweatshirt-type material, one slightly larger than the other so that I can layer. The third is a very nice Columbia hardshell rain coat. This is perhaps your most important purchase in Seattle. I shopped around for biking raincoats but they were more expensive and not as good. Only advantage is they usually have more reflective stuff, and are longer in the back.

I wear one jacket between about 60 and 47 or so, two 46-40 (most winter days), and all three below (a couple times a year, the raincoat helps with the wind even if it isn't raining).

One pair of gloves are thin biking type gloves, and the next are these. I'll wear the thin ones with one jacket, the thick with two, and both with three.

This keeps me nice and happy in any weather, and the layers make it so I can change it on the way home, or even while riding at a long enough light.

Many people have rain pants, I just deal with it and put my phone in my raincoat pocket.

Cool! After a helmet (I have a Specialized Align, works great) and maybe bike shorts (I've been testing out cheap ones on Amazon, so far I like the Santic ones best https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FF1GML4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ), I'd get a water bottle and water bottle cage. Next I think would be flat tire stuff: patch kit, tire irons, spare tube, and pump. And equally important, instruction how to change a flat. Maybe the shop does classes, or the community bike advocacy group may. That's probably about it! Oh maybe also sunblock haha. Weird places will burn, like the top of your knees.

I just started doing a 14.5 mile commute in January. I practiced riding there (or almost there) and back once or twice each weekend for 3 weekends just to see how long it took me. After 3 weeks I was champing at the bit to start doing it for real. And that first day was... easy! I was getting used to doing a 29 mile ride so doing just 14.5 and then having a 9 hour break before going back felt pretty chill in comparison.

There are a few things you have to prepare for though. First is make sure you're going to be comfortable on an 1+ hour long ride. Drop bars helped for me, and I got a pair of cheap biking shorts off Amazon which helped too. Second make sure you have enough calories/carbs for a 1+ hour ride. I tend to eat mostly low carb/low gi when I'm not riding, so I had to step up my carb game in the mornings and afternoons in order to keep my performance on the bike up. I've been making sure to get 30-50g of carbs around 30 minutes before I ride.

Seconding this. You can find them on the Canadian amazon for around 85-110CAD instead of his link. Alternatively you can find them in YYC at BowCycle. They had to hike the price up to 100 because of the dollar sinking, but they sold them to me for 85 so you might be able to convince them. Not sure who else sells them in town - maybe BikeBike. By far my best bike purchase.

edit; ah, just noticed your bar ends. Not sure if the Bowcycle ones fit those. You could ask. Alternatively, there's this.

I just picked up a pair of Planet Bike Borealis gloves that are pretty nice. I've been using just the outer shell in Wisconsin for the past month and they are perfect for the 30's. Mostly windproof, but with a little bit of ventilation to prevent sweaty hands. Add the cloth liner and they will keep you warm down into the upper 10's.

The liner is removable only in the new 2011/2012 model, so if that's what you want be sure to shop around. They were only released a month or two ago.

The Black Bibs. Was hoping I found that coveted cheap-but-good, but no, they're complete garbage. I've put about 600 miles into this pair and they're already essentially unusable, chamois totally worthless, sitbones aching like you wouldn't believe. Hey, at least they were only $40... and better than nothing when I miss laundry day, I guess, though only by a slim margin

Now, this thing... surprisingly good value, I assumed it would be Chinese crap but I bought it at the same time as the Black Bib and this one's still doing fine, some of the stitching isn't perfect but it's still in one piece and the chamois performs admirably on my weekly century. The leg openings have a raw silicone band which kind of sucks but it does the job and doesn't wear out --- unlike the Black Bibs, whose compression leg openings are already totally stretched out... can't emphasize how crap The Black Bibs turned out to be.

edit: oh wow this is a running forum lol

I've had a great experience with my four pairs of [Canari Bike Shorts] (http://www.amazon.com/Canari-Cyclewear-Padded-Cycling-Short/dp/B000FIMNCK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-1&keywords=canari+shorts). They are really comfortable and seem to do their job just fine.

I buy most of my apparel from amazon, including Pearl Izumi, Canari, Baleaf, They are good rated cycling retailers on amazon with affordable price. you might need a Mask Neck Warmer. I bought a thermal cycling pants from baleaf, http://www.amazon.com/Baleaf-Thermal-Cycling-Tights-Black/dp/B00PVXN4KO/ Hope it works for you.

Big guy here: used to wear 44 jeans and could fit these Zoic Shorts in 3XL - the padded liner is removable and you can actually pass them as plain shorts. You can also get just the padded undershorts from another brand. By extension, if you're smaller, you can just get the next size down.

I'm down to a 40 now and the shorts still fit because of a velcro strap on each side that cinches the shorts smaller. Nice breeze when wearing them. Just make sure you get a cycling jersey - the longer back keeps you from having "plumber butt" as /u/letseatpaste so eloquently put it :).

If anyone is interested. I use these that I found on Amazon. They work great. I only buy them in white as they tend to be a bit cooler than other colors and also match with any outfit that I'm wearing. https://www.amazon.com/Protection-Cooling-Arm-Sleeves-Activities/dp/B073TW7CR1/ref=pd_bap_rp_2/141-5968752-5556816?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B073TW7CR1&pd_rd_r=2679b68e-c102-4cab-a408-86d22f86398e&pd_rd_w=VcvhP&pd_rd_wg=M94Fz&pf_rd_p=3dad8606-079a-4e44-a2b6-9e295e1b470c&pf_rd_r=R3624DPQV1KXYKFN25AP&psc=1&refRID=R3624DPQV1KXYKFN25AP

I bought nike 2-in-1 shorts. they are "ok", but what feels better is the 9" compression shorts (longer is better for anti-chafing): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DKB8MXM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I know what you mean. It doesn't take much movement of the glasses to shift the vision. As others have said, a different helmet with better channels might help. Also some glasses are worse than others. I find the bigger lenses tend to shift less so you could buy a cheap pair online just for riding. I also found a liner like this works for me. It gives just enough padding/slip to keep the glasses in place. It's a cheap option so may be worth a try first.

my hub dyno lights are integrated, so I'll skip past those

• pearl izumi thermal light glove - good enough for all but the three or four hottest months of the year
  
  
• $2 headband from home depot it even has a little hole for a ponytail!
  
  
• 1 or 2 ortlieb front rollers, depending on what's being carried
  
  
• kryptonite u-lock - I'm in a low-risk area, so this is enough protection for me.
  
  
• mirricycle incredibell duet - I don't use it often, but when I do it's such a fun sound

From head to toe:

• Thermal Headband and Ear Warmer
  
• Long Sleeve Thermal
  
• Cannondale Neon Yellow Outer Layer
  
• Running Gloves
  
• Black Running Tights (not necessarily Under Armour)
  
• Thick Running Socks
  
  Basically a thermal, a thin wind-breaker, running tights, gloves, headband, and warm socks. Supplement if extra layers are needed.
  
  I don't change what shoes I wear. Call me crazy and I'll agree with you, but I like running in my normal running shoes year round. They don't have great traction, but I like a little challenge on the slick roads of winter.
  

Honestly, the cheap Chinese options for shorts...

https://www.amazon.com/ARSUXEO-Outdoor-Sports-Cycling-Breathable/dp/B072555CK2/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?keywords=mountain+bike+shorts&qid=1558154748&s=gateway&sprefix=mountain+bike+&sr=8-8

And liners...
https://www.amazon.com/Ohuhu-Padded-Bicycle-Cycling-Underwear/dp/B00O0F3BIO/ref=mp_s_a_1_9?keywords=mountain+bike+padded+under+shorts&qid=1558154920&s=gateway&sprefix=mountain+bike+padded+&sr=8-9

...fox gloves


...and 5 10 shoes

You’ll be good to go!

You're identical to my size.

Don't do shorts, do bibs. The shorts cut into your waist and get uncomfortable.

I have a bunch of Performance Elite bibs, good value, comfortable, and you don't have to baby them in the washer/dryer. I usually wear a medium.

If you're looking for something less expensive, these Arsuxeo bibs do the trick, and the price is right I have 2 pairs of those. Can recommend them!

If it matters, I have a full sleeve, and I don’t feel that I’ve ever been hindered, even having worked in religious organizations. Worst case scenario, if i feel i NEED to be covered (which is rare), i wear one of those sleeves that you can put on under a t-shirt that wicks off sweat, so it doesn’t get hot either.

This one is my current favorite:

Men’s version:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FC9NY12/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_5Mc5Bb53HKS3R

Women’s version:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GCJ6EVQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_VMc5BbMS984H0

But of course, if you just don’t really want to get tattoos, that’s fine too. Just sharing what I do :)

I took a chance on these last year and they're great. Can't beat the price, either.

https://www.amazon.com/SANTIC-Cycling-Shorts-Bicycle-COOLMAX/dp/B00JMAB6MK

like this? Tons of review for the men version, but not as much for women. Are the women version as good?

I bought these ones. I use them very often for a 10-mile commute and they have worked just as well as I need them to. I'm happy with the purchase, especially given the price.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B06XW2QKCP?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I bought the Zoic Men's Ether Shorts for this season and love them. Adjustable waistband and lots of pockets. Beware they run small though!

http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GSOXIE2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I really like to wear these cycling undershorts: http://www.amazon.com/Pearl-Izumi-Liner-Short-Black/dp/B004ELBQUY

And then wear a pair of long running shorts over them; something like these: http://coolspotters.com/clothing/nike-9-inch-stretch-woven-mens-running-shorts

Personally, I do not like shorts. I bought this set of bibs off Amazon and I am a huge fan. Never going back to shorts. Everything stays where it's supposed to. And they're only $19.99!

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06VWB3F7M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hi Jort! I suffer from a thing called hyperhidrosis which causes my hands to sweat severly when I game. I've found a good sleeve for athletics, or just UV blocking one is very helpful in my case. WHen I don't wear it, my wrist and arm grip my mouse pad and when I try to track it's often jumpy.


I've had good luck with this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GCJ6EVQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I got a second pair off of Amazon for $33. They're every bit as comfortable as the $75 ZOIC ones I also have from my LBS

Edit: link ARSUXEO Outdoor Sports MTB Cycling Shorts Breathable Blue Size Large https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072555CK2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_uAY5AbM215ET8

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0733J9RJH/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1&pldnSite=1

Is what I was recommended for a jock on here. A couple people had success with it. My wife bought the orange one. It's easily the most comfortable I've experienced.

I also bought these compression shorts:
https://www.amazon.com/Neleus-Mens-Compression-Short-Black/dp/B01DKB8MXM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542928486&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=neleus+mens+3+pack+athletic+compression&psc=1
The idea is simple: keep the boys high and snug with minimal movement after surgery to reduce/prevent pain, unnecessary swelling, etc. and speed recovery.

Some people go with one or the other, some wear both simultaneously, whatever. I plan to use the shorts most of the time, but have to bring a jock to my appointment.

I have a pair of Przewalski from Amazon. $30. Did a century in them with no problem. I like them better than the Pearl Izumi ones that I have which were twice the price. I also tried out a Performance Elite one and didn't like it at all. For the next pair I might try out The Black Bibs as I've heard good things about them.

https://www.amazon.com/Przewalski-Basics-Padded-Shorts-Waist/dp/B01HUNDFGU/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1542653264&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=bib%2Bshorts&th=1&psc=1

Either they went up, or I was a little off. Still 30$ isn't bad. here's are a couple links.

http://www.amazon.com/Pearl-iZUMi-Quest-Cycling-Short/dp/B002KT3XQM?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

http://www.amazon.com/Canari-Cyclewear-Padded-Short-Black/dp/B000FIMNCK?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I like the Canari ones.

You can buy the liners themselves online and they are like $30. Worth it.

The chamois really isn't there for padding (although it can help) -- it's there to absorb the sweat of your nether regions, which is something that pure spandex can't do.

I have a pair of these by Sportneer. They’re a great value at $15, but I still reach for other pairs when going on longer rides.

Sportneer Men's Padded Cycling and Biking Shorts Medium https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XW2QKCP/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gMoqDb5TSWQ92

Try bike shorts, they put a little extra padding where it counts. It wont help your knees much, but it does help the haunches

I have a couple pair of these Przewalski https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HUNDFH4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_GZ0EAb6QDC4Z8

Figured that for the price it was worth giving it a shot. The padding hits in the right spot and so far they have lasted without flaws. I picked them up last summer and they still feel new.

I got these this year based on someone else's recommendation in /r/running. I really like the fit. Not loose, but not tight. 5'11 32" inseam is a Medium. I wear them any time below 35F.

> I am going to be looking for warmer gloves this year.

I've ordered mitts. I have tried everything up to ski gloves, and it doesn't really work very well when cycling for over an hour in sub -5c temperatures, no matter the gloves. This, however, should work (in combination with lighter gloves).

Any? https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cycling+shorts

I'm personally going to get these because they are overwear, not underwear, and have a nice pocket. But the brand is a notorious hit or miss brand: https://www.amazon.com/Baleaf-Cycling-Bicycle-Pockets-Quick-Dry/dp/B07MFZ7VH5/

EDIT Here's a better reviewed option: https://www.amazon.com/SANTIC-Cycling-Shorts-Bicycle-Coolmax/dp/B01FF1GML4/

Here's an underwear option: https://www.amazon.com/Baleaf-Padded-Bicycle-Cycling-Underwear/dp/B00MTE6NEW/

I have UV sleeves that I got on amazon. They’re usually about $8 or $9 and they go all the way up to my shoulders. Just looks like you’re wearing a tight undershirt.

And if you have unpadded bike shorts, you can get something like these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ELBQUY

check out some Lobster Mitts or Moose Mitts if you really need protection. There are guys who ride in arctic wilderness with mittens like that

I have a pair of these Sportneer shorts that I would estimate I've put 2,000 miles on in the last year. They've been fine. I just bought another pair a few weeks ago, in fact.

I bought this, it's not half bad

hard to say if LeBron's has that

see also: https://www.amazon.com/Tough-Headwear-Helmet-Liner-Cooling/dp/B071JH68QM/