Winter Bike Commuting Gear Tips

[Music] [Music] oh hey there everybody how's it going welcome to my bedroom so today is a snowy day but just because it's snowing does not mean that we can't ride our bikes so I thought today I'd make a little video about what type of gear you want to be comfortable while riding your bike in the winter time for some winter riding baby you ready let's do this come on oh man it's really warm in here alright so I thought I'd start with everything on and slowly explain as I take it off striptease style before I start talking about any of the gear I'm wearing I just want to say don't be afraid of riding your bike in the winter it's a lot of fun just because it's cold or wet doesn't mean you can't enjoy your ride and actually you might enjoy it even more because you get to be like a kid you get to girl bottled up and go play outside what's better than that if there are any skiers out there you pretty much want address how you address for skiing first of all goggles if it's actually snowing like it's actually snowing down on you you might want goggles so you can see better there's nothing worse than riding your bike and squinting and there's snow flying in your face that's no fun you can wear sunglasses but these are better because they don't fog oh we're going to talk about this thing now so I can get it off my face this is a balaclava and they're really good it covers your entire head and your neck and it keeps you nice and toasty one of the main things you want to do while riding your bike in the winter is to keep your head warm once your head gets cold you're going to be suffering cold ears are the worst cold noses other words no bueno oh you want me to talk about the helmet okay so this is actually a skiing helmet and it's great because it has these built-in ear pads so it's already comes a little bit insulate it and it's warm it it looks pretty cool too right oh you don't want to wear a full-on balaclava you can wear one of these neck gaiters or bus of course you know I like the Colorado flag one but these are great I probably wear this almost every single day I'm riding my bike in the winter here in Colorado it just keeps your neck nice and warm it keeps the cold air from going down your jacket gloves are super important you definitely do not want cold fingers are you going to be crying to your mama you know that feeling is like when your fingers freeze and you saw them out that's probably one of the most painful experiences in the world do you agree yes so wear gloves to prevent that I always wear gloves liners first and then I put the heavier duty 1-letter waterproof on top because when you're on a bike the handlebars are right here all the wind is hitting your hands and your extremities and these little guys right here don't have a lot of blood circulation and so they get cold really fast so cover them up we this right here is my new favorite bicycle commuting accessories by a cool company called showers pass out of Portland Oregon and those guys know about riding in the wet in the cold and a lot of what I'm wearing today is showers pass I'll link to stuff down below if you want to check them out but they're a really cool company this one's great because it's right it's super bright and when you're riding in the winter it's just usually it's a little bit darker even if it's daylight if it's 2 p.m. it's a little bit dark so the brighter you can be the better and obviously it doesn't get any brighter than this but I'll prove oh alright so under the jacket I have a nice thin layer and winter cycling just like skiing is all about wearing layers and this is just a nice lightweight layer nothing special about it this baby right here looks kind of simple but it's what you want it's made out of merino wool and wool is what you want if you can afford it it wicks away moisture and the big thing is it does not smell like a lot of Sun sets she said is it synthetic stuff I've worn this base layer for like a month straight in Nepal trekking in the Himalayas seriously every single day no showers and it smells like roses move back for this one okay right here I've got a waterproof shell this is just a really cheap waterproof shell you definitely want to wear this because all the mud slap it around and the slush and all that stuff is going to get you to wear waterproof shell they're not too expensive it goes right over your pants these right here also merino wool socks ooh so these are the three things you want to stay warm for a happy bike ride your head your fingers and your toes oh one more thing there's a lot of commuters out there and you might have a bag you might be going to work you might be going to the gym you want to carry some stuff with you you don't want it to get wet I water for back is definitely a very handy thing to have this is also made by showers pass it is completely waterproof you put your computer in there you can put your lunch in there you can put your new drone in there ah alright now let's talk about what type of bike you should be riding in the winter a lot of you probably only have one bike so that's the bike you're going to ride things you can do to make that one bike better fenders fenders get fenders on that bike tires you want to have good tires and by that I mean tires with some level of traction right you don't want to be slipping all over the place and some tires now actually have studded metal little spikes in them so it goes on the ice better the fatter your tire is the more stability you're going to have the more traction and the happier you're going to be rather than that you don't need a special winter bike the bike you have will work just fine you do want to be a little bit more careful riding in the winter though because cars are a little bit squirrely out there the roads might be icy so you have to have your guard on because you might be in total control in that bike lane but the cars wouldn't pass you might not be in total control so just be cool sometimes you might even want to ride on the sidewalks and beware of the big trucks that come by and just hit the puddles and splash all over you that's where the waterproof gear is going to come in handy that pretty much it it's fairly simple just get bundled up wear layers wear wool if you can wear bright color and go into it with the good attitude go into it with the smile because if you go into this grumpy you're probably not going to enjoy it but if you're like uh-huh I ride my bike in the snow today and it's going to be awesome then you're probably going to have a good day so we say we go for a ride let's do it [Music] all right welcome to the beautiful foothills of Boulder Colorado another benefit to riding your bike in the winter is nobody is outside you're the only one usually alright my friends thanks for watching please like subscribe leave a comment do whatever you want and the most important thing is just get on the bike and have a great day you know what I'm saying [Music]

Channel: Ryan Van Duzer

Views: 138,320

Keywords: winter bike commuting, winter bike commuting gear, showers pass commuter gear, the best waterproof commuter gear, how to commute by bike in winter, winter bike riding gear, winter bike commuting tips, showers pass gear for winter, all weather bike commuting, winter biking in boulder colorado, winter cycling tips, winter cycling pants, what to wear for winter cycling, safe bike commuting, winter cycling jacket, the benefits of merino wool, winter riding essentials

Id: lzk-Wf9ZgYE

Length: 7min 52sec (472 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 25 2017