Ren's Winter Roundup

By Ren DiMartino

As you might have noticed, the days are shrinking ever shorter as we approach the winter solstice. As the city slumps towards a sun that never quite rises, I offer a seemingly contradictory method to beat the winter blues: get out into the thick of it!

It’s all too easy to hole up in the warmth of your apartment throughout Chicago’s coldest months, but getting outside for some exercise and to soak up the scant rays of sun offered by the winter sky can do wonders for your physical and mental health. 

Explore the world of winter riding suggestions and you will find seemingly endless and apparently contradictory recommendations for everything from tire, to shoe, to outerwear choices depending on rider preference, style, and locale. As such, take note that this blog entry is moreso a handful of things I personally really like for winter than any kind of winter riding guide. For a more exhaustive list of the accessories you’ll need for winter riding, see Kelly’s entry here. I’m much more of a wimp than Kelly is.

Bar Mitts

Ever popular with the fat biking crowd, handlebar pogies are so named after (and many versions evolved from) a piece of cold-weather kayaking equipment named after a type of bait fish. Essentially creating an enclosed environment around your bars and shift/brake mechanisms, pogies provide excellent protection against every unpleasant aspect of the winter elements, manage sweat better than many ultra-warm gloves, and don’t sacrifice crucial dexterity in treacherous conditions. They are intended to be used in addition to gloves once temperatures really start to dip, but depending on weather and rider physiology, they can be used without gloves as well.

While there are many variations on the pogie which you can purchase for your bike, many chicago area riders’ go-to are Bar Mitts. Bar Mitts are purportedly based off of hang gliding mitts rather than oar pogies, and come in many versions for flat/riser bars, drop bars, and even for strollers. These are my personal favorite as they are designed to stay open at the top, making getting in and out during frequent city stopping a breeze. They are not insulated, but I have found that I need no more than a thin glove on even the coldest of days. Being made of neoprene, I absolutely love them for cold rain.

Buff Merino Wool

The ugly stepsister of the balaclava, the neck gaiter, wins out for me for city riding. Thin, modular layers are just as useful under your helmet as they are on your body! A neck gaiter can be pulled down for a stop into a cafe or restaurant, and can quickly be added or subtracted from an outfit without affecting other headwear. Even when it’s a little too warm for any face coverage, they do wonders to seal heat into your jacket and thus keep your core warm.

A company called Buff makes an eponymous piece of headwear which was originally developed for motorcycle riding. It is a long tube made of very stretchy and thin material using a proprietary knitting process to make the “Multi-functional Headwear.” I’m a fan of the Buff because it can be pulled up very far inside your helmet and over your face to add warmth. The Buff comes in both a lightweight and a midweight merino wool, as well as a heavyweight fleece. I get along just fine with my lightweight wool version.

SKS Chromoplastic Longboard fenders

I will admit that having full longboard fenders is not a perfect solution. Not all frame and tire combinations will have the clearance for these, and in fresh snow they have the potential to become infuriatingly clogged. However, in my personal travels around well-salted Chicago I have found that the amount of times these will save your feet, legs, face, and beloved bike frame from briny street soup far outweigh how often they will bog you down. 

SKS Germany is THE fender manufacturer in the minds of many a rider and mechanic, for everything from full coverage, longboard fenders with mud flaps, to their ever-popular Xtra-Dry clip-on fender. They make several types of chromoplastic fenders in various levels of coverage for a wide array of tire sizes (yes, even yours.)

Crud Caps

Alright, these are admittedly not a winter specific item. Sometimes, there is no winning with winter riding and the best thing you can ask for is a little companion to brave the weather with you. These valve covers are compatible with schrader valves, or presta valves with an adapter, and handmade here in Chicago.

Defeet Woolie Boolie 

Chances are, if you own a set of colorful, ultra-roady tall socks, they were made by DeFeet to the specifications of the brand you bought them from. Yeah, even your beloved Ridge Supply or Ten Speed Hero socks are a variation on the indomitable DeFeet Aireator. 

However, once it’s time to put the lycra and sunscreen away for the year, DeFeet offers one of the plushest wool cycling socks on the market. I cannot recommend wool socks enough for not only riding, but simply living through the winter. Wool absorbs a great deal of water before it becomes noticeable to the wearer, and stays warm even when wet. I have a large collection of wool socks, but a disproportionate number of them are Woolie Boolies. I love them not only for cycling, but also as an all purpose winter sock. They are seriously thick, so take note of how much space you have in your shoes if you’re thinking of getting them. 

Also worth mentioning: the DeFeet Duraglove, which is a perennial favorite of many riders.

Uniqlo Heattech Everything

Those who know, know: layering is key. There are a dizzying array of base layers on the market made out of the highest-tech materials money can buy, all perfectly suited to your winter adventures, many of which are cycling specific. Personally, you can pry my pile of budget-friendly and satisfactorily wicking Uniqlo heattech shirts and tights from my cold, dead hands. Japanese fast-fashion brand Uniqlo offers a wide range of items, from under layers to pants, in both a light and a midweight version of their toasty synthetic material.

Ventra card

I’ll bet you weren’t expecting this advice! Sometimes the best motivation to go out and ride when it’s 24° out is knowing that you can call it when it’s 4°. Or, maybe you don’t mind the bitter cold, but truly can’t or don’t want to risk a fall in snowy conditions. Besides, there’s nothing like hopping on public transit every once in a while to remind you of the joy and freedom that comes from commuting by bike.